Results to Date

EIP's advocacy reaches a wide audience that includes the public, Congress, federal and state agencies, and the media.

• Last January, EIP documented how Bush Administration rollbacks of the Clean Air Act's "New Source Review" regulations would allow substantial increases of air pollution.  The research was cited by four Senators during debate over Senator Edwards and Senator Lieberman's amendment to block the rule changes, which  was narrowly defeated by a 46-50 vote.  EIP has since provided more extensive analysis of the rule?s impacts, which the National Academy of Public Administration has said, "support the report's conclusion that the new rule 'could allow significant increases in emissions.'"  (EIP Report:  Reform or Rollback).  EIP's research has also been cited by the Attorney General of New York in support of his lawsuit to block implementation of the New Source Review rollbacks. 

• EIP has highlighted EPA's failure to enforce the Clean Air Act against large hog feedlots and other factory farms, resulting in front page coverage and a recent op-ed co-authored with Bobby Kennedy Jr. of Riverkeeper in the New York Times.  In September, 2003, EIP submitted a petition on behalf of 49 farm families and environmental organizations asking EPA to investigate complaints about air pollution from some of the most notorious factory farms (EIP Letter:  Clean Air Act Investigations and Enforcement at CAFOs).

• EIP's review of state files has documented how accidents and maintenance activities at six petrochemical plants led to the dumping of over 10.9 million pounds of air pollutants in 2002 on nearby neighborhoods in Port Arthur, Texas.  (EIP Letter to EPA regarding Port Arthur Emissions).  EIP's research was submitted for the record by Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) at a Congressional hearing, and was a feature story in the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle. 

• EIP tracks federal enforcement activity at EPA, and its analysis of budget cuts proposed by the Bush Administration has helped persuade Congressional representatives to restore staff positions for inspectors and investigators the Bush Administration tried to eliminate.  (EIP Report:  Paying Less to Pollute)

• EIP's review of state enforcement programs in the Midwest, funded with support from the Joyce Foundation, recommended specific actions to facilitate public access to permits and enforcement data.  In response, the state of Illinois has begun making enforcement data available on the state's website. 

• EIP recognizes that the weakening of federal rules leaves state agencies with more responsibility for environmental protection at the same time that budgets are being slashed at the state level.  EIP, with support from the Rockefeller Family Fund, sponsored a two-day conference in Westchester County, New York, for state environmental officials to review innovative steps states have taken to curb emissions from aging power plants and to address the loss of wetlands.  Speakers included New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, New Jersey Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell, and Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection Kathleen McGinty.