Gaetz legislation to abolish EPA

Northwest Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz introduced legislation Feb. 3 to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, according to his e-mail newsletter to constituents. The legislation is “necessary because it is the states and local communities that are best positioned to responsibly regulate the environmental assets within their jurisdictions,” he wrote. Gaetz claimed that Americans are “drowning in rules and regulations promulgated by unelected bureaucrats” and that EPA had become an “extraordinary offender.” The legislation abolishes the EPA effective Dec. 31, 2018, allowing state and local governments to implement interim policies. (Source: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz 02/02/17) EPA’s Gulf of Mexico Program: The following is a brief summary of 2016 projects included in the initial Federal Priorities List (FPL) on the environment for the Gulf Coast led by the EPA’s Gulf of Mexico Program. The EPA will lead multiple projects on the FPL to work with local stakeholders to achieve near-term, on-the-ground ecosystem benefits, while also conducting planning activities designed to build a foundation for future success. The EPA, Interior Department and U.S. Geological Survey collaborated on developing a $5.8M project that focuses on developing and providing vital information on the timing and delivery of freshwater to the streams, bays, estuaries and wetlands of the Gulf Coast region. The EPA will develop and implement the $2.5M ‘Gulf of Mexico Conservation Enhancement Grant Program’ to enhance private/public partnerships that support land protection and conservation across the Gulf Coast. The EPA will enter into a cooperative $2.1M agreement with the Mobile (Ala.) Bay National Estuary Program to design, permit and implement a stream restoration project in Twelve Mile Creek, which has been negatively impacted from excessive storm-water runoff, and remove invasive species in the Three Mile Creek Watershed. The EPA will stand up a $2.1M place-based estuary program encompassing one or more Northwest Florida bays: Perdido, Pensacola, Escambia, Choctawhatchee and St. Andrews. The project will serve as a pilot project for the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council to consider expanding Gulf-wide when future funds become available. (Source: EPA-Gulf of Mexico Program)