EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has accepted the Jan. 21 resignation of EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman in the wake of the ongoing water crisis in Flint, MI, and pledged to use the agency's authorities under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to direct the state and city to take more action regarding the drinking water system. McCarthy explains in a Jan. 21 letter to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) that she has issued an order under SDWA section 1431 that directs Michigan to notify EPA in writing within one day of its intent to comply and says that state officials should meet with EPA and the city "no later than next week." The letter is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details. (Doc. ID: 188255) The EPA headquarters action follows Hedman's decision in December to wait on using the agency's section 1431 authority, with Hedman telling environmentalists in a Dec. 10 letter that EPA "could arguably conclude that your petition fails to meet the jurisdictional prerequisites set forth in Section 1431 of the Safe Drinking Water Act" because the state and city had taken several actions to address the high lead levels in the city's drinking water.
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