He is focused on public transparency, particularly after devastating environmental events.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Commissioner Lee Zeldin recently spoke about his intention to increase transparency and shift the approach of his agency. In an interview, Commissioner Zeldin commented on the agency and its role in communicating air quality conditions to the public.
“We have air monitors that are out,” Commissioner Zeldin said. “We monitor air, land, and water on the land front. We just ramped up an extra redundant soil sampling just to confirm that excavating to 6 inches was the right level to go down to, and we found almost 100% of the homes that level of remediation got their properties below that federal lead limit, so that was good.”
Public transparency was at the forefront of the conversation. Administrator Zeldin highlighted the EPA’s failed communication in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, promising to prevent a repeat failure, particularly after the devastating California wildfires in 2025.
The administrator said, “I don’t want our agency to keep that information to ourselves. We want to share it. The same thing with water quality, whether it’s the Safe Drinking Water Act to make sure residents have access to clean water, which was a really big deal at the beginning of the timeline, right after the fires hit, for those first few months, and then also just access to water in general, and our obligations under the Clean Water Act, obligations for both the federal government and the state.“
In a memo to his colleagues in March, Administrator Zeldin stated, “The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment. We exist to serve the public. As such, the public must be able to trust our work. We are committed to earning and maintaining the public’s trust through transparency and accountability in our actions and civility and fairness in our public participation processes.“
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Commissioner Zeldin to act with prudence as he increases the EPA’s transparency with the public.
- For EPA officials as they monitor water and air quality and report those findings to the administrator and the public.
- For wisdom for U.S. environmental personnel as they seek to ensure compliance with federal air and water regulations.
Sources: Daily Signal, Environmental Protection Agency
