Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, conducted a hearing on the nominations of Katherine Scarlett for the Council on Environmental Quality and Jeffrey Hall for Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The focus was on their qualifications and plans regarding the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Superfund site cleanups.
Chairman Capito questioned Scarlett about her motivation and preparation for the role, given her extensive experience with NEPA. Scarlett responded: “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.”
Capito also asked Scarlett if she would commit to implementing any new reforms passed by Congress. Scarlett assured: “Yes, Chairman, I do commit to faithfully implementing any new provisions passed by Congress.”
On Superfund cleanups, Capito inquired about Hall’s approach if confirmed as Assistant Administrator. Hall emphasized his commitment: “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…including various agreements like mixed funding agreements.”
The hearing highlighted ongoing concerns with environmental policy implementation and site cleanups.
