During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing in July, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) spoke about the Biden Administration's Environmental Protection Agency's rule-making.
00:00Good morning, everybody, and I'd like to call this this hearing to order and thank everybody for being here.
00:07It's a busy day on Capitol Hill. As you all know, Wednesdays are exceedingly busy, and this one is no exception to that.
00:14At this hearing, we'll consider the president's nomination of Catherine Scarlett to serve as chairman of the Council on Economic Quality
00:21and Jeffrey Hall to serve as the assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the Environmental Protection Agency.
00:31So thank you both for the willingness to serve.
00:34I want to give a special welcome to Catherine's family.
00:36Catherine, I know because she and I have worked together, her husband Brian and her parents are here today.
00:42So thank you for joining us, and I know that Jeffrey has his parents and his wife here with him today.
00:50So thank you all for coming and being supportive.
00:52Established by the National Environment Policy Act, also known as NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ as we call it,
01:01is part of the executive office of the president.
01:04The agency is primarily responsible for advising federal agencies on the implementation of NEPA
01:10and as well as developing and recommending environmental policies to the president.
01:15Catherine is very well qualified to lead CEQ.
01:18In her current role as CEQ's chief of staff, Catherine has supported the efforts of federal agencies to implement the Bipartisan Federal Responsibility Act
01:27and ensure compliance with recent court decisions as agencies update their individual NEPA regulations and procedures.
01:36She also led efforts to modernize environmental review and permitting processes through President Trump's Permitting Technology Action Plan,
01:43recently launching the CE Explorer, which allows the easy identification of more than 2,000 categorical exclusions established by federal agencies.
01:54During the time of the first Trump administration, Catherine served in senior roles at CEQ
02:00and also at the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council.
02:03In the four years between her service in the executive branch, Catherine served on my staff here at EPW,
02:11playing a key role in shaping bipartisan provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,
02:19Economic Development Reauthorization Act, and the America's Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act.
02:26So thank you for that.
02:27As my colleagues know, Ranking Member Whitehouse and I are diligently working on bipartisan legislation
02:32to reform the environmental review and permitting processes for all projects.
02:36I'm hopeful we can get a bill to the President's desk for his signature.
02:40And when we do, I'm confident that it will be implemented faithfully under Catherine's leadership at CEQ.
02:47Today, we will also hear from Jeffrey Hall.
02:48Thank you, Jeffrey, for being here.
02:50President Trump's nominee to lead the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
02:56OECA works with EPA regional offices in partnership with state governments, tribal governments,
03:02and other federal agencies to promote regulatory compliance and enforce the nation's environmental laws and regulation.
03:11The office targets the most serious water, air, and chemical pollution violations under the laws,
03:16such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, CERCLA, and the Toxic Substance Control Act.
03:22In carrying out the EPA's statutory authority, OECA must operate within the confines of our federal environmental laws,
03:31not invent novel violations to penalize regulated entities.
03:35The previous administration placed an outsized emphasis on penalizing regulated entities
03:41rather than working with good-faith actors in the regulated community to ensure compliance.
03:48Mr. Hall will be tasked with striking the right balance between the agency's efforts
03:51to encourage compliance with our environmental laws
03:54and targeting the entities flaunting those laws to ensure Americans have clean air, clean water, and clean land.
04:02Mr. Hall's professional experience gives him the expertise to effectively lead this office.
04:07He has worked as a litigator, a prosecutor, and legal advisor representing federal agencies,
04:13corporations, and individuals in a wide variety of litigation
04:16and in both criminal and civil enforcement procedures.
04:20I look forward to hearing how Mr. Hall will navigate the agency's enforcement and compliance priorities today.
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