--- title: The EPA Ends an Obama-Era Practice That Sped Up New Rules description: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will stop issuing new environmental regulations in response to third-party lawsuits canonical: https://time.com/4983904/epa-regulations-rules-lawsuits-scott-pruitt/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-16T16:54:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:52:38.744Z article:section: Politics og:title: The EPA Is Ending an Obama-Era Practice That Conservatives Say Sped Up New Rules og:description: Conservatives say environmentalists used lawsuits to force new regulations to be written og:url: https://time.com/4983904/epa-regulations-rules-lawsuits-scott-pruitt/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0212e856e3ae395a/6988e2220a4a22ead39d0585/scott-pruitt-epa-sue-and-settle.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: scott pruitt epa sue and settle og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The EPA Is Ending an Obama-Era Practice That Conservatives Say Sped Up New Rules twitter:description: Conservatives say environmentalists used lawsuits to force new regulations to be written twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0212e856e3ae395a/6988e2220a4a22ead39d0585/scott-pruitt-epa-sue-and-settle.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The EPA Is Ending an Obama-Era Practice That Conservatives Say Sped Up New Rules  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 16, 2017 4:54 PM UTC  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt smiles while President Donald Trump leads a tribal, State, and local energy roundtable in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on June 28. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt smiles while President Donald Trump leads a tribal, State, and local energy roundtable in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on June 28.Pool—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 16, 2017 4:54 PM UTC The Environmental Protection Agency will stop issuing new environmental regulations in response to lawsuits from outside groups, ending a practice that conservatives say had been used by environmental groups during the Obama Administration to speed up the process, the agency’s head said Monday. In a briefing for reporters, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said that the reversal was a matter of following proper procedure. “We are no longer going to be engaged in that practice,” EPA Administrator [Scott Pruitt](http://time.com/4594238/donald-trump-scott-pruitt-epa/) said in a briefing for reporters. “It’s a very important day to make sure that as we engage in our rulemaking process we respect the process that Congress has established.” The EPA will also post legal petitions publicly for comment before any potential settlement with a third party and end the practice of paying attorneys fees for outside groups that sue the agency, Pruitt said. The [directive](https://www.epa.gov/newsroom/directive-promoting-transparency-and-public-participation-consent-decrees-and-settlement) ending the practice — known among conservatives as “sue and settle” — formalizes a stance Pruitt has taken since the early days of his tenure. Pruitt criticized the practice in a speech addressing agency employees shortly after taking office. And he has since issued a verbal directive along those lines earlier this year, according to an _E&E News_ [report](https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060056921?t=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eenews.net%2Fstories%2F1060056921). Conservative groups have long criticized “sue and settle” as running afoul of the rule of law, in particular the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how agencies issue regulations. The move is the latest in a slew of efforts from Pruitt in his nine months on the job to shift the direction of the agency. Last week, Pruitt formally initiated a process to revoke the Clean Power Plan, Obama’s central measure aimed at fighting climate change. Asked Monday whether the agency would issue a [replacement](http://time.com/4976455/clean-power-plan-repeal-scott-pruitt-trump/), Pruitt said “that is in process” and suggested that the agency would provide more clarity soon when it formally begins the process of soliciting public comment on the issue. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4983904/epa-regulations-rules-lawsuits-scott-pruitt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4983904/epa-regulations-rules-lawsuits-scott-pruitt/"},"headline":"The EPA Is Ending an Obama-Era Practice That Conservatives Say Sped Up New Rules","datePublished":"2017-10-16T16:54:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:52:38.744Z","description":"Environmentalists had used the practice to speed up the regulatory process","url":"https://time.com/4983904/epa-regulations-rules-lawsuits-scott-pruitt/","keywords":["Environment","White House","EPA","Donald Trump","onetime","Scott Pruitt"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0212e856e3ae395a/6988e2220a4a22ead39d0585/scott-pruitt-epa-sue-and-settle.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0212e856e3ae395a/6988e2220a4a22ead39d0585/scott-pruitt-epa-sue-and-settle.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"scott pruitt epa sue and settle","caption":"scott pruitt epa sue and settle","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4983904/epa-regulations-rules-lawsuits-scott-pruitt/","name":"The EPA Is Ending an Obama-Era Practice That Conservatives Say Sped Up New Rules"}}]}] ```