In June, former Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scott Pruitt issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking calling for comments on a potential action with the purported goal of “increasing consistency and transparency in considering costs and benefits in the rulemaking process.” Although many proposals never blossom into final agency action, there is no indication that the agency plans to reverse course.
Consistency and transparency are, in my view, generally good things. So is rational consideration of costs and benefits. Environmentalists, however, have every right to be deeply skeptical of any proposal made by this Administration. Since taking office, the Trump Administration has shown extreme hostility toward the rules and institutions that protect the environment, while going to extreme, and arguably absurd, lengths to prop up polluters that cannot compete in the marketplace on fair terms. The combination has left anyone concerned with environmental protection justifiably horrified.
Citation
Michael A. Livermore, Tainted Review, Regulatory Review (August 29, 2018).