Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, led a hearing focused on the nominations of Katherine Scarlett for a position in the Council on Environmental Quality and Jeffrey Hall for an Assistant Administrator role at the Environmental Protection Agency. The session included discussions on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementation and Superfund site cleanups.
Senator Capito addressed nominee Katherine Scarlett regarding her experience with NEPA: “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?”
Scarlett responded by highlighting her decade-long involvement with interagency processes aimed at improving environmental reviews: “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.”
Regarding future commitments to reforms passed by Congress, Scarlett stated: “Yes, Chairman, I do commit to faithfully implementing any new provisions passed by Congress.”
The discussion also touched upon Superfund site cleanups. Senator Capito asked nominee Jeffrey Hall about his approach: “Let me ask you about the Superfund cleanups… Will you have a direct role in negotiating these agreements, and how would you approach the use of these tools to accelerate our cleanups?”
Hall emphasized enforcement as a priority: “Yes, thank you, Chairman… if confirmed would continue to be a major priority of my tenure.”
