EPA will soon announce new industry arrivals to the program, according to EPA sources. The petroleum industry has ended its participation in the program claiming that its resources would be better spent on other regulatory reinvention efforts. The automobile industry has also stated they will drop out of the program soon. EPA Administrator Carol Browner started the initative in 1993. Browner has described CSI as a central pillar of the agency's regulatory reform effort.
Many participants claim the program has produced few meaningful reforms.
One industry source said the petroleum industry is resigning due to frustration with the overall process and a conclusion that its efforts to advance the work of the subcommittee have reached a dead end. EPA and industry sources have also said that a long time agency employee and whistleblower was overly confrontational with industry representatives at the last subcommittee meeting in Seattle causing further industry frustration. We always expected there to be frustrations and setbacks and it will be a long process of trial and error. The source added that the agency will not shift the focus of the program to small entities. The argument for smaller industries is silly speculation.