The U.S. EPA is moving ahead with plans to slash federal environmental enforcement programs and shift enforcement resources to the states. But the agency’s own inspector general and analyses of EPA data by the Environmental Working Group have shown that many states seem to have little interest in enforcing the nation’s clean air and water laws. The Bush administration plan would cut EPA enforcement staff by 8 percent while providing $25 million in new enforcement grants to the states. Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said, “The president’s cuts take the environmental cop off the beat.”
