Zeldin is a Long Island Republican who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022. In his new role, Zeldin has received directives from President Trump to reverse some Biden-era regulations, cut back spending, and promote energy production and artificial intelligence.
“One of the reasons why President Trump was elected was to help restore our economy," says Zeldin in a welcome video Friday. "We must connect the greatness of American innovation with the greatness of American conservation.”
The appointment has environmental groups nervous. Riverkeeper President Tracy Brown says she’s worked with Zeldin before, back when she was advocating for the Long Island Sound. She thinks Zeldin has an understanding of how climate change and pollution threaten his home district, but she’s not sure what to expect from him going forward.
“The real question is, is he going to be true to his lived experience and what he knows about the importance of clean water and clean air, and getting climate adaptation projects built in haste? Or will he just be following the directives of President Trump?” asks Brown.
The EPA did not respond to a request for an interview, but the Republican has told outlets like The Hill that anyone not committed to the EPA's mission may not belong with the agency. In his first days in office, Trump placed a freeze on any new regulations pending review, including an EPA rule that would have put stricter limits on PFAS in industrial wastewater. The administration also tried to place a temporary freeze on all federal grants and loans before courts intervened last week, and it has been overseeing the firing of federal employees in a variety of departments.
Judith Enck, a former Region 2 administrator for the EPA in the Obama Administration, says she’s not impressed with Zeldin’s environmental record so far. According to the League of Conservation Voters, Zeldin often voted against environmental legislation in Congress.
"We got a little bit of a preview of where Zeldin is going to bring the agency," says Enck. "When he ran for governor, he raised only two environmental issues: first, he wanted to lift the ban on dangerous hydrofracking for gas, and second, he was very outspoken in opposing congestion pricing."
Environmental advocates are already butting heads with the EPA over its latest five-year review of a General Electric dredging project in the upper Hudson. GE polluted the river with more than a million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, until the late 1970s, turning a 200-mile stretch into a superfund site. The dredging was supposed to bring PCB levels down, but groups with “Friends of a Clean Hudson” want the EPA to declare it unsuccessful, or “not protective” of the environment, as they claim PCB levels haven’t dropped far enough. The EPA’s latest report said it doesn’t have enough data to make that call.
Brown says she’s not necessarily worried that ongoing cleanup efforts will fall apart, but if Zeldin makes significant cuts at the EPA, she’s worried future superfund sites could go unnoticed and unaddressed.
“It's what we don't know and what we won't be taking action on that is really disturbing and that, eventually, we're going to have to pay that price down the line," she adds.
Others are more optimistic. Peter Lopez, executive director of policy, advocacy and science at Scenic Hudson, is a former Republican state Assemblyman and a former Region 2 administrator for the EPA in the first Trump Administration. He says he’s familiar with Zeldin, and he’s waiting to see how how his approach plays out on the ground before sounding the alarm.
"As the administration settles in, knowing my sense of Lee and his leadership, discernment will be important, and understanding what are the decisions at the margin," he explains. "So [he has] big programs, big policies, stated goals, but what does that mean when we get into the nitty-gritty of governing and decision-making on a case-by-case basis?"
Lopez says he hopes groups like Scenic Hudson can work with the new administration to get the EPA to declare GE’s dredging “not protective.” He’d also like to see Zeldin focus on lead contamination, air pollution, and ways to improve recycling across the country.
"I think everyone is understandably paying close attention [to the administration], because there's a lot coming out in rapid fire, and it remains to be seen what the actual translation looks like," says Lopez.
Looking ahead, Enck expects she’ll be shifting her focus to work with state lawmakers over the next four years.
David Tomin, executive director of Clearwater, urges lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to consider that environmental regulations aren’t a partisan issue — that cracking down on polluters benefits everyone.
"Clean water, clean air — it's not about restricting industry," says Tomin. "It's about making sure industry follows their production pattern all the way through to make sure the environment is protected."
