EPA has just released its Interim Guidance on Considering Environmental Justice During the Development of an Action. I can’t say I’m excited. The broad issue is probably too complex for a blog post, but the simple version is as follows:
- Congress passes environmental protection laws for EPA to implement.
- Those statutes generally provide for EPA to set standards with something like “an adequate margin of safety.”
- EPA does its job.
Contrast the simplified model process shown above with this diagram from the Interim Guidance.
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Trust me; it wouldn’t help if it were legible (though you can find the legible version in Appendix B to the Interim Guidance if you want). Now contrast this model process with Rube Goldberg’s design for a Self-Operating Napkin.
Might there be a reason why people are leery of large federal bureaucracies?