John O’Grady, President, AFGE National Council of EPA Locals #238

EPA announcement endangers hundreds of communities living near toxic coal ash waste dumps, putting residents at increased risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke and brain damage.

The end of the “Master Lease Plans” that gave hunters, anglers and groups hoping to protect cultural artifacts a voice in how public land should be managed when parcels are proposed for leasing also was eliminated.

Abandoning the Clean Water Rule will mean pollution, flooding, and harm to fish and wildlife across the country, undermining decades of work to protect and enhance our water resources.

The EPA withdrew a policy that requires facilities that are major sources of hazardous air pollutants to remain classified as major sources even if they lowered their emissions.

Breaking with decades of precedent, the EPA has vastly expanded a loophole that allows major industrial polluters to turn off their pollution control equipment and pump tons of additional lead, chromium and other hazardous air pollutants into surrounding neighborhoods.

Repealing the CPP turns back the clock on fighting climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

EPA Administrator Pruitt delays deadlines in a 2015 rule limiting toxic water pollution from coal-fired power plants.

The cancellation of the $325,000 grant to the Bay Journal may just be one small piece of EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s “back-to-basics” effort to reorient the agency toward its bare-bones, statutory responsibilities.

Trump revokes an executive order put in place by President Obama in 2015 that bolstered protections for federally funded projects like roads and bridges, from the impact of climate change related

Two D.C. Circuit Court judges warn Pruitt that he is ‘avoiding statutory duty’ to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and the rule’s implementation cannot be delayed indefinitely.

The Toxic Substances Control Act was re-interpreted by Pruitt to be narrower in defining how chemicals are evaluated.

A federal court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency is required to enforce a methane emissions rule previously implemented by former President Barack Obama’s administration.

Pruitt orders rewrite of Waters of the U.S. Rule, a sweeping regulation under President Obama that helped define which waterways and wetlands fall under federal government purview and expanded federal government protections to the drinking water of a third of all Americans.

Pruitt announces plans for a two-year pause on regulations that would reduce emissions leaks from oil and gas operators, acknowledging that pollution from the leaks will result in “disproportionate” harm to children but proposes to go ahead with the suspension of the rule anyway.

Chemical Facility Safety Rule amendments are delayed until February 2019. Senators say the amendments offer new protections from chemical disasters to first responders, facility workers and ‘low-income communities and communities of color more likely to live near them.’

Trump announces that he will pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, steering away from a group of 194 other countries that have promised to curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

A three-month pause is put on landfill methane rules so the EPA can “reconsider certain aspects” of the regulation. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is emitted from rotting garbage in landfills, as well as sources like agriculture.

Trump sends his 2018 budget to Congress, and calls for massive cuts in scientific research and environmental programs that protect water and air. The budget proposes that the EPA’s funding is cut by 31%, a steeper cut than any other agency.

Pruitt dismisses several members of the Board of Scientific Counselors, an 18-member advisory board the reviews the research of EPA scientists.

Trump signs an executive order that orders a review of Obama-era bans on offshore oil and gas drilling in parts of the Arctic, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans.

Pruitt convinces as US appeals court to stop a challenge by states and industry groups to an Obama administration rule aimed at reducing toxic emissions from power stations. In his previous role as attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt had sued the EPA to stop the rule.

The Interior Department updates the climate change website, deleting much of its content in the process. The page now carries a sole mention of “climate change” and does not explain what it is, how it affects the US, or what the department is doing about it.

Pruitt pauses a regulation that curbs the dumping of toxic metals, like arsenic and mercury, by power plants into public waterways.

A court grants a request by Pruitt to delay the implementation of ozone pollution standards that were made stricter in 2015. The EPA intends to review the rules around ozone, which is created when sunlight reacts with pollutants from vehicle exhausts and other sources. Ozone can create smog and trigger a wide variety of health problems, especially among children, the elderly, and those with respiratory issues.

Several members at EPA’s headquarters who specialized in climate change adaptation are reassigned.

Pruitt denies a bid to stop the use of chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide, that has been linked to damage to the nervous system and that EPA scientists had previously banned. Household use of the chemical was phased out a decade ago, but it is still used in farms across the country.

An executive order from Trump orders a rewrite of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which was Obama’s main climate policy, an end to the moratorium on coal mining on public land and the removal of climate change as a consideration when approving federal projects.

The Trump administration’s State Department grants a permit for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The 1,200-mile pipeline was rejected by President Obama in late 2015, amid concerns that the pipeline’s economic benefits weren’t guaranteed and fears that the pipeline would exacerbate future carbon emissions.

Pruitt launches rollbacks of Obama’s greenhouse gas rules for power plants, delays deadlines for polluters and slows agency work on new regulations and helps persuade

Trump announces a review of vehicle fuel efficiency standards that are designed to help limit greenhouse gases and other pollutants, after more than half a dozen car company chief executives ask him to revisit the Obama-era decision to mandate improved fuel economy by 2025. Pruitt calls the standards “costly for automakers and the American people”.

The White House releases its first preliminary budget under Trump, which outlines deep cuts to U.S. science and environmental agencies, notably the EPA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spends the day rescinding an Obama-era prohibition of lead ammunition on federal lands and waters. The Obama Administration’s Fish and Wildlife Service had issued to ban the day before Trump was inaugurated. The National Rifle Association and hunting groups applaud this move as supportive of hunting’s economic contribution, while conservation groups decry it, noting that lead ammunition can poison wildlife.

After governors and attorneys general from many Republican-led states write to Scott Pruitt on March 1 asking the EPA to stop collecting methane emissions data from around 15,000 oil and gas operations, Pruitt agrees.

Trump instructs the EPA to rewrite the Waters of US Rule, which was an expansion of the Clean Water Act to protect the water supply of around 117 million Americans, pleasing many farmers, real estate developers, and golf course owners.

Under the Congressional Review Act, Trump signed a bill repealing an Obama-era regulation which prevented coal-mining companies from dumping debris and toxic waste into streams and waterways.

The Senate voted to reverse the Stream Protection Rule, which seeks to protect the nation’s waterways from debris generated by a practice called surface mining. The Interior Department had said the rule would protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests by keeping coal mining debris away from nearby waters.