On March 5, EPA released its 2017-2018 year in review, which takes a look at the agency’s achievements and progress over the past year in accomplishing Administrator Pruitt’s “back-to-basics” agenda. This agenda centered on three core objectives: refocusing the agency back to its core mission; restoring power to the states through cooperative federalism; and adhering to the rule of law and improving agency process.
In Administrator Pruitt’s opening letter, he credits President Trump’s “courage and leadership” as the key to EPA’s success, particularly his decisions to exit the Paris Accord and rescind the Clean Power Plan. Pruitt specifically highlights that the agency has finalized 22 deregulatory actions, including the postponement of certain compliance dates for Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category, “saving Americans more than $1 billion in regulatory costs.”
The report lists six main accomplishments throughout the past year: halting duplicative regulations; eliminating backlogs and improving efficiency; increasing transparency and accountability; returning to cooperative federalism; restoring the rule of law; and improving compliance and assistance. These overarching accomplishments include EPA’s rescinding and postponing of the applicability date of the Clean Water Rule, otherwise known as WOTUS.