EPA chief recuses himself from lawsuits he was involved in as Oklahoma’s attorney general.
(WASHINGTON) — EPA chief Scott Pruitt has recused himself from lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency that he was involved in as Oklahoma’s attorney general.
“I am taking this action to avoid even the appearance of any impropriety,” Pruitt said in the statement.
In his previous role as Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt participated in more than a dozen lawsuits against the EPA, including challenges to the Obama-era’s Clean Power Plan and a rule related to the Clean Water Act.
During Pruitt’s confirmation hearing, Democrats pressed him on his stances on rules intended to protect against climate change and air and water pollution and urged him to recuse himself from the 14 cases in which he had participated in lawsuits against the agency he was named to lead.
“What the American people are expecting here is that the EPA doesn’t turn into every polluters’ ally,” Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.)
said to Pruitt during his hearing, urging him to recuse himself “from every case you brought.” Pruitt at the hearing discussed his view that the bulk of environmental regulations should be in the hands of the states.
In explaining his decision to now recuse himself from the lawsuits, Pruitt wrote in the statement that he had conferred with the Office of General Counsel’s Ethics Office and determined, “I must recuse myself from matters in which I have a financial interest, or a personal or business relationship.” The EPA did not immediately respond to ABC’s request for comment on the recusal statement.
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