Remarks and then i will ask questions. You can submit questions as well. But first your opening remarks. Welcome. Thank you for the introduction but i want to welcome aei for inviting me to be here today earlier this month i have reflections on the last 50 years of the epa and laid out our plan for its future at the Nixon Library. Today i would like to explain based on what we have accomplished over the past four years how we will get to this future. It is incontrovertible today the environment is in better shape under President Trump and we found it. Since 2017 air pollution in this country has fallen 7 percent. Last year superfund sites the most in a single year since 2001 and b will list another 27 this year the epa is trying to finance more than 40 billion of clean Water Infrastructure supporting 7100 projects and 27000 jobs during President Trumps first term and they have recovered more criminal and civil appointees them the Obama Biden Administration did and their first term. These successes are a big deal and great news in terms of health and wellbeing but like most great news you rarely read about in newspapers or watch it on the news. In fact the news media purposely under reports and a good news from this administration. Just last week we analysis secondlargest civil action under the Clean Air Act the Trump Administration has put more civil and criminal penalties more than the Obama Administration to know press has reported this deal was made from President Trump went left the Paris Climate Accord to treat the us economy unfairly but yet the us has seen a 15 percent reduction in energyrelated Carbon Dioxide emissions since 2005 during this time Greenhouse Gas emissions more than britain france and germany and italy combined china meanwhile has increased their emissions by over 50 percent since 2005 at epa the Trump Administration the first term has taken four concrete actions to reduce Greenhouse Gases. First the ace will to cut overall Carbon Emissions from the power sector by 34 percent 2005 levels at 2030 the safe vehicles rule will reduce submissions compared to the Previous Administration standards to allow companies to comply purchasing credits related to actions that did not impact the mission or to pay fines. Thirds we propose a new rule to reduce submissions of aircraft the first of us as ever adopted a Mission Emission standards for aviation also standards for natural gas to capture methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure. As john adams said facts are stubborn things whatever maybe her wishes or inclinations to dictator passion they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. It is unfortunate there is a lot of evidence that during the Previous Administration especially in the second term with a focus on Climate Change to take a form of virtues signaling this came at the expense of running the agency for all americans they also we focus on Climate Change at the expense of other environmental indicators. Let me explain we have done more in the first four years to improve the environment and probably any administration except perhaps during the very first years of the epa. I would argue the Trump Administration has carried out more than any other the core mission of the epa which is to protect human health and the environment we finalized at least eight major rulemaking the navigable waters rule, the safe rule, the ccr rules the lead and copper they are all finalized by the end of the year all of these regulations improve the environment and at the same time we inherited the largest backlog of unfinished Agency Business center history. During the final four years of the Obama Administration the enormous backlog of unprocessed permits and at the beginning of the administration we inherited a backlog of 700 state Implementation Plans under the Clean Air Act have taken action on over 500 states and cities need this approved so they can focus on cleaning up their environment with that language and environmental work not getting done to help reduce air pollution cities and counties fall out of containment company shut remove facilities other places rather than wait for air quality levels to improve detroit and chicago and cleveland in the seventies and eighties and nineties with those to get new permits this backlog is one of the invisible the real causes of Environmental Justice over the past several decades anyone they cannot make it back into attainment unless they were first processed and then carried out many backlog plans sat for years in limbo rejected for a variety of reasons because they were deficient and could not be approved but instead of approving these plans are disapproving to develop new ones prior administrations of them said sometimes decades we discovered applications filed in the 19 nineties and unprocessed in places like San Joaquin Valley and arizona. 2018 we approved one filed by wyoming in 1987 and discovered and unprocessed from nevada 1975, 45 years ago. With Water Pollution that illumination system where those permits which regulate have been would reduce 32 percent from 2017. Regarding superfund cleanups, similar story too Many Americans live near the superfund sites for too long. Cleaning these up as been a major focus of the Trump Administration in his first years in office we completed four or partial deletion of 55 sites from the National Priorities list including 27 last year the most in a single year since 2001. Those 27 sites deleted 14 have been on the list since the 1980s, seven since the 19 nineties. Last years accelerated pace and we will complete the deletion process and other. Host full or partial sites by the end of the fiscal year with the total number of full or partial deletions of President Trumps first term to at least 82 sites it is equal to the neartotal of the prior administration. It is worth repeating the Trump Administration the first four years has matched the amount of superfund seats delisted in its eight years in office. Many of the sites delisted this year have been on the list for more than 30 years of full or partial deletion of the site tells local communities and the publics important work has been done in the site is eligible for funding and freed of the stigma to be a superfund site if you reflect on the most polluted and hazardous hazardous sites those are the most disadvantaged communities in this country then you start to realize how important omission epa has been given by congress when me clean up those polluted sites quickly and return to the community for the improved use this is where it needs to be strongest at the foundation there are many other examples of this backlog the family of chemicals have been around since the 19 fifties no administration ever took them on and in 2019 we took the historic step to create an action plan using all Program Offices to deal with the emerging chemical of concern. The action plan outlines more than 20 key focus areas with short and longterm goals is agencies First National research and Risk Communication plan. With lead and copper pipes the administration claimed to have worked on it with for years with nothing to show even with a wakeup call in flint michigan 2014 and still did nothing. We will finalize the rule within the next several weeks for the First Time Ever will call for the testing of lead in all schools and daycare centers. We deliver the final rule apri april 2019 to strengthen asbestos regulations for the first time in over 30 years. This rule closed a dangerous loophole that could have allowed contaminated floor tiles to return to the marketplace without going through the review we have completely eliminated with those impaired waters marking the first time the backlog has been eliminated january 2017 approving more than 7000 for those maximum daily load plans and 25 percent increase from the preceding three and a half years the backlog of actions has fallen dramatically from over 12017 to just a single street priority of this year thats more than 99 percent decrease of the backlog and in doing so will have a higher percentage of state Water Quality standards and then to update water standards some are actively trying to derail one of the most successful to bring the divisive lawsuit over the chesapeake restoring that the past decade it is evidence how strong partnerships can create better environmental outcomes so some downstream states in the election ensued over a position developed by the Obama Administration a few years ago and on the more positive note to reduce the injection control we cut the length of time to less than 150 days down from the average of 500 days in the past. In january 2017 the backlog of new chemicals has grown to over 500 and as of today the number of chemicals epa is under review is less than 260 percent decrease in the agency is completed over those commissions since the beginning of the administration and when it comes to enforcement we have reversed the decline of the program that began 2011 to bring on new agents. 2019 the new criminal cases increased for the first time with a 40 percent increase the 2017 and the new criminal cases opened by eta and it also means there are things we are not doing. We are not weapon amazing using for social engineering with the enforcement and compliance tools to solve environmental problems to protect Drinking Water and let exposure to revitalize communities. These accomplishments could not have happened without the hard work of our career employees across the agency in 2017 we freed up many bureaucratic obstacles that have plagued this agency for so long. This is a lot of information in detail but only by being honest about the past week can ensure for a Better Future for those communities left behind it goes without saying they are the foundation of the nation and not the other way around. This is an issue of the fight for Environmental Justice after my speech at the Nixon Library was criticized by some on the Environmental Justice record the Trump Administration has done more to elevate Environmental Justice than any president since george h. W. Bush created the program. First we elevated Environmental Justice out of the Enforcement Office into the Administrators Office relegated to be considered after the fact is that at the beginning of policies and rulemaking. Second the opportunity for tax credits it has done more to help Environmental Justice communities than all the grants of the past many years the Water Infrastructure act signed into law by President Trump 2018 codify the office of Environmental Justice for the first time. We incorporate to those offices to improve communities at a pace not seen before. Look at the superfund sites and in birmingham alabama the community the site of the bombings in 1963 that killed four girls including the baptist Street Church cleaning at 480 properties removing 60000 tons of soil contaminated with lead and arsenic and other heavy metals we have cleaned up 671 Residential Properties and removed contaminated soil from the neighborhood allowing the city to redevelop and we have cleaned up lead contamination in a historically black neighborhoods playgrounds and day cares and the National Sites of parity list. And pablo colorado epa accelerated the cleanup of 1900 Residential Properties with lead and arsenic by what was closed almost one century ago accelerated the completion but almost seven years and in Atlanta Georgia in two short years once a raising awareness of blood levels of the Westside Neighborhood if he has already removed contaminated soil from 140 properties. I visited last year and saw firsthand the work epa was doing to get sampling and clean up under way to protect the health and safety of those living in those communities which are among the citys poorest at the region to office over 200 of the poorest communities in the rico to recover from the devastating hurricanes of 2017 to partner with ngos to give Battery Storage allowing them to provide water during a power outage and with the lead and copper rule with the worst contaminated pipes are replaced because everyone regardless of their zip code deserve street one safe Drinking Water going to attainment status to help inner cities which is why it was so frustrating to see Previous Administrations not focus on this since 2017 we take an action to re designate 54 nonattainment areas during this time we believe another 25 areas could be redesignated by 2022 to re designate 54 nonattainment areas during this time we believe another 25 areas could be redesignated by 2022 that have regained include indianapolis which had sulfur dioxide and chicago and tampa for lead in 2018 in st. Louis for particulate matter in 2019 this protects people from asthma and heart and lung disease and heart attacks and behavior and learning problems and a host of other Health Issues it is my belief that if we want to help communities in the future we need to recognize where we made mistakes in the past it goes without saying neglected is a form of are not there just because itll have enough political power to stop the neglect go we should be striving for in the coming years as a Community Driven environmentalism with revitalization is do more than all the rhetoric of political campaigns what we have in the United States in terms of the environment is unique want to preserve for future generations but i also want more recognition put words the areas of the country that are still polluted and need our help 50 years after the epa creation our environment taken as a whole is much cleaner than other powers and most of the rich industrialized economies around the world we are at the Inflection Point regarding epa have a clear vision three pay focusing on communities and citizens here in the United States. For the 50th Anniversary Commemoration we have a slogan progress for a stronger future. Last week i was in st. Louis learning about the environmental training at our office is doing with religious organizations in missouri. The pandemic has hurt church finances and then to develop better environmental behaviors and money saving measures help churches keep their doors open working with faithbased groups is what it means to strengthen the foundation of our communities we are doing and it is great to see you and i am reminded by something alex de tocqueville wrote two centuries ago, the health of Democratic Society by a measured by the functions of private citizens if i work to implement those laws and working with states and local governments to help communities help themselves is the best way to the quality of the environment physical and spiritual across the nation this will take some time as a redirection not just Human Resources but emotional resources because in some ways it is heartbreaking to see these communities with environmental pollution continue to suffer and feel abandoned while other places prosper to know the proper role this is it. Focusing epa our agency can change the future for People Living in this country who have been left behind simply for living in polluted places everyone deserves to have a Clean Environment regardless of what zip code they live in. We do work has been neglected for years and with the durability to withstand the future of our mental challenges our nation no space even those we cannot now imagine or anticipate. To do the work before us we can help protect the places we love and those hurt by pollution and bring them all the way back to where they were before the pollution began. Thank you for the invitation to speak and thank you for being here. Thank you administrator take your seat and to be clear