EPA officials commit to county partnerships for local environmental goals

Environmental and climate priorities for the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will focus on climate change, environmental justice and restoring fact-based decision-making, according to Casey Katims, the EPA’s deputy associate administrator for Intergovernmental Affairs.

Katims discussed President Biden’s executive orders related to the environment with county officials during the Environment, Energy and Land Use Policy Steering Committee meeting March 9 during NACo’s Virtual Legislative Conference. 

Biden issued an executive order that calls for embedding environmental justice into all federal policy decision-making, which included creating a new White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council which the EPA has been chosen to lead, Katims said. 

Through an additional executive order by Biden, Katims said the EPA is reviewing all environmental rules from the Trump administration to ensure they are consistent with science, adhere to the law, and protect public health and the climate. Rules relate to methane from oil and gas operations, the fuel economy, greenhouse gas emission standards and mercury limits. 

Specifically on the local level, Katims said the administration is committed to supporting environmental goals from electrifying transportation systems to advancing environmental justice and increasing recycling.

He said the agency is committed to its partnership with counties. 

“We know that you’re on the frontlines of protecting your communities and ensuring the health and safety of your residents 24/7 and we can really only do our job by developing and fostering and cultivating that really close partnership,” he said.

The EPA is seeking nominees starting March 12 for its Local Government Advisory Committee and Small Communities Advisory Committee for interested county officials. 

“We welcome at EPA your input and collaboration from ensuring clean air and water to addressing PFAS [certain man-made chemicals], from land use to waste management,” he said. “The environmental challenges we’re facing are really complex and can only really be addressed through a strong partnership between the federal and local levels.” 

The EPA’s Municipal Ombudsman Jamie Piziali spoke with the committee about clean water issues.

In her role, Piziali serves as an independent, impartial and confidential resource to assist municipalities including cities, towns, counties, boroughs, parishes, tribes, associations and other public bodies that have jurisdiction over sewer and industrial waste.

“We’re certainly all going to need to work together on more innovative ways to address Clean Water Act requirements to help communities who are addressing tough concerns like through overflows or advance treatment needs,” she said. “More holistic, more thoughtful and innovative planning can really help make water infrastructure more effective and hopefully more affordable for everyone.”

Piziali is working to plan and publicize several integrative planning efforts that are of interest to county officials including a partnership with the EPA’s Environmental Finance Centers to provide technical assistance to municipalities that need assistance developing integrative plans. The Finance Centers will also be holding an integrative planning peer-to-peer exchange March22 focused on municipalities. 

Elizabeth Knoll, U.S. Department of Energy deputy assistant secretary, added that focus areas related to energy for the new administration center on energy jobs and energy justice. 

The department is looking for ways to leverage programs to support job growth throughout the transition to clean energy, she explained, ensuring that communities are not being left behind. 

“We believe that clean energy can and will support good paying quality union jobs,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to make that happen.” 

In other business, members of the Environment, Energy and Land Use Policy Steering Committee debated two proposed interim policy resolutions while passing two others. 

Committee members passed a resolution encouraging Congress to enact the National Heritage Area Act for congressionally designated National Heritage Areas. Members passed a second resolution to enhance pollinator species and their habitats throughout counties.

A third resolution proposed to include local government entities within the Clean Water Act Section 404 Permitting Exclusions. 

Lafourche Parish (La.) President Archie Chaisson said the resolution is asking for exemptions to reduce costs and time during the permitting process for everyday work completed by county public works agencies. 

“Just because there is a connection between a wetland environment and a drainage ditch on an urban street, we should not be forced to permit and then mitigate for that work being done on the urban street,” he said. 

Other committee members emphasized the importance of protecting wetlands and said they were concerned with the broad wording of the resolution describing it as a “blanket exclusion” for local governments. 

The committee voted to table the resolution; however, later in the meeting, members passed an amended resolution specifying the exemptions were for “public works general maintenance and repair projects.” 

A fourth proposed resolution supported the development of a national equity map to obtain accurate geographic data that would enable counties to assess the systemic barriers underserved communities face when accessing county programs. 

Members debated the resolution, arguing the equity map would create more division and lacks the time frame to collect accurate data, specifically in rural counties. 

The resolution passed 16-15.