Outgoing EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson is touting his record at the agency as an overwhelming success in enforcement and in setting strict air standards, while cautioning the next administrator not to act too abruptly in addressing environmental issues because it could lead to costly and draconian measures, even in the face of strong scientific evidence. Johnson, whose tenure was marked by several controversies including allegations that the enforcement office artificially inflates its record-setting numbers and who has had several high-profile clashes with Democrats over contentious agency rules, told a Nov. 13 meeting of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) that the next EPA should take a cautious approach in setting new rules. The outgoing administrator also endorsed in his speech a proposal being pushed by EPA's union officials and some lawmakers to elevate the agency to cabinet status in order to improve work on cross-cutting policies with the energy, agriculture and transportation departments. At the NACEPT meeting, members identified climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem decline, and water quantity and quality as three pressing issue areas on which President-elect Barack Obama's EPA needs to heavily focus. Johnson acknowledged the severity of the pressing environmental issues, but said trying to address them too abruptly could lead to draconian results he would oppose, such as mandating limits on water use in homes.
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机译：即将卸任的EPA管理员斯蒂芬·约翰逊（Stephen Johnson）在执法部门和设定严格的空气标准方面取得了巨大成功，同时警告下一位管理员不要在处理环境问题时采取过分刻板的行动，因为这可能导致代价高昂且严厉的措施，甚至面对强有力的科学证据。约翰逊（Johnson）在11月13日举行的美国国家咨询委员会（National Advisory Council for National Advisory Council）会议上说，约翰逊的任职期间发生了数项争议，其中包括指控执法部门人为地夸大了其创纪录的数字，并且因争议性的机构规则与民主党人发生了数起备受瞩目的冲突。环境政策与技术（NACEPT）认为，下一个EPA在制定新规则时应采取谨慎的态度。即将卸任的行政长官在讲话中还认可了EPA工会官员和一些议员提出的一项提议，要求将该机构提升为内阁职位，以改善与能源，农业和运输部门之间跨领域政策的工作。在NACEPT会议上，成员将气候变化，生物多样性和生态系统下降以及水的数量和质量确定为当选总统巴拉克·奥巴马（Barack Obama）的EPA需要重点关注的三个紧迫问题领域。约翰逊承认迫在眉睫的环境问题的严重性，但他说，试图过快地解决这些问题，可能会导致他反对的严厉结果，例如强制限制家庭用水。
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