The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a sweeping suspension of its enforcement of environmental laws Thursday, telling companies they would not need to meet environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreak.The temporary policy, for which the EPA has set no end date, would allow any number of industries to skirt environmental laws, with the agency saying it will not “seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations.”..In a 10-page letter to the EPA earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) asked for a suspension of rules that require repairing leaky equipment as well as monitoring to make sure pollution doesn’t seep into nearby water...
28 March 2020
Sneaky
Lots of things are being done under the cover of coronavirus. Here's one example:
When I read that the EPA was suspending enforcement, I was expecting someone like the API behind it, with Trump's blessing. Of course said rule enforcement will not restart until a Democrat is elected President and then, after a lawsuit is resolved. It may take more than one getting elected, too.
ReplyDeleteI detest the current administration, and I especially hate how it has bastardized the EPA - but I also hate wasting my anger on imprecise targets. In this case, I wonder if there is more to the story. The EPA isn't penalizing certain types of pollution, but it is requiring companies to track their own violations. I wonder if this was intended to enable companies to increase production of essentual goods or repurpose their production lines without having to worry about complying with regulations that are unfamiliar to them.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm probably giving the administration too much credit, thinking that they had the foresight to plan for manufacturing shifts for an epidemic that they only just began to take seriously.
The fact that there is no deadline certainly is worrisome, though, and merits continued scrutiny.
I wonder where the USA sits on the list of 'Most Corrupt Countries' ?
ReplyDelete