EPA administrators in the first Trump administration removed, weakened, and delayed many rules that protect public health and the environment. Instead of working to deliver environmental and public health protections, the Trump EPA allowed higher levels of pollution for longer periods of time. EPA leadership also undertook a larger project that will be more difficult to reverse: dismantling the agency’s ability to do its job. They also undermined the agency’s capacity to develop, implement, and enforce effective programs that reduce pollution and serve vital public health needs.
See below for our posts describing changes to critical processes that enable the agency to carry out its mission at the intersection between public health, science, and the environment.
Note: This is from the first Trump administration and is no longer being updated.
Areas
During the first Trump administration EPA undermined the agency’s standing as an expert agency and its ability to take science-based actions. EPA leadership also replaced qualified experts on its advisory committees, proposed excluding important science from its decision-making, changed its regulatory benefit calculations, and limited the scientific information it shares with the public.
- Law Scholars Oppose EPA’s Changes to the Ozone Standards-Setting and Science-Advising Process (Oct. 2020)
- Final SAB Report Highlights Missing Justification for EPA’s “Secret Science” Proposal (May 2020)
- DC Circuit Weighs in on EPA’s Science Mandates (May 2020)
- More Legal Questions in EPA’s Supplemental Regulatory Science Proposal (April 2020)
- Cutting Science Advisors out of the Decision Making Process (April 2020)
- Science Advisory Board Draft Reports Reviewing Four Major Proposed Rules (Jan. 2020)
- GAO Report on EPA’s Science Advisory Panels (Aug. 2019)
- Removing Climate Change Information from EPA’s Website (July 2019)
- Appointing a Climate Change Skeptic to EPA’s Advisory Committee (Feb. 2019)
- Potential Presidential Committee on Climate Security (Feb. 2019)
- Comments by Public Health Experts on the Secret Science Proposal (Oct. 2018)
- Changing How EPA Calculates Regulatory Benefits (June 2018)
- CleanLaw podcast: Modifying the Air Quality Standards Review Process with Janet McCabe
- Legal Shortcomings in EPA’s So-Called “Secret Science” Proposed Rule (May 2018)
- Results-Oriented Regulatory Science (May 2018)
- EPA is Planning to Limit the Science It Considers (April 2018)
- EPA’s Talking Points Cast Doubt on Climate Change Science (April 2018)
- Political Vetting of Grants (Feb. 2018)
- Removing Academic Scientists from Science Advisory Panels (Feb. 2018)
During the first Trump administration, EPA failed to protect human health to the best of its ability. Agency leadership undermined the review process for air pollution standards that are essential to public health- the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
- New Cost-Benefit Rule Hampers EPA’s Ability to Regulate Harmful Air Pollutants (Jan. 2021)
- Ongoing Changes to the Air Quality Standards Review Process (July 2020)
- CleanLaw podcast: Laura Bloomer Speaks with Gretchen Goldman about EPA Science Advisory Panels (Dec. 2019)
- The Legal Consequences of EPA’s Disruption of the NAAQS Process (Sept. 2019)
- Comparing EPA’s 2018 Year in Review with its Mission (March 2019)
- Limiting Expertise in EPA’s Review of the Air Quality Standards (Oct. 2018)
- CleanLaw podcast: Modifying the Air Quality Standards Review Process (June 2018)
Under the first Trump administration, EPA made it more difficult for the public to hold the agency accountable for protecting public health and the environment.
- EPA’s Treatment of the Press (Sept. 2020)
- Legal and Legislative Challenges to EPA’s FOIA Restrictions (Feb. 2020)
- Comments on Proposed Changes to EAB’s Procedures (Feb. 2020)
- Updates to the Environmental Appeals Board Procedures (Dec. 2019)
- Restricting Access to Public Records (July 2019)
- Comparing EPA’s 2018 Year in Review with its Mission (March 2019)
- EPA Changes its Settlement Practices (Feb. 2018)
Under the first Trump administration, EPA changed its compliance and enforcement policies and how it collected monitoring information. These actions decreased the overall effectiveness of EPA’s programs and regulations.
- CleanLaw podcast: Next Generation Environmental Regulations, Joe Goffman interviews Cynthia Giles (Nov. 2020)
- DOJ Phases Out Supplemental Environmental Projects in Environmental Enforcement (Aug. 2020)
- CleanLaw podcast: EPA’s Enforcement During Covid-19 (June 2020)
- CleanLaw podcast: EPA ‘s Enforcement of Oil & Gas (Nov. 2018)
- Centralizing EPA’s Compliance Information Requests (Feb. 2018)
- New Source Review Enforcement Memo (Feb. 2018)
EPA’s EJ efforts coming into the first Trump administration had been insufficient to address the scale and severity of environmental injustice in the US. These challenges worsened during the first Trump administration.