Oct 27 2017

Jed Anderson says “not interested”

(Houston) – October 27, 2017

Jed Anderson, who announced his willingness to serve as TCEQ Commissioner earlier this year, said he is not interested in the EPA Region 6 Administrator job.  “I appreciate the fact that people are asking me about this, but I’m not interested.”

Anderson said that his interest is in helping to lead the nation toward a more simplified and improved 21st century environmental management system.  “Traditionally, the Region 6 Administrator job has not provided much opportunities for innovative leadership.  Generally it has been an implementer more than an innovator role . . . perhaps with a few exceptions such as Early Action Compacts.”  Anderson went on to say, “If President Trump wants EPA Region 6 to transform part of its function into a ‘center of excellence’ that reaches out to states and local stakeholders to develop new innovative approaches to regulatory protection, then I’m all ears.  Otherwise, I’ll be here in Deer Park.  I enjoy helping people with their daily environmental problems and finding solutions that can help unburden some of the complexity that they are saddled with under the current paradigm.”

One of Anderson’s ideas for using EPA Region 6, in part, as a “center of excellence” or a proving ground for pilot projects of regulatory innovation, would be in the area of air quality management.  Former Obama EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy voiced her frustration with the air quality management system during her tenure when she said, “I hate that each sector has 17 to 20 rules that govern each piece of equipment and you’ve got to be a neuroscientist to figure it out.”  Anderson said that he believes he can help bring people together and create an EPA Region 6 Pilot Project where there is only 1 rule that’s necessary and a 3rd grader could figure it out (for more information on what such an “Alternative Means of Compliance” might look like, see “Petition for Rule Simplification“).

Anderson concluded with his often repeated statement that has become a cornerstone of his efforts to simplify the regulatory system; “With simplicity will come better transparency.  With transparency will come better accountability.  The more simple things are, the more everyone understands them.  The more everyone understands them, the better they can comply with them.  It’s that simple.”