In the News

EPN member Tracey Woodruff, former EPA senior scientist and policy advisor in the Office of Policy, was quoted in this article discussing how the higher cost of chemical-free food disproportionately impacts women and communities of color.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member and former Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and EPA Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article describing efforts to preserve environmental data during the Obama-Trump transition that evolved into the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative.

Bob Sussman, EPN member and former EPA Deputy Administrator and Senior Policy Counsel to the EPA Administrator, was quoted in this article regarding a request made by environmental groups asking EPA to reverse its decision to reject a petition requiring Chemours, a PFAS manufacturer, to provide health and environmental data on 54 PFAS.

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 discussing how disinvestment and neglected infrastructure contributed to the recent loss of drinking water in Jackson, Mississippi.

EPN members Mustafa Santiago Ali (former Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice), Steve Chester (former Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance), and Joel Mintz (former EPA Enforcement and Supervisory Attorney) were quoted in this article about restoring the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) as an enforcement tool.

Mike Flynn, former Acting Deputy Administrator, Associate Deputy Administrator, and Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, was quoted in this article about a letter signed by 220 former EPA employees supporting Janet McCabe’s nomination to become the next EPA Deputy Administrator.

EPN members Bernard Goldstein, former Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Research and Development, and Richard Morgenstern, former Director, EPA Office of Policy Analysis, were quoted in this article about what EPA can do to restore and entrench scientific norms at the agency.

EPN was cited in this article describing the letter EPN sent to OCSPP Principal Deputy Administrator Michal Freedhoff urging the implementation of an Obama-era proposal for a pre-prioritization process to facilitate chemical evaluations.

EPN members Cynthia Giles, former Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, and Tim Whitehouse, PEER executive director and former senior attorney at EPA, were quoted in this article discussing the tremendous amount of work the Biden administration faces to restore EPA’s ability to enforce environmental laws in the post-Trump era.

EPA member Stan Meiburg, former Acting Deputy Administrator and Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6, was quoted in this article discussing a letter supporting Janet McCabe’s nomination for EPA Deputy Administrator that was signed by a bipartisan group of former Deputy Administrators. The letter was widely covered in the trade press, including articles in Bloomberg Law, Politico, E&E News and The Washington Examiner.

EPN members Cynthia Giles (former Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance), Carl Reeverts (former Project Manager, Infrastructure Branch, EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water), and Betsy Southerland (former Director of the Office of Science and Technology in EPA’s Office of Water) were quoted in this article describing the findings of a nationwide review of water systems and demographic data.

Judith Enck, EPN member and former Regional Administrator for EPA Region 2, was quoted in this article discussing a budget proposal from New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo that would allow the use of certain plastics in woven heavy-duty reusable bags despite the state’s existing ban on plastic bags.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former Director of the Office of Science and Technology in EPA’s Office of Water, was quoted in this article regarding EPA’s plan to regulate PFOA and PFOS under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former Director of the Office of Science and Technology in EPA’s Office of Water, was quoted in this article concerning EPA’s proposal to monitor 30 chemical contaminants and its decision to regulate two PFAS.

Linda Birnbaum, EPN member and former federal scientist at EPA, was quoted in this article regarding a recent study that provides additional evidence that phthalates are harmful to children’s brain development.

John Bachmann, EPN member and former Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, was quoted in this article discussing a push by states and advocacy groups to get the EPA to revisit the Trump administration’s decision to leave particulate matter NAAQS unchanged.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member and former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, discussed the opportunities and challenges the Biden administration faces in its focus on environmental justice in this February 18 interview.

EPN members Judith Enck, former Regional Administrator for EPA Region 2, and Mathy Stanislaus, former Assistant Administrator in EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management, were quoted in this article regarding the potential to accelerate EPA’s work on waste and recycling under the Biden administration.

Linda Birnbaum, EPN member and former federal scientist at EPA, was quoted in this article concerning the continued use of PFAS in firefighters’ turnout gear.

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 highlighting how inadequate infrastructure and weak state support are just some of the challenges Indigenous communities face with water insecurity.

Tracey Woodruff (director of UCSF’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, EPN member and former EPA senior scientist and policy advisor in the Office of Policy) was quoted in this article discussing EPA’s decision to abandon a Trump-era method to analyze chemicals.

EPN members Mustafa Santiago Ali (former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice), Dan Costa (former National Program Director, EPA Air, Climate, and Energy Research Program, Office of Research and Development), and Kevin Minoli (former EPA Acting General Counsel) were quoted in this article discussing the Biden administration’s work to restaff depleted federal agencies.

Michael Levin, EPN member and former Director of Regulatory Reform, EPA Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation, wrote this article about the overturning of the Affordable Clean Energy rule by the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

EPN member Richard Grow, former environmental protection specialist in EPA Region 9, was quoted in this article regarding increasing internal and external pressure on EPA to strengthen its civil rights law enforcement.