Showing posts with label EPA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EPA. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Senate confirms Michael Regan to lead EPA

The Senate voted on Wednesday to confirm President Joe Biden's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, making the state regulator the first Black man to be administrator of the agency.

Michael Regan, 44, was confirmed with a bipartisan vote of 66-34, with sixteen Republicans joining all Democrats in voting to confirm him.

The North Carolinian will lead the agency in an administration that has promised to aggressively fight against climate change and environmental injustice.

He worked at the EPA from 2001-08 in the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. He joined the Environmental Defense Fund in 2008 and left in 2015 to found M. Regan and Associates, a consulting firm on environmental issues. In 2017, he became cabinet secretary for North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality.

Though Regan is not a widely known political figure, he brings his past experience leading North Carolina's environmental agency. His background includes working to hold a business blamed for the toxic PFAS pollution accountable, and his work improving regulation of his state's giant hog farms and releasing a plan to cut climate-damaging fossil fuel pollution from power plants by 70 percent within a decade.

[SOURCE: USA TODAY]

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Biden selects Michael Regan to run the Environmental Protection Agency

President-elect Joe Biden will name Michael Regan, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a source familiar with the decision who spoke about private conversations on the basis of anonymity.

If confirmed by the Senate, Regan would be the first African American man to run the EPA. He stands to inherit an agency that has been ground zero as the Trump administration rolled back climate and pollution regulations.

Bringing a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of the environment, economy, and public health, Secretary Regan conceptualized and operationalized North Carolina’s Executive Order 80 — a landmark effort to address climate change’s impact and transition the state’s energy economy. Regan led the negotiations that resulted in the cleanup of the Cape Fear River, which had been contaminated with dangerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS), negotiated and oversaw the largest coal ash cleanup in the United States, and created North Carolina’s first Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board to address societal disparities exacerbated by environmental issues during his tenure as Secretary.

Secretary Regan’s subject matter expertise in the realm of environmental, energy, economic, and equity issues is apparent in his lifelong record of public service. He previously served at the EPA under both Democratic and Republican presidents — leading initiatives at the agency to improve energy efficiency and air quality and mitigate pollution — and was an Associate Vice President of the Environmental Defense Fund focused on climate issues. He also founded M. Regan & Associates to help organizations navigate challenges at the intersection of energy, the economy, and the environment. Regan earned his bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and his master’s degree from The George Washington University.

Sunday, March 05, 2017

Flint mayor: City needs 2 years before it can treat its own water

Flint has been mired in a devastating water crisis for nearly three years, and it may be another two before it's resolved.

Mayor Karen Weaver wrote to EPA officials earlier this week to inform them that the Michigan city will not be able to treat its own water for lead and other contaminants until 2019, citing a lengthy construction and testing process for a new water treatment plant.

"To expedite completion of the project and minimize cost, a design/build project delivery method is proposed," Weaver wrote. "Based on this approach, an August, 2019, completion date is anticipated for the treatment plant improvements."

In 2014, officials implemented a cost-cutting plan to switch the city's water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River, which is 19 times more corrosive, according to researchers from Virginia Tech. That caused lead to leach from pipes and into the city's drinking water.

Read more: Flint mayor: City needs 2 years before it can treat its own water

Thursday, March 17, 2016

VIDEO: Congressional hearings on Flint water Crisis

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder called the water crisis in Flint a "failure of government at all levels" during his testimony at a hearing before Congress on Thursday. The people of Flint, including more than 8,000 children, were exposed to lead for more than a year before the tap water contamination was uncovered by citizen activists. Watch the full hearing with Gov. Snyder below.