Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Western Caucus members Doug Collins (GA-09), Jason Smith (MO-08) and Blake Farenthold (TX-27), Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Paul A. Gosar D.D.S. (AZ-04), Chairman Emeritus Steve Pearce (NM-02), Chief Infrastructure and Forestry Officer Bruce Westerman (AR-04), and Western Caucus members Kevin Cramer (ND-At Large), Liz Cheney (WY-At Large), Markwayne Mullin (OK-02) and Greg Gianforte (MT-At Large) released the following statements after EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued an Agency-wide directive today designed to end “sue and settle” practices within the Agency:

“Sue and settle is a completely illegitimate way for radical special interests to circumvent the regulatory process and impose new rules. Administrator Pruitt is cleaning up the EPA by ending this insider game that lets the well-connected get special treatment at the expense of everyone else. The EPA should focus on keeping the environment clean, which is why I couldn’t support Administrator Pruitt’s decision more,” stated Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

“No government agency should collude with special interest groups to redefine its priorities through covert consent decrees. The EPA’s decision to crack down on this practice will give Americans back their right to know about and respond to federal rulemaking, and I applaud Secretary Pruitt for taking this step today,” said Congressman Doug Collins. “I will continue working to snuff out back-room litigation that unfairly impacts our citizens. The EPA’s directive reflects the principles outlined in the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act, which would ensure that the sue-and-settle mischief we witnessed during the last administration would never again take hold in a federal agency.”

“It’s wrong for Washington to leave the ‘sue and settle’ loophole open and waste Missourians hard-earned money paying attorney fees for radical environmentalist groups and other radical, left wing organizations,” stated Congressman Jason Smith. “I’m proud that my legislation to fix this problem was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and that the EPA is following suit with closing this harmful loophole.”

“I agree with Administrator Pruitt's decision designed to end the abusive practice of sue and settle agreements. The process creates an unfair system where special interest groups win, and taxpayers lose. For years, we have warned that abuse of consent decrees circumvents the legislative process. It is time to restore an open process that allows input from the American people,” said Congressman Farenthold.

“EPA Administrator Pruitt and President Trump deserve our sincere thanks for taking bold action to end fraudulent ‘sue and settle’ practices within the EPA,” remarked Chairman Gosar. “For years, extremist special-interest groups have milked taxpayers for millions of dollars that they then used to fund anti-business measures that killed jobs. Shamefully, the EPA often colluded with these groups and folded like a cheap suit. It is a breath of fresh air to see an administration with a backbone end this abuse.” 

“For years, the EPA has prioritized special interest groups over the interests of Americans. The sue-and-settle process denies Americans transparency and allows decisions to be made behind closed doors. Ending this practice will allow U.S. citizens to have a say in major agency actions as it should be. It is encouraging to see Secretary Pruitt act on his commitment to hold the agency to a higher standard, cutting government red tape that ensures transparency and accountability for the EPA,” said Congressman Pearce.  

“I commend Administrator Pruitt’s decision to end the egregious practice of ‘sue and settle.’ Through ‘sue and settle,’ the previous administration effectively removed the voice of the American people in environmental regulatory issues and replaced it with the opinion of special interest groups. I’m glad to see that the EPA will no longer allow themselves to be dictated to by threat of lawsuit” stated Congressman Westerman.

“The Obama Administration was a breeding ground for extreme environmental groups suing the federal government only to get behind closed doors and reach a friendly settlement agreement.  Not only did these settlements circumvent the transparent rulemaking process and prioritize agency obligations to environmentalists’ liking, but it enriched the environmental group lawyers in the process at the expense of the taxpayer.  I’m pleased to see the Trump Administrator stomp out this practice mirroring many of the reforms put forward by House Republicans,” said Congressman Cramer.

Congresswoman Cheney stated, “I strongly support EPA Administrator Pruitt’s directive to end the practice of ‘Sue & Settle.’ For far too long the Obama-era EPA worked hand-in-hand with far-left environmental organizations to promote their extreme agenda at the expense of hard working men and women in Wyoming. This directive starts a necessary path for the EPA to correct and restore the transparency that was often lacking during the Obama Administration and prevent Wyoming taxpayer dollars from being used to feed an endless cycle of frivolous lawsuits.”

“I support Administrator Pruitt’s directive to end the ‘sue and settle’ practices at the EPA,” said Congressman Mullin.  “This practice of settling lawsuits behind closed doors lacks the transparency that the American people deserve and circumvents Congress’ role of passing smart and effective regulations. This directive will hold the EPA accountable and deliver a more transparent regulatory process.”

“I am pleased by Administrator Pruitt’s announcement that the EPA will terminate its sue-and-settle practice. The previous administration used sue-and-settle as an end run to do what they could not get done legislatively. I have worked with my colleagues for a legislative fix to prevent environmental special interests from getting paid through sue-and-settle. Administrator Pruitt’s decision is a promising first step, and I hope more is done to end this practice,” concluded Congressman Gianforte.

Background:

Courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency

In fulfilling his promise to end the practice of regulation through litigation that has harmed the American public, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued an Agency-wide directive today designed to end “sue and settle” practices within the Agency, providing an unprecedented level of public participation and transparency in EPA consent decrees and settlement agreements.

“The days of regulation through litigation are over,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.  “We will no longer go behind closed doors and use consent decrees and settlement agreements to resolve lawsuits filed against the Agency by special interest groups where doing so would circumvent the regulatory process set forth by Congress. Additionally, gone are the days of routinely paying tens of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees to these groups with which we swiftly settle.”

Over the years, outside the regulatory process, special interest groups have used lawsuits that seek to force federal agencies – especially EPA – to issue regulations that advance their interests and priorities, on their specified timeframe.  EPA gets sued by an outside party that is asking the court to compel the Agency to take certain steps, either through change in a statutory duty or enforcing timelines set by the law, and then EPA will acquiesce through a consent decree or settlement agreement, affecting the Agency’s obligations under the statute. 

More specifically, EPA either commits to taking an action that is not a mandatory requirement under its governing statutes or agrees to a specific, unreasonable timeline to act.  Oftentimes, these agreements are reached with little to no public input or transparency. That is regulation through litigation, and it is inconsistent with the authority that Congress has granted and the responsibility to operate in an open and fair manner. 

“Sue and settle” cases establish Agency obligations without participation by states and/or the regulated community; foreclose meaningful public participation in rulemaking; effectively force the Agency to reach certain regulatory outcomes; and, cost the American taxpayer millions of dollars.  

With today’s directive, Administrator Pruitt is ensuring the Agency increase transparency, improve public engagement, and provide accountability to the American public when considering a settlement agreement or consent decree by:

1. Publishing any notices of intent to sue the Agency within 15 days of receiving the notice;
2. Publishing any complaints or petitions for review in regard to an environmental law, regulation, or rule in which the Agency is a defendant or respondent in federal court within 15 days of receipt;
3. Reaching out to and including any states and/or regulated entities affected by potential settlements or consent decrees;
4. Publishing a list of consent decrees and settlement agreements that govern Agency actions within 30 days, along with any attorney fees paid, and update it within 15 days of any new consent decree or settlement agreement;
5. Expressly forbidding the practice of entering into any consent decrees that exceed the authority of the courts;
6. Excluding attorney’s fees and litigation costs when settling with those suing the Agency;
7. Providing sufficient time to issue or modify proposed and final rules, take and consider public comment; and
8. Publishing any proposed or modified consent decrees and settlements for 30-day public comment, and providing a public hearing on a proposed consent decree or settlement when requested.

The full directive and memo can be read here. 

The video of the signing can be found here. A downloadable b-roll version can be found here.

Western Caucus Analysis

Secretary Pruitt’s directive is intended to return the United States Environmental Protection Agency to a position of regulatory responsibility, wherein regulation which goes beyond previous authorities can only be issued as a consequence of new statutory authorization and compelling need.

More importantly, this is yet another example of Secretary Pruitt taking the principled position that EPA’s regulatory output must clearly serve the interests of the American people.

All this is to contrast with the practices of the Obama Administration, in which the EPA frequently settled with special-interest outside groups in order to extend existing regulations beyond their legal authority. In such cases, expansive new duties and timetables were perversely self-imposed by EPA in response to a predictable chain of lawsuits.

The EPA telegraphed to special-interest legal outfits that it would fold and settle as soon as a lawsuit was filed – after all, this was an easy way for the regulation-frenzied Obama Administration to increase its power and reach despite not being granted any new statutory authorities to do so.

This arrangement benefitted the special-interest environmentalists as well; not only were their policy objectives fulfilled without any new legislation going through Congress, but they were also able to bolster their coffers by charging exorbitant legal fees as part of the settlements.

Fees often rose as high as $750 dollars an hour, the reimbursement of which only rewarded these groups and incentivized an endless stream of new litigation. This is a lose-lose situation for the taxpayer, who is forced to fund nontransparent policymaking outside the established regulatory process and at a premium paid to environmentalist lawyers.

While it is certainly necessary that EPA move internally to clamp down on these extra-legal regulatory expansions, Congress too has a duty to make certain ‘sue and settle’ becomes only a temporary loophole that future Administrations cannot exploit.  

Legislative remedies have been introduced in this and previous Congresses which will ameliorate these issues. In the 115^th Congress, Rep. Doug Collins (GA-09) introduced H.R. 469, the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act. The Act contains a swath of provisions which work to clamp down on the ability for Federal agencies to be party to ‘sue and settle’ complaints, consent decrees and settlement agreements that extend agency obligations past their lawful and rightful bounds.

The ultimate end of this and similar legislation is to ensure that these courtroom workarounds do not replace the lawful agency process and its public comment period. In this way, they work to prevent the corrosion of the democratic process and in the service of sound, transparent policymaking.