Top Prosecutors Demand End to Nearly Year-Long Delay of Confirmation of David Uhlmann as Enforcement Director
Washington, D.C. – Sixty-seven former U.S. Attorneys from both Republican and Democratic administrations sent a letter to U.S. Senate leaders today urging an end to the nearly year-long delay in confirmation of an EPA enforcement chief.
“The failure to confirm an EPA enforcement chief deep into the second year of the Biden Administration undermines the rule of law, public health, and environmental protection,” wrote the former U.S. Attorneys (list of names below) to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, among others.
On June 23, 2021, and again on January 4, 2022, the Biden Administration nominated former U.S. Department of Justice chief environmental crimes prosecutor David M. Uhlmann, a law professor at the University of Michigan, to serve as Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the EPA. The nomination has stalled in a split U.S. senate.
The delay in Uhlmann’s confirmation leaves EPA’s understaffed civil and criminal enforcement division without confirmed leadership at a time of declining environmental enforcement. EPA data show a roughly 50 percent drop in civil inspections, criminal investigations and cases referred for prosecution in 2018-2021 compared to the average from 2002 to 2017.
“From a law enforcement perspective, it is essential for EPA to have a confirmed Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance,” the former U.S. Attorneys wrote in their letter to the Senate leadership.
For the last 15 years, Uhlmann has served as Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Program at the University of Michigan. For 17 years before that, Uhlmann worked at the U.S. Department of Justice, including as the Chief of the Environmental Crimes Section, leading several landmark cases that brought justice to communities burdened by illegal pollution.
“Mr. Uhlmann is uniquely well-qualified to provide fair and principled leadership to EPA’s law enforcement and compliance assurance programs,” the former U.S. Attorneys wrote in their letter. “… No prior nominee to serve as Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has as much depth and breadth of experience.”
The former U.S. Attorneys who signed the letter in support of Uhlmann are (in alphabetical order):
Daniel Bogden
U.S. Attorney, District of Nevada, 2001-2007, 2009-2017
John L. Brownlee
U.S. Attorney, Western District of Virginia, 2001-2008
Mary Beth Buchanan
U.S. Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania, 2001-2009
Robert J. Cleary
U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey, 1999-2002
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Illinois, 2002
Paul Coggins
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas, 1993-2001
Robert Corrente
U.S. Attorney, District of Rhode Island, 2004-2009
Michael W. Cotter
U.S. Attorney, District of Montana, 2009-2017
Deborah J. Daniels
Southern District of Indiana, 1988-1993
Gregory K. Davis
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Mississippi, 2012-2017
Jenny Durkan
U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington, 2009-2014
Zachary T. Fardon
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 2013-2017
Terrance P. Flynn
U.S. Attorney, Western District of New York, 2006-2009
Barry Grissom
U.S. Attorney, District of Kansas, 2010-2016
Melinda L. Haag
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of California, 2010-2016
Richard S. Hartunian
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of New York, 2010-2017
Timothy J. Heaphy
U.S. Attorney, Western District of Virginia, 2009-2015
Thomas B. Heffelfinger
U.S. Attorney, District of Minnesota, 2001-2006
David J. Hickton
U.S. Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania, 2010-2016
Dwight C. Holton
U.S. Attorney, District of Oregon, 2010-2011
Roscoe C. Howard, Jr.
U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia, 2001-2004
John W. Huber
U.S. Attorney, District of Utah, 2015-2021
David C. Iglesias
U.S. Attorney, District of New Mexico, 2001-2007
Brendan Johnson
U.S. Attorney, District of South Dakota, 2009-2015
Donald J. Cazayoux Jr.
U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Louisiana, 2010-2013
William C. Killian
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Tennessee, 2010-2015
Carol Lam
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of California, 2002-2007
James B. Letten
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Louisiana, 2001-2012
James A. Lewis
U.S. Attorney, Central District of Illinois, 2010-2016
Karen L. Loeffler
U.S. Attorney, District of Alaska, 2009-2017
Alice Martin
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Alabama, 2001-2009
James McDevitt
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Washington, 2001-2010
Michael D. McKay
U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington, 1989-1993
Barbara L. McQuade
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan, 2010-2017
William W. Mercer
U.S. Attorney, District of Montana, 2001-2009
Eric D. Miller
U.S. Attorney, District of Vermont, 2015-2017
Jan Paul Miller
U.S. Attorney, Central District of Illinois, 2002 – 2005
Peter Neronha
U.S. Attorney, District of Rhode Island, 2009-2017
Wendy J. Olson
U.S. Attorney, District of Idaho, 2010-2017
Carmen Ortiz
U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts, 2009-2017
Matthew D. Orwig
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Texas, 2001-2007
Paul I. Perez
U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Florida, 2002-2007
Channing D. Phillips
U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia, 2009-2010, 2015-2017, 2021
- Brad Pigott
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Mississippi, 1994-2001
Richard Pocker
U.S. Attorney, District of Nevada, 1989-1990
Betty H. Richardson
U.S. Attorney, District of Idaho, 1993-2001
James G. Richmond
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Indiana, 1985-1991
Richard B. Roper
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas, 2004-2009
Chuck Rosenberg
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia, 2006-2008
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Texas, 2005-2006
Joseph P. Russoniello
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of California, 1982-1990, 2008-2010
McGregor W. Scott
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of California, 2003-2009 and 2017-2021
Michael J. Sullivan
U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts, 2001-2009
Edward J. Tarver
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Georgia, 2009-2017
Jeff A. Taylor
U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia, 2006-2009
Kevin W. Techau
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Iowa, 2014-2017
Larry D. Thompson
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Georgia, 1982-1986
Stanley A. Twardy, Jr.
U.S. Attorney, District of Connecticut, 1985-1991
Anton R. Valukas
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 1985-1989
Joyce Vance
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Alabama, 2009-2017
John W. Vaudreuil
U.S. Attorney, Western District of Wisconsin, 2010-2017
Benjamin B. Wagner
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of California, 2009-2016
Anna Mills Wagoner
U.S. Attorney, Middle District of of North Carolina, 2001-2010
Kenneth L. Wainstein
U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia, 2004-2006
Assistant Attorney General for National Security, 2006-2008
John F. Walsh
U.S. Attorney, District of Colorado, 2010-2016
Dan K. Webb
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, 1981-1985
Joe D. Whitley
U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Georgia (Macon), 1981-1986
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division, 1986-1988
Acting Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, 1988-1989
U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), 1990-1993
Debra Wong Yang
U.S. Attorney, Central District of California, 2002-2006
Stephanie Yonekura
U.S. Attorney, Central District of California, 2014-2015
For a copy of the letter, click here.
The Environmental Integrity Project is a 20-year-old, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, based in Washington D.C. and Austin, Texas, that is dedicated to the enforcement of environmental laws and the strengthening of policy to protect public health and the environment.
Media contact: Tom Pelton, Environmental Integrity Project (443) 510-2574 or tpelton@enviromentalintegrity.org
