A public interest law firm and a group of citizens on Thursday asked Cathy Stepp, regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to step aside from any involvement in the federal agency’s ongoing review of Wisconsin’s water pollution program.
The deficiencies largely involve technical issues designed to assure Wisconsin is properly enforcing water regulations.
Frustrated by the pace of the state’s response, Midwest Environmental Advocates and a group of 16 citizens asked the EPA in October 2015 to conduct a formal review of the DNR’s water pollution program.
Kamp said as DNR secretary, Stepp had authority over the agency’s response to the deficiencies, and now is in a position to decide whether Wisconsin is adequately addressing those issues.
While serving as the DNR secretary, Stepp sometimes sought to downplay the significance of the deficiencies during hearings with lawmakers and meetings of the Natural Resources Board, Kamp said.
Six environmental groups, including Midwest Environmental Advocated, asked the EPA in 2014 to investigate groundwater contamination in Kewaunee County in northeastern Wisconsin, where residents have raised objections over contaminated wells that critics have tied to the agency’s regulation of large farms.
Stepp, a former builder and state senator from Racine County, left the DNR for a post in President Donald Trump’s administration in the Kansas City office of the EPA.
The groups’ petition is a check on how states manage water pollution programs.
Such actions are not uncommon, but Kamp said the petition allows groups to hold an agency’s feet to the fire.
Environmental groups have interpreted this as backsliding on enforcing environmental regulations — something Stepp rejected as secretary.