EPA Releases 2020 Year Highlighting Agency Accomplishments

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the 2020 Year in Review outlining major accomplishments and environmental progress over the past fiscal year (FY), calendar year, and four years.

“This report shows a year of accomplishments that, in terms of both policy and regulatory actions, rivals any year in the agency’s history; an extraordinary statement that I am happy to stand behind,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “From the first ever emissions standards for aircraft, to drafting the nation’s newest recycling goal and finalizing the first overhaul of the Lead and Copper Rule in 30 years, this list of achievements will stand the test of time.”

2020 EPA accomplishments include:

• Finalizing the first greenhouse gas emissions standards for aircraft.
• Reviewing and retaining, without changes, the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set by the Obama-Biden Administration, which marks only the second time in Clean Air Act history that the agency has completed a NAAQS review within the congressionally mandated five-year timeframe.
• Finalizing the first major overhaul to the Lead and Copper Rule for the first time in nearly 30 years to ensure the safety of drinking water for children and young adults.
• Deleting all or part of 27 sites from the National Priorities List (NPL) for the second consecutive year, which was the largest number of deletions in a single year since FY 2001.
• Establishing the Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains to assume oversight responsibilities for federal hardrock mining cleanup sites west of the Mississippi River; serve as a central contact for other federal agencies, states and tribes with responsibility for or impacted by these sites; and develop innovative technologies and adaptive management approaches to address legacy pollution.
• Unveiling America’s newest National Recycling Goal to increase the national recycling rate to 50 percent—up from roughly 32 percent—by 2030.
• Releasing the U.S. Federal Strategy for Addressing the Global Issue of Marine Litter, which outlines the comprehensive approach the administration is leading domestically and internationally to preventing trash, litter, and garbage—including plastics—from entering marine and freshwater environments.
• In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the pesticides program developed List N: Surface Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2. This is a list of more than 500 products that meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.