U.S. EPA director visits Arkansas as part of push to rescind environmental regulations

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt answers questions Friday at the White House, a day after President Donald Trump decided to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt answers questions Friday at the White House, a day after President Donald Trump decided to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.

Scott Pruitt, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, visited Arkansas on Thursday as part of the office’s nationwide push to rescind major federal regulations.

In a photo posted to his Twitter account, Pruitt was seen flanked by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge at the Don & Randal Tyson Conference Center in Little Rock.

Late last month, Hutchinson applauded Pruitt and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their proposal to repeal the 2015 Clean Water Rule that clarifies which bodies of water can be regulated by the federal government.

The Republican governor called such guidelines under the Clean Water Act “burdensome” and a form of federal regulatory overreach.

In March, Pruitt questioned the link between human activity and climate change, disagreeing that it was a “primary contributor.”

The remarks were met with criticism by many scientists and environment groups, The Washington Post previously reported.

Pruitt, who was confirmed as the agency's director Feb. 1, previously served as Oklahoma’s attorney general.

During his time as attorney general, Pruitt, a Republican, worked with former Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, a Democrat, on a compromise to conduct a three-year study of phosphorus levels in the Illinois River watershed.

That watershed runs from Northwest Arkansas into northeast Oklahoma.

Read Friday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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