The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently outlined its 2021 accomplishments under the Biden-Harris administration and the leadership of Administrator Michael S. Regan.
In 2021, the EPA furthered significant initiatives aimed at tackling the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice and passing legislation to protect the health and safety of communities around the country, an EPA press release said.
“Thanks to the EPA workforce’s ambition, world class expertise, and dedication, this agency has taken bold action to protect future generations from climate impacts, advance environmental justice, and build healthier, more equitable communities,” Regan said in the release.
Regan traveled to 18 states, nine of the 10 regions that the EPA oversees and three different countries during 2021, meeting with local community members and legislators to advance the Biden-Harris environmental agenda, the release said. The agency also signed off on 50 new environmental rules and oversaw a $60 billion investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help provide safe and healthy water, clean up pollution, and revitalize communities.
Among the accomplishments the EPA highlighted in the release was new federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks that represented the most stringent carbon emission policy to date, the release said. They also initiated a plan to monitor and reduce PFAS pollutants in the nation’s water system and relaunched “the agency’s climate change website and climate indicators report after a four-year absence during the prior administration.”
“I am so grateful for what we’ve accomplished together, and I’m looking forward to the big things we’ll achieve in 2022 and beyond,” Regan said in the release.
