LOGA Industry Report - Winter 2009 - (Page 18) The Future of EPA by Melanie Jarrell The president-elect’s transition team is considering the appointment of the next EPA director. No matter who is selected (and there was talk of a Kennedy filling that position), there will definitely be a changing of the guard at EPA. So what will the future look like at EPA? A very interesting question, given we will have a pendulum swing to the far left in all areas of our “balanced system” of judicial, executive and legislative branches this coming spring. Everyone is guessing that the environmental policymaking will step up through liberal legislation mandating new regulatory requirements on industry. Why? Because of the buzzwords “greenhouse gas” and other panhandling ideas by the NGOs (Non-Government Organizations, or Third Party Non Profits). Their existence depends on more activity and thus more contributions – more press, more glory. Who has passed more environmental legislation, Democrats or Republicans? How much will the Democratic left wing liberals actually change environmental policy? How can we anticipate the future of EPA without even taking a general, panoramic view of the past? Before we decide that the Democratic leftwing liberals in Washington will be costing the small businesses of America their livelihood, let’s look at the environmental legislation that has passed, and under which administration. Beginning in 1970 the environmental movement was young and highly partisan. Democratic majorities on both sides of Congress were the driving force behind new environmental legislation such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA), Superfund, new Clean Water Act Amendments and new Clean Air Act Amendments. By 1976, during the Jimmy Carter years, laws and regulatory devices were in full forward gear and EPA and state counterparts were accused of getting carried away. The realization of the cost of such regulations was coming to bear; however, into the 1980s and even the 1990s environmental statutes continued in a steady stream. In looking at presidents and their congresses and the environmental statutes which passed under their administration, Reagan actually had the most environmental legislation passed (but the actual statutes or legislation could have originated during the years prior, thus: Carter’s administration). Taking a look at recent history tells a story about the various presidents and the environmental legislation and policy enacted during their terms. 1980 – CERCLA/Superfund Act 1980 – More FIFRA amendments Ronald Reagan (R) Democratic House/ Republican Senate 1984 – Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments 1986 – SARA Title III/Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act 1986 – SDWA Amendments 1987 – Water Quality Act (CWA Amendments) 1988 – FIFRA Amendments 1990 – Clean Air Act Amendments (major changes) 1990 – Federal Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) 1990 – Oil Pollution Act Lyndon Johnson (D) Democratic Congress 1967 – Air Quality Act (AQA) Richard Nixon (R) Democratic Congress 1969 – National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1970 – Major amendments to AQA 1970 – EPA created 1972 – Clean Water Act (passed over veto) 1972 – Amendments to Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)* George H.W. Bush (R) Democratic Congress 1992 – Federal Facility Compliance Act Gerald Ford (R) Democratic Congress 1974 – Safewater Drinking Act (SWDA) 1975 – FIFRA amendments Bill Clinton (D) Republican Congress (starting in 1995) 1994 – The Browner Common Sense Initiative Jimmy Carter (D) Democratic Congress 1976 – RCRA 1976 – Toxic Substances Control Act 1978 – FIFRA amendments Presidential Term Criminal Prosecutions regarding the Clean Water Act* 7.7/yr 8.9/yr George W. Bush (R) Republican Congress 2002 – Great Lakes Legacy Act * FIFRA was originally enacted in 1947. Clean Water criminalbased prosecutions against corporations* 19 or 3/yr 19 or 2.2/yr Overall Environmental Criminal Prosecutions corporations* 90/yr 162/yr Reagan – 6 years Clinton – 8 years Information taken from Water & Wastewater Products (July/August, 2005), titled: “A Very Short History of Environmental Crime.” This information was discussed by J. Daniel Hull, JD about the Solow-Sarachan study analyzing criminal negligence prosecutions under the Clean Water Act between 1987 and 2000. 18 | LOGA INDUSTRY REPORT | WINTER 2009
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