IPEN Joins 150+ Organizations in Joint Letter to U.S. Congress & EPA
The letter asks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rescind or replace its "free pass to pollute" policy allowing companies to suspend critical health and safety monitoring with no public disclosure during the coronavirus pandemic.The U.S. EPA and Congress should be working to protect communities and workers, not unnecessarily endangering them by making them more vulnerable to disease from toxic pollution in the middle of a global pandemic.
IPEN joined 151 fenceline community, environmental justice, health, faith, worker, business, conservation, and other concerned organizations in expressing outrage with the policy issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 26, 2020, titled “COVID-19 Implications for EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Program.” By providing for waiver of enforcement actions and penalties for violations of critical worker and public protections, with no submission of evidence required and no time limit, the policy invites facilities to shirk essential responsibilities to protect health and safety without consequence. The policy is so broad that it allows EPA to waive enforcement even if suspension of otherwise required activities causes an “imminent threat” to health or the environment.
See the letter here.