Wheeler Won’t Commit to Trump’s San Francisco Plan

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the agency is still looking into the issue.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said he could not confirm whether the agency will be citing San Francisco for pollution related to the city’s homeless population, after President Donald Trump indicated the agency would be taking action soon.

Speaking at a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said he could not comment on potential EPA enforcement actions, adding that the agency is still examining its options.

“We’ve not taken any official steps yet,” Wheeler said. “We’re still looking into the issue, and I can’t comment on a pending or potential enforcement action.”

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that the EPA will “be giving [San Francisco] a notice very soon.”

“There’s tremendous pollution being put into the ocean because they’re going through what’s called the storm sewer that’s for rainwater,” Trump said. “And we have tremendous things that we don’t have to discuss pouring into the ocean. You know there are needles, there are other things.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed criticized Trump’s characterization, calling it “ridiculous,” The New York Times reported. “No debris flow out into the bay or ocean,” Breed said.