Environmental Protection Agency's Fiscal Year 2007
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S. HRG. 109–1022 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S FISCAL YEAR 2007 BUDGET HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION FEBRUARY 15, 2006 Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress.senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 42–270 PDF WASHINGTON : 2008 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing 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 NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma, Chairman JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri MAX BAUCUS, Montana GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut LINCOLN CHAFEE, Rhode Island BARBARA BOXER, California LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware JOHN THUNE, South Dakota HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York JIM DEMINT, South Carolina FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia BARACK OBAMA, Illinois DAVID VITTER, Louisiana ANDREW WHEELER, Majority Staff Director KEN CONNOLLY, Minority Staff Director (II) CONTENTS Page FEBRUARY 25, 2006 OPENING STATEMENTS Bond, Hon. Christopher S., U.S. Senator from the State of Missouri ................. 11 Boxer, Hon. Barbara, U.S. Senator from the State of California ........................ 6 Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware ................... 13 Chafee, Hon. Lincoln, U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode Island, prepared statement .............................................................................................................. 36 Clinton, Hon. Hillary Rodham, U.S. Senator from the State of New York ........ 15 Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma .................... 2 Isakson, Hon. Johnny, U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia .......................... 1 Jeffords, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont .................... 9 Lautenberg, Hon. Frank R., U.S. Senator from the State of New Jersey, prepared statement. ............................................................................................. 37 Lieberman, Hon. Joseph I., U.S. Senator from the State of Connecticut, pre- pared statement ................................................................................................... 38 Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska ........................... 16 Obama, Hon. Barack, U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois, prepared state- ment ...................................................................................................................... 38 Thune, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of South Dakota ...................... 14 Vitter, Hon. David, U.S. Senator from the State of Louisiana ............................ 8 WITNESSES Johnson, Stephen L., Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Accompanied by: Marcus Peacock, Deputy Administrator; and Benjamin H. Grumbles, Assistant Administrator, Office of Water ................................... 20 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 39 Responses to additional questions from: Senator Clinton ......................................................................................... 43 Senator Inhofe ........................................................................................... 45 Senator Jeffords ......................................................................................... 55 Senator Obama .......................................................................................... 66 Senator Thune ........................................................................................... 68 Senator Vitter ............................................................................................ 70 Senator Voinovich ..................................................................................... 70 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Articles, Forbes Magazine ....................................................................................... 77 A History of EPA’s ‘‘Politicized Science’’ During the Clinton/Browner Era ........ 75 CMAQ Information for the Metropolitan Planning Organizations ...................... 73 Clean Air Act Provisions-Particulate Matter Standard ........................................ 77 Job Announcement-Energy Policy Act of 2005 ...................................................... 74 Mercury in Fish ....................................................................................................... 74 Office of International Affairs: Grants to Foreign Recipients .............................. 77 Rat Poisoning-Court Order ..................................................................................... 74 Seven Million Dollar Request to Identify and Repair Leaks in Water Systems 73 Table, U.S. EPA International Program/Activity Resources (Dollars in Thou- sands) .................................................................................................................... 83 (III) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S FISCAL YEAR 2007 BUDGET WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2006 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:35 a.m. in room 628, Senate Dirksen Building, Hon. James M. Inhofe (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Senators Inhofe, Warner, Bond, Chafee, Murkowski, Thune, Isakson, Vitter, Jeffords, Boxer, Carper, Clinton, Lauten- berg, and Obama. Senator INHOFE. The hearing will come to order. I think what we will do, Mr. Administrator, we have seven nomi- nations, the confirmation motions that will have to be made. We have to have 10 people here. So as soon as we get 10, we are going to interrupt whatever we are doing, whether it is you or me, and go into our confirmations. Before that, if it is acceptable with Senator Jeffords, to at this time recognize out of order Senator Isakson for a statement. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHNNY ISAKSON, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF GEORGIA Senator ISAKSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and ranking mem- ber. On the confirmation of the board members to the TVA at our previous committee meeting, I told the committee how much I sup- ported each and every one of those nominees from the standpoint of their qualifications and their ability. I stand by that statement. I also expressed my concern over the lack of representation of three States covered by TVA but ending up not being represented on the board. As the chairman will remember, at that time, I asked the prospective board members—— Senator INHOFE. I believe that was Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, right? Senator ISAKSON. That is correct. I asked the prospective board members to open a dialog with me to see if we couldn’t work out a way to ensure that when there were occasions on that board that States served by TVA were not represented on the board there would be a mechanism established for their input, concerns, et cetera, to flow freely between the board and those States. I also met with the majority leader, who was the original author of the legislation that created the new board. As of last night, pending the receipt of some confirmation today, we have worked (1) 2 out with me and with them a very satisfactory arrangement on that representation. So I just wanted the record to show that the hold I would have placed on the nominations on the floor will be lifted as soon as I receive that communication and they receive mine to them, which should take place today. I repeat what I said on that day with regard to these six indi- vidual members: they are outstanding Americans, they will do a great job. My concerns never dealt with their capability, but rather with the structure and representation of that board as it would be constituted. Senator INHOFE. All right. Thank you very much, Senator Isakson. That will be duly noted. We will be waiting for 10 to show up so that we have a quorum and we can get to the nominations. But we will go ahead and pro- ceed with the budget portion of the hearing. We will follow our nor- mal procedure, and that is, after opening statements have con- cluded, anyone coming in late would not be entitled to an opening statement, we will just continue with the hearing. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES M. INHOFE, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA I welcome you, Administrator Johnson, and am pleased to have you testify before the committee today on your fiscal year 2007 pro- posed budget. I expect that each Senator is going to want to have time, so we are going to try to keep our opening statements down to under 5 minutes if at all possible. The Administration has proposed a $7.32 billion budget for the fiscal year 2007. It is a $310 million cut to the EPA’s budget from 2006. I think that is a little deceptive, though, and this is some- thing that we are going to be exploring, as I have told you pri- vately. It seems to me that when we are trying to do cuts, we have the insatiable appetite for cherry picking and getting these things that we know will be reinstituted as it goes through the process. So as far as the $400 million cuts, which represent actually an increase of some $90 million, because we know that the $310 mil- lion will be reinstituted, since they are in the two categories that