In the News

John Bachmann, former Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, is quoted in this article about Administrator Wheeler’s vow to make greater use of the Science Advisory Board amidst protests from some advisers and outside experts that the agency is instead limiting its role.

Ruth Greenspan Bell, EPN Board of Directors President and former EPA Manager in the Office of General Counsel, and Steve Silverman, former Attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, wrote this op-ed about the Trump administration’s heedless approach to the environment and the delicate regulatory ecosystem that guaranteed all citizens a level of protection from pollution being upset by officials.

EPN member Lynn Goldman, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances, is quoted in this GreenWire article about a plan from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to provide $5 million in funding for five Children’s Environmental Health Translational Centers nationwide as a result of EPA’s refusal to commit to funding for Children’s Environmental Health Research Centers.

Jeff Alson, EPN member and former Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, is quoted in this article about an April guidance memo from the Office of Management and Budget that requires the release of computer modeling that could contradict the claim that the administration’s SAFE proposal will save money and lives.

EPN members Chris Zarba, former Director, EPA Science Advisory Board, and John Bachmann, former Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, are quoted in this article about EPA’s plan to forego a review by scientific advisers on the agency’s planned changes to how it justifies the need for major air regulations, which former agency employees and environmental groups say could result in weaker public health protections.

EPN members Penny Fenner-Crisp, former Senior Science Advisor to the Director, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, Chris Zarba, former Director, EPA Science Advisory Board, are quoted in this article about the first two-day Science Advisory Board meeting in a year, the many issues to be discussed, and the deeper questions about the venerable panel’s future role and relevance. Chris Zarba is also quoted from this article in Resilience (about halfway down the page at “Out with the old, in with the new.”).

Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about reports the Trump Administration has ordered future climate change projections to stop at 2040, instead of 2100. This would reduce the projected impacts of climate change in a move many see as an effort to stifle work to combat climate change.

Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about the bipartisan support to preserve the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) that save thousands of lives per year. The Trump Administration has proposed rolling these standards back, saying the rules are not “appropriate and necessary” under the Clean Air Act.

EPN members Penny Fenner-Crisp, former Senior Science Advisor to the Director, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, and Dr. Bernard Goldstein, former Chair, EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, and former EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, are quoted in this article about EPA’s plans to quickly revamp its guidelines for evaluating whether environmental contaminants can cause cancer or other ailments, a move Trump administration critics fear is part of a broader effort to weaken the basis for regulating a wide range of pollutants. The article also ran in Science Magazine.

Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about EPA’s plans to propose revising the way it estimates costs and benefits for Clean Air Act regulations by December 2019.

EPN member Jeff Alson, former EPA Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, Office of Transportation and Air Quality is quoted in the State Impact article about a letter sent to Administrator Wheeler from Delaware Sen. Tom Carper and New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, accusing him of listening to the fossil fuel industry over EPA’s own expert staff.

Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this Bloomberg article about EPA’s initial plan to label Racine County in Wisconsin as violating federal air quality standards for ozone in 2017, and its subsequent course reversal in 2018 after appeals by Wisconsin’s governor and the direction of then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. This article also ran in Nation, and similar articles also ran in earth.com, The New York Times, The Hill, KFGO and Reuters.

John Bachmann, EPN member and former Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, was interviewed by Christiane Amanpour about EPA’s controversial plan to change how it calculates the health risks of air pollution.

EPN member Stan Meiburg, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6 and former Acting Deputy Administrator, is quoted in this Bloomberg article about utility groups remaining neutral on EPA’s new standards for the chemical perchlorate in drinking water until the agency releases supporting documents explaining how it chose a threshold of 56 micrograms of perchlorate per liter of water.

EPN is mentioned in this CNN article about the seven former Democratic and Republican EPA administrators who sent a letter to Congress offering assistance, as the Trump administration seeks to roll back clean air and water regulations, among other policy changes. This story also ran in numerous other media outlets: KLIF-AM, WOKI-FM, KAOK-AM, California Coastal Coalition, KMJ-AM, News Stand Hub, Reddit, WRAL.com, Channel 3000, and WFMZ-TV.

EPN Advisor William Ruckelshaus, former EPA Administrator (1970-1973 and 1983-1985), and EPN member Bonnie Bellow, former EPA Director, Public Affairs Division, Region 2, are quoted in this article about seven former EPA administrators sending a letter to Congress, offering their assistance in creating an oversight strategy and a path forward for the agency.

EPN member Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight panel holding a hearing to probe the EPA’s use of co-benefits. The hearing examined EPA’s December 2018 proposal related to mercury emissions from power plants. Janet is also quoted in another Bloomberg article, as well as articles in Greenwire and Think Progress, also on the topic of the Trump administration planning to write new rules for how it weighs the human costs and benefits of environmental regulations.

David Coursen, EPN member and former EPA Office of General Counsel, wrote an op-ed published in Water Online about the EPA budget proposal’s staggering cuts to water protection and restoration programs, despite Administrator Wheeler’s claim that drinking water is the world’s greatest environmental challenge. For more information, see EPN’s fact sheets on Proposed FY2020 Cuts to Clean Water and Proposed FY2020 Cuts to Clean Drinking Water.

EPN member Betsy Southerland, former Director, EPA Office of Science and Technology in the Office of Water, was interviewed about her decision to leave EPA after 40 years due to Trump’s plan to gut the agency. She continues to speak out as the current administration proposes staggering budget cuts and regulatory rollbacks that endanger public health and the environment.

EPN member Mustafa Santiago Ali, former EPA Senior Advisor and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, is quoted in this  article about the long history of municipal solid waste incinerators in America and the resistance among the low-income and minority communities where the vast majority are located.

EPN member John Bachmann, former EPA Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, is quoted in the Bloomberg Environment article about EPA’s goal of reviewing ozone pollution standards by the end of 2020, which may not be possible and could risk undermining the entire project.

Kathy Setian, EPN member and former EPA Superfund Project Manager, Region 9, is quoted in this article about a landfill—or “on-site waste disposal cell,” as the DOE calls it—being built in south central Ohio, which will be one of the largest nuclear waste dumps east of the Mississippi when finished.

EPN member Margo Oge, former Director, EPA Office of Radiation and Indoor Air and Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, wrote an op-ed about the insufficient law that sets federal fuel economy standards and how President Trump has contorted it into an illegitimate way to attack states working to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution. Margo is also quoted in a Climatewire article that talks about her opinion piece.

EPN members Dan Costa, former National Program Director, EPA Air, Climate, and Energy Research Program; Joe Goffman, former Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel, EPA Office of Air and Radiation; Anna Phillips, former Program Manager, EPA Office of International Affairs; and Chris Zarba, former Director, EPA Science Advisory Board, are quoted in this about whether the administration might restrict the use of climate models in the future, potentially leading to large changes in public policy.