Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi said his agency needs to return to its original mission to power the “Great American Comeback” in a first sit-down interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Fotouhi explained that under former President Joe Biden, the EPA increased its staff and budget with lackluster results, doled out billions to “fly by night” green groups and set strict regulations that threatened the security of the electricity grid. Fotouhi vowed that while the EPA is under his and Administrator Lee Zeldin’s watch, the agency will steward taxpayer money and prioritize the needs of the American people by focusing on its fundamental mission.
“The last administration had a huge boon in terms of funding. They hired more people. And yet, despite all of that, backlogs of permitting went up,” Fotouhi said. “Backlogs in reviewing state implementation plans went up, backlogs in reviewing new chemicals went up, backlogs in reviewing new pesticides went up. So, I don’t think it’s as much a matter of how many individuals are in the building or not. It’s more a matter of: do we have the type of leadership that we need to ensure that folks are in the right positions doing the work that they are skilled and able to do?”
Fotouhi has a background in environmental litigation and was EPA’s acting general counsel and principal deputy general counsel during the first Trump administration. The Senate voted 53-41 to confirm Fotouhi to his current role on June 10.
Under the Biden administration, the EPA devoted significant resources and focus to the pursuit of “environmental justice.” The EPA’s priorities under Zeldin and President Donald Trump will center around the core mission of the agency, which is to protect human health and the environment by ensuring clean air, land and water, according to Fotouhi.
Zeldin has also said that returning to the basic mission of the agency will help power the “Great American Comeback” by allowing commerce to thrive without forsaking its core goals.
The agency saw an influx of staff and congressional funding under the former administration that did not translate into efficient work, Fotouhi said.
“We need to do a lot more on streamlining and permitting, allowing for new energy sources to be built in this country … without being stymied with environmental review or waiting years for EPA or another agency to process just basic environmental permitting,” Fotouhi said.
Though Fotouhi had not yet returned to the agency when Zeldin announced major “environmental justice” grant cuts and moved to close “environmental justice” offices, the deputy administrator noted that under his leadership, the EPA will “treat everyone equally” and ensure a safe environment for all communities.
“We’re not going to pick winners and losers, [and] we’re not going to put one community over another community,” Fotouhi said.
Under Biden, the EPA doled out billions in taxpayer dollars to subsidize projects and initiatives meant to further the “environmental justice” agenda. Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) allotted the EPA billions in federal funds to award grants to nonprofits in order to implement green energy projects, fight the “climate crisis” and “advance environmental justice.”
Zeldin has criticized one program known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) repeatedly, arguing it is a clear example of the agency’s mismanagement on Biden’s watch. The GGRF has been under investigation by the EPA’s inspector general, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI for potential fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds.
During the grantee selection process for the GGRF, federal reviewers scrutinized several of the grant applications, identifying concerns such as “excessive” executive pay, questionable financial statements and limited oversight of taxpayer funds, the DCNF previously reported. The GGRF funds far exceeded any budget in all of EPA’s history, a fact Fotouhi noted in his discussion with the DCNF.
“We’re focused on tangible environmental results, and doling out billions of dollars to fly by night non-governmental organizations with limited EPA oversight is not the way to achieve it,” Fotouhi said. “You have my word and Administrator Zeldin has been crystal clear about this. … We’re going to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s money in this administration.”
Fotouhi also addressed how stringent regulations issued under the EPA could weaken the U.S. electricity grid if implemented as designed. Thanks in part to EPA regulation, the American power grid is under duress as energy infrastructure ages and power plants are closed more rapidly than their capacity can be replaced with reliable generation, as grid watchdogs and energy sector experts have warned, Fotouhi noted.
“Grid stability is of the utmost concern. … When there are issues with providing stable power sources, that could lead to brownouts and blackouts, and the EPA plays a role in that,” Fotouhi told the DCNF.
Zeldin announced on June 11 that his agency is moving to repeal or reform multiple rules that strictly regulated power plants. Fotouhi said that while the rules are currently open to public review, the Biden and Obama-era regulations “would have increased the cost of operating power plants by over $1 billion a year, which would have led directly to higher energy bills for consumers and a less stable grid.”
Several of these stringent regulations hinge on the endangerment finding, which is an Obama-era ruling which determined that certain levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are harmful to humans and the environment. The determination is currently being reconsidered under Trump’s EPA and also open to public review, as Fotouhi noted.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. The folks at the agency are professionals, they’re great to work with and they are committed to carrying out the mission of the agency and setting out on a path to achieve the ambitious agenda that the president and the administrator have laid out for us,” Fotouhi said.
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