13 Environmental Protection Agency

What has happened

Nothing verified in this chapter yet.

Still to come

All recommendations in this chapter

Every recommendation this chapter is the home of, in printed-page order.

1. 421 Rename Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy as Deputy Chief of Staff, Regulatory Improvement Not started
2. 421 Eliminate the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights Not started
3. 421 Eliminate the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance Not started
4. 421 Develop a plan to relocate EPA regional offices Not started
5. 421 Restructure the Office of International and Tribal Affairs into the American Indian Office Not started
6. 421 Eliminate the Office of Public Engagement and Environmental Education Not started
7. 421 Move Office of Children's Health Protection and OSDBU out of the Administrator's office Not started
8. 421 Review the EPA grants program for political affiliation Not started
9. 422 Reset EPA science advisory boards Not started
10. 422 Restore the EPA guidance portal Not started
11. 422 Issue a Day One executive order reorganizing EPA with pause-and-review teams Day one Not started
12. 422 Stay and repropose existing major EPA rules and guidance Not started
13. 422 Grant petitions for rule reconsideration and stays of rules Not started
14. 422 Stop all EPA grants to advocacy groups Not started
15. 422 Reassess sue-and-settle cases and adopt a new settlement policy Not started
16. 422 Downsize EPA by terminating newest hires in low-value programs Not started
17. 422 Cut EPA costs, FTEs, and duplicative programs via a tiered-down budget Not started
18. 422 End EPA activities lacking clear congressional authorization Not started
19. 422 Revise guidance on the social cost of carbon and other regulatory inputs Not started
20. 423 Assemble and deploy the EPA political appointee team before Day One Day one Not started
21. 423 Issue a rule on consistent and transparent consideration of costs at OAR Not started
22. 423 Revise RACT cost guidance to reflect actual regulatory burden Not started
23. 424 Conduct CAA Section 321 evaluations of job and plant-closure effects Not started
24. 424 Direct Inflation Reduction Act air funding to states, not nonprofits Not started
25. 424 Remove the Super-Emitter Response Program and other third-party enforcement authority Not started
26. 424 Revise regional haze rules and the 2064 natural visibility goal Not started
27. 424 Reverse the Good Neighbor program's 2022 expansion beyond power plants Not started
28. 424 Require CAA Section 126(b) petitions to identify a discrete group of upwind sources Not started
29. 424 Require CASAC to weigh all statutory factors including economic effects Not started
30. 424 Strip non-statutory requirements from states that reach attainment status Not started
31. 425 Streamline transportation conformity for federally funded highway projects Not started
32. 425 Adopt policies preventing abuse of the CAA error correction authority Not started
33. 425 Limit EPA reliance on CAA Section 301 general rulemaking authority Not started
34. 425 Return the air standard-setting role to Congress Needs Congress Not started
35. 425 Remove the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program for unregulated source categories Not started
36. 425 Update the 2009 endangerment finding on a deadline Not started
37. 425 Establish a significant emissions rate for greenhouse gases Not started
38. 425 Repeal Biden-era AIM Act implementing regulations for HFCs Not started
39. 425 Refuse manufacturer petitions adding new HFC restrictions Not started
40. 426 Conduct realistic cost assessments of the HFC phasedown program Not started
41. 426 Set greenhouse gas car standards under Department of Transportation leadership Not started
42. 426 Review the ramp rate for vehicle standards for achievability Not started
43. 426 Count life cycle emissions of electric vehicles in vehicle standards Not started
44. 426 Restrict California's Clean Air Act waiver to California-specific issues Not started
45. 426 Bar other states from adopting California greenhouse gas standards Not started
46. 426 Stop using ICAO to raise aircraft emission standards Not started
47. 426 Reconsider the Cleaner Trucks Initiative Not started
48. 426 Exempt efficiency improvements from triggering New Source Review permits Not started
49. 426 Restore the Trump EPA Once-In, Always-In position Not started
50. 426 Revisit 24/7/365 potential-to-emit assumptions in permitting Not started
51. 427 Bar Title V objection petitions from second-guessing state decisions Not started
52. 427 Clarify the relationship between New Source Review and Title V Not started
53. 427 Require predicate findings before regulating a new pollutant under CAA 111 Not started
54. 427 Automatically withdraw proposed CAA rules not finalized within one year Not started
55. 427 Revise CAA Section 111(d) implementing regulations to defer to states Not started
56. 427 Exempt unregulated fugitive emissions from MACT standards Not started
57. 427 Harmonize CAA Section 112 regulations with Section 111 regulations Not started
58. 427 Align EPA radiation standards with NRC, DOE, and DOT standards Not started
59. 427 Reassess the Linear Non-Threshold radiation standard Not started
60. 428 Place political appointees over OTAQ in Ann Arbor and OAQPS in Research Triangle Park Not started
61. 428 Establish a political Chief of Staff for the Office of Air and Radiation Not started
62. 428 Move the Renewable Fuel Standard program into its own suboffice Not started
63. 428 Require OAR approval before regional air enforcement actions Not started
64. 428 Strictly enforce the 2019 Office of Water Policy for Draft Documents memo Not started
65. 429 Repeal and reissue WOTUS and CWA Section 401 regulations Not started
66. 429 Issue a WOTUS rule codifying the Rapanos definition of navigable waters Needs Congress Not started
67. 429 Issue a CWA Section 401 water quality certification rule Not started
68. 429 Issue a rule setting a time limit on CWA Section 308 information requests Not started
69. 429 Issue a rule clarifying criminal negligence under CWA Sections 402 and 404 Not started
70. 429 Issue a rule prohibiting retroactive or preemptive CWA Section 404 permits Not started
71. 429 Issue a rule promoting nutrient trading Not started
72. 429 Issue a compensatory mitigation rule imposing no new requirements Not started
73. 429 Issue a rule updating the Clean Water Act needs survey Not started
74. 430 Issue an executive order expediting state primacy in CWA and SDWA programs Not started
75. 430 Increase funding for the Clean Water Act needs survey Needs Congress Not started
76. 430 Shift Office of Water SES staff to regional offices Not started
77. 431 Require project management training for OLEM cleanup project managers Not started
78. 431 Adopt EPA's Lean Management System across all OLEM programs Not started
79. 431 Delegate CERCLA authority to the OLEM Assistant Administrator Not started
80. 431 Transfer OLEM cleanup work and funding to states and tribes Not started
81. 431 Revise the National Contingency Plan to streamline cleanups Not started
82. 431 Increase use of CERCLA removal authority for short-term cleanups Not started
83. 431 Streamline ARAR determinations across Superfund sites Not started
84. 431 Revise groundwater cleanup regulations to account for PFAS Not started
85. 431 Revisit the CERCLA hazardous substance designation for PFAS Not started
86. 431 Let potentially responsible parties conduct Superfund five-year reviews Not started
87. 432 Fully stand up the Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains Not started
88. 432 Develop a 10-year lead cleanup plan for existing cleanup sites Not started
89. 432 Create an RCRA post-closure care permit Not started
90. 432 Promulgate a rule creating an alternative pathway for recycled materials Not started
91. 432 Make the hazardous waste e-manifest system 100 percent electronic Not started
92. 432 Move RCRA Section 3004 air emission standards to the air office Not started
93. 432 Revise the Risk Management Program rule to restore 2019 amendments Not started
94. 432 Eliminate or consolidate EPA regional laboratories Not started
95. 433 Consolidate OLEM non-core functions into a single suboffice Not started
96. 433 Eliminate the Office of Emergency Management and reassign its functions Not started
97. 433 Drop "Emergency Management" from the OLEM name Not started
98. 433 Make chemical decisions risk-based rather than hazard-based like IRIS Not started
99. 433 Narrow the scope of TSCA chemical evaluations to uncovered exposure pathways Not started
100. 434 Revise the regulations governing new chemical reviews Not started
101. 434 Presume OSHA compliance and PPE use in TSCA risk evaluations Not started
102. 434 Use real-world chemical use in conditions-of-use assessments Not started
103. 434 Transition the Safer Choice program to the private sector Not started
104. 434 Right-size the TSCA fees rule Not started
105. 434 Revise policies implementing the 2016 Lautenberg TSCA amendments Not started
106. 434 Develop a TSCA framework rule for existing chemical risk management Not started
107. 434 Use USDA and state pesticide usage data in registration and ESA reviews Not started
108. 434 Set data standards for information used in pesticide registration review Not started
109. 435 Reform the Endangered Species Act as applied to pesticides Needs Congress Not started
110. 435 Require other EPA offices to defer to the pesticide office on toxicity Not started
111. 435 Send involuntary pesticide registration withdrawals through OMB review Not started
112. 435 Attach guardrails and third-party audits to pesticide program funding increases Needs Congress Not started
113. 436 Notify Congress that EPA will halt unauthorized science activities Day one Not started
114. 436 Apply the Inauguration Day regulatory freeze to EPA with no exceptions Day one Not started
115. 436 Pause and review all EPA contracts above $100,000 Day one Not started
116. 436 Invite the public to report EPA research misconduct and bad science Day one Not started
117. 436 Eliminate the social cost of carbon and RCP 8.5 as regulatory inputs Day one Not started
118. 436 Nominate a reform-minded Assistant Administrator for Research and Development Not started
119. 436 Appoint a Science Adviser and six senior political appointees over EPA science Not started
120. 437 Suspend and review the activities of EPA advisory bodies Not started
121. 437 Retract science and risk-assessment delegations from career officials Not started
122. 437 Eliminate ORD's use of Title 42 hiring authority Not started
123. 437 Announce a plan to streamline EPA's laboratory structure Not started
124. 437 Eliminate unauthorized ORD programs including IRIS Not started
125. 438 Move research misconduct review out of the Office of Scientific Integrity Not started
126. 438 Create False Claims Act-style incentives for reporting scientific flaws Needs Congress Not started
127. 438 Stop using proprietary black box models in major EPA regulations Not started
128. 438 Reject the low-dose linear non-threshold model and precautionary defaults Not started
129. 439 Refocus EPA research using the 2018 Back-to-Basics NAAQS memo Not started
130. 439 Use the Congressional Review Act to disapprove EPA regulations Needs Congress Not started
131. 439 Legislate reform of EPA's Science Advisory Board and advisory bodies Needs Congress Not started
132. 439 Legislate greater transparency for advisory bodies under FACA Needs Congress Not started
133. 439 Legislate transparent, reproducible science requirements for EPA rules Needs Congress Not started
134. 439 Reject appropriations for unauthorized EPA programs like IRIS Needs Congress Not started
135. 439 Repeal or reform the Global Change Research Act of 1990 Needs Congress Not started
136. 440 Repeal Inflation Reduction Act environmental science grant programs Needs Congress Not started
137. 440 Elevate the American Indian Office to a stand-alone Assistant Administrator office Not started
138. 440 Relocate the American Indian Office to the American West Not started
139. 440 Run all EPA tribal grants and tribal matters through the American Indian Office Not started
140. 440 Create a Senate-confirmed Assistant Administrator for the American Indian Office Needs Congress Not started
141. 440 Place career tribal staff under the American Indian Office, not regional offices Not started
142. 441 Redefine Environmental Justice and review EPA's Title VI authority Not started
143. 441 Pause and review all ongoing Environmental Justice and Title VI actions Not started
144. 441 House all attorneys authorized to represent EPA in the Office of General Counsel Not started
145. 441 Move enforcement attorneys from OECA into the Office of General Counsel Not started
146. 441 Move OECA non-attorney program staff into program offices Not started
147. 442 Create a Deputy General Counsel for Enforcement position Not started
148. 442 Give OGC, not OCIR, the authority to assert EPA legal positions to Congress Not started
149. 442 Require OGC approval of legal positions taken by Regional Counsel offices Not started
150. 442 Stop EPA from publicly undermining other agencies' NEPA reviews Not started
151. 443 Consolidate OGC attorney functions into a Cross-Cutting Issues Law Office Not started
152. 443 Review OGC telework policies and off-site attorney duty stations Not started
153. 443 Rotate SES managers out of OGC and the Regional Counsel offices Not started
154. 443 Monitor all EPA external communications conveying a legal position Not started
155. 443 Bar unapproved public events presenting EPA legal positions Not started
156. 444 Pause and review all EPA grants over a set threshold Not started
157. 444 Put a political appointee in charge of the EPA grants office Not started
158. 444 Cap Office of Research and Development grants and require Administrator review Not started
159. 444 Consolidate OCFO office space and security contracts Not started
160. 444 Fill senior OCFO posts with political appointees and create an Appropriations Liaison Not started

No recommendations in this tier.