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Cabinet status
Q: Do you think cabinet status will improve the standing of the Agency?
MR. TRAIN: Yes, I think it would be a good thing. I have testified to thiseffect before Congress, so I am clearly on record. It is not going to be a solution to the problems that EPA confronts day in and day out. In some ways, it may make some of them more difficult. But, in my mind, it clearly gives the Agency more clout: politically, publicly, with the Congress, and around the world. I think that more and more the environmental issues we have to deal with involve interfaces with other major public concerns, such as energy, transportation, agriculture, trade, and so on. The environmental side of the equation will be better served if the principal institution speaking for the environmental side is of equal status with these other groups. I think it is very important from that standpoint. I also believe that as a first step, the practical thing is simply to create the present EPA as a department without adding many other functions from around the government. I believe that in due course, and sooner rather than later, the Department of the Environment should include new functions, such as those found in NOAA. I think these steps would go a long way toward helping build the kind of scientific capability and scientific credibility the Agency needs.