Page 448

AA.

45

46

47. 48. 49. 50. 51.

52:00:00

53

54

503

56

of.

Table, “EPA Budget by

National Program Manager and Major Office,” in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

United States Environmental Protection Agency Fiscal Year 2023 Justification of Appropriation Estimates for

the Committee on Appropriations, p. 1076. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “All Federal Advisory Committees at EPA,” last upda https://www.epa.gov/faca/all-federal-advisory-committees-epa (accessed March 20, 2023).

ed March 10, 2023,

For example, EPA has steadfastly refused to follow Clean Air Act requirements that the Clean Air Scientific

Advisory Committee

provide, in the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, “unquestionably pertinent” advice on

the “relative contribution to air pollution concentrations of natural... activity” as well as “any adverse public health, welfare, social, economic, or energy effects which may result from various strategies for attainment

and maintenance” of

Agency, to Assistant Administrators, “Subject: Back-to-Basics P

Air Quality Standards

9, 20

image2018-05-09-173219.pd 8), and Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, 531 U.S. 457, 470 n.2

the NAAQS. Memorandum from E. Scot Environmental Protection

National Ambient

8-05/documents/ emorandum, May

), https://supreme.

Pruitt, Administrator, ocess for Reviewing ,” May 9, 2018, p. 4, https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/20 (accessed January 25, 2023) (cited hereafter as Pruitt (200

justia.com/cases/federal/us/531/457/case.pdF (accessed January 25, 2023). Similarly, EPA has refused to

follow legal requirem Pruitt Memorandum,

ents dating to the late 1970s regarding congressional requests for scientific advice. May 9, 2018; U.S. Government Accountability Office, “EPA Science and Advisory

Panels: Preliminary Observations on the Processes for Providing Scientific Advice,” testimony of J. Alfredo Gémez, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, GAO, before the Subcommittee on Superfund,

Waste Management,

and Regulatory Oversight, Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate,

GAO-15-636T, May 20, 2015, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-15-636t (accessed January 25, 2023);

and U.S. Government

Accountability Office, “EPA Science Advisory Board: Policy Statement on Science

Quality and Integrity,” GAO-17-526R, June 8, 2017, https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-17-526r.pdf (accessed

January 25, 2023). 31 U.S. Code § 3729 e See Pruitt Memorand

congress.gov/92/stat 5 U.S. Code Chapter January 27, 2023).

ndian Environmenta uscode/text/42/4368)

seq., httos://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/3729 (accessed March 20, 2023). m, May 9, 2018.

H.R. 4383, Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, 92nd Congress, October 6, 1972, https://www.

ute/STATUTE-86/STATUTE-86-Pg770.pdf (accessed March 20, 2023). 56A, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/chapter-56A (accessed

General Assistance Act of 1992, 42 U.S. Code § 4368b, https://www.law.cornell.edu/ b (accessed January 27, 2023).

See U.S. Environmen

Office of General Cou

U.S. Environmental epa.gov/sites/defau January 27, 2023).

U.S. Environmental et seq. (1969),” last

Environmental Justice, May Tools%20May%202022%20FINAL.pdf (accessed January 25, 2023), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

al Protection Agency, Office of General Counsel, EPA Legal Tools to Advance 2022, https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-05/EJ%20Legal%20

nsel, Office of Policy, “Interim Environmental Justice and Civil Rights in Permitting

Frequently Asked Questions,” August 2022, httos:/Awww.epa.gow/system/files/documents/2022-08/EJ%20 and%20CR%20in%20PERM 2 US. Code §§ 2000d-2000d-7, h (accessed January 27, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, No. https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20191008)38 (accessed Janua

TTING%20FAQs%20508%20compliant.pdf (accessed January 25, 2023). ps://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/chapter-21/subchapter-V

2023).

14CV954 (M.D.N.C. Sep. 30, 2019),

y 27, 2023).

Protection Agency, EPA Region 2 Environmental Justice Action Plan, p. 24, https://www. It/files/2016-03/documents/region_2_environmental_justice_action_plan.pdf (accessed

Protection Agency, “Summary of the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. $4321 pdated September 12, 2022, https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-national

environmental-policy-act (accessed January 27, 2023).

31 US. Code § 1115, httos://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/1115 (accessed January 27, 2023).

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Roger Severino

fthe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were a separate coun] try, its approximately $1.6 trillion budget would rank as the world’s fifth-largest

national budget. For good or ill, HHS activities personally impact the lives of more Americans than do those of any other federal agency. Under President Trump, HHS was dedicated to serving “all Americans from conception to natural death, including those individuals and families who face...economic and social well-being challenges.” Under President Biden, the mission has shifted to “promoting equity in everything we do” for the sake of “populations sharing a particular characteristic” including race, sexuality, gender identification, ethnicity, and a host of other categories.”

As aresult of HHS’s having lost its way, U.S. life expectancy, instead of returning to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, continued to drop precipitously to levels not seen since 1996 with white populations alone losing 7 percent of their expected life span in just one year.* Nothing less than America’s long-term survival is at stake. Accordingly, HHS must return to serving the health and well-being of all Americans at all stages of life instead of using social engineering that leaves us sicker, poorer, and more divided.

OVERVIEW

HHS consists of 11 operating divisions that have varying degrees of practical independence from the Secretary of Health and Human Services and 15 staff divisions that are directly under the Office of the Secretary. This chapter’s recommendations are limited to those divisions that most need reform and address, wherever possible, five cross-cutting goals.