Governor Kevin Stitt sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan warning the agency not to make changes to Oklahoma’s authority over environmental programs in the final days of the Biden administration. The letter comes after recent push by the EPA for the state to comment on a years’ old Biden administration proposal to undermine Oklahoma’s authority over some environmental regulations and cede authority to tribal nations.

“This proposal by the Biden EPA was bad when it was made several years ago, but is particularly egregious to try to move forward on such a major change in the last days before President Trump takes office,” said Governor Stitt. “The EPA is playing politics on its way out the door and trying to chip away at Oklahoma’s sovereignty. We will not stand by while Washington bureaucrats attempt to rewrite the rules and upend a system that has served our state well for decades. I won’t hesitate to defend our rights and the framework established by Congress, including through litigation if necessary.”

The letter reaffirms the Stitt administration’s commitment to defending the State’s authority under the federal SAFETEA law, which ensures Oklahoma maintains jurisdiction of environmental programs in the state. The law was put into place in 2005 but has become increasingly more important in the aftermath of the McGirt decision.

The Trump EPA ruled that the SAFETEA law protected Oklahoma’s authority to administer environmental programs. SAFETEA protects Oklahoma lands and maintains jurisdictional consistency across more than one hundred thousand acres of fee land in the state.

Read the letter in full here.