Douglas Costle, an architect of EPA, dies at 79
Douglas M. Costle, an early architect of the Environmental Protection Agency who became the regulatory agency’s top administrator during the Carter administration and helped initiate the “Superfund” program to clean up hazardous-waste sites, died Jan. 13 at his home in McLean, Virginia. He was 79.
He had complications from strokes, said his wife, Betsy Costle.
After working for the Justice Department’s civil rights division in the mid-1960s, Costle later was named to a White House advisory council with the aim of reorganizing the executive branch.
He was instrumental in outlining the scope of an independent agency designed to coordinate efforts to enforce environmental laws to prevent pollution and protect citizens’ health. President Richard Nixon formally launched the EPA by executive order in December 1970.
Costle was a consultant to the agency during its infancy and later directed the state environmental protection commission in Connecticut before returning to Washington. He was named EPA director in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.
“Clear air is not an aesthetic luxury,” Costle said upon taking office. “It is a public health necessity.”
At his first news conference, he went after the country’s best-known luxury-car brand – Cadillac.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A federal judge in South Carolina has turned back the Trump administration’s attempt to continue preparatory work for offshore drilling during the federal government’s partial shutdown, issuing a ruling in a federal lawsuit challenging the overall expansion plans.
In his order, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel halted federal agencies “from taking action to promulgate permits, otherwise approve, or take any other official action” for permits to conduct testing that’s needed before drilling work can begin.
The ruling comes a few days after President Donald Trump’s decision this week to recall workers at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management so they could continue to process testing permits for possible drilling off the Atlantic coastline.
The recall drew an objection from the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee chairman, Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona. He called on Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to reverse course or provide a briefing on the legal justification for the move.
Earlier this month, South Carolina joined a federal lawsuit opposing the administration’s plans to conduct offshore drilling tests using seismic air guns. Gergel is overseeing that case, initially filed by environmental groups and municipalities along the state’s coast.
The suit challenges permits for the testing that precedes the drilling itself. It claims the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act in issuing the permits.
“The government was trying to have its cake and eat it too, and we’re pleased the court did not allow that to happen,” said Laura Cantral, executive director of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, one of the groups to sue. “This is an issue of critical importance to the coast, and one that must be handled openly, transparently, and fairly. This ruling will allow that to happen, and that is good for all concerned.”
Last month, New Jersey joined other East Coast states including Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Virginia in their own lawsuit against sound testing.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Attorney General Alan Wilson, both Republicans, have been working on their state’s response to the administration’s announcement of a five-year plan to open 90 percent of the nation’s offshore reserves to private development. Drilling has stirred emotions and vocal opposition along South Carolina’s coast, with many expressing concern the proposal could cause irreparable harm to the coastal areas that are the heart of South Carolina’s $20 billion tourism industry.
Some drilling supporters say it could mean an economic boon for an area increasingly reliant on tourism.
The drilling issue has been difficult for McMaster, an ally of Trump. Last year, McMaster was among state executives who requested a drilling waiver, seeking the same sort of promise already given to then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott, another Trump ally. Although your smile has gone forever
And our hands we cannot touch We shall never lose the memory of A Grandmother we loved so much. Each time we see your picture you seem to smile and say Don’t cry I’m only sleeping We’ll meet again some day. Sadly missed by Donny & Family