[CPEO-MEF] Christine Whitman's Letter of Resignation

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

The following is a copy of the letter submitted by EPA Administrator,
Christine Whitman, to the President in resignation.
___________________________________________________

May 20, 2003

Dear Mr. President:

With gratitude for the opportunity to serve the American people in
your Administration, I hereby tender my resignation as Administrator of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, effective June 27, 2003.

It has been a singular honor to be entrusted with the
responsibility to lead the EPA in its effort to leave America's air
cleaner, its water purer, and its land better protected than it was when

this Administration took office.  Our work has been guided by the strong

belief that environmental protection and economic prosperity can and
must go hand-in-hand, that the true measure of the value of any
environmental policy is in the environmental results it produces.  I am
pleased that the EPA has built an enviable record of success that will
result in significant improvements to the state of our Nation's
treasured environment.

America's air will be cleaner.  Our actions to reduce pollution
from nonroad diesel engines represent, in the words of one major
environmental organization, the "biggest public health step" in more
than 20 years.  Our landmark Clean School Bus USA initiative means that
every public school student in America should be riding low emission
school buses by 2010.  Our aggressive and effective efforts to enforce
the Nation's environmental laws have achieved some of the largest Clean
Air Act settlements in history.  This record will only be enhanced by
the eventual passage of the Administration's proposed Clear Skies Act of

2003, your far-reaching proposal to reduce pollution from the Nation's
power plants.

America's water will be purer.  EPA's Watershed Initiative is
expanding watershed-based water protection policy across the country.
The Agency's innovative Water Quality Trading program will help address
the growing problem of nonpoint source pollution.  EPA's plan for
cleanup of the Hudson River has set a new standard for restoring
waterways that have been threatened by decades of abuse.   Improvements
to the rules governing Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations will
protect surface water by requiring reductions of at least 25 percent in
run-off of nitrogen and phosphorous from those large agricultural
operations.

America's land will be better protected.  Our success in enacting
long-overdue brownfields legislation is already accelerating the
reclamation of abandoned parcels of land in hundreds of communities
across America.  The enactment of this legislation, after nearly a
decade of partisan wrangling, is a testament to your commitment to
change the way things are done in Washington.

In addition, the Agency has played a key role in responding to the
terrorist attacks of September 11th and the subsequent anthrax attack
and in promoting the security of our homeland.  The work EPA did in the
aftermath of those attacks will long be a proud chapter in this Agency's

history.  As the federal lead for protecting the Nation's water
infrastructure and the chemical industry, we also have added
significantly to efforts to reduce the vulnerability of those sectors to

terrorist attack.

I am proud of the work this Agency has done and of the
contributions it has made to the success of your Administration.  The
people who serve our country as employees of the EPA are as dedicated
and as committed a group as can be found in federal service.  It has
been a true honor to be able to lead this Agency as it worked to
implement the innovative, effective environmental policies to which you
are so clearly committed.

As rewarding as the past two-and-a-half years have been for me
professionally, it is time to return to my home and husband in New
Jersey, which I love just as you do your home state of Texas.  I leave
knowing that we have made a positive difference and that we have set the

Agency on a course that will result in continued environmental
improvement.  Please accept my deepest thanks for the opportunity to
serve our country in your Administration and my every good wish for
continued success in leading the Nation in these challenging times.

                               Sincerely yours,



                               Christine Todd Whitman

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