‘Disruptive’ Shutdown Seen as Crippling EPA Powers and Economy

A federal government shutdown could hamper the EPA in unexpected ways that may cause ripple effects throughout the economy, attorneys and former agency officials say.

One example, which happened during the most recent shutdown that spanned 2018 and 2019, is a pause in the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of chemical imports that form the building blocks for numerous products, said Cynthia Taub, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP who heads the firm’s National Environmental Policy Act permitting and litigation practice.

“There was a real issue in the last shutdown where those just weren’t getting processed and imports were being ...