"Lawmakers Introduce Bill To End EPA"

"The Environmental Protection Agency has come under constant fire from the Trump administration, enduring both a temporary gag order — which was later partially lifted  — and news that President Trump was looking to cut the agency's budget and staff.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced HR 861 Friday to get rid of the agency altogether. Although details of the bill weren't immediately available, Gaetz said his bill to terminate the agency was meant to leave it to local governments 'to protect their environmental assets in the absence of federal overreach.'

'They have exceeded their original mission substantially under both Republican and Democratic presidents and violated the sovereignty of the states,' Gaetz told the Northwest Florida Daily News. 'I think we need to start fresh.'"

Dianne de Guzman reports for the San Francisco Chronicle February 5, 2017.

SEE ALSO:

Opinion: "Abolish the EPA? A One-Way Ticket To Toxic Air, Poisoned Water" (Huffington Post)