In the News

David Coursen, EPN member and former attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, wrote this op-ed discussing the many ways the Biden administration’s proposed budget addresses the challenge of climate change, including within the EPA budget.

EPN members Mustafa Santiago Ali, former Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, and Tim Whitehouse, former EPA senior attorney and advisor, were quoted in this article regarding President Biden’s proposal to create an environmental justice assistant administrator position within EPA.

David Coursen, EPN member and former attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, was quoted in this article, as well as a Bloomberg Law article and an Inside EPA article, regarding the Biden administration’s proposed EPA budget for fiscal year 2022.

Mark Ryan, EPN member and former Regional Counsel, EPA Region 10, was quoted in this article discussing the Trump-era changes to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act that limited state and tribal authority over permitting energy projects. Mark was also quoted in a Bloomberg Law article about how the Navigable Waters Protection Rule could impact proposed mining in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member and former Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article regarding a push for federal agencies to consider cumulative impacts when assessing projects in environmental justice communities permitted under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Mark Ryan, EPN member and former Regional Counsel, EPA Region 10, was quoted in this article concerning possible new regulations to reverse Trump-era changes to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.

Margo Oge, EPN member and former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, wrote this op-ed discussing the importance of comparably-priced, equally-powerful electric versions of popular cars and trucks in a new clean transportation transition.

Linda Birnbaum, EPN member and former EPA scientist, was quoted in this article concerning the discovery of  per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in widely-available home fertilizers.

David Coursen, EPN member and former attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, penned this op-ed describing the need for Congress to deliver sustained, adequate funding to allow EPA to perform its vital roles in protecting human health and the environment.

David Coursen, EPN member and former attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, was quoted in this article discussing how investing in water infrastructure can promote environmental justice.

Robert Verchick, EPN member, chair of environmental law at Loyola University, and former Deputy Associate Administrator, EPA Office of Policy, was quoted in this article regarding ongoing issues with the city of Baton Rouge’s Stormwater Management Program.

Trish Koman, EPN member, air pollution researcher at the University of Michigan, and former senior environmental scientist, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article discussing PM2.5 and COVID-19.

Chris Zarba, EPN member and former Director, EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB), was quoted in this article discussing the large volume of nominations for candidates willing to serve on the SAB this year.

Cliff Villa, EPN member and former EPA attorney, was interviewed in this news segment discussing a lawsuit filed by two pueblos in New Mexico over a Trump-era EPA rule that weakens protections of ephemeral waterways.

Margo Oge, EPN member and former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was interviewed for this article about the greenhouse gas emissions standards and the nation’s transition to electric vehicles.

Bob Sussman, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization attorney (and EPN member and former EPA Deputy Administrator and Senior Policy Counsel to the EPA Administrator), was quoted in this article concerning environmental groups’ demand for a court-ordered deadline for EPA to complete the second part of its asbestos evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). He was quoted in similar stories appearing in Law 360 and Reuters. Bob was also quoted in an Inside EPA article discussing an industry push to loosen TSCA regulations on five persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals.

Michelle Roos, EPN Executive Director, and Jeremy Symons, EPN member and consultant and former Climate Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, penned this op-ed discussing the progress made and the work that remains to be done at the EPA under the Biden administration.

Linda Birnbaum, EPN member and former EPA scientist, was quoted in this article discussing the challenges in assessing cumulative impacts when performing risk evaluations of chemical mixtures.

EPN members Judith Enck, former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2, and Eric Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project and former Director, EPA Office of Civil Enforcement, were quoted in this article concerning EPA’s decision to halt operations at the Limetree oil refinery located on the island of St. Croix. Judith was also quoted in related articles about the Limetree refinery published by Reuters, Ecowatch, The Hill, CleanTechnica, Nation of Change, and The Guardian.

Tim Whitehouse, EPN member and former EPA senior attorney, was quoted in this article discussing an EPA inspector general report on the National Enforcement Investigations Center.

Bob Sussman, EPN member and former EPA Deputy Administrator and Senior Policy Counsel to the EPA Administrator, was quoted in this article regarding potential groundwater exposure to asbestos at Superfund sites.

Richard Grow, EPN member and former environmental protection specialist in EPA Region 9, was quoted in this article regarding the role of the Department of Justice in investigations involving Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. He was also quoted in an Inside EPA article discussing  EPA’s recent finding of discrimination issued to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. In addition, Richard was quoted in another Inside EPA article about the use of Title VI as a tool for environmental justice.

Mark Ryan, EPN member and former Regional Counsel, EPA Region 10, was quoted in this article concerning wetland preservation under President Biden’s “America the Beautiful” conservation plan.

EPN members Bob Sussman, former EPA Deputy Administrator and Senior Policy Counsel to the EPA Administrator, and Linda Birnbaum, former Director of NIEHS and former EPA scientist, were quoted in this article discussing chemical regulations that would assist President Biden’s pledge to end cancer as we know it.