Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has placed himself in charge of all decisions regarding the nation’s waterways, throwing to the wayside the agency’s regional offices that used to have some say on the matters, according to a leaked memo.
In the new directive, Pruitt states he will be making all final decisions when it comes to streams, ponds and wetlands.
[EPA’s Scott Pruitt lives to fight another day]
The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility provided CNN with a copy of the memo, which was dated March 30.
“With this revised delegation, authority previously delegated to regional administrators to make final determinations of geographic jurisdiction shall be retained by the administrator,” the memo states.
It added that all regional administrators “involve the administrator’s office early on in the process” on developing any final determinations on wetlands and waterways.
The move is being seen by activists as a way to centralize the EPA’s authority in Washington, rather than delegate to the regional arms. That would give Pruitt the final say on whether an infrastructure or energy project, for example, has a negative environmental effect on waterways.
Projects that could affect waterways include anything from a coal mine to President Trump’s border wall or “any other project that discharges … fill material into a wetland or waterway,” said the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
“This action subjects safeguards for clean water across the U.S. to filtration through one politician’s hands,” said Kyla Bennett, a former EPA employee who serves as the group’s New England director. “Every corporation that wants a pass on Clean Water Act compliance is invited to privately meet with the most user-friendly EPA administrator in history.”
The EPA says the memo is meant to deal with “significant issues or technical difficulties” that could arise while determining wetlands and waterways, said EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman. The memo was put out to ensure any issues are “handled in a consistent and uniform manner, particularly during the [Waters of the U.S.] rulemaking.” The Trump EPA is revamping the Obama-era water regulations.
“Regions will absolutely be involved in the process and work closely with the administrator’s office when doing the work to assess jurisdiction for very select, and often rare, cases,” Bowman said.
The memo comes as the agency is in the final stage of redefining what constitutes a U.S. waterway under its Water of the United States rule. The Obama administration rule was deemed as federal overreach by designating everything from ditches to streams as under the authority of the EPA’s Clean Water Act Authority.
The Obama-era rule was stayed by the courts, which has reinforced the administration’s resolve in redoing the water rule in a way that is deferential to states and development.
“This latest move by Pruitt is his Plan B as it is becoming increasingly clear that his Clean Water rewrite plan is illegal and will be tossed out in court,” Bennett said. “This amounts to a crude Clean Water Act coup d’état.”
Trump has directed agencies to find ways to streamline regulations under his infrastructure plan. The memo could be in response to that.
