Campaign launches to save EPA vehicle emissions lab in Ann Arbor

Gallery: Debbie Dingell gives presser outside of Ann Arbor EPA office

ANN ARBOR, MI — A campaign to save the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Ann Arbor is now underway.

A large crowd of local residents, environmentalists, politicians and EPA workers rallied outside the National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory at two thousand five hundred sixty five Plymouth Road on Monday afternoon, May 8.

They were there to raise awareness about the work the lab does and how it might be affected by federal budget cuts proposed by President Donald Trump.

Trump’s cuts menace to shut down operations at the lab, which employs four hundred thirty five people, said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn. She argues the lab does critical work with regard to reducing vehicle emissions, enhancing fuel efficiency and ensuring the United States remains at the forefront of innovation.

“This is a national treasure in Ann Arbor and we will not let them ruin it,” Dingell said at a press conference after touring the facility.

The event took place on Traverwood Drive next to the EPA lab. The street was blocked off by Homeland Security.

Several dozen people were in attendance, including members of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union indicating EPA workers.

Some held signs with messages such as “Cut carbon, not jobs,” “Dump Trump’s EPA budget proposal,” “Science rules, deniers are fools,” “There is no Planet B,” “We want clean air & clean water!” and “Save the EPA!”

Yard signs reading “Don’t penalize the public, fund the U.S. EPA!” also were planted in the grass. Attendees took them home to place in their yards.

Trump’s budget plan proposes to cut the EPA’s overall funding by thirty one percent, a reduction of $Two.6 billion.

The president’s stated priority is to “ease the cargo of unnecessary federal regulations that impose significant costs for workers and consumers without justifiable environmental benefits. This would result in approximately Trio,200 fewer positions at the agency. EPA would primarily support states and tribes in their significant role protecting air, land, and water in the 21st century.”

Dingell sent a letter to Trump last month, asking him to reconsider $48 million in proposed cuts to the EPA’s Federal Vehicle and Fuel Standards and Certification Program, emphasizing the work done by the Ann Arbor lab.

AFGE Local three thousand nine hundred seven President Mark Coryell said harshly half the jobs at the Ann Arbor lab could be eliminated, tho’ he also believes the president’s plans could lead to a finish shutdown of the lab.

“When you’re cutting ninety nine percent of the operating costs, it’s kind of hard to have people in the building doing work with nothing to do the work with,” he said.

EPA regional and national spokespeople have not responded to requests for clarification about the potential impacts of the proposed cuts, tho’ leaked documents suggest the Trump administration is considering a plan to fund one hundred sixty eight positions under the Federal Vehicles and Fuels Standards and Certification Program using fees from vehicle and engine manufacturers. Automakers pay fees to reimburse the federal government for the costs of the work required to certify that fresh vehicles and engines serve with emissions thresholds.

Monday’s event was the kickoff for a fresh Save EPA Ann Arbor awareness campaign about the potential impacts of Trump’s proposal. Former EPA employees at the lab, who say they support federal protections for the environment, are behind social media pages that have launched on Facebook and Twitter.

The campaign states on its Facebook page that the Ann Arbor lab employs four hundred thirty five scientists, engineers, analysts and others whose mission is to provide high-quality research and testing to inform standard-setting for air pollutants from transportation sources and confirm compliance with standards.

“NVFEL’s work reduces air pollution and greenhouse gases from everything that moves and uses fuel,” the campaign’s Facebook page reads.

“The president’s proposed budget for two thousand eighteen cuts operating costs at NVFEL by 99%, putting clean air, public health and our planet’s climate at risk.”

Gay MacGregor, a recently retired EPA employee working with the campaign, transferred out information sheets on Monday, telling Trump’s budget proposes unworkable manufacturer fees and could force the Ann Arbor lab to close.

“Manufacturers paid about $20M in fees to the U.S. Treasury in two thousand sixteen (not to EPA) under the Motor Vehicle and Engine Compliance Program,” the handouts state.

“To fund NVFEL operations and one hundred sixty eight staff from fees, manufacturers would need to pay at least $71M or an increase of at least $51M from current fees.”

The Save EPA Ann Arbor campaign argues it would take two to three years to implement those switches, requiring a cost probe to establish a fresh fee structure and legislative switches, as well as revisions to EPA rules.

Without fees or congressional appropriation, the lab’s operating funds would be cut by ninety nine percent and staff by fifty seven percent, the campaign argues.

“The difficulty and time required to increase fees and make legislative/regulatory switches necessary to implement the president’s budget proposal make it a real possibility the lab could close,” the campaign argues. “Even if the switches are successful, the time required to make them would necessitate appropriations from Congress for both lab operations and staff beyond 2018.

“If there are not funds to operate the lab, it would close. Staff can’t perform the functions NVFEL does without an operating test lab. We are optimistic that the administration will come to understand the importance of NVFEL’s work, not only to clean air but also to the economy, and will support it.”

According to the campaign’s handouts, the Ann Arbor lab is part of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, which has an annual budget of about $100 million with a staff ceiling equivalent to three hundred forty eight full-time employees. About two hundred seventy of those FTEs are located at the Ann Arbor lab, translating to two hundred ninety one federal employees counting both full-time and part-time workers, while the remaining OTAQ workers are in Washington, D.C. There also are about one hundred forty five contractors and grantees supporting lab operations in Ann Arbor, bringing the total number of people employed through the lab up to 436, according to the campaign.

Coryell said the next step for the awareness campaign is to work with other members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, including Republicans. He said he’d love to have them out for tours.

Asked what has been communicated to lab workers by upper EPA management, Coryell said all the information they’re getting is the same information that’s been leaked, and there is some embargoed budget data.

“I lead a coalition of all EPA union locals and we put in a request to meet with the administrator to talk about some of these things and we have not gotten a response back from the administrator,” he said. “We’re hopeful that we can do that and hear a little bit more about the budget. What we have been told, or the signals that we’re hearing, is that detailed information that’s ready to share with the unions won’t be available until either the end of May or early June.”

Dingell, a former public affairs executive for General Motors and former president of the GM Foundation, said Monday’s visit wasn’t her very first time at the EPA lab in Ann Arbor, but it was her very first time as a member of Congress.

Ann Arbor resident Bob King, the former United Auto Workers president, attended Monday’s rally and Dingell pointed him out.

“I have worked with Bob King for years in the auto industry to make sure we have a healthy, thriving auto industry, and at the same time building more fuel-efficient vehicles, cleaning up the air and building better vehicles than ever before,” Dingell said, arguing automakers support the work the lab does.

Dingell said Trump’s budget is simply a proposal at this point and Congress has the final say. She encouraged everyone at the rally to make sure members of Congress understand the importance of the EPA’s work, making sure vehicles are cleaner and more fuel efficient and protecting the air everyone breathes.

“This tour this afternoon just confirmed to me the importance of all the work that’s being done,” she said. “The scientists, the engineers, everybody at this facility that’s doing such significant work — we thank you from the bottom of our heart. We know what you are doing for us and for America.

“So we have to be united,” she added. ‘”When we work together, we can make our voices heard. So let’s commit today to make our voices heard to protect this lab, to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, the water in our Superb Lakes, twenty percent of the fresh water in the world. Let’s make sure this lab remains a national treasure and let’s work together to keep America clean and beautiful.”

State Reps. Yousef Rabhi and Adam Zemke, both Democrats from Ann Arbor, were on palm for Monday’s event as well.

Rabhi said he considers Trump’s proposed cuts troublesome and unacceptable from both an environmental and economic standpoint.

“I think it’s significant that we talk about how the Trump administration is killing jobs right here in Ann Arbor,” Rabhi said. “These jobs-killing budget cuts, these jobs-killing deregulations, are wreaking havoc on our local economy potentially, if they do go through, so we’ll have people in Ann Arbor who will be losing their jobs.”

Zemke, a mechanical engineer who has worked in the automotive industry, said the EPA lab, a stone’s throw from the University of Michigan’s North Campus, is an significant part of the Ann Arbor community.

“The residents who live, work and play here — these are their jobs, and their jobs are just so critically significant for advancing technology in the auto industry and advancing clean air and clean water,” he said, agreeing with Dingell that it’s a world-class facility and, in addition to providing environmental benefits, it also has positive economic impacts for automotive consumers.

Mayor Christopher Taylor said last month he was disappointed to learn of the threats to the Ann Arbor lab.

“We should be opening offices, extending environment protection, expanding research,” he said. “The United States cannot lead if we walk away from duty to protect the environment for future generations.”

The Save EPA Ann Arbor campaign argues the presence of the EPA lab here has attracted economic investment in southeast Michigan, with automakers such as Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Lotus and Toyota, among others, locating technical centers in proximity to the lab and working closely with the EPA’s staff.

“These companies proceed to invest in our economy,” the group argues. “Toyota employs approximately 1,500 people and has invested hundreds of millions dollars in two major tech centers. Toyota recently relocated three hundred people, created eighty five fresh positions, and invested over $126M to facilities upgrades. Hyundai recently invested over $100 million and employs approximately two hundred people at its technical center in Ypsilanti. These companies not only are major employers, but they have made substantial charitable donations to local communities.”

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