Regan Says More EPA Funding Needed for Enforcement

This week, the House of Representatives is out for a district work period while the Senate has another busy week of appropriations hearings on the Biden Administration’s FY23 budget proposals. On the House side, appropriators are in bipartisan negotiations over military and non-defense topline totals for FY23, and House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said she is aiming to get top lines within the next couple of weeks. The House spending committee plans to mark up all 12 spending bills in June with floor action expected in July.

 

On April 29, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan told the House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee that EPA is “woefully understaffed” and needs more money to enforce federal environmental laws such as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). “We’re making a plea to get the resources we need,” Regan told appropriators. “We have lost tremendous resources on the enforcement side,” he said.

 

Regan also urged Congress to approve the FY23 funding request of $124 million for TSCA, an increase of $60 million. The requested funding would also increase staff from the current 300 full-time employees to 449. The administration is requesting $213 million for EPA’s civil enforcement division for FY2023, an increase from the $171 million enacted spending level, and about 1,000 new full-time employees. Regan made similar comments at an April 6 Senate hearing.

 

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) inquired about the ongoing delays in evaluating existing chemicals under TSCA. Regan reiterated claims made by chemicals chief Michael Freedhoff that TSCA is underfunded by 50 percent because the Trump administration did not analyze or pursue the funding needed to implement the program, as Congress had requested. Regan said this is the reason the first nine of 10 chemical risk evaluation deadlines were missed by the agency. McCollum vowed to work with EPA to make sure they get the tools they need “to complete their homework assignment.”

 

Regan also said the EPA would release its rule limiting pollution from electric utilities “as soon as the Supreme Court rules” in an upcoming court case that could limit the agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas pollution.

 

The same day, 25 Democratic lawmakers led by Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) sent a letter to the Subcommittee appropriators asking them to include specific report language critical of advanced recycling:  “The Committee directs EPA to consider the emissions, disproportionate impacts, and lack of circularity in its ongoing rulemaking on the regulatory treatment of gasification and pyrolysis units and directs the Agency to maintain regulating these technologies as ‘municipal waste combustion units’ under air law section 129.” Eighteen states have passed legislation favorable to advanced recycling but environmentalists have targeted the processes as a threat to their goal of ending the use of fossil fuels, presumably because they are concerned it might lead to more recycling, and therefor the continued use of plastic.

 

Senate Panel Advances WRDA 

On May 4, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously to advance the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes a package of numerous waterway, flood navigation, and Western water projects. The current WRDA places more emphasis on environmental justice than previous versions of the bill.

 

Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) said the widely supported bipartisan bill was drafted with input from all 100 senators. Committee members said the bill will supplement the $55 billion in water investments included in last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law which provides nearly $35 billion for EPA water infrastructure projects, including funding for lead pipe removal.

 

The provisions also focus on coastal resiliency and will authorize 36 new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers feasibility studies and either authorize or modify 21 Corps projects for construction. It also establishes advisory committees for the Corps on environmental justice issues and mandates prioritizing disadvantaged communities.

 

The package now goes to the full Senate, where it is likely to be well received. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is also working on its draft text after holding a series of hearings.

 

 Industry Calls on Extending Comment Deadline 

 

Industry groups are urging EPA to extend its public comment deadlines on the recently released draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) on the human health effects of exposure to formaldehyde and the TSCA proposed rule to restrict the uses of chrysotile asbestos. Industry groups contend that the process is flawed and rushed and that TSCA’s scientific standards are not being met. The groups are asking EPA to extend its June 13 public comment deadline by 60 days. They also ask that EPA resumes holding public “listening sessions” as part of the IRIS evaluation process.

 

EPA Publishes Proposed Consent Decree on PVC

On May 4, EPA published a notice requesting public comment on a proposed consent decree regarding the Center for Biological Diversity’s petition on PVC. CBD filed a petition in 2014 with EPA to classify discarded PVC as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Last year, it sued EPA, alleging the agency violated both RCRA and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by failing to respond to the petition within a reasonable time. The proposed consent decree states that EPA must sign a tentative decision on the plaintiff’s petition no later than Jan. 20, 2023, and issue a final decision no later than April 12, 2024.

 

Vinyl Institute President and CEO Ned Monroe said, “The Vinyl Institute supports a timely EPA review process. The Vinyl Institute will continue to cooperate with EPA staff to provide science-based information on petitions regarding PVC. Government health and safety agencies worldwide have studied PVC and recognize the importance of products such as PVC pipe that delivers clean drinking water and landfill liners that prevent groundwater contamination. If the EPA follows the science, as we expect they will, CBD’s petition will be denied.”