Republicans used the confirmation hearing for EPA nominee Michael Regan to repudiate the president's climate policies. Some of the attacks span generations.
(Michael S. Regan; Credit: North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality)
During his Feb. 3 confirmation hearing, EPA administrator nominee Michael S. Regan focused on a handful of issues, including his plans to rebuild the agency and to focus on environmental justice. His plans include the appointment of new justice officials in each of its regulatory offices who would focus on air, water and land pollution. A fourth official in each office would be responsible for chemical safety.
Regan also plans to appoint an environmental justice adviser to the EPA administrator, he told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
One area of priority in terms of chemicals, Regan said, will be per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In his job as head of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Regan has dealt with PFAS-related issues including tainted drinking water and cleanup by a chemical maker, writes Chemical & Engineering News. Regan wants to set limits
Friday, February 5, 2021
It seems like yesterday, but it was actually last summer when the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers published the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, effective June 22, 2020 (the Rule ).
The Rule s publication completed the two-step process to repeal and replace the 2015 Clean Water Rule. The Rule replaced the Clean Water Rule s definition of waters of the United States with one that provides an arguably smaller scope of protections for these waters. As expected, several states (including North Carolina) raised legal challenges to the Rule during the second half of 2020. Colorado, however, was the only state that obtained a stay of the Rule.
President Joe Biden's pick to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told senators on Wednesday that he's committed to implementing the new administration's climate change directives while also boosting the economy, and said if he's confirmed, he'll be "driven by science and the rule of law."