In the News

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.

Cynthia Giles, EPN member and former EPA Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, is quoted in this article on the continuing government shutdown and its effects on around 800,000 federal workers, major agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, and national scientific research on climate and the environment.

EPN member and former EPA Associate National Program Director, Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program, Betsy Smith, is quoted in this article that takes a comprehensive look at how the Trump administration is redefining the EPA.

EPN Advisor Lisa Feldt, former EPA Acting Deputy Administrator and Associate Deputy Administrator, is quoted in E&E’s article on the trickle-down effects from the partial government shutdown and mounting worries about the long-term outlook.

Bonnie Bellow, EPN member and former EPA Director, Public Affairs Division, Region 2, is quoted in this article on suspended federal cleanups at Superfund sites around the nation and forced cancellations of public hearings due to the partial government shutdown.

EPN Advisor Bob Perciasepe, former EPA Deputy Administrator during the Obama administration, and EPN Board of Directors member and Advisor Stan Meiburg, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6 and Acting Deputy Administrator, are quoted in this article on the continuing partial government shutdown imperiling some of the Trump administration’s signature energy-related rulemakings.

EPN member and former Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Cynthia Giles, is quoted in this article about the hundreds of inspections that may have already been canceled and can’t be made up.

EPN member Mustafa Ali, former EPA Environmental Justice Administrator, Environmental Justice Program, is quoted in this article on EPA’s bid to reopen its power plant mercury rule.

Janet McCabe, EPN member and Advisor and former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article on the EPA’s proposal to ignore indirect benefits from reducing mercury pollution when it weighs industry compliance costs against public health benefits.