[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 21 (Monday, May 30, 2005)]
[Pages 865-866]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Swearing-In Ceremony for Stephen L. Johnson as 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

May 23, 2005

    The President. Good afternoon. I'm proud to visit the headquarters 
of the Environmental Protection Agency. I am honored to be here to 
congratulate Steve Johnson on becoming America's 11th EPA Administrator. 
Congratulations. It is good to be up here with Debbie, your wonderful 
family, as well as your dad, Bill.
    I'm sorry that Laura couldn't join us, but today she's been touring 
the Egyptian desert. [Laughter] She tells me that if you take away the 
pyramids, it just looks like west Texas. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta for joining 
us. I want to thank the former EPA Administrator, the former Governor of 
New Jersey, Christie Todd Whitman, for coming today.
    I thank Congressman Charlie Taylor of North Carolina for joining us 
today. Congressman, I'm proud you're here. He happens to be the chairman 
of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and 
Related Agencies. Welcome.
    My administration is fulfilling our responsibility to be good 
stewards of the Earth. Today, America's air, land, and water are cleaner 
than they were in 2001. We've reduced air pollution by more than 10 
percent. We put in place clean diesel rules that will cut emissions from 
heavy-duty vehicles by more than 90 percent over 10 years. We've 
restored nearly 1,200 abandoned industrial sites to productive use. We 
worked to pass the Healthy Forests Restoration Act to protect forests 
and wildlife and homeowners against catastrophic fires. We've 
substantially increased funding to improve water quality in the Great 
Lakes.
    Our policies are protecting the environment while also promoting 
economic growth. And I want to thank each employee of this Agency for 
helping make this progress possible.
    Steve Johnson is the right man to build on this progress. He has 24 
years of experience here at the EPA. He is the first career EPA employee 
to hold the office of Administrator. Steve is also the first 
professional scientist to lead the agency. With this background, Steve 
will help us continue to place sound scientific analysis at the heart of 
all major environmental decisions.
    The EPA recently finalized a rule that places the first-ever 
national cap on mercury emissions from powerplants, which will result in 
a nearly 70-percent decrease in these emissions. And we issued the Clean 
Air Interstate Rule to reduce air pollution from powerplants by 70 
percent. These rules are a good start, but they are not a substitute for 
effective legislation. So one of Steve's first tasks--and I look forward 
to joining you on this task--to further reduce air pollution is to work 
with Congress to pass the Clear Skies legislation. Clear Skies is a 
commonsense, pro-environment, pro-jobs initiative. And Congress needs to 
pass the bill this year.
    Steve will also build on EPA's work to improve the quality and 
security of our drinking water. We're enforcing strict standards to 
bring cleaner water to communities across our country. The budget I 
submitted this year to Congress includes a $44 million pilot program to 
develop tools to better monitor urban water systems, so we can detect 
contamination as quickly as possible. The budget also increases support 
for EPA homeland security programs by more than 70 percent next year. 
Under Steve's leadership, we will work to ensure that every American 
community continues to have a water supply that is clean and is safe.
    We must build on our progress in the conservation and protection of 
our wetlands, soil, and wildlife habitats. On Earth Day last year, I 
announced a new goal to restore, improve, and protect at least 3 million 
acres of wetlands by 2009. After 1 year, we've already enhanced over 
800,000 acres of wetlands. And that puts us on a pace to meet our goal.
    And finally, we will continue our enforcement strategy, which 
focuses on achieving real environmental improvements that benefit 
everyone. Since 2001, the EPA has increased compliance inspections by 19 
percent and civil investigations by 24 percent. And last year, the 
Agency provided compliance assistance to over 730,000 individuals and 
businesses.

[[Page 866]]

    Our strategy is working. Last year we obtained commitments to reduce 
future pollution by an estimated 1 billion pounds, an increase of 50 
percent over the 2001 level. And I want to thank all the EPA employees 
who work in the field to work on this collaborative effort.
    As Steve leads the EPA, he will maintain our commonsense approach of 
collaborating with leaders and volunteers at the local level to find the 
best solutions to meet our national goals. We'll continue to vigorously 
enforce our environmental laws. We'll encourage good stewardship of 
natural resources, and we will focus on results. We'll continue to 
protect the health of our citizens and help guarantee the quality of our 
air, water, and land for generations to come.
    I'm looking forward to working with this good man as he leads this 
important Agency. Steve, congratulations. God bless.

[At this point, Administrator Johnson made brief remarks.]

    The President. Congratulations.

Note: The President spoke at 1:48 p.m. in the Rachel Carson Room at the 
Environmental Protection Agency's Ariel Rios Building. In his remarks, 
he referred to Administrator Johnson's wife, Deborah Johnson, and his 
father, William Johnson. The transcript released by the Office of the 
Press Secretary also included the remarks of Administrator Johnson.