News Releases from Headquarters›Office of the Administrator (AO)

TOMORROW: EPA Administrator to Focus on Protecting Clean Water in Travel to Minnesota, Texas and Illinois

WASHINGTON - Tomorrow, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is hitting the road to focus on the important need to protect the critical streams and wetlands that provide 1 in 3 Americans their drinking water and that are currently vulnerable to pollution and destruction. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers sent the draft Clean Water Rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget for interagency review on April 3, and after over 400 meetings with stakeholders across the country and input from over one million public comments, the Agencies will finalize a rule that strengthens manufacturing, tourism, recreation, farming, ranching, and other major economic sectors that rely on clean water to function and flourish.

Administrator McCarthy will begin on Wednesday with a visit to the St. Paul Regional Water Services Treatment Plant with St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges. On Thursday, she will join Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Toyota North America and the Wyland Foundation to dedicate a water efficient outdoor classroom and student garden at the Cochran Elementary School to celebrate the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation, a far-reaching community service initiative to promote smart water use in all fifty states. The project will create an environment within the school's courtyard that uses Texas native trees, plants and grasses, decomposed granite pathways, low-cost water efficient irrigation and weather sensors, and student gardens for each grade.

On Friday, Administrator McCarthy will be in Chicago to give the headline interview on the economic need for protecting our nation's clean water sources by acting on climate change at The New Republic's conference, "The Next Frontier of Climate Change: State and Local Action in Chicago". In addition to her focus on clean water protection, Administrator McCarthy will speak about the cost of inaction on climate change and how we can turn climate challenges into opportunities to modernize our power sector, lay the foundation for a low-carbon economy, and fuel growth for decades to come.

Wednesday, April 8
WHAT: Tour of the St. Paul Regional Water Services Treatment Plant with St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges

WHEN: 1:00 PM CDT

WHERE: St. Paul Regional Water Services Treatment Plant

RSVP: Media interested in covering the event should email press@epa.gov. Media with cameras will need to arrive to the treatment plant for set up by 12:30. All other media should arrive by 12:45.

Thursday, April 9

WHAT: Water efficient outdoor classroom and student garden dedication with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Toyota North America and the Wyland Foundation

WHEN: 12:30 PM CDT

WHERE: Nancy Cochrane Elementary School

RSVP: Media interested in covering the event should email press@epa.gov

Friday, April 10

WHAT: Administrator McCarthy headline interview at The New Republic's conference, "The Next Frontier of Climate Change: State and Local Action in Chicago"

WHEN: 9:40 AM CDT

WHERE: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Harper Center, Room 104
5807 South Woodlawn Ave.
Chicago, lL 60637

RSVP: This event will be live streamed by here. Media interested in covering the event should email Meredith Portnoy at mportnoy@tnr.com.

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