EPA legislative involvement

Q: How important to your mission was crafting drafts of legislation during your tenure? Or did that happen?

MR. COSTLE: Oh, sure. If you have a relationship of trust with the Congress, they really want your input. You have to implement the law so, theoretically, you have a right to be at the drafting table. Again, it is a process of give-and-take. In our system, the legislative process at its best is even more give-and-take than is rulemaking.

Q: How much of the wording of TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) and Superfund was EPA's and how much came from Congressional staffs?

MR. COSTLE: It's really hard to allocate. But the only time you worry is when you're not part of the process. Usually a member of Congress doesn't want to go with something that the agency says is nutty. At least, it used to be that way. Nowadays, the [1994] Congress is altogether different.

On one level, I'm not surprised that efforts to undo environmental legislation bogged down this year [1996]. I think the new Republicans went way beyond any mandate they had. I really believe it has been tragic that such partisanship has taken over, and I think it's one reason that many of the moderates of both parties are leaving.

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EPA legislative involvement

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