April 3, 2020
The Honorable Andrew R. Wheeler
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Administrator Wheeler:
We write in regard to troubling reports that the Trump administration has (1)
its enforcement of environmental laws during the ongoing [coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19)] outbreak, while (2) continuing to move forward amidst this public health emergency to
weaken a slew of environment and public health regulations.1 It is disturbing that the
administration would use this global public health crisis as cover to weaken regulations that
, especially considering that
2
[p]oor air can also cause lung inflammation that could worsen the symptoms of covidThere is no justification for these actions; you should not be using the COVID-19 pandemic,
which has already led to thousands of deaths across the country,3 as an excuse to undermine
environmental regulations and impose a broad, across-the-board moratorium on environmental
enforcement.
Despite the global focus on combatting the pandemic, agencies throughout the Trump
administration appear determined to use this crisis
4
5
and
their efforts to roll
back environmental safeguards.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports indicate that the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has implemented broad rollbacks of enforcing existing environmental
rules that would allow
1

Milman and Emily Holden, March 27, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/27/trumppollution-laws-epa-allows-companies-pollute-without-penalty-during-coronavirus.
2

Mooney, March 15, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/03/15/smoking-airpollution-coronavirus/.
3
2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html.
4
n
Davenport and Kendra Pierre-Louis, November 23, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/climate/us-climatereport.html.
5

https://grist.org/climate/even-coronavirus-cant-stop-trumps-environmental-rollbacks/.

 6

they are able to meet legal requirements on reporting air and water
7

8

but

instead only

Under EPA rules,

guidelines are
9

These suspensions
have no expiration, meaning the administration is telling corporations to regulate themselves
tely. 10
The
actions are
normally regulates under the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts[,]
a huge swath of industry,
including facilities like refineries and chemical plants the same types of sites that can trigger
11
asthma attacks
In the midst of
12
a respiratory disease outbreak, rolling back environmental safeguards, particularly those that
protect clean air and reduce lung disease and asthma,13 is highly dangerous and irresponsible.
While the EPA has attempted to downplay this suspension of environmental
enforcement,14
waives many of the usual requirements for
15
monitoring, testing, sampling, and lab analysis under bedrock environmental laws. Instead, the
EPA affirmed that the agency ill not seek penalties for noncompliance with routine
monitoring and reporting requirements 16 if companies claim that the pandemic led them to
violat
regulated entities to
6
, Drastically Relaxes Rules
2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/climate/epa-coronavirus-pollution-rules.html.
7
Id.
8
Environmental Protectio
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-corrects-record-after-reckless-reportingtemporary-compliance-guidance.
9
,
2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/climate/epa-coronavirus-pollution-rules.html.
10

29, 2020, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/29/21198674/coronavirus-epa-trump-regulations.
11
lted Enforcement Due to COVIDLeber, March 26, 2020, https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/03/environmental-protection-agencyenforcement-coronavirus/.
12

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/what-happens-to-peoples-lungs-when-they-get-coronavirus.
13

Moran, April 2, 2020, https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2020/04/02/new-epa-rules-will-increase-air-pollution-asthe-world-suffers-a-respiratory-pandemic.
14

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-corrects-record-after-recklessreporting-temporary-compliance-guidance.
15

March 31, 2020, https://theintercept.com/2020/03/31/epa-regulations-air-pollution-coronavirus/; Environmental
Parker Bodine, March 26, 2020, https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/202003/documents/oecamemooncovid19implications.pdf.
16

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-corrects-record-after-recklessreporting-temporary-compliance-guidance.

2

 17
comply with all obligations
-byBut
trusting companies to effectively determine their own compliance with environmental laws, even
if the companies claim that the pandemic led them to increase their pollution, is still highly
ncremental increases in pollution could exacerbate the symptoms of other
respiratory illnesses, causing more people to seek medical assistance at a time when the U.S.
public health system is at a breaking point. 18

Furthermore, eight of my colleagues in the House of Representatives sent you a letter
ns during the
stating
face the spread of a severe respiratory illness that is making tens of thousands of Americans sick
19
and straining the capacity of our hospitals and h
An EPA official
The [EPA] policy does not say that the COVID-19
pandemic will excuse exceedances of pollutant limitations in permits, regulations, and statutes.
The EPA expects regulated entities to comply with all obligations and if they do not, the policy
says that EPA will consider the pandemic, on a case-by-case basis, when determining an
appropriate response 20 But these purported expectations of compliance are meaningless
cement indicates that the agency is not monitoring industry actions if
companies claim
, that
does not
expect to seek penalties for violations,
21
To be sure, many manufacturers, refiners, and other sources of pollution will have to
close or modify their operations during the pandemic, and there are legitimate challenges to
enforcing environmental regulations during a pandemic. But if businesses are operating during
the crisis, particularly with the potential to exacerbate significant environmental health hazards,
they should also have to comply with relevant rules and regulations and be assured that the EPA
will hold them accountable for noncompliance. To the extent there are unique concerns, they
should be addressed on a transparent, case-by-case basis, with public requests and full

17

Environmental Protection Agenc

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-corrects-record-after-recklessreporting-temporary-compliance-guidance.
18

Chemnick, March 30, 2020, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/epa-to-ease-pollution-enforcement-whichcould-exacerbate-lung-illnesses/.
19
Letter from U.S. Representatives Michael Quigley, Gerald Connolly, Doris Matsui, Paul Tonko, Alan Lowenthal,
Donald McEachin, Matthew Cartwright, and Chellie Pingree to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, March 31,
2020,
https://lowenthal.house.gov/sites/lowenthal.house.gov/files/SEEC%20Leadership%20Letter%20re%20EPA%20Enf
orcement%203.31.pdf.
20

March 31, 2020, https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/490449-house-democrats-blast-epa-as-agencysuspends-enforcement-of.
21
20, https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/202003/documents/oecamemooncovid19implications.pdf.

3

 explanations for whether the pandemic affected operations, not with a broad, nationwide
monitoring and compliance moratorium.
We are also concerned that, at the same time you have essentially adopted a compliance
moratorium, you are moving forward to implement regulations to undermine a slew of important
environmental regulations. As the nation fights the COVID-19 pandemic, the EPA and the
Department of Transportation has finalized
rollback Obama-era automobile fuel
efficiency standards, relaxing efforts to limit climate-warming tailpipe pollution and virtually
even as the White House
was consumed with responding to the coronavirus crisis 22 And the Trump administration is
a rule that would allow companies to kill birds without
repercussions, a total overhaul of the bedrock National Environmental Policy Act, and new
restrictions on the types of scientific research the EPA can use in decisions that affect public
23

Expert reviews of the finalized automobile efficiency rule, described it
move that
could undermine public health following the coronavirus crisis 24 demonstrated
allowing more pollution into the air, the rule would measurably contribute to more premature
25
It
appears that despite the ongoing pandemic, you have continued to advance the harmful,
ideological agenda of deregulation, instead of environmental protection.
at the EPA are economic, environmental, and moral
failures. A global health and economic crisis is not an excuse for swift action to help industries
pollute as much as possible. Allowing polluting industries to go without effective regulation or
note that damage to the lungs from pollutants that result from combustion -- whether inhaled
deliberately by smokers, or inadvertently by those in regions with poor air quality -- may
increase the risk of respiratory tract infections from viruses such as the novel coronavirus. Poor
26
air can also cause lung inflammation that could worsen the symptoms of covidWhile you have claimed that the EPA
27
your actions and the actions of the Trump administration during the coronavirus
pandemic demonstrate the opposite. Air pollution will make the health effects of COVID-19
worse; as the crisis escalates, the EPA should be working to ensure that polluters do not threaten
22
U.S. to Announce Rollback of Auto Pollution Rules, a Key Effort to Fight Climate Change
Coral Davenport, March 30, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/climate/trump-fuel-economy.html.
23
Grist,
https://grist.org/climate/even-coronavirus-cant-stop-trumps-environmental-rollbacks/.
24

https://www.eenews.net/stories/1062750601.
25

February 13, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/climate/trump-fuel-economy-rollback.html.
26

Mooney, March 15, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/03/15/smoking-airpollution-coronavirus/.
27
,
26, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/climate/epa-coronavirus-pollution-rules.html.

4

 public health. We are deeply troubled by your actions, and we urge you to take immediate steps
to end the enforcement moratorium and stop your efforts to undermine environmental regulations
during the COVID-19 crisis.
of environmental regulations at the EPA until further notice, please provide answers to the
following questions by Friday, April 17, 2020:
1. Under what authority did the EPA suspend its enforcement of environmental laws and
replace it with industry self-reporting requirements?
2. What was the rationale for this decision? What criteria will the EPA use to determine if
the enforcement moratorium should be lifted?
a. Please explain in detail how the EPA will determine when the suspension of
enforcing compliance will end and how the public will be notified of these
changes.
b. Please explain why this guidance is being applied retroactively to Friday, March
13, 2020.28
3. Please explain how regulated industries are to maintain records during the EPA
enforcement moratorium. Please explain why the agency is declining to commit to
conduct retrospective enforcement reviews.
4. Which agency officials were responsible for the decision to enact an enforcement
moratorium? Were officials in the Office of General Counsel consulted on this decision,
and if so, what advice did they provide to you and other key decision makers?
5. Did you meet with or communicate with officials or lobbyists representing the oil and
gas, coal, automobile, or other polluting industries prior to announcing this decision?
Please provide a record of all meetings and communications regarding this decision with
these industry representatives.
6. Did the EPA conduct any analyses about the impact of this decision on pollutant
emissions, especially their impacts on environmental justice communities?
a. Will the decision result in increased emissions of any air pollutants? If so, what
are these pollutants and what is the scope of the increase?
b. Will the decision have any impacts on asthma or lung disorders? If so, what is the
impact?
c. Will this decision result in increased pollution of drinking water or drinking water
sources?
28

san Parker Bodine, March 26, 2020, https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/202003/documents/oecamemooncovid19implications.pdf.

5

 We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,

___________________________
Elizabeth Warren
United States Senator

___________________________
Edward J. Markey
United States Senator

6