EPA administrator on changes at the agency
WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin spoke with Weijia Jiang on Face the Nation Sunday to discuss changes being made at the EPA.
When Jiang asked Zeldin if he can assure the American public the "deregulation is not going to have an adverse impact on people and the environment" as the mission statement of the agency, according to Jiang, is to "protect human health and the environment," Zeldin said:
"Absolutely, we have to both protect the environment and grow the economy. It's what the American people demanding of us. They want us to make sure that we are applying common sense. Over the course of the last couple years of the Biden administration, there were a lot of regulations that were brought over the finish line that were targeting entire industries. And when the American public went to vote last November, they were talking about economic concerns, about struggling to make ends meet. That includes the cost of being able to heat their home. The choice of whether or not to be able to heat their home or fill up their fridge with groceries or afford prescription medication. The ability to get jobs. What we've also heard are the costs of compliance, which amount into the trillions and what that does to the American economy as well. So going into this process, I don't prejudge outcomes...not allowed to under the Administrative Procedures Act. We will have a process that includes public comment, and we would encourage the public to weigh in when they have that opportunity."
During the interview, Jiang said a federal judge ruled the government must unfreeze $20 million worth of clean energy grants which was terminated due to the Trump administration not offering "sufficient evidence for waste, fraud and abuse."
In addition, Jiang said there are also several investigations looking for waste, fraud and abuse which they haven't finished. This prompted her to ask Zeldin why he froze the money before the investigation concluded, to which Zeldin responded by saying:
"Self-dealing and conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients, lack of sufficient EPA oversight, these were all concerns that we had. First were...had the alarm raised when a Biden EPA political appointee in December was on video saying that they were tossing gold bars off the Titanic, rushing to get billions of dollars out the door before Inauguration Day. And also said, with an eye towards getting themselves jobs at recipient NGOs. So for example, as it relates to unqualified recipients, there was one recipient NGO that only received $100 in 2023, they got $2 billion in 2024. They also have in their grant agreement requirement to complete a training in 90 days called 'How to Develop a Budget.' They were amending the account control agreements days before the inauguration, reducing EPA oversight. There's all sorts of questions that you can ask me as relates to where this money goes, because the $20 billion goes through eight pass through entities, EPA isn't even a party to the account control agreements once it goes to the other entities, including many other pass throughs. If you ask me, what happens to that money, basic questions, $20 billion, I couldn't even provide answers to you. Now, I owe it to you, to the American public, to Congress, to be able to tell them where that money goes. The idea that we're going to play along with tossing gold bars off the Titanic is something that I will not go along with. I have a zero tolerance for any waste and abuse. It is my duty to ensure that I'm an exceptional steward of tax dollars. It is my responsibility to make sure we have more oversight of those funds."
To watch more of Jiang's interview with Zeldin, click here.
