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 stays 6 feet away from mine. With those issues of Climate Change but to focus on superfund we will start with that it seems the new focus on the more recent issues superfund has been a thorny problem for a long time the administration to remedy some of these harms why has it been such a difficult program to administer and why was this administration so successful to turn that around . It was successful because we are focusing on results not on the activities of the program. Actually is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has done some great things but is focused on measuring activities on a state by state basis instead of focusing on getting them cleaned up after my nixon speech i was attacked by former epa staff led by former political people. When the career staff said the number superfund constructions has declined under the administration that is an activity not related to results of getting this i cleaned up super tight construction to explain briefly with the groundWater Pollution we install the pump and treat system at the site we install the equipment as soon as it is installed that is a completion. Been the equipment operates for years or decades depending on the site not until all the water is treated as a cleaned up. So critics are planning to a meaningless statistic pump and treats were installed years of go so the construction would go down that she actually made the case for me without knowing it because she focused on the outdated activity that is not a measure of the success of the program to get the sites cleaned up. You mentioned criticism from former staff, how do you think of the relationship between the epa and the Civil Servants over time . A few days ago on Constitution Day attorney general bar dedicated an entire speech to thinking through the relationship between the leadership of an agency and career staff and experts and others within the agency. How do you think of that relationship between the politically accountable and those who serve in the agency often from one administration to the next door to the next . We have the most dedicated employees at the epa because of their concern of the environment and all of the accomplishments we could not have done those without the dedication of career employees. We have turned around the agency in terms of dealing with permits and that is hard work and to implement the lead Management System now there is a tool they can use to solve a problem and they are using it. It is effective. What i have seen with those recent retirements people didnt want to change your environment they are stuck in the process of the past and you can see that from the criticisms like the superfund. Some of the people who have left the agency are stuck in the mindset of measuring activities enough focusing on results and we has a very dedicated career employees who are now focusing on the results and their jobs. Before we get too far from the superfund conversation lets talk about flint michigan. It happened a few years ago has taken time to do with the problem but what lessons can be learned from the crisis in terms of protecting the environment and responding when accidents happen . The lead and copper will have not been updated in 20 years. We proposed it last year and finalizing in the next few weeks to focus on getting the lead pipes replaced around the country but also a few other important measures including testing and all schools and daycare centers. The flint michigan problem people that were notified they did not act quickly and they needed to go faced with a similar problem in new jersey and newark with lead in their pipes and reverse them to deliver bottled water to the residence figuring out the source and the remedy, they were hesitant to do that at first. We stepped in and said no. We will not have flint michigan happen again we have to take this seriously so were working across the country to make sure that doesnt happen again. Working with Water Systems one thing it deals with is a complex mix of authority of the federal government and State Government and state legislatures and commissions and local districts and so on. How do we think of the federalism of the whole process . Words the proper role for the state and locality . I can talk another hour on this topic but we do her best work working in cooperation with states and local governments we see that the superfund program. The epa reorganize the regional offices and some of the states are doing the same. The problem we have had at all levels of government we were sideload in our approach air and water and chemical and land office. If not done a good job to work across the action plan we released a year and a half ago uses people all of the offices we have to do that on a daily basis so we have to be more nimble and also we have decreased not only general permits by decreasing the permit backlog over 50 percent but today almost all are done by the states they do 96 or 97 percent of the water permits and all but to have the air program delegated to them when we do a review historically we only look at enforcement data next year we will also look at the permit data to see how they are processing the permits if there stepping into the role of the federal government then we need to make sure they are doing it in a thoughtful manner faster than what they could accomplish in the past. This is also been a thorny problem for years as a constant tension between the federal government setting standards for leaving the states with authority how best to attain those standards federal standards for state flexibility. In recent years the balance has gone in the wrong direction with the epa to micromanage the states and in addition the backlog. What has been the most difficult part to turn that around the last few years . Not just the approval process more efficient and productive but also to approve it themselves the states have flexibility . If we dont approve the state they can issue the federal Implementation Plan issuing ten times the number of the process of four previous combined. Since march of 2017 on average we have taken one flip and turned it back into a sip were reducing the number of steps out there which is when the federal government says you must do this and thats not the right approach. s we are converting those working with the states and in a cooperative manner that is what they envisioned the last quarter step it one desperate measure and that seems to be the first action of the Obama Administration they just issued their own flips and we have turn that around and thats the right approach for epa working cooperatively with the states as they develop theres before they submit them to us and then work with them after they submit them to approve them. It doesnt water down the protection quick. Absolutely not it shows how they reach attainment and is shown by the number of those designations to reverse them. If is the year has gotten better and air pollution today in the last 50 years is 7 percent cleaner than the beginning of the administration and since the epa was founded it has been reduced 77 percent 7 percent under the administration. Lets take a step back from the constitutional structure from the executive. That is in the dc circuit will be argued in october. The navigable waters rule out weston the ninth. How do you describe why the court should sustain those. We replace the clean powerplant and i get criticized for replacing that the people need to remember the Supreme Court issued a stay on the clean powerplant and never took affect with the first time they have done that so they say the Obama Administration went outside so we did at the very beginning was take a look at what the Clean Air Act said and formulated the ace rule that follows the law i believe will be of by the seat dc circuit in the Supreme Court of the goes there but on the water side as soon as the Obama Administration issued the rule has stayed first in every state the lawsuit replacement for that rule failed in the courts so our rule is there is the law of the land with the navigable waters protection will something i like to joke apparently unique we took a hard look at the clean water act in the Supreme Court cases and remote the rule to follow the law Supreme Court cases so i believe the navigable waters protection will be upheld by the Supreme Court. A couple minutes of questions before we go to audience questions. The stay the Supreme Court issued for the powerplant, think its very easy to draw a line to that moment from an earlier moment at the epa is not one of the epas greatest moments when they lost in the Supreme Court versus michigan dealing with stationary sources they lost it had gone past the limits of the statute and then said even though we lost the case industry has fully complied with the rul rule. I think that was a blow to the credibility of the epa a few years ago thats why the court was more skeptical. But it reminds us of the delicate balance of the epa that when it issues a rule or promulgate standards you want to begin compliance we have process after that for judicial review. What is the right way to do this for the agency to make rules to start ushering the industry toward compliance to understand there is a rule process to follow quick. Youre absolutely correct the Supreme Court decision i said at the time when i was in the private sector that i felt Justice Scalia is not writing that case the case they were going to get on the clean powerplant so the comments he made in his opinion it was wrong of the epa and at the time the Emergency Air toxic rule at the time the epa administrator said you are right ashley was the administrator mccarthy who said the agency is combined complied so doesnt matter i can work on the clean powerplant and felt that because it went outside the fence line which the agency had never done they knew it would be overturned. The Utility Industry would comply before the Supreme Court overturned and that is not the way Regulatory Agency should operate go that is out of bounds we should follow the law Congress Sets the law. Not only enforcement we have to enact that it is inappropriate for the agency to knowingly go beyond what the law states and the epa did that in a few cases. So on a related theme, the industries the epa regulates are often among among the most capital intensive to make a longterm plan strategic deployment and investment of capital and other resources and traces with consequences for many years often times planning the horizon well beyond eight years so that regulatory uncertainty how do we minimize the problem of regulatory uncertainty amid regulation . We should be more open how regulations are developed in the reform discussing today is transparency in costbenefit and the fact we now call guidance in a searchable database that should provide more transparency not just to the regulated industry but environmental groups and the plight of citizens around the country and having that transparency. I spent my career at epa in the nineties working on the community right to know active fundamentally believe the public has a right to know the basis for regulations which is why we move forward on those reforms because if we tell the public what were using in the data and the regulations will be better accepted and that will help provide more certainty to the community through our process if they are more up front with how we make decisions. Maybe we talk about the scientific transparency will for a moment. I like the concept of it i spoken out in favor of the puzzle to be honest. Thank you. I was have to make a concession that the mere fact to create a rule that has standards were scientific studies can and cannot be used in development may well be valid science there is a cost and that the benefit is transparency and public accountability but it will have some impact on the way science is produced and disseminated and used in government so how do we ensure we have transparent science that is still the best . We did include in the. With the supplemental proposal that the administrator and the Scientific Study is important to be used for regulation we can waive the Transparency Part for that study but the majority of people who are opposed to this preferred decisions be made in the proverbial smoke back room. They dont want the agency to be up front how we make our decisions they are to make them behind closed doors and say this is what the regulation is in the standard that fundamentally believe we need to explain the basis behind the regulations and standards. We have audience questions with the Green New Deal. A lot of public debate and discussion around proposals like the Green New Deal to achieve goals of zero Greenhouse Gas emissions how do you think about calls for that kind of reform and how do they stack up for the pay has accomplished quick. Theres a couple of different versions out there there are several versions one of the things they call for his the internal Combustion Engine by 2035 that is not feasible. And as far as he will missions we dont have the Battery Storage technology to get to that point people dont realize there are negative impacts to the environment with every Single Energy source the only one i cant figure out would be geothermal im sure if it was more widely used there may be in negative impact there are negative Environmental Impacts to wind and solar and little focus on that also the minerals that go to produce Renewable Energy or focus on the disposal of the solar panels at the end of their Life Expectancy and the Wind Turbines or the impact on birds and bats the wind turbine im not saying we shouldnt use them but every Single Energy source has a negative consequence and on the renewable side we dont talk about it. We should be open and upfront of the positives and negatives of all energy sources. You mentioned Battery Technology its true batteries are not perfect they are getting better. Solar panels the cost is coming down all these technologies are improving Like Technology does was the right rule for the epa and helping to advance the future without dictating the future . Former epa official years ago used to regulate automobiles and published mmr called driving the future the government doesnt drive the future thought that was backwards what role does government have to move toward the future . We need to have standards in place i dont think winners and losers in the Energy Sector its important for the federal government to help Fund Research to make batteries more efficient and on solar panels and the use of Cool Technology like Carbon Capture and sequestration thats the appropriate role to spur that innovation in the marketplace i dont believe regulation should pick winners and losers one big problem with the obama cafe standards if you were to get the Emission Reductions i called for you have to have 50 percent electric vehicle fleet by 2025 go that will not happen the only way Auto Companies could comply was to cash and credits unrelated to vehicle miles or defiance that was expected to be 1 billion which would have been passed on to consumers by built into the price of a new car. The next question comes from the guardian the Fourth NationalClimate Assessment states Climate Change has doubled the area since the 1980s so given the huge fires we see a west do you consider wildfire smoke a Public Health threat . Make the final question on the Health Threat come absolutely our career scientist developed an app you can download to give updates to you live if its safe to go outside for that particular matter. Expires for creating a health issue. I should have started with loss of life the failures and we all concerned about the loss of life it is the Environmental Impact from smoke and water. And to have water impact for years afterwards and the forest fires in the west are from for Forest Management and not Climate Change. On that point new with that climate aspect the private sector that is responsible for maintaining Energy Infrastructure to keep those lanes clear the responsibility of State Government and the Public Sector and someone . How does the government as a whole even began to grapple with an issue like that with so many different private and state actors quick. That is out of the jurisdiction of epa. Its a huge problem we worked on legislation which was blocked by environmentalist that would have allowed utilities to go in to clean out the dead to be near the lines. If the lines cross federal property they dont have that authority because of liability reasons is a huge problem its outside of the jurisdiction but we do need to focus on. What is the new status of waters of the United States rule . I teach in my Administrative Law case at george mason so many are grappling with what is a navigable water or water of the United States why is it such a difficult problem but it epa and army corps of engineers to settle that survives judicial review and why is this time many different . It will be different so go back to the clean water act navigable water at that Point Congress was focusing on ships and puts on waterways and has been expanded through Supreme Court cases to include wetlands and other waters that contribute to our definition i believe follows this up for cases so i think it will be upheld it already passed the first test at the District Court and at this point we are in the middle of training and rating those guidance documents for the army corps inspectors around the country is very important every army corps inspector follows the law the exact same way i saw this of the practice in the past some interpreted it the way they wanted to on a casebycase basis. We wrote the new waters of the us protection act so the Property Owner can stay on their property and decide if it falls and to the definition so what is the water of the us and what is not and the definition. It seems to me so much of the Energy Talent channeled into the epa and army corps over navigable waters was wellintentioned and responsive to being scientific understandings of how water flows. That was only channeled into the legislative process it seems to me as my editorial comment the more they stay within their mandates and not justify where they are limited the more you would hope it would be channeled into the legislative process. I will you make that comment. I will say with the Supreme Court decision what is written in the clean water act has not been kept up with the times. This comes in policy director at the american conservation coalition. How can we make sure we have a steady supply of Critical Minerals in the United States without reliant on countries such as china and what is your review of domestic drilling i think he means mining. But this goes to the properly identify the more we rely a new technology the more we are reliant upon china and other countries unless we can find technology to be based on a more diverse and domestic set of resources. The pad you probably right now has Rare Minerals facebook a Cambridge University last year a young woman who had a fairly hostile question and she read on her iphone and i read plied if shes that concerned she might want to get rid of her iphone because of the minerals. We need them and we should be mining them here in the United States because now we mine in a more environmentally protective manner than any other place in the world nowhere else are they following standards and rules that we have in place in the United States. There is this attitude of not in my backyard for extraction and mining in the us and thats below the worst environmental decisions people can make because we do in a much cleaner fashion following the rules and standards. To add to his question the more i rely on the tablet and less on the piece of paper the more energy i am using and they say software eats the world more rely on the electronics so that increases not just Greenhouse Gas emissions but also challenge the Energy Infrastructure with the outdated power grids and what role does epa play to help ensure our Energy Infrastructure is modern and efficient