President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are turning the clock back on environmental protections that are vital to the health and well-being of Americans. #BootPruitt to #SavetheUSEPA

The EPA must be fully funded to protect everything that Americans treasure.

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Environmental Setbacks Under Trump

  • The EPA announced it will gut the 2015 Coal Ash Rule

    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.

  • EPA Ordered to dismantle the Clean Water Rule

    On Feb. 28, President Trump signed an executive order ordering the EPA to dismantle the Clean Water Rule. The EPA is encouraged to replace it with the weakest possible rule that would leave 60% of nation’s streams and millions of acres of wetlands without strong federal protection against toxic pollution. The Clean Water Rule was built on years of public engagement and scientific research.
  • Interior Department announces sweeping change to the Bureau of Land Management oil and gas leasing program, threatening irreplaceable federal public lands and resources

    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.

  • EPA Announces Two Year Delay in Clean Water Rule

    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.

  • EPA withdraws regulation on ‘major sources’ of pollution

    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.

  • EPA allowing major polluters to turn off their pollution control equipment

    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.

  • EPA Announces Intent to Repeal Clean Power Plan

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

  • Deadline Delay Limiting Toxic Water Pollution

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

  • EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt cancels grant to the Chesapeake Bay Journal after 28 years of support

    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.

  • Protections for Federally Funded Projects Revoked

    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

  • D.C. Court Warns Pruitt on Avoiding Duty

    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.

  • Toxic Substances Control Act

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

  • EPA Required to Enforce Methane Emissions Rule

    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.

  • Rewrite of The Waters of the U.S. Rule

    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.

  • Two Year Pause on Pollution Regulations

    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.

  • Amendments to Chemical Facility Safety Rules Delayed

    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.’

  • U.S Pulls Out of The Paris Climate Agreement

    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.

  • Three Month Pause on Landfill Methane Rules

    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.

  • 2018 Budget Sent To Congress With Steep Cuts

    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.

  • Several Members of the Board of Scientific Counselors Dismissed

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

  • Review Ordered of Obama-era Bans

    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.

  • Reducing Toxic Emissions Shot Down

    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.

  • Interior Department Erases Climate Change from Website

    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.

  • Government Pauses Regulation That Curbs Toxic Metal Dumping

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

  • Delaying The Implementation of Ozone Pollution Standards

    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.

  • Reassignment at EPA’s Headquarters

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

  • No Stop To The Use of Chlorpyrifos

    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.

  • Trump Orders a Rewrite of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan

    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.

  • Permit Granted For Construction of Keystone XL Pipeline

    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.

  • Rollbacks Launched of Obama’s Greenhouse Gas Rules

    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

  • Review of Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Standards

    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”.

  • First Trump Budget Released

    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.

  • Prohibition Rescinded of Lead Ammunition

    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.

  • Pruitt agrees to stop collecting methane emissions data

    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.

  • Rewriting The Waters of US Rule

    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.

  • Trump signed a bill repealing an Obama-era regulation

    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.

  • Senate Votes to Reverse the Stream Protection Rule

    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.

In Solidarity to Save the U.S. EPA Blog

  • Scott Pruitt Doesn’t Play by the Rules—and He Still Can’t Win

    EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is in trouble. Reporters are shining light on his ties to lobbyists and excessive use of taxpayer dollars for his own benefit. Meanwhile environmental groups have been seeing the fruits of their labor in recent weeks as lawsuits filed in the past year are leading to a …

Op-Eds

  • Scott Pruitt’s Public Service Mostly Involves Serving Himself

    To become a citizen in classical Athens required swearing an oath. The young sons of citizens recited it as part of their military training. As members of the ruling class, the oath evoked a lifelong responsibility to temper power with integrity.