The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a U.S. federal agency established in 1970 to safeguard human health and the environment through regulation, enforcement, and scientific research. It oversees issues such as air and water quality, chemical safety, and pollution control.
Recent policy changes, such as the repeal of the methane emission fee, have raised concerns about weakening environmental protections. How does the EPA plan to mitigate the potential risks of these regulatory rollbacks?
Any policy changes that may occur under this Administration will continue to protect human health and the environment. They will be guided by science and the law, as well as input from stakeholders and the general public. They will also be guided by many of the Executive Orders issued by the President and EPA Administrator Zeldin’s Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative.
The EPA has prioritized PFAS regulation, but with the new administration’s emphasis on deregulation, what obstacles do you foresee in advancing protections, and how will the agency address them?
EPA does not see obstacles in advancing protections for public health and the environment, consistent with its statutory authority. The first pillar of Administrator Zeldin’s Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative is “Clean Air, Land, and Water for Every American.”
The Administrator noted that, in his first term, President Trump advanced conservation, reduced toxic emissions in the air, and cleaned up hazardous sites, while fostering economic growth for families across the country, and recommitted to these priorities in this Administration, as well as ensuring emergency response efforts are helping Americans get back on their feet in the quickest and safest way possible. Consistent with statutory obligations, the EPA will pursue the priorities in this pillar while remaining good stewards of tax dollars to ensure the agency spends its money on its mission.
How is the EPA working with OSHA and other agencies to ensure robust protections for workers exposed to hazardous chemicals?
During the first Trump administration, the EPA signed a memorandum of understanding with OSHA to advance collaboration and communication on the EPA’s review of new chemicals under TSCA. It provides a framework for coordination and communication between the two agencies on exposure to new chemicals in the workplace and will help achieve the agencies’ shared goal of ensuring workers are protected from potential health and environmental risks. In addition, in December 2024, EPA signed an MOU with OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor to include coordination on EPA’s work to assess and manage existing chemicals under TSCA.
In March 2025, the EPA announced a path forward on chemical reviews that includes reconsidering the regulation governing the review of existing chemicals. EPA intends to initiate a rulemaking that will ensure the agency can efficiently and effectively protect human health and the environment and follow the law. This includes looking at whether and how the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and industrial controls in an occupational work environment should be incorporated into risk evaluations.
Some critics argue that environmental regulations, particularly under TSCA, could stifle industry innovation. How does the EPA balance public health protections with the need for economic growth and technological advancement?
President Trump has set a goal of making America affordable and energy-dominant again. Under TSCA, the EPA is charged with ensuring that the new chemicals needed to power American innovation and competitiveness are approved in a timely and efficient manner. Additionally, TSCA states that the agency’s authority over chemicals should “not to impede unduly or create unnecessary economic barriers to technological innovation while fulfilling the primary purpose of this chapter to assure that such innovation and commerce in such chemical substances and mixtures do not present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.”
We are continuing to take steps to decrease the backlog of new chemicals under review with the agency and find ways to review new submissions in a more timely manner. Improving the review process for new chemicals will allow critical industries – like the automotive sector, which is the focus of another of Administrator Zeldin’s pillars – to use the most innovative chemistries safely while also ensuring regulatory certainty for U.S. manufacturers.
With the latest TSCA amendments addressing PFAS and persistent chemicals, what steps is the EPA taking to ensure effective enforcement, and how do you respond to industry concerns about regulatory burdens?
EPA continues to take a close look at existing regulations and agency policies and approaches to ensure consistency with Administration policy and the agency’s statutory authority. President Trump’s Executive Order 14219 requires the EPA and other agencies to review all of their regulations.
It also calls on agencies to focus limited enforcement resources on regulations squarely authorized by constitutional Federal statutes. EPA will take necessary actions to ensure that regulations and policies accurately reflect the President’s directives, do not create undue burden for industry, and protect human health and the environment.
Given the global nature of chemical safety, which countries do you see as key partners moving forward? How does the EPA collaborate internationally to align chemical safety regulations and tackle cross-border environmental challenges?
The EPA regularly engages with other countries on a range of chemical issues that the EPA manages for the United States. International collaboration can have mutual benefits, for instance, through sharing information, learning from one another, understanding differing regulatory approaches and harmonizing them where appropriate.
Our engagement with other countries will be guided by the need to balance regulatory approaches to protect health and the environment with the need to maintain a vital supply chain to achieve the priorities and goals of the United States under this Administration.
Looking ahead, what are the EPA’s main priorities for chemical safety and pollution prevention, and how do you plan to navigate industry resistance while advancing these goals?
EPA’s chemical safety program will support the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment, and our work will be guided by Administrator Zeldin’s five pillars. This includes decreasing the backlog of new chemicals and pesticides under review and reviewing new submissions in a more timely and efficient way that supports innovation. We will also implement any necessary policy changes to ensure our program is following the law and meeting our statutory responsibilities while protecting public health and the environment.
Additionally, we aim to provide consumers with confidence in the safety of chemicals and pesticides by delivering consistent and high-quality scientific evaluations and reviews. This will include piloting the use of AI technologies to streamline and improve our safety evaluations for pesticides and chemicals. We also plan to provide the industry with certainty by following the law, using the best available scientific information to conduct our reviews, and ensuring that any restrictions we put in place are protective but not overly burdensome. Finally, we are committed to building and maintaining honest and collaborative relationships with all our stakeholders.
