To watch Chairman Capito’s questions, click here or the image above.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, led a hearing on the nominations of Katherine Scarlett to be a Member of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and Jeffrey Hall to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In her questioning, Chairman Capito highlighted the qualifications of the nominees, and asked about implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and prioritizing the cleanup of Superfund sites.

HIGHLIGHTS:

NOMINEE EXPERIENCE:

Chairman Capito:

“You’ve held significant positions in the federal government relating to NEPA, so you know this well and permitting processes. In each of these roles, you’ve developed experience of what’s working and what isn’t. So, given your expertise, what has motivated you to take on this role, and how has your past experience prepared you for this?”

Katherine Scarlett, nominee to be a Member of the Council on Environmental Quality:

“Thank you for that question, Chairman Capito. I was excited to take on this role, mainly because all three branches of the federal government recently have indicated that the NEPA process is broken and needs to be reformed. As I stated my opening statement, I have spent nearly the last decade working on the interagency process and trying to get the environmental review process more efficient and more timely. So, given the directive of Congress, I wanted to return to CEQ so that I could faithfully implement those amendments to National Environmental Policy Act.”

NEPA IMPLEMENTATION:

Chairman Capito:

“Will you commit to faithfully implementing, this is important, I think, to everybody, both sides of the dais here, any additional permitting and environmental review reforms passed into law, consistent with the statutory language and the intent of Congress?”

Katherine Scarlett, nominee to be a Member of the Council on Environmental Quality:

“Yes, Chairman, I do commit to faithfully implementing any new provisions passed by Congress.”

SUPERFUND CLEANUPS:

Chairman Capito:

“Let me ask you about the Superfund cleanups, because you mentioned this in your opening statement, and how to improve. We've spent a lot of time trying to improve the CERCLA implementation. We have some Superfund sites…you mentioned they're on the books for years, and never quite seem to get there. Will you have a direct role in negotiating these agreements, and how would you approach the use of these tools to accelerate our cleanups?”

Jeffery Hall, nominee to be to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency:

“Yes, thank you, Chairman. So, Superfund enforcement is a priority of this administration, of the administrator, of the deputy administrator, on down to me when I was the acting assistant administrator, and if confirmed would continue to be a major priority of my tenure. So, I think that we would use all the tools available. I know that this committee had a hearing not too long ago on Superfund and Superfund enforcement, where some of those tools were discussed, including various agreements, like mixed funding agreements. So, I think that we would continue to use all the tools available and push it forward.”

Click HERE to watch Chairman Capito’s opening statement.

Click HERE to watch Chairman Capito’s questions.

 

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