Business teams hope Lee Zeldin, the incoming Trump administration’s decide for EPA administrator, will collaborate carefully on key points affecting waste, recycling and packaging.
President-elect Donald Trump introduced former Rep. Zeldin, a Republican from New York, as his selection to steer the EPA on Monday. Zeldin was a member of the U.S. Home of Representatives from 2013 to 2023, and the Republican nominee for governor of New York in 2022.
Waste and recycling teams have remained impartial on the decide, whereas environmental teams have criticized Zeldin’s earlier voting file on environmental points. The League of Conservation Voters mentioned he voted in favor of key environmental payments 14% of the time.
Among the many payments he did vote in favor of, a number of have been associated to regulating PFAS. This included voting in 2021 for a invoice that may have positioned some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances beneath a Nationwide Ingesting Water Commonplace. The EPA beneath President Joe Biden set closing consuming water requirements earlier this 12 months for a number of varieties of PFAS. In a report Thursday, the company highlighted “unprecedented” progress the previous three years on its PFAS technique.
Zeldin is predicted to assist Trump’s environmental agenda, which is predicted to incorporate reversing a few of Biden’s local weather and environmental guidelines. The incoming Trump administration has additionally mentioned doubtlessly rescinding unspent funds from the Inflation Discount Act, which in recent times has funded vitality and local weather initiatives associated to biogas tasks, packaging manufacturing services, environmental justice initiatives and extra. Trump has additionally mentioned pulling again on federal funding and initiatives meant to advance electrical automobile manufacturing.
“We’ll restore US vitality dominance, revitalize our auto trade to deliver again American jobs, and make the US the worldwide chief of AI,” Zeldin mentioned in a press release on X. “We’ll achieve this whereas defending entry to wash air and water.”
Business teams say it’s vital to get Zeldin on top of things on essentially the most urgent points they advocate for, together with a spread of enterprise, vitality and expertise priorities.
“As with every new administration, we’re dedicated to working alongside each appointed and profession EPA employees to make sure that our trade’s points and priorities are properly understood and successfully represented,” mentioned Michael E. Hoffman, president and CEO of the Nationwide Waste & Recycling Affiliation, in a press release.
Amy Lestition Burke, govt director and CEO of the Stable Waste Affiliation of North America, underscored the trade’s work on “accountable administration of waste and useful resource administration, office well being and security, supporting the workforce, and pursuing and testing new applied sciences.”
Lestition Burke additional identified trade priorities such because the transition to EV and pure fuel autos for fleets. “It will likely be vital that this work can proceed,” she mentioned in an e mail.
“Landfill fuel to vitality tasks and waste to vitality services present gasoline for communities and an vital income stream for each private and non-private sector homeowners, so SWANA will search ongoing federal assist for these tasks,” she added, noting that a number of landfill fuel tasks have acquired funding from the IRA.
The American Chemistry Council mentioned it “stands prepared to assist the administration and Congress assist American innovation and provide chain resiliency,” highlighting priorities corresponding to holding American manufacturing aggressive and creating jobs.
“We assist the implementation of wise, pro-growth, science-based insurance policies and rules,” mentioned Kimberly Clever White, ACC vp of regulatory and scientific affairs, in a press release.
The American Forest & Paper Affiliation famous it has a “lengthy observe file” of working with the EPA and is “desperate to proceed our partnership to realize shared objectives.”
In the meantime, environmental teams criticized Zeldin’s anticipated nomination. They known as out the earlier Trump administration’s rollback of quite a few EPA insurance policies, in addition to Zeldin’s file of voting towards the IRA and different environmental payments throughout his time in Congress.
Past Plastics “has severe issues concerning the EPA’s capability to guard public well being and the setting on this new administration” with Zeldin on the helm, mentioned Judith Enck, the group’s president and a former EPA regional administrator, in an e mail.
The Environmental Safety Community, a gaggle of former EPA employees from each Democratic and Republican administrations, mentioned Zeldin had a “lengthy and alarming historical past of casting votes in Congress meant to weaken EPA.” The group mentioned in a launch that it’s “watching carefully” to see what plans Zeldin and the Trump administration could have for the company shifting ahead.
The Nationwide Caucus of Environmental Legislators, a nonpartisan group that advocates for environmental laws on the state stage, was impartial on the deliberate nomination.
“It is a model new decide and we as a company do not have a selected stance or thought on that but,” mentioned Govt Director Dylan McDowell throughout a post-election coverage webinar on Tuesday. “Our continued focus is taking a look at finest practices from states and the way that may assist inform federal work.”
Zeldin would succeed EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who was confirmed in March 2021. The EPA’s Workplace of Land and Emergency Administration, which oversees waste points, has been with out an official assistant administrator for years after the Biden’s nominee was held up.
Zeldin, in addition to any future nominee to steer OLEM, would require Senate affirmation.