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Administrator Wheeler Releases Trump Administrationโ€™s Federal Strategy for Addressing Global Marine Litter

October 19, 2020 โ€” The following was released by The White House:

Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler released the U.S Federal Strategy for Addressing the Global Issues of Marine Litter at an event at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla. At the announcement, Administrator Wheeler was joined by U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Secretary Mark M. Menezes, White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chairman Mary Neumayr, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (NOAA) and Deputy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Tim Gallaudet, and EPA Region 4 Administrator Mary Walker.

โ€œInternationally, up to 28 billion pounds of waste makes it into our oceans every year, harming marine life and coastal economies,โ€ said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. โ€œMarine litter is a top priority for this Administration, and working together with our global partners, we aim to solve the current growing marine litter problem in our shared oceans.โ€

โ€œItโ€™s scary to think about how much waste โ€“ especially plastic โ€“ is polluting our environment. Ocean plastics are destroying ecosystems, killing marine life and littering our beaches,โ€ said Rep. Brian Mast (FL-18). โ€œThis is a problem that is only going to get worse until we come together to do something about it. Together with the help of the EPA and other agencies, Iโ€™m confident that we can get serious about removing pollution from our environment and preventing it from getting there in the first place. The health of our waterways depends on it.โ€ 

โ€œThrough our National Laboratories, our universities, and American industry, this program will develop new technologies to keep plastics from entering the ocean, new methods to deconstruct existing plastic waste and upcycle it, and new plastics specifically designed to be recycled,โ€ said Deputy Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. โ€œWhile the U.S. is not the worldโ€™s driver of the marine plastic problem, we intend to drive the solution.โ€

โ€œAs the Trump Administration continues to advance the nationโ€™s economic, security, and environmental interests, we must address this significant problem impacting the worldโ€™s oceans,โ€ said CEQ Chairman Mary Neumayr. โ€œCEQ looks forward to continuing to work with EPA, NOAA, DOE, and all of the Federal agencies to implement this important Strategy.โ€

โ€œWe recognize that the U.S. cannot solve this global problem alone,โ€ said EPA Office of International and Tribal Affairs Assistant Administrator Chad McIntosh. โ€œOceans are our shared resource and when we all work together we can protect this resource from marine litter while growing key economic sectors such as tourism and fishing.โ€

โ€œThe majority of the plastic pollution that enters the ocean comes from rapidly growing cities in the developing world that lack effective waste-management systems,โ€ said United States Agency for International Development Acting Administrator John Barsa. โ€œAs part of President Trumpโ€™s vision, the U.S. Agency for International Development is working with local governments, communities, and the private sector in key countries to reduce ocean plastic pollution by strengthening systems to manage solid waste and promoting the โ€˜3Rsโ€™ (reduce, reuse, recycle).โ€

โ€œA clean ocean is the bedrock of the American Blue Economy,โ€ said retired Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator.โ€œNOAAโ€™s Marine Debris Program is a core component of this U.S. Marine Litter Strategy, and we are committed to working with EPA and our partners to address the global issue of marine litter. This work is critical to healthy oceans and the coastal communities and economies that depend upon them.โ€

โ€œItโ€™s critical for our coastal habitats and economy to ensure our waters remain litter free,โ€ said EPA Region 4 Administrator Mary Walker. โ€œThis initiative reinforces the Trump Administrationโ€™s commitment as a global leader in advocating for cleaner oceans.โ€

The strategy highlights the federal governmentโ€™s four pillars for tacking the issue of marine litter: (1) building capacity, (2)incentivizing the global recycling market, (3)promoting research and development, (4)promoting marine litter removal. It also identifies existing U.S. legal authorities and federal programs already underway, such as EPAโ€™s Trash Free Waters program.

THE PROBLEM
Five countries in Asia account for over half of the plastic waste input into the ocean: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The majority of marine litter comes from land-based sources such as littering and the mismanagement of waste and the most effective way to combat marine litter is to prevent and reduce land-based sources of waste from entering our oceans in the first place. To tackle these issues, the U.S. provides a critical global leadership role in improving waste management and recycling.

SNAPSHOT OF U.S. ACTION
U.S. actions to address sources of marine litter focus on building capacity, incentivizing the global recycling market, promoting research and development, and promoting marine litter removal.

EPA, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are collaborating with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste to implement innovative programs and finance initiatives around the world to provide approaches and tools to countries that are struggling with this problem. This partnership is key to addressing marine litter.  

Domestically, through EPAโ€™s Trash Free Waters program, EPA works directly with states, municipalities, and businesses to reduce litter, prevent trash from entering waterways, and capture trash that is already in our waters. We currently have over 50 partnership projects across the country. This year, EPA awarded over $7.8 million to 17 recipients within the Gulf States for innovative projects focused on reducing the amount of litter in our waterways through waste prevention and/or removal. EPA will award an additional $2.1 million through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Trash Free Waters Grant Program established under President Trump to address marine litter within the Great Lakes watershed.

President Trumpโ€™s FY21 Budget proposes over $7 million for EPA to address marine litter domestically and internationally through a multiple year budget proposal. The same proposal was included in the FY22 Presidentโ€™s Budget. The funding would allow EPA to expand the international Trash Free Waters program to large source countries, which are located in southeast Asia. The funding would also allow the expansion of the domestic trash free waters program allowing for even more domestic place-based projects.

NOAAโ€™s Marine Debris Program has provided over $24 million in funding to local partners for prevention, removal, and research initiatives to address marine debris. Thus far, the program has resulted in the removal of over 22,000 metric tons of marine debris from U.S. waters, engaged with more than 65,000 students on marine debris prevention activities, developed 12 marine debris response guides and 11 regional action plans.

DOEโ€™s Plastic Innovation Challenge is a comprehensive program to accelerate innovations that will dramatically reduce plastic waste in oceans and landfills and will position the U.S. as a global leader in advanced plastics collection and recycling technologies and in the manufacture of new plastics that are recyclable by design. Building from a foundation of prior investment and capabilities, DOE expanded their efforts in degradation, recycling and upcycling of plastics.

USAIDโ€™s $48 million flagship, five-year, global program Clean Cities, Blue Ocean works in rapidly urbanizing countries across Asia and Latin America to target marine plastics directly at their source. It works to improve systems that manage solid waste, build capacity and commitment to the โ€œ3Rsโ€ (reduce, reuse, recycle) and promote sustainable social and behavior change.

To read the full strategy, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/united-states-federal-strategy-addressing-global-issue-marine-litter

Lobstermen catch break on diesel engine standards

August 20, 2020 โ€” Lobster fishermen are getting a temporary reprieve from federal diesel engine emissions standards because the cleaner running engines needed to power todayโ€™s bigger, faster fishing vessels farther and farther offshore have yet to hit the commercial market.

During a visit to Maine on Thursday, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is expected to announce that lobster and pilot boat builders will have another two to four years to meet low particulate, low nitrogen oxide emissions standards written into the national marine diesel program in 2008. The cleanest engines were to be used in all new large lobster boats by 2017.

โ€œThis relief gives boat builders and operators flexibility to meet EPA standards during the next several years,โ€ Wheeler said in a prepared statement. โ€œThe larger market for diesel engines canโ€™t build new models quickly enough for marine users โ€“ putting these operators in potential violation of pollution rules through no fault of their own.โ€

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Trump Administration Lessens Clean Water Protections For Streams, Wetlands

January 24, 2020 โ€” The Trump administration on Thursday finalized a significant cutback on water protections, a move critics say could make it easier for companies to pollute potential sources of drinking water.

Under the final rule, named โ€œThe Navigable Waters Protection Rule,โ€ many streams, wetlands and other waterways will no longer qualify for federal protections against pollution under the Clean Water Act.

โ€œAfter decades of constant litigation and uncertainty, the Trump administrationโ€™s navigable waters protection rule brings regulatory certainty to American farmers, landowners, businesses and the American public, and should significantly curtail the need to hire teams of attorneys to tell them how to use their own land,โ€ EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said on a call with reporters. โ€œOur rule protects the environment and our waterways while respecting the states and private property owners.โ€

The plan is a part of the Trump administrationโ€™s goal to repeal and replace a 2015 rule from the Obama administration that expanded the types of federally protected waterways. Republicans criticized the rule, saying it would regulate ditches and puddles. The regulation specifically exempted puddles, but the rhetoric reflected a larger concern about federal overreach among some farmers, businesses and landowners.

Read the full story at U.S. News

EPA to Provide Relief for Lobster Fishing and Pilot Boat Builders, Engine Manufacturers

August 27, 2019 โ€” The following was released by United States Environmental Protection Agency:

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend the national marine diesel engine program to provide relief to boat builders and manufacturers of lightweight and high-power marine diesel engines that are used in high-speed commercial vessels such as lobster fishing boats and pilot boats.

โ€œThis proposal will provide boat builders the flexibility they need to meet EPA standards while they continue to manufacture products that are critical to marine industries,โ€ said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. โ€œThis action reflects our mindset that environmental progress is best achieved by working with states and the regulated community to advance sound and attainable regulatory solutions.โ€

โ€œThis proposed rule will give boat builders and Maineโ€™s lobster fishermen regulatory certainty and encourage continued progress for cleaner diesel engines,โ€ said EPA New England Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Szaro. โ€œThis action is a win-win for builders and lobstermen, and allows Maineโ€™s vibrant fishing economy to continue.โ€

โ€œDue to the unique design of Maine lobster boats, at this time there are not Tier 4-compliant diesel engines available on the market that can safely fit in these types of vessels. This delay in the implementation of the Tier 4 emission standards for commercial lobster-style boats should provide engine manufacturers time to design and certify engines that will both comply with Tier 4 emission standards and work safely and efficiently in these boats. It also prevents lobstermen from being burdened by requirements that are impossible to meet with the currently available technology,โ€ said U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden in a joint statement. โ€œWe are pleased to have worked together with the EPA to find a commonsense solution that supports Maine boat builders and lobstermen.โ€

Read the full release here

EPA Chief Recused From Bristol Bay Mine That His Former Law Firm Represented

March 26, 2019 โ€” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is formally recusing himself from agency reviews and permitting decisions on a proposed gold and copper mine near Alaskaโ€™s Bristol Bay amid criticism his former law firm represented the developer.

Wheeler promised to steer clear of matters involving the controversial Pebble Mine in an updated March 20 recusal statement, two years after his former employer, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, had arranged a meeting between former EPA chief Scott Pruitt and project developer Pebble LP.

Weeks after that 2017 meeting, Pruitt moved to withdraw proposed mining restrictions that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the project to secure an essential Clean Water Act permit. Although Pruitt later backtracked, business groups have recently lobbied the EPA to toss out the five-year-old restrictions, arguing they preemptively block a project that would sustain jobs and extract at least 6.5 billion tons of known minerals. Environmentalists counter that the proposed mine jeopardizes a thriving salmon fishery.

Wheeler cast his decision as a โ€œvoluntary recusalโ€ since he never provided services to a Faegre Baker Daniels client on the Pebble Mine and government advisers have said the move isnโ€™t necessary to fulfill federal ethics rules. Wheeler said his recusal would last as long as he leads the Environmental Protection Agency. In the meantime, Wheeler has delegated Pebble issues to EPA General Counsel Matthew Leopold.

The Environmental Protection Agency could still move to lift the restrictions, without Wheelerโ€™s involvement. And in the meantime, the Army Corps of Engineers is taking public comment on a draft environmental impact statement analyzing the mine.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

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