On February 6, 2020, EPA released its 2019 Year in Review report, along with a news release “EPA Issues 2019 Year in Review Highlighting Agency Accomplishments and Environmental Progress under President Trump & Administrator Andrew Wheeler.”

Deregulation and Jobs
The first accomplishment identified in the news release was for “16 deregulatory actions, saving Americans more than $1.5 billion in regulatory costs.”  Other accomplishments included invitations for financing of water infrastructure projects, replacing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, and providing $64.4 million in Brownfield grants, with over 70 percent of these projects within Opportunity Zones.  The single enforcement achievement mentioned in the news release was the $400 million increase over FY 2018 in capital expenditures required in enforcement and compliance achievement actions.

The full 2019 Year in Review report continued the theme of deregulation and economic development, prominently displaying EPA’s “49 deregulatory actions completed under President Trump” that resulted in $5 billion in regulatory savings, which include the 16 deregulatory actions finalized in FY 2019.  Another achievement highlighted in the report was completing the full or partial delisting of 27 National Priorities List sites in the Superfund program.
The news release and report continue the administration’s emphasis on deregulation, finishing Superfund site remediations, and economic growth.

To see the news release, which includes a link to the report, https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-releases-2019-year-review-highlighting-agency-accomplishments-and-environmental

4C Conference February 19-21, Austin, TX
I look forward to presenting at the 2020 4C Health, Safety, and Environmental Conference.  The Conference is February 19-21 at the Hilton Austin.  On presentation day, February 20, I shall speak on “Federal, State and Local Enforcement.”  More information is at https://www.4cconference.com/