Statement on Selection of Michael Regan, Secretary of NCDEQ, as Biden Administration’s EPA Administrator Nominee

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—The Southern Environmental Law Center today released the following statement by Derb Carter, director of its North Carolina offices, regarding the selection of Michael Regan, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, as the Biden administration’s nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

“We congratulate Secretary Regan for his nomination to lead the EPA and look forward to working with him in the future as we have here in North Carolina. There is much work to be done to make up for the last four years, and we hope EPA will take strong action under Regan’s leadership to protect America’s clean water and families from industrial pollution, including contaminated wastewater from coal-fired power plants and toxic chemicals like PFAS.”

Over the past four years, the Southern Environmental Law Center has worked with Secretary Regan and his Department of Environmental Quality to address some of the biggest environmental challenges facing the state and nation.

• DEQ state enforcement actions and SELC federal enforcement actions against Duke Energy resulted in the largest cleanup of coal ash in the United States.
• DEQ state enforcement actions and SELC federal enforcement actions against Chemours resulted in a settlement to stop 99% of toxic GenX and other PFAS pollution from entering surface and groundwaters which provide drinking water to thousands of North Carolinians.
• DEQ and SELC are now in federal court challenging the Trump EPA’s decision to unlawfully roll back basic Clean Water Act protections of our streams, lakes and wetlands.
• North Carolina environmental organizations continue to work closely with DEQ to finalize and implement a clean energy plan to reduce carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 and achieve net zero carbon by 2050.

“If Secretary Regan takes his approach in North Carolina to Washington, EPA should reverse its course on protecting polluters to instead protect people and our air and water.

“During Regan’s tenure, North Carolina’s environmental agency took a position on toxic PFAS pollution that agencies across the country and the EPA should be taking—stopping pollution at its source.

“The agreement with Duke Energy after years of litigation put in place the most extensive coal ash cleanup in the nation and protected communities across North Carolina from coal ash pollution.”