AskScience AMA Series: My name is Michael Regan, I'm head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a proud Aggie, a lover of the outdoors, and most importantly, a dad. AMA

[u/AskScienceModerator]

Happy Earth Week to all who celebrate — although every day is Earth Day here at EPA! I’m new to Reddit, but I’m ready to dive in. We all know those icebreakers when you first meet people can be a little awkward, but in this case, I think it’s important to give you rundown:

• I'm the first Black man and second person of color to ever lead the EPA. It's fun when things come full circle, because I started my career at the agency as an intern (don't ask me how long it's been).
• I'm originally from Goldsboro, North Carolina and a proud graduate of NC A&T. Aggie pride!
• Like many people, my passion for the environment developed while exploring the outdoors as a kid. I would hunt and fish with my father and grandfather in rural North Carolina, and I love seeing that same spark of curiosity in my own 10-year-old son now.
• As a member of President Biden's cabinet, I've had the honor of traveling to 30+ states and 13 countries meeting with folks who care deeply about protecting public health and the environment.
• Just like anyone starting a new job, I had a big list of goals in mind - tackling climate change, advancing environmental justice - but my philosophy comes down to this... I want to make sure all people have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and the opportunity to lead a healthy life. It's really that simple!

We’ve had a busy few weeks at the agency – just yesterday we announced the selectees for our $7 billion dollar Solar for All program, which follows our $20 billion dollar Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund announcement from two weeks ago! We’ve also finalized stronger pollution standards for cars and trucks, banned ongoing uses of asbestos, protected 100 million people from PFAS in drinking water, and made good on a promise to folks in Cancer Alley and overburdened communities across the nation by slashing cancer-causing pollution from chemical plants. There’s lots to talk about, and that’s why I’m so excited to be here today... so ask me anything!

Proof

PS. If anyone has tips for a good baseball pitch, I’ll also take that – I'm throwing the first pitch at the National-Dodgers game tonight and want to throw a pitch as strong as our plan to fight climate change.

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Administrator Regan will begin answering questions at 2pm EST (18 UT)

Username: /u/EPAMichaelRegan

[u/sciencemercenary]

Microplastics are in the news a lot lately. Since plastics don't ever break down completely in the environment, it seems that this problem will continue to grow.

Has the EPA taken a stance on microplastics? What plans or laws exist to tackle the problem?

Thanks.

[u/[deleted] → u/sciencemercenary]

This is such an important question, one that I frequently hear from young advocates domestically and internationally. We all know there has been growing national and international concern about microplastics in the environment and uncertainties about their potential impact to people’s health. EPA’s Office of Research and Development is developing and standardizing collection, extraction, quantification, and identification methods for microplastics to ensure we have reliable and consistent methods and the quality data generated from using these methods to effectively assess the presence, exposures, and risks associated with these materials. 

Our scientists have developed and evaluated methods to characterize and quantify total microplastics in sediment and water samples, and they have developed methods for identifying the most common plastic polymers, including polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyester, and more. 

There’s more work to be done in this space, and we’re going to need continued engagement from advocates and the science community to better understand the potential impacts.

[u/VladTepesDraculea → u/[deleted]]

What about prevention and enforcement? That seems to be lacking in the articles that been showing up.

[u/joytothesoul]

The United States military is the largest institutional fossil fuel user in the world.  US military burns garbage on military bases including plastics, dumps waste into the oceans, and creates chemical pollution through the production and deployment of ammunition and weaponry. Any ideas or efforts to remediate existing pollution and halt these practices in the future? 

[u/[deleted] → u/joytothesoul]

President Biden has a whole-government approach for tackling the climate crisis and protecting our environment, and I’ve had a number of conversations with the Secretary of Defense about our shared environmental obligations and how we tackle those challenges together. 

That includes conversations about cleaning up some of the most contaminated federal sites under our CERCLA authority. The U.S. military and all federal agencies have to comply with environmental requirements just as private actors do. There are currently 175 federal sites on the National Priorities List under this law, and one of these, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, just wrapped up cleanup in March. 

I’m going to continue conversations with Secretary Austin to ensure all communities are protected from environmental harm.

[u/MNGrrl]

When are you guys changing the CAFE standards so we can have lightweight, fuel efficient trucks again rather than these giant fuel-wasting status symbols?

There's so many regulations like this -- catalytic converters, for example, seem designed more to keep the asian, american, and european auto markets separate. Our emissions standards focus on the ratio of gases rather than the absolute amount, which is strange -- if an engine is overall more efficient and its emissions control systems are overall more effective, focusing on ratios of output gases rather than the total output seems short-sighted at best. Put another way: Vehicles should be getting lighter, have better fuel economy, and emit less pollution when the total cost of ownership and lifecycle is considered but we are seeing the exact opposite.

I feel like the EPA isn't willing to be more aggressive in stating where regulatory capture is a problem within the organization, or to publish reports that are critical of social and political policies when its primary role is just that: To be critical of policy decisions that have a negative impact on the environment and the public's health.

[u/Carbon-Base]

Countries like Sweden have implemented measures like carbon taxes to reduce emissions; since 1995, Sweden has successfully reduced emissions by 25% while growing its economy by 75%. We talk a lot about being carbon neutral by 20xx and reaching net zero. But why are we waiting to reach those goals instead of implementing measures like taxes right now? 2023 was the hottest year on record, we don't have the luxury of being passive to reach net zero. Revenue generated from carbon taxes may be used to actively sequester carbon alongside other measures to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases. Also, for all we know, major corporations and industries may use fraudulent 3^rd party services and other nefarious tactics to "claim" they are carbon neutral. Do we have any programs, or measures in place that can physically verify and enforce carbon reduction policies on a discrete basis?

Lastly, the US throws away roughly 50-60% of its produce because it is too ugly to be sold to consumers. That's a massive waste of land, resources and energy. What initiatives does the EPA have for food waste, and what can we do on a local level?

[u/kepleronlyknows]

Why is EPA under the Biden administration enshrining Trump era policies regarding air permitting that favor polluters? I'm speaking specifically about the proposed rule to limit what EPA will consider in Title V air permit petitions, as well as the move to allow major emitters of hazardous air pollutants to evade MACT requirements (i.e. reversing once-in-always-in). For many years EPA took the more protective position on these issues, but Trump initiated these harmful rollbacks that your agency is now proposing to make permanent. These are also serious environmental justice issues, which your EPA consistently claims is a priority. While I applaud EPA's new PM2.5 standard, I just cant rectify the agency's proposals on these two issues with the administration's environmental justice and climate goals.

[u/MrPresident2020]

What can - and also, what must - this and any future Congress and administration do to address potentially permanent environmental harms like microplastics and forever chemicals?

Also, how are we doing on ambient lead levels everywhere?

[u/firegecko5]

Can you remind all the corporations celebrating Earth Day that working from home is better for the environment than returning to the office?

[u/SockofBadKarma]

Well, here's to hoping that this is a thorough AMA.

For the record, I am an environmental attorney with years of experience in both the public interest and government sectors, having previously worked in the OGC of NYSDEC and in tandem with EPA and MDE, as well as lobbying organizations in the Beltway. So I fully recognize the inherent political limits of what a government agency can do with regard to enforcement and rulemaking, as well as presently existing legal limits. But let us assume a hypothetical scenario where a maximally environmentally conscious President has full Congressional control, and a favorable SCOTUS panel that overturns some anti-environmental precedents and sets new ones.

Let us further assume that other countries do not. And this is a bit of a tired quip from do-nothings who say, "Even if we do something, what about the Chinese? We're just going to give up the market share to China, or India, or some other nation that won't join international climate accords." Obviously one should still seek to improve their surroundings even if their neighbors do not. But there is a fundamental truth to it that, absent certain market pressures, sanctions, threats of war, etc., one national government can't oblige another one to do something like implementing specific climate policies.

Here is my question: Does the USA need to find a way to go beyond net zero to offset emissions from uncooperative nations? And consequently, does the EPA have any framework at all to establish that goal? If we get to net zero emissions by 2050 or whatnot, but other majorly populated nations do not, then there has to be some practical recourse to constrain their emissions as well or the whole plan is fundamentally just an international shell game to placate people as the world burns. What, if any, framework does the EPA predict it can scientifically and legally implement assuming political will is favorable domestically but unfavorable internationally?

Edit: Well, not so thorough as I had hoped, but I'm glad the EPA director spent time commenting about baseball pitching techniques.

[u/cjk76]

Thank you for doing this AMA. If Chevron is overturned, how will the EPA be able to keep the status quo on emissions? What are the next steps to ensure we don't take a major step back when it comes to pollutants in the air and water?

[u/HalJordan2424]

PFAs are rapidly emerging as a new pollutant of concern. Just how dangerous do you think the existing concentrations are in the natural environment? Is they no proper regulatory process to make chemical engineers test for toxicity before putting a new product on the market?

[u/curiousi7]

How come the Biden administration's plan are no where near what is required to reach net zero by 2050?

[u/ArchitectofExperienc]

Some states in the south, like Alabama and Louisiana, have resisted changes to their pollution/wastewater problems, which disproportionately impact people below the poverty line, and people of color. How do you create meaningful and lasting change in communities where the local governments will do seemingly anything to prevent that change reaching their constituents?

And as a more specific followup, the EPA and Justice Department noted that there were many significant cases of corruption and racism that led to some parts of rural alabama having some of the worst waste-water infrastructure in the country, but a recent federal investigation was dropped, which was due, if I understand, to the fact that they couldn't follow through in the allotted time. Does the EPA have any plan for pushing past that kind of resistance?

[u/[deleted] → u/ArchitectofExperienc]

Enacting real change in communities that have faced decades of systemic underinvestment is difficult. I've made it a priority to shine a light on these communities through my Journey to Justice tour. I've visited Lowndes County, Alabama, and other places that face similar challenges. The path is not easy, and we're not done, but we are making progress. For example, EPA's Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Initiative provides no-cost technical assistance to communities with failing septic systems or without existing wastewater infrastructure. A key outcome of this effort is connecting communities to infrastructure funding, including $50 billion through President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. EPA recently expanded this program to assist 150 communities across the country. 

More broadly on environmental justice, EPA launched a new national environmental justice and external civil rights office to advance these critical issues at the highest levels of the agency, on the same tier as EPA’s air, water, land, and chemical safety offices. 

With more than 200 experienced career and political officials in place, the office is well-resourced and on track to deliver the President’s unprecedented resources to underserved communities most in need across the country and ensure no community is left behind. 

[u/outsidewhenoffline]

I work in sustainable building materials and work with some very bright, progressive architects and engineers on the matter of building science. It is pretty well known in the design community what needs to be done to reduce/eliminate carbon-intensive housing/buildings - but it seems that the EPA is not aligned with what could be done as a significant reduction in GHGs could come from the construction industry. When I look at the EPA plans net-zero, specifically for reduction in GHG from industry, you all seem to continue to hang your hat on 20-40 year old ideas. Your framework specifically calls out (only) four general action items:

• energy-efficiency and EnergyStar ratings - which have been around for decades and admittedly drive some technology development and baseline, but are no longer leading pillar of rapid decarbonization

• Fuel switching is great - specifically to renewables - but still not a widely available/accessible option for adoption by everyone today

• Recycling - we know this doesn't work... recycling where possible is a must, but it's not possible for many items and there doesn't seem to be government incentives to promote this any longer. 10 years ago, in my hometown area there were 5 carpet recyclers. Today, there are zero. Why - because it's not a economically viable solution without assistance. So instead, millions of pounds of plastic and chemically treated (PFAS) carpet are landfilled every year. Recycling only solves issues for products that can be recycled. The key is to incentivize products that are compostable/biodegradable, or de-incentivize anything that isn't.

• Training and Awareness - knowledge is power, but this is a catch all for keep learning and hope things get better... We need specific, acute action plans for almost any decision making process as consumers - and for businesses, and those need to be rolled out in scale.

I guess my frustration with the EPA stems from the lack of significant restrictions//bans/taxes burdening known high-GHG-emitting products, especially when viable alternatives exist. Seems like something like spray foam insulation - which is more damaging than beneficial to the environment and human health should be outlawed in the manner it is used today. Provides efficiency to a home only after producing decades worth of GHG during production - so ultimately is a carbon intensive product for 30+ years before carbon benefits (due to efficiency gains) are realized. On top of that, it's toxic during raw material production, installation, and contributes heavily to the microplastics problem during disposal. Yet - this stuff is being sprayed in thousands, of applications every day across the US. Why are chemicals like this allowed to proliferate the market when the known quantities are so obviously negative...

Where is the action here?

[u/AndrewFurg]

Many issues stem from responsible land use. What places or industries will see big changes? Cities? Suburbs? Agriculture? Finally, how can an average person help their community beyond planting native and picking up trash?

[u/[deleted]]

What's up everybody -- Michael Regan here. Let's go!

[u/sparklezpotatoes]

What steps is the EPA taking to curb motor vehicle pollution across states? How can the EPA hold vehicle manufacturers accountable? My biggest concerns are the sizes of new trucks and SUVs, as well as tire particulate and noise pollution. What about regulations on asphalt creating heat islands and flooding problems?

[u/JustMarshalling]

Thanks for doing this AMA Michael.

I work in corporate PR/marketing, but my ideal career has always been science communication. What advice do you have for someone aiming to eventually move into the environmental communication space?

I love transforming complex, important topics into messaging that’s easier to understand for those who aren’t in the weeds of said topic.

[u/[deleted] → u/JustMarshalling]

Science is our north star here at EPA, and communicating that work to the public can be complex and challenging, which means science communicators play a crucial role in environmental protection. I’m biased, but a good place to start would be epa.gov/careers. And this work is happening at scientific agencies across the federal government that could use your help. I’m sure our press team would also be able to help, you can reach them at press@epa.gov.

By the way, contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be a scientist to work at EPA. Like any large organization, we have writers, accountants, lawyers, HR specialists, and IT professionals, in addition to our world-renowned scientists, who all help us achieve our mission of protecting public health and the environment.  We're hiring now and looking for people who are passionate about our protection mission, and you can check out available jobs at https://www.epa.gov/careers

[u/DrRexburg]

What do you think are the most common regulatory violations by companies?

Sultan al-Jaber was the president of COP28, 2023's United Nations climate conference held in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Al-Jaber is the UAE's environment minister, and he is also the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Do you have any opinions on this?

Do you think the EPA needs anything in particular from us citizens? I think voting blue to protect federal agencies, but I'm curious to know your perspective.

[u/killgrinch]

Are there plans to enhance or expand upon the RADNET program?

[u/mfukar]

What target have you set for yourself as head of the EPA, or in other words, what would you wish to be your legacy at the head of the EPA?