Outlook 2019

OUTLOOK 2019

The major environmental policy issues under the Trump administration

Inside EPA's Outlook 2019 is a comprehensive special report on what's ahead for EPA as House Democrats prepare aggressive oversight of the agency's deregulatory agenda. As the Trump administration enters its third year, our report also looks at EPA efforts to advance its deregulatory agenda before President Trump's term ends, state efforts to preserve the autonomy they have begun to win, the Supreme Court's review of agency discretion and more. And as in prior years, this report also focuses on the legislation, litigation and rulemaking efforts in the coming year on major air, climate, toxics, water, waste, and other policies.

Or read individual articles below.

PFAS Raises Doubts On Use Of SDWA To Regulate Emerging Contaminants

Correction Appended More than 20 years after Congress reauthorized the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), some stakeholders are questioning whether it is effective given the difficulty EPA faces as it grapples with whether to set enforceable standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), although other experts disagree on whether the law's emphasis on a deliberative process is a problem. “Seems like it's time to spend some time thinking about how to optimize the SDWA process to appropriate[ly]...

Proposal To Narrow CWA Likely To Prolong Regulatory, Legal Patchwork

EPA's proposal to narrow the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA) aims to resolve uncertainty over the law's reach, but observers say it is likely to exacerbate already major legal confusion over CWA jurisdiction and spur new lawsuits that could prolong the current complicated regulatory and legal patchwork for several years. The rule, which EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers proposed on Dec. 11, would narrow the law’s reach significantly from the Obama-era CWA policy that critics say...

EPA Faces Test As It Seeks To Overcome Major Waste Recycling Challenges

EPA will face a major test in 2019 after taking on an unusual high-profile role to foster dialogue and collaboration among the municipal waste recycling sector's various stakeholders as they face significant market fluctuations due to China's restrictions and tariffs, and a push for re-looking at the recycling process. While EPA has little regulatory role in the recycling arena, it held its first Recycling Summit in November 2018 in an effort to increase its profile on the issue as a...

States Step Up Efforts To Address PFAS Risks, As EPA Takes Back Seat

State regulators from New Hampshire to Colorado are plowing ahead with efforts to address growing local pressure over drinking water and groundwater contamination stemming from perfluorinated chemicals in the face of a sluggish response to the high-profile issue from EPA – despite its high priority for acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Absent clear direction from EPA, states are forging their own” path on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), Tom Burack, the former commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services...

EPA Grapples With 'Heavy Workload' Of TSCA's Policy Deadlines In 2019

EPA's toxics office is grappling with a “heavy workload” of deadlines this year for issuing a host of policies mandated under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), an effort that might be aided by the Senate's 11th-hour confirmation of the office's political appointee though the ongoing government shutdown is unlikely to help. “With deadlines fast approaching and complex risk assessments ahead, EPA has a heavy workload,” said Alexandra Dunn, the now-confirmed assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety...

NAAQS Overhaul Effort Faces Significant Scientific, Legal Barriers In 2019

EPA's push to overhaul the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) review process by streamlining and accelerating the assessments faces significant scientific and legal barriers this year that could hinder any agency effort to use the revised process as a way to soften the ozone and particulate matter (PM) NAAQS and other limits. Former agency chief Scott Pruitt launched the NAAQS reform effort with an eye to streamlining the review process, aiming to overcome EPA's long-running inability to meet Clean...

EPA Nears Completion Of Piecemeal NSR Reform Push But Lawsuits Await

EPA appears to be nearing the completion of its piecemeal approach to reforming and easing Clean Air Act new source review (NSR) permitting requirements and will take final steps in 2019 to implement various changes to the program, but the long-term fate of the revisions is uncertain because they are sure to face legal challenges. After President Donald Trump took office, the administration took public comment on ways to ease regulatory burdens on industry, prompting a wave of industry calls...

Trump, Democrats Poised To Continue Protracted Debate On Climate Risks

Newly empowered House Democrats are seeking to underscore increasingly pressing climate change risks in the new year, while President Donald Trump is poised to downplay such threats and question climate science – with the two sides engaged in a protracted public opinion battle on the need for major greenhouse gas mitigation efforts. Such debates are not new, of course, and some environmentalists chafe at the fact that federal climate policy discussions can seem stuck in first gear, with the two...

California GHG Efforts Face Hurdles As Other States Look For Policy Model

California's ambitious climate program that must roughly double its rate of greenhouse gas cuts over the next dozen years is facing increasing challenges and skepticism from policy experts, including questions about whether the state's economy-wide cap-and-trade program can supply the bulk of the required emission reductions. The hurdles facing the state are coming into sharp relief as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved key changes to its carbon trading program, and as other states – including those with newly...

Legal Battles Threaten EPA Effort To Align Power Plants' Waste Mandates

Legal battles pose a major threat to EPA's plan for aligning Clean Water Act (CWA) and Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) mandates for utilities this year, with pending cases filed by environmentalists raising the prospect of court-ordered stricter requirements or for certain mandates under either law to take immediate effect. The agency is reconsidering Obama-era CWA effluent limitation guidelines (ELG) for power plants, focused on provisions that apply to coal waste, with the current Unified Agenda of rulemaking actions...

Justices Take Aim At ‘Deference,’ Signaling New Limits On EPA Discretion

Correction Appended The Supreme Court could issue a ruling as soon as this summer overturning a 21-year-old doctrine under which judges have given extensive deference to EPA and other agencies' interpretations of their rules, teeing up what court watchers say would be a major win for conservatives who have long sought to limit judicial deference to regulators. The ruling might come in the case Kisor v. Wilkie , which began as a dispute over veterans’ benefits but...

Wheeler Faces Uphill Slog On Improving Risk Communication, A Top Priority

Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler has sought to make improved risk communication a top priority but he appears to be facing an uphill battle as his effort faces public skepticism driven by the Trump administration's deregulatory efforts and top officials' past industry connections. In several cases, agency officials are drawing significant concerns from lawmakers, communities and others as they grapple with addressing chemicals, such as ethylene oxide (EtO) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). And their efforts to roll back Obama-era...

To Preserve Autonomy, States Seek To Demonstrate Environmental Gains

States are seeking to preserve the increased autonomy the Trump EPA has begun to grant them in its first two years but are facing a crucial test in 2019 as they seek to show that the administration's cooperative federalism approach has improved the environment. But their efforts face challenges, such as on emerging contaminants and interstate pollution, as many states press EPA to develop strict federal standards, underscoring the limits of state power. In addition, many newly-empowered Democratic state officials...

EPA Scrambles To Complete Rollbacks, Suits Before End Of Trump's Term

The Trump EPA's deregulatory agenda faces a crucial test in 2019 as officials scramble to complete a slate of high-profile measures, including a suite of climate rollbacks and a rule narrowing the reach of the Clean Water Act (CWA), in enough time that officials can also shepherd certain litigation through the courts before the end of 2020 when President Trump's first term ends. Unlike Obama administration officials, who were unable to complete litigation over high-profile regulatory measures before the president's...

Funding, Climate Issues Imperil Infrastructure Bill Before Debate Begins

Long-standing debates over funding for new infrastructure legislation and Democratic demands that any bill include climate change policies may be imperiling the prospects that any deal can be enacted in 2019, even as President Donald Trump and congressional leaders say infrastructure is one of their top priorities. New legislation would likely focus on highways and other surface transportation projects, though a deal could also include water- or energy-related projects and rural broadband. Infrastructure has been touted as one possible area...

Democrats Have New Chance To Craft Climate Plan But Face Balancing Act

Democrats renewed control of the House will give them the first opportunity in almost a decade to craft an affirmative climate change agenda, though continued GOP control of the Senate and White House makes enactment of major legislation less likely than development of a political platform for action sometime after 2020. As a result, Democratic lawmakers face a balancing act of responding up to pent-up demands for action on the issue from environmentalists and others, while avoiding a potential backlash...

Democratic Oversight Poised To Clash With Final EPA Regulatory Rollbacks

Trump EPA officials are poised to face an array of new oversight pressures in the coming year, just as they are finishing a suite of climate and environmental rule rollbacks, raising questions of whether Capitol Hill critics can stop or slow parts of the administration's deregulatory agenda before the new rules go final or as they are implemented. Democrats' takeover of the House has given new heft to their barrage of oversight requests concerning high-profile rollbacks of Obama-era climate rules...

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