In the News

EPN member Betsy Southerland, former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, is quoted in this article on the continuing controversy over the EPA’s “action plan” for toxic PFAS chemicals.

Janet McCabe, EPN member and former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about the Trump Administration breaking off talks with California on vehicle mileage standards, which could increase the chances of a court battle.

EPN member Margo Oge, former EPA Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, and Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, is quoted in this article about negotiations between California and the White House ending as the Trump Administration prepares to move forward with their rollback on vehicle fuel-efficiency standards.

EPN member Jeff Alson, former EPA Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor in the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, is quoted in this article about the White House ending negotiations with California over its rollback of the clean car rules. Jeff is also quoted in Grist’s
article on the same topic.

EPN member Cynthia Giles, former EPA Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, is quoted in this article about House Democrats ramping up their oversight of the Trump EPA.

EPN member Bob Sussman, former EPA Deputy Administrator and Senior Policy Counsel to Administrator, is quoted in this article on a lawsuit brought by public health groups to overturn the US EPA’s denial of its petition to require expanded reporting on asbestos.

EPN member Mustafa Ali, former EPA Environmental Justice Administrator, is quoted in this article about the National Wildlife Federation bringing Ali on as its first vice president for environmental justice, climate and community revitalization.

EPN member Betsy Southerland, former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, is quoted in this article about the Trump Administration putting the most vulnerable Americans at risk.

EPN member Joe Goffman, former EPA Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel in the Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about environmental law experts’ belief that the presidential powers unlocked by declaring a national emergency are the wrong tools for solving the climate crisis.

Bill Jordan, EPN member and former EPA Deputy Director, Office of Pesticide Programs, is quoted in this article about an insecticide the EPA considers “very highly toxic” to bees being sprayed on more than 16 million acres of crops known to attract bees under an emergency approval.

EPN member Tom Burke, former EPA Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and nominated by President Obama for Assistant Administrator to ORD, is quoted in this article about the major White House shift to actively seek advice from industry lobbyists and the scientists they commission in setting pollution rules.

EPN member Joel Mintz, former EPA Enforcement and Supervisory Attorney, wrote this op-ed about the dismal decline in EPA enforcement under the Trump Administration.

EPN member Ronnie Levin, former EPA Senior Scientist in Region 1, and Curt Spalding, former EPA Regional Administrator for Region 1, are quoted in this article about the record number of EPA employees retiring in recent years without being replaced, raising questions about whether the agency can continue meeting the demands of protecting the environment.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, is quoted in this article on the EPA’s proposed PFAS management plan, which did not provided a maximum contaminant level, a legal limit allowed in drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act, for the chemicals. Betsy was also quoted in similar articles in The Intelligencer, Earther and The Guardian.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, is interviewed about the progress on Montana’s Superfund cleanup sites being put in jeopardy once again by a potential second government shutdown.

EPN member Bernard Goldstein, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, is quoted in this article on an EPA research unit tasked with evaluating chemicals’ health risks hindered by the agency’s top leadership.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, is quoted in this article about EPA’s expected plan to deal with “forever” PFAS chemicals amid complaints from Congress and environmentalists that is has not moved aggressively enough to regulate them.

EPN member Joe Goffman, former EPA Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel in the Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about the EPA, as part of its proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, waiving New Source Review (NSR) permitting requirements for coal-fired power plants seeking to make efficiency upgrades known as heat-rate improvements that are not projected to result in an hourly emissions rate increase.

EPN member Joe Goffman, former EPA Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel in the Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about the EPA-reported dip in emissions resulting largely from the continued move toward cleaner burning fuels—such as natural gas and renewable energy—to produce electricity, and away from carbon-intensive coal.

EPN member Cynthia Giles, former EPA Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, is quoted in this article about sharp drops in in EPA’s civil and criminal penalties, site inspections and other measures under the Trump administration.

EPN member Cynthia Giles, former EPA Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, is quoted in this article about civil and criminal crackdowns on polluters dropping significantly in the 2nd year of the Trump Administration. This piece also ran in The Seattle Times.

EPN members Dave Coursen, former EPA Office of General Counsel, and Cynthia Giles, former EPA Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, are quoted in this article about an 80% drop in some penalties levied against polluters, signaling that the EPA has become a less aggressive watchdog:. The piece also ran in Press of Atlantic City, among other outlets.

EPN member Cynthia Giles, former EPA Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, is quoted in this article about the EPA inspecting fewer industrial facilities during 2018 than at any time over the past decade.

EPN member Joe Goffman, former EPA Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel in the Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about the EPA’s plans to finalize the Affordable Clean Energy rule in the second quarter of 2019.