In the News

Joel Mintz, EPN member and former EPA Enforcement and Supervisory Attorney, wrote this op-ed about the many lessons to be learned by our political leaders and the public at large from the recent government shutdown.

EPN member Dan Reich, former EPA Assistant Regional Counsel, Region 9, wrote this op-ed  about using tariffs to address the real and present danger of climate change.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, was interviewed by KOA-AM on the State of the Union address.

EPN member Jeffry Fowley, former EPA General Attorney, is quoted in this article about Fowley’s request that the agency’s Office of Inspector General investigate allegations of misconduct in EPA Region 5. Jeff is also quoted in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on the same topic.

Ronnie Levin, EPN member and former EPA Senior Scientist in Region 1, is quoted in this article about public health advocates finding last week’s reports that EPA would not set a legal limit for toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water disappointing, but not surprising.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, co-wrote an op-ed about the administration’s long list of regulatory rollbacks that put public health in jeopardy.

EPN members Jeff Alson, former EPA Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor in the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, and Joe Goffman, former EPA Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel in the Office of Air and Radiation, are quoted in this article about 11 major energy sector rules targeted for repeal or relaxation and how these actions would boost businesses and harm society according to the administration’s own estimates.

EPN member Stan Meiburg, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6 and Acting Deputy Administrator, is quoted in this article about the partial U.S. government shutdown threatening to delay the rollout of new vehicle models in the U.S. by stalling required certifications from the EPA.

Cynthia Giles, EPN member and former EPA Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, is quoted in this article about her analysis of EPA data that shows an 85% decrease in civil penalties for polluters under the Trump administration.

Cynthia Giles, EPN member and former EPA Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, is quoted in this article about her analysis that shows civil penalties for polluters under the Trump administration plummeted during the past fiscal year to the lowest average level since 1994.

EPN’s PFAS comments are referenced in this article on EPA’s reports on the health hazards of chemicals GenX and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), which many groups say came too late, weren’t done correctly, and fail to address the chemicals’ presence in drinking water across the country.

Janet McCabe, EPN member and Advisor and former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article, which discusses how limiting the positives of a rule by discounting its “co-benefits,” as the EPA proposed last month with its mercury emissions regulation, allows agencies to tweak their regulations in ways that are friendlier to those covered by them.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, is quoted in this E&E article about environmental experts who say closing the gap between current federal waterway protections and the administration’s proposed Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule will be all but impossible given state laws limiting environmental regulations or imposing budgetary restrictions.

EPN member Judith Enck, former EPA Regional Administrator for Region 2, is quoted in this article about the growing risks from the partial government shutdown, not only to the economic security of some Americans, but the health of us all.

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 delays car manufacturers face in launching new and updated models due to the government shutdown halting vehicle certification.

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 truth behind EPA’s MATS proposal, to ignore billions of dollars’ worth of annual health impacts when it weighs the costs of implementing the 2012 rule against the benefits of less pollution.

EPN members Chuck Elkins, former EPA Director of the Toxic Substances Program, Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, and Founder and Executive Director of the EPA Alumni Association, and Maro Oge, former EPA Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air,  and Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, are quoted in this article about retired EPA staffers banding together to collect donations for furloughed agency workers.

EPN member Brenda Mallory, former EPA Principal Deputy General Counsel under the Obama administration, is quoted in this article about EPA employees working on lead dust hazard standards returning to the office this week, despite the government shutdown, to ensure the agency can meet a court-ordered deadline.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and Former EPA Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, is quoted in this article about the collateral damage of the partial government shutdown, currently in its fourth week.

EPN members Dan Costa, former EPA Director of National Air, Climate, and Energy Research Program, and Bob Kavlock, former EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development and EPA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science, were quoted in this article about the many studies funded by EPA that have to be put on hold due to the shutdown.

EPN member and former EPA Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, Office of Air, John Bachmann is quoted in this article on the Trump administration’s cuts to programs that have been proven to protect Americans, resulting in effects that could last for years.

EPN member Dan Reich, former EPA Assistant Regional Counsel, Region 9, is quoted in this article about the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigating why 2018 saw fewer EPA prosecution referrals against polluters than at any other point in the past 30 years.

Bonnie Bellow, EPN member and former EPA Director, Public Affairs Division, Region 2, is quoted in this article on how the partial government shutdown is affecting the West Calumet, Indiana, Superfund site, as well as other sites across the country.

EPN members Bob Kavlock, former EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development and EPA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science, and Stan Meiburg, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6 and Acting Deputy Administrator, are quoted in this article about the small number of EPA employees who are still working away during the partial government shutdown that closed the agency two weeks ago.