Andrew Wheeler

As a lobbyist for chemical manufacturers, uranium extractors and the country’s largest coal producer, Wheeler has long fought the EPA on behalf of big industry.

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

July 9, 2018 –

A former lawyer and lobbyist for the energy and chemical industries, Andrew Wheeler’s employment history suggests his priorities to be very much at odds with those of the Environmental Protection Agency.

After Trumps first EPA administrator Scott Pruitt resigned amidst dozens of investigations, Trump handed the reigns of the regulatory body to Andrew Wheeler who brings decades of experience to the experience, but – as with most Trump nominees – that experience comes from working against the very industries they’ve been appointed to lead.

Andrew Wheeler | ProPublica: Trump Town

Notables

Lobbied on behalf of chemical manufacturer Celanese Corp., uranium extractor ‘Energy Fuels Resources Inc.’ and coal producer Murray Energy Corp., among others.

Trump Nominates Andrew Wheeler, Former Coal Lobbyist, to Lead Agency | TIME (1.9.19)

Oversaw the repeal the Waters of the United States rule (an Obama-era rule created to protect small bodies of water from pesticides and pollutants).

Trump satisfies industry with repeal of Obama water quality rules | OpenSecrets (9.19.19)

Wheeler claimed that PFAS (a group of chemicals known to be carcinogenic) are safe to drink even when six times ‘safe levels’.
Rather than outright ban asbestos per the advice of agency scientists, as 55 other countries have already done, Wheeler instead created a ‘new use’ rule, allowing for new uses to be proposed and evaluated.

Ten Ways Andrew Wheeler Has Decimated EPA Protections in Just One Year | UoCS (7.15.19)

Disbanded the 20- person Particulate Matter Review Panel which advises on the latest scientific information about soot and airborne pollutants.

EPA to Disband a Key Scientific Review Panel on Air Pollution | New York Times (10.11.18)

Wheeler placed the Head of EPA’s Children’s Health on leave in attempt to minimize the role of the office. The Office of Children’s Health Protection was created in recognition that children can be more vulnerable to pollutants and chemicals and that regulations must consider children health as well, often resulting in more stringent regulations on pollutants such as mercury or the pesticides.

EPA Places Head of Office of Children’s Health on Leave | New York Times (9.26.18)

Reversed Obama-era rules on mercury pollution, changing formula for calculating cost-benefit analysis of regulation to ignore or play down the health benefits from such regulations; could set precedent beyond mercury.

EPA Plan Could Free Coal Plants to Release More Mercury into the Air | New York Times (12.28.18)

Eliminated the EPA’s Office of the Science Advisor.

Administrator of the EPA