While the U.S. EPA is responsible for protecting the nation’s health and environment, one of the organization’s core policies states environmental stewardship is shared by all those whose actions affect the environment.
“Environmental protection doesn’t just take place in the federal government,” said Ron Curry, EPA Region 6 regional administrator. “It takes place in state government, municipalities and boardrooms. We must all remember that because we all have different ideas, but on most days I would say we’re all working for that same outcome.”
Speaking to the attendees of the recent Louisiana Chemical Association/Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance (LCA/LCIA) Annual Legislative Conference, Curry talked about the importance of collaboration and the importance of making a difference in the community.
“The message I talk about, when I’m dealing with my colleagues in EPA, or anyone we deal with, is we strive for clarity in what we’re trying to do,” Curry said. “As we strive for clarity, we can often find ways we can work together to get that job done. We have many things in common we’re trying to do.”
Curry explained while EPA is an agency of 15,000-17,000 people, Region 6 only has about 750 people, so collaboration is imperative to provide the sort of protections and guidances needed to get their jobs done.
“We have to remember we’re working for you, trying to assist you in what you’re doing,” he said to the LCA/LCIA attendees. “Collaboration is not just a word to us. It’s something we do because of many things and it also reduces transaction costs. Everyone in this room wants to reduce transaction costs.”
He used the EPA’s greenhouse gas permitting process as an example of the type of collaboration that can be beneficial to everyone.
“We all know how important those greenhouse gas permits are to this region,” Curry said. “Along the Gulf Coast, we anticipate $150 billion-$200 billion in investment in the next five years because of unconventional oil and gas drilling. That unconventional oil and gas drilling calls for unconventional approaches to doing things and that means state regulators and federal regulators are co-regulators. We have to do things that provide the clearest pathway to get things done.”
He explained collaboration and making a visible difference in the community are two of the key things EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy talks about every week.
“Along with those, one of the things people in this room are always concerned about on a daily basis are toxics and chemical safety,” Curry said. “We are trying to search for that environmental outcome that is sustainable. EPA is proud to say the environmental actions of this agency are economic multipliers.”
One of McCarthy’s major themes, Curry explained, is making the EPA a high-performing organization.
“If we become a better, higher-performing organization, the benefactors are going to be you and the environment,” Curry said. “Whether it’s finding a better way to get greenhouse gas permits out or finding a way to reduce those transaction costs, the benefit comes back to the public and EPA is dedicated to doing that. We’re striving to be high performing — trying to be more efficient and the result comes back to you.”
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Working in the environmental field, Curry said the people he works with at the EPA have a unique opportunity every day a lot of people don’t have.
“If you’re working in the environmental field, you have the opportunity to have either a direct or an indirect positive effect on your community,” he explained. “Not all occupations have that opportunity. At the end of each day when our people go home, I want them to say they’re not a bureaucrat — they’re a public servant. I think if they’re able to say that, then they’re going to have that environmental and economic outcome we seek every day we come to work.”
For more information, visit www.epa.gov or call (800) 887-6063.
