Leading Environmental Groups Call for Uhlmann’s Confirmation to Head EPA Enforcement Office

Leading environmental groups are calling for the U.S. Senate to confirm President Biden’s nominee for a key EPA office, a long overdue action that they describe as “an immediate step that the Senate can take in the aftermath of last week’s Supreme Court decision … curtailing the Agency’s ability to address climate change.”

David Uhlmann was nominated more than a year ago to head EPA’s enforcement and compliance office – the office that holds companies accountable when they break environmental laws and ensures that polluters, not taxpayers, cover the cost of cleaning up Superfund hazardous waste sites. Uhlmann has broad and bipartisan support from both the environmental and law enforcement communities and from senior EPA and Justice Department officials who served in Senate-confirmed positions under the last six Presidents.

The leaders of Environmental Defense Fund, Earthjustice, League of Conservation Voters, National Wildlife Federation, and Natural Resources Defense Council are calling for prioritizing his confirmation. You can read their full statement below.

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As leaders of the largest environmental groups in the United States, we join together to urge the United States Senate to prioritize floor time to confirm David M. Uhlmann to serve as the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at EPA, more than a year after President Biden first nominated him in June 2021.  Mr. Uhlmann is exceptionally well-qualified, and his confirmation will allow EPA to better protect vulnerable communities from the harmful effects of pollution and ensure that all Americans have access to safe drinking water.  His confirmation also will allow EPA to increase its efforts to enforce existing climate regulations, an immediate step that the Senate can take in the aftermath of last week’s Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. EPA curtailing the Agency’s ability to address climate change.

For too long, the EPA has been without a permanent leader in this critically important enforcement role.  Every additional day of delay harms the environment, the climate, and vulnerable communities. We urge the United States Senate to schedule Mr. Uhlmann’s confirmation vote before the August recess.  

• Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund
• Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice
• Gene Karpinski, president of League of Conservation Voters
• Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of National Wildlife Federation
• Manish Bapna, president and CEO of Natural Resources Defense Council