On November 9, 2020, The Federalist Society's Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Group hosted a virtual panel for the 2020 National Lawyers Convention. The panel was titled "EPA Turns 50: A Debate on Environmental Progress and Regulatory Overreach."
Since 1970, the United States has made significant progress in protecting the nation’s water, cleaning up our air and land, and safeguarding human health. Harmful air emissions have declined almost 80%, while the U.S. economy has grown by 275% over the same timeframe. Drinking water in America is safer and better than ever in most communities. And through EPA programs like Superfund, contaminated lands are being remediated. Though some challenges persist, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is credited by many as being the primary driver of dramatic environmental progress in the United States over the last half-century. The current EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, recently remarked: “ America is – and will remain— the gold standard for environmental protection.” Nevertheless, EPA has remained at the forefront of public controversy since it was created by executive order by President Nixon in 1970, and it is more true now than ever before. Environmental activists continue to press the agency to regulate further afield of EPA’s statutory mandates while regulated industries perceive systematic regulatory overreach. States, too, have raised concerns about EPA’s adherence to cooperative federalism principles. Some claim EPA has fallen behind on environmental enforcement, while others contend that enforcement declines reflect greater environmental compliance and progress. Marking EPA’s Golden Anniversary, this convention panel will reflect on EPA’s past and present, while also looking ahead to EPA’s future. What can we expect from the EPA over the next 50 years? What role should the agency continue to play in environmental protection and what should be its focus? Are reforms necessary to increase accountability and transparency at EPA? Is EPA ignoring the true costs and benefits of its regulations? Will EPA ever reach an enduring regulatory approach to topics like “Waters of the United States” and climate change? What steps should Congress take to ensure that EPA is right-sized with the resources needed to tackle the environmental challenges of the next 50 years? Should some of EPA’s powers and programs be returned to the States? Moderated by one of the newest judges on the Ninth Circuit, our panel of experts – with current and former EPA leaders from both sides of the aisle – will provide crucial insights into these and other questions.
Featuring:

Ms. Susan Bodine, Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, United States Environmental Protection Agency
Mr. Scott Fulton, President, Environmental Law Institute; Former General Counsel, United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Hon. F. Henry “Hank” Habicht, Principal, Global Water 2020; Managing Director, United States Water Partnership; Managing Partner, SAIL Capital Partners
Prof. Lisa Heinzerling, Justice William J. Brennan Jr., Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Moderator: Hon. Lawrence VanDyke, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

*******
As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speakers.