EPA Deputy Administrator - We'll Get Around To Enforcing Environmental Laws Again. Really, We Will
EPA will soon provide an update on its controversial enforcement policy that allows companies affected by COVID-19 to forgo compliance, the agency's deputy enforcement chief said today. "I can say that there will be a termination of this," John Irving, a deputy assistant administrator, said on a conference call hosted by the Federalist Society's Regulatory Transparency Project.
Irving declined to offer many specifics, citing fear of getting ahead of his bosses, but said the "public can expect to see" an update "in the near future."
Even if it terminates the policy, EPA yields enforcement discretion, he noted. The agency had said it would review the overall policy and issue an update by mid-June. "The situation around the country is being evaluated on a daily basis," he said, noting the complexity of the patchwork rules throughout the country.
Irving's comments came as EPA offices start to reopen in some regions (Greenwire, June 19). The temporary enforcement policy, issued March 26 with no end date, has elicited sustained criticism from environmentalists and Democrats on Capitol Hill. It says EPA will forgive noncompliance of "routine monitoring and reporting," including on air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, wastewater, leaks, sewage, lab tests and others.
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https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2020/06/22/stories/1063435489
