EPA Administrator Pruitt Repeats Familiar Themes at ECOS Spring Meeting
Last week, EPA Administrator Pruitt repeated three familiar themes at the Spring Meeting of the Environmental Council of States (ECOS):
- The Rule of Law Matters – regulatory uncertainty is an impediment to economic growth
- Process Matters – agencies need to substantively respond to comments on proposed regulations and the regulatory process needs to be re-established and not be driven by consent decrees and/or litigation
- Cooperative Federalism as a Guiding Principle – cooperation is essential to make it work
It was a bit challenging to hear some of the details surrounding the third theme, as a protester started shouting questions to Administrator Pruitt – until she was escorted from the meeting room.
Administrator Pruitt has stated these three times on a regular basis since his confirmation. He did not provide any details on how the third theme will work given the proposed budget cuts in FY ’18 for a broad array of state environmental programs.
