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The EPA has published a new forward-looking proposal that places the fight against climate change and the promotion of environmental justice at the center of the agency’s agenda.
On Friday, the EPA released its draft strategic plan that will help the agency chart its course over the next few years. While emphasizing climate action and equity, the plan also respects and seeks to build on the history of the EPA.
Administrator Michael Regan told EPA employees in a internal messaging E&E News obtained that the agency renewed its commitment to three institutional principles adopted by William Ruckelshaus, the agency’s first director, which are to “follow the science, follow the law and be transparent”.
“We are also adding a fourth fundamental principle: advancing justice and fairness,” Regan said in the email sent Friday. “These four principles form the basis of the agency’s culture and will guide our daily work and decision-making today and in the future.”
Regan also said that the EPA’s plan for the first time includes strategic goals to tackle climate change and defend environmental justice and civil rights. He said these priorities are “built-in” throughout the plan.
For the EPA, this is a marked change from the Trump administration. The prerequisite of the agency strategic plan, published four years ago, made no mention of climate change and centered on slogans from then-administrator Scott Pruitt, such as “cooperative federalism” and “rule of law” (PM E&E News, October 4, 2017).
The Biden administration has sought to elevate environmental justice across the federal government, particularly at the EPA. The president’s budget proposal for fiscal 2022 calls for the creation of a Senate-confirmed deputy administrator to lead environmental justice within the agency as well as a $ 1.8 billion spending increase to combat against climate change, with about half of that for environmental justice work (Green wire, June 1).
Biden EPA’s strategic plan, covering fiscal years 2022 to 2026, has seven goals and four interagency strategies.
These four strategies focus on scientific integrity; children’s health; labor equity; and engagement with state, local and tribal governments. In addition to climate change and environmental justice, the plan’s goals are environmental law enforcement, clean air, clean water, waste clean-up and environmental emergencies, and chemical safety.
Parts of the plan, which is still only a draft, have numbers waiting to be completed. But other sections have specific figures to share on the environmental targets the agency aims to achieve by fiscal year 2026.
By September 30, 2026, the EPA’s climate partnership programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 533 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to the plan. By then, too, the agency will have published rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from trucks and cars, power plants and the oil and gas industry.
As of this 2026 date, the EPA plans to conduct 55% of inspections per year at facilities that trigger “potential environmental justice issues,” the document said. In addition, the agency aims to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants by 21% and have US hydrochlorofluorocarbon consumption below 76.2 tonnes per year on this schedule.
In addition, the agency will reduce the number of non-sanitary water supply systems from 3,508 to 600 by September 2026. The agency also wants to control human exposure at 60 other Superfund sites and clean up 650 other brownfields by then. , according to the plan.
The strategic plan also aims to improve the agency’s operations.
It calls on all EPA IT systems to adopt multi-factor authentication, against a July 2021 benchmark of 40%, and to launch climate resilience projects for EPA-owned facilities.
Another long-term goal is to clear the EPA’s backlog of overdue Freedom of Information Act responses. The plan said the agency had a baseline for August 2021 of 1,148.
The EPA’s strategic plan is open for public comment until November 12. The final plan will be released in February along with the agency’s 2023 fiscal budget proposal.
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