S. HRG. 110–1195 CONSIDER PENDING NOMINATIONS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 2, 2007 Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gpo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 73–573PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 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 TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION BARBARA BOXER, California, Chairman MAX BAUCUS, Montana JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey DAVID VITTER, Louisiana BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming1 BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri BETTINA POIRIER, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel ANDREW WHEELER, Minority Staff Director 1Note: During the 110th Congress, Senator Craig Thomas, of Wyoming, passed away on June 4, 2007. Senator John Barrasso, of Wyoming, joined the committee on July 10, 2007. (II) CONTENTS Page OCTOBER 2, 2007 OPENING STATEMENTS Boxer, Hon. Barbara, U.S. Senator from the State of California ....................... 1 Craig, Hon. Larry E., U.S. Senator from the State of Idaho ............................... 2 Cardin, Hon. Benjamin L., U.S. Senator from the State of Maryland .............. 3 Isakson, Hon. Johnny, U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia ......................... 5 Whitehouse, Hon. Sheldon, U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode Island ........ 6 Baucus, Hon. Max, U.S. Senator from the State of Montana ............................ 6 Lautenberg, Hon. Frank, U.S. Senator from the State of New Jersey .............. 9 Chambliss, Hon. Saxby, U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia ...................... 10 Lieberman, Hon. Joseph, U.S. Senator from the State of Connecticut, pre- pared statement ................................................................................................... 76 WITNESSES Cochran, Andrew R., nominee for Inspector General, Environmental Protec- tion Agency ........................................................................................................... 11 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 12 Bresland, John S., nominee for Board Member and Chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board ............................................ 34 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 36 Responses to additional questions from: Senator Sanders ........................................................................................ 37 Senator Vitter ............................................................................................ 39 Senator Lautenberg ................................................................................... 40 Senator Lieberman .................................................................................... 43 Shearer, C. Russell H., nominee for Board Member, U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board ......................................................................... 46 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 48 Responses to additional questions from: Senator Boxer ............................................................................................ 50 Senator Lautenberg ................................................................................... 51 Senator Lieberman .................................................................................... 59 Senator Cardin .......................................................................................... 59 Gilliland, Thomas C., nominee for Board Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority .......................................................................... 69 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 70 Responses to additional questions from Senator Boxer ................................ 70 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Statements: Williams, Susan R., reappointed TVA Board Member .................................. 77 Responses to additional questions from Senator Boxer ......................... 78 Graves, William H., reappointed TVA Board Member .................................. 81 Responses to additional questions from Senator Boxer ......................... 82 Letters: U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board ................................ 85 Fiori, Mario P., Springfield, VA ...................................................................... 170 Russo, Frank B., Leesburg, VA ....................................................................... 172 Amerine, David, B., Parsons senior vice president ........................................ 174 Rollow, Tom, Fairfax Station, VA ................................................................... 176 (III) IV Page Emails, Shearer, Russell.............................................................................................. 101 Environment, Safety and Health Bulletins................................................................ 178 CONSIDER PENDING NOMINATIONS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2007 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 Office Building, the Hon. Barbara Boxer (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Senators Boxer, Craig, Baucus, Lautenberg, Cardin, Whitehouse, Isakson and Alexander. Also Present: Senator Chambliss. STATEMENT OF HON. BARBARA BOXER, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Senator BOXER. The Committee will come to order. I want to welcome everybody, and Senator Craig will be sitting in as Ranking Member today for Senator Inhofe. I just wanted to place in the record something, because we had a little contention at the Committee when I wanted to invite Sen- ator Mikulski up to the dais, and Senator Inhofe said this had never happened before. We went back in the record and found out on Wednesday, September 13, 2006, Chairman Inhofe invited and allowed Senator Alexander to sit immediately to Senator Inhofe’s right, asked him to engage in questions. We will put this in the record, without objection, and the photographs that prove the point. The idea of doing this is that, I don’t mind if we have disagree- ments, but let’s not—let’s get the facts right. So I just wanted to make the case that I will continue to run this Committee the way Senator Inhofe did, and these decisions will be made. Now I see Senator Chambliss is up here which is fine. Then I would ask that Senator Craig make a unanimous consent request to permit that, if he would. Senator CRAIG. I would so ask unanimous consent request to allow Senator Chambliss to be at the dais for the purposes of intro- duction. Senator BOXER. Is there any objection? We are making an exception here. Also I would state that, if there is no objection, I would certainly allow the Senator to stay here, if he wishes to ask any questions, if there is no objection to that. So ordered. We have a new day at the Committee, and isn’t it nice to get along. [Laughter.] Senator CRAIG. Kumbayah. [Laughter.] (1) 2 Senator BOXER. So if you could put me back to five minutes, I will start my statement now. This morning, the Committee meets to consider the nomination of six individuals. We will first hear from Mr. Andrew Cochran of Virginia, who is nominated to be the Inspector General of the EPA. On the second panel, we will hear from Mr. John Bresland, of New Jersey, who is nominated to be both a member of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board and its chairperson; Mr. C. Russell Shearer, nominated to be a member of that board. The sec- ond panel also includes Mr. Thomas Gilliland to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority. I can say to you, sir, you have strong support from members of your State. Two other reappointment nominations for the board of TVA, Susan Williams and William Graves, are not present today, but they have submitted the required paperwork. Mr. Cochran, I intend to carefully review your qualifications for this position. The EPA Inspector General must be an individual who is committed to protection of the environment as well as an effective investigator. You must also be willing to maintain an ade- quately sized staff of qualified individuals to help you succeed in your job. Congress and the American public rely upon the IG to be thorough and objective and determined to ensure that the EPA ful- fills its mission. Mr. Bresland and Mr. Shearer, it is critical that the Chemical Safety Board maintain itself as an independent Federal agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents. This is highly tech- nical work, it is important to providing a safe workplace and pro- tecting the public and our Nation’s economy. If confirmed, I would expect you both to be aggressive in reviewing effectiveness