Hearing on the Nominations of Lisa P. Jackson to Be Administrator of the U.S
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S. HRG. 111–1178 HEARING ON THE NOMINATIONS OF LISA P. JACKSON TO BE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND NANCY HELEN SUTLEY TO BE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JANUARY 14, 2009 Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 94–020 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION BARBARA BOXER, California, Chairman MAX BAUCUS, Montana JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey DAVID VITTER, Louisiana BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont MIKE CRAPO, Idaho AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee TOM UDALL, New Mexico JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania BETTINA POIRIER, Staff Director RUTH VAN MARK, Minority Staff Director (II) CONTENTS Page JANUARY 14, 2009 OPENING STATEMENTS Boxer, Hon. Barbara, U.S. Senator from the State of California ........................ 1 Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma .................... 3 Lautenberg, Hon. Frank, U.S. Senator from the State of New Jersey ............... 6 Menendez, Hon. Robert, U.S. Senator from the State of New Jersey ................. 8 Klobuchar, Hon. Amy, U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota ...................... 10 Barrasso, Hon. John A., U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming ..................... 11 Udall, Hon. Tom, U.S. Senator from the State of New Mexico ............................ 14 Bond, Hon. Christopher ‘‘Kit’’, U.S. Senator from the State of Missouri ............ 14 Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware ................... 16 Alexander, Hon. Lamar, U.S. Senator from the State of Tennessee ................... 19 Cardin, Hon. Benjamin, U.S. Senator from the State of Maryland .................... 20 Isakson, Hon. Johnny, U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia .......................... 22 Whitehouse, Hon. Sheldon, U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode Island ......... 30 Voinovich, Hon. George V., U.S. Senator from the State of Ohio ........................ 31 Merkley, Hon. Jeff, U.S. Senator from the State of Oregon ................................ 34 Baucus, Hon. Max, U.S. Senator from the State of Montana .............................. 35 Vitter, Hon. David, U.S. Senator from the State of Louisiana ............................ 36 WITNESSES Jackson, Lisa, nominated to be Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ................................................................................................. 37 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40 Responses to additional questions from: Senator Boxer ............................................................................................ 42 Senator Carper .......................................................................................... 43 Senator Lautenberg ................................................................................... 46 Senator Cardin .......................................................................................... 47 Senator Udall ............................................................................................. 48 Senator Inhofe ........................................................................................... 49 Senator Voinovich ..................................................................................... 60 Senator Isakson ......................................................................................... 66 Senator Vitter ............................................................................................ 67 Senator Barrasso ....................................................................................... 68 Senator Bond ............................................................................................. 70 Sutley, Nancy Helen, nominated to be Chairman of the Council on Environ- mental Quality ..................................................................................................... 122 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 125 Responses to additional questions from: Senator Carper .......................................................................................... 127 Senator Lautenberg ................................................................................... 129 Senator Cardin .......................................................................................... 129 Senator Udall ............................................................................................. 130 Senator Inhofe ........................................................................................... 130 Senator Voinovich ..................................................................................... 136 Senator Isakson ......................................................................................... 139 Senator Vitter ............................................................................................ 140 Senator Barrasso ....................................................................................... 141 (III) IV Page ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Statement of the Engine Manufacturers Association ........................................... 152 HEARING ON THE NOMINATIONS OF LISA P. JACKSON TO BE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGEN- CY AND NANCY HELEN SUTLEY TO BE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL ON ENVIRON- MENTAL QUALITY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2009 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS, Washington, DC. The full committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m. in room 406, Dirksen Senate Building, Hon. Barbara Boxer (chairman of the committee), presiding. Present: Senators Boxer, Inhofe, Baucus, Carper, Voinovich, Lau- tenberg, Isakson, Cardin, Vitter, Barrasso, Alexander, Bond, Klobuchar, Whitehouse, Udall, Merkley. Also present: Senator Menendez. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BARBARA BOXER, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Senator BOXER. The Committee will come to order. We have very important business ahead of us. I thank everyone for being here. This is the way we are going to proceed, just given the schedule of Senators who are here, like Senator Menendez. So this is the way we are going to proceed. So this is the way we are going to proceed. I am going to make a 5-minute opening statement. Hopefully Senator Inhofe will make a 5-minute opening statement, and then we are going to go to Sen- ator Menendez, first Senator Lautenberg, then Senator Menendez, to do an introduction. Then we will return here and we will go back and forth. Senator Inhofe and I have agreed if everyone could try to make their opening statement in 3 minutes, but if you need more time I am happy to allow that, up to 4. So I think we are going to get started. I guess everyone knows, I believe we have a vote at 10:30. So what we will do is we will go until about 10:40, and then recess and come back. So we will start now. I have looked forward to this day for a long, long time. For me, today marks a turning point for the EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. These two agencies, in my view, have a moral responsibility to protect our families and our commu- nities from environmental threats, from hazards, from toxics. They (1) 2 have a duty to ensure that the health and safety of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the planet we all share is healthy. Today, this Committee has the honor and privilege of conducting the nomination hearing for the leadership of two agencies that are critically important to the health of the American people. I want to welcome both of our nominees, Lisa Jackson and Nancy Sutley. You will hear a lot more about them and from them as the day goes on. I am not going to give any background about Lisa Jackson, be- cause that is going to be done by her two Senators, who enthu- siastically support her. I want to not only welcome Lisa Jackson, I have had the privilege of discussing many issues with her in my office and I am very excited about working with her. I do want to welcome Nancy Sutley, who has been nominated to be Chair of the CEQ. Nancy has a long history as a leader in envi- ronmental protection in my home State of California. She most re- cently served as Deputy Mayor for Energy and the Environment for the city of Los Angeles. She was a board member of the Metropoli- tan Water District of Southern California, and served on the Cali- fornia State Water Resources Control Board. She was a deputy at the California Environmental Protection Agency. So she comes to us with a great depth of experience and a great record of accom- plishment on behalf of the people of California. The State of California has benefited from Nancy’s passion for environmental protection, and I am so pleased that she has the op- portunity to bring