EPA Has Stopped Enforcing Environmental Laws, Citing Coronavirus Pandemic
'Citing outbreak, EPA has stopped enforcing environmental laws.' PBS NewsHour, Economy Mar 27, 2020 8:40 PM EDT.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday abruptly waived enforcement on a range of legally mandated public health and environmental protections, saying industries could have trouble complying with them during the coronavirus pandemic. The oil and gas industry were among the industries that had sought an advance relaxation of environmental and public health enforcement during the outbreak, citing potential staffing problems.
The EPA’s decision was sweeping, forgoing fines or other civil penalties for companies that failed to monitor, report or meet some other requirements for releasing hazardous pollutants.
The move was the latest, and one of the broadest, regulation-easing moves by the EPA, which is seeking to roll back dozens of regulations as part of President Donald Trump’s purge of rules that the administration sees as unfriendly to business. Civil and criminal enforcement of polluters under the administration has fallen sharply.
Former Obama-era EPA chief Gina McCarthy, now president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the announcement “an open license to pollute.” The administration was “taking advantage of an unprecedented public health crisis to do favors for polluters that threaten public health,” McCarthy said, in part of what was a flurry of condemnation from environmental groups to the announcement.
In a statement, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the open-ended waiver was temporary and retroactive to March 13. “EPA is committed to protecting human health and the environment, but recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements,” Wheeler said....
- PHOTO: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler looks on during a ceremony to sign the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in urban sustainability with Brazil's Environment Minister Ricardo Salles (not pictured) in Brasilia, Brazil Jan. 30, 2020.
More, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/citing-outbreak-epa-has-stopped-enforcing-environmental-laws
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