EPA Administrator Zeldin Addresses Environmental Council of States’ 2025 Spring Meeting, Highlights Commitment to Cooperative Federalism
WASHINGTON – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin addressed the Environmental Council of the States’ 2025 Spring Meeting, which convenes state environmental agency heads, highlighting his commitment to cooperative federalism. Administrator Zeldin also discussed permitting reform, PFAS, revising “waters of the United States,” and the agency’s emergency response and disaster recovery efforts in East Palestine, Los Angeles, Western North Carolina, and elsewhere.
“Cooperative Federalism is a main pillar of the Powering the Great American Comeback initiative. In developing our nation’s environmental statutes, Congress recognized the important role of states and their co-equal authority with EPA. Our legislators understood that states are best positioned to work with unique communities and implement laws. However, in too many instances and across too many Administrations, EPA has retained control of implementing many laws from its perch in the nation’s capital. It’s this kind of commonsense reform I want to partner with states to achieve,” said Administrator Zeldin.
Administrator Zeldin announced the Powering the Great American Comeback initiative in his first week at the agency. The initiative consists of five pillars that will guide the EPA’s work over the first 100 days and beyond. It will help the agency advance its core mission of protecting human health and the environment while energizing the greatness of the American economy. During his remarks, Administrator Zeldin provided more detail on his vision for Pillar 3, “Permitting Reform, Cooperative Federalism, and Cross-Agency Partnership.”
Advancing Cooperative Federalism
In one of his first acts as Administrator, Zeldin signed a final rule approving the State of West Virginia’s request for Class VI primacy. By granting the state primacy for Class VI wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA recognizes that West Virginia is best positioned to protect underground sources of drinking water while bolstering energy independence and dominance. This marks the fourth time a state has received primacy for Class VI wells since 2018 and the third approval under President Trump’s leadership. Administrator Zeldin also announced that he directed the Office of Water to fast-track the agency’s review and approval of state primacy under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Two weeks ago, EPA took 31 historic actions in the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history. A majority of those actions focused on returning decisions rightly back to the states and working in partnership. These include, but are not limited to: ending the so-called “Good Neighbor Plan,” which the Biden-Harris Administration used to expand federal rules to more states and sectors beyond the program’s traditional focus and led to the rejection of nearly all State Implementation Plans; working with states and tribes to resolve the massive backlog with State Implementation Plans and Tribal Implementation Plans (SIPs/TIPs) that the Biden-Harris Administration refused to resolve; reconsidering the exceptional events rulemaking to work with states to prioritize the allowance of prescribed fires within SIPs and TIPs; reconstituting the Science Advisory Board and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee; and prioritizing the coal ash program to expedite state permit reviews and update coal ash regulations.