Returning EPA to its Mission

Abstract:

The Environmental Protection Network (EPN), organized in January 2017 by former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from previous organizations, has developed a plan for EPA leadership to build a strong, highly functioning agency and to promote rules and policies that protect public health and the environment. EPN's plan to "Reset the Course of EPA" focuses on actions addressing the most significant and pervasive public health and environmental risks, particularly the risks to communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. The plan has recommendations to incorporate environmental justice in every aspect of EPA's work and improve every program, including actions to: 1) ensure EPA has an effective role in carrying out an aggressive climate action plan; 2) repeal the 2020 rule that removed federal water quality protections from many of the nation's streams and wetlands; 3) streamline the drinking water regulatory process to speed action on newly discovered contaminants; 4) reinstate and enhance farmworker protections from pesticides; 5) accelerate protection of workers and others exposed to toxic chemicals during the manufacture or use of commercial products; and 6) eliminate the Trump EPA restrictions on accessing expert peer review and the best available science and economic analyses.