Senate Gives Cordial Reception to EPA Nominee Whitman
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Whitman says the new administration will usher in a "new era of cooperation among all stakeholders in environmental protection" -- dodges environmental justice probe.
Source: ENS
Senate Gives Cordial Reception to EPA Nominee Whitman
By Brian Hansen
WASHINGTON, DC, January 17, 2001 (ENS) - New Jersey Governor
Christine Todd Whitman today fended off concerns that she would
cave in to corporate polluters and other special interests if she is
confirmed as President-elect George W. Bush's nominee to head up
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Whitman, a Republican who has served as New Jersey's governor
since 1993, experienced a mostly conciliatory confirmation hearing
today before the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee.
While Hillary Rodham Clinton, Joseph
Lieberman and other Democrats on the panel
expressed some misgivings over Whitman's
environmental record, senators on both sides
of the aisle acknowledged that the New
Jersey governor will "almost certainly" win confirmation to assume the
cabinet level position of EPA administrator.
Whitman, in her remarks to the committee, said that she is "looking
forward to the job ahead." Echoing a principle articulated by
President-elect Bush, Whitman said that she would work to launch a
"new era of cooperation among all stakeholders in environmental
protection."
"There is much government can do, but government cannot do it
alone," Whitman said. "We will maintain a strong federal role, but we
will provide flexibility to the states and local communities ... to craft
solutions that meet their unique situations."
Whitman told the
Senate panel that as
EPA administrator, she
would place greater
emphasis on "market
based incentives" in
cleaning up industrial
pollution and other environmental problems.
The EPA would rely on "strong science" under her leadership,
Whitman said, maintaining that "scientific analysis should drive policy,
[and] neither policy nor politics should drive scientific results."
And in a preemptive move that countered some of the criticism that
has been leveled against her, Whitman told the panel that she would
work to promote effective compliance with environmental standards
without weakening the EPA's commitment to "vigorous enforcement"
of stringent laws and regulations.
"We will offer the carrot first, but we will not retrieve the stick of
enforcement," Whitman said.
As EPA administrator, Whitman would be responsible for establishing
and enforcing a group of environmental laws and programs such as
the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the so-called Superfund
program, which is designed to facilitate the cleanup of America's
most hazardous waste sites. She would also oversee the EPA's
environmental research initiatives, and make recommendations to the
President on environmental policy.
Some environmental groups have charged that Whitman has not been
a strong advocate for enforcing environmental laws, citing the staff
cuts that she made as governor at the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ). The groups charge that these cuts
undermined the state agency's ability to monitor and enforce
pollution control laws.
Those charges were largely borne out by the nonprofit group Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which in 1997
surveyed DEQ employees about the department's functioning under
Whitman. The PEER survey found that under Whitman, the
enforcement of environmental laws declined sharply, while there were
marked increases in "corporate influence" and "manipulation of
scientific findings."
"According to the professional staff who worked under Governor
Whitman in New Jersey, pressure to block enforcement of
anti-pollution laws, back-door efforts to gut regulations and a
pervasive fear of retaliation have been the hallmarks of her tenure,"
said attorney Jeff Ruch, PEER's executive director.
Ruch did not testify at Whitman's hearing on Wednesday, but his
organization did submit its survey and other documentation critical of
the New Jersey governor to the Senate panel.
Democrats on the Senate panel were quick to question Whitman
about her commitment to enforcing the nation's environmental laws.
Leading that charge was Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, now
back in the Senate after his failed bid for the vice presidency as Al
Gore's running mate.
Lieberman told Whitman that the election
demonstrated that there is a "broad
consensus" for strong environmental
protections in the United States, and that
often times the "stick" of enforcement is the
only way to ensure that those goals are
realized.
Whitman agreed with Lieberman that
enforcement is "critical," but she said that "positive initiatives"
frequently resulted in faster and better environmental cleanups. To
that end, she cited a "facility wide permitting" initiative that she
launched as governor of New Jersey. Under the initiative, she
explained, industries were allowed to "voluntarily agree" on what level
of pollutants were "acceptable" to release into the air and water.
By issuing only one "facility wide" discharge permit, industries were
more inclined to stay within the established pollution limits, Whitman
said. Moreover, under such a "cap and trade" scheme, industries are
often willing to go beyond the pollution standards that they impose
on themselves, because by doing so, they can "trade" emissions
credits with other facilities, Whitman added.
That was not good enough for Senator Harry Reid, a Nevada
Democrat who chairs the Senate committee until the Republicans
reassume control on January 20.
Reid expressed concern with Whitman's
"voluntary compliance" initiative, saying that
he hopes the new EPA administrator would
not compile a legacy of being soft on
industrial polluters.
Whitman denied the charge. "We are
absolutely ready to use the stick [of mandatory enforcement]," she
said.
The Republican members of the panel were more receptive to
Whitman's position regarding innovative solutions for solving the
nation's environmental problems. Senator Jim Inhofe, a Republican
from Oklahoma, said that the EPA under the Clinton administration
frequently acted to "instill and inflict fear and intimidation" in its
enforcement activities. He asked Whitman to end that practice, and
to instead work with regulated industries and small businesses in a
conciliatory fashion.
Whitman pledged to do just that, saying that
"instilling fear does not solve problems,
generally." She said that under her leadership,
the EPA would give regulatory violators a "grace
period" to fix their environmental problems in a
"creative way."
"Compassionate compliance - that's good," remarked Inhofe,
paraphrasing President-elect George W. Bush's mantra of
"compassionate conservatism."
Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California, took issue with
Inhofe's remark and Whitman's position on the issue of environmental
enforcement.
"Compassionate compliance is a great idea, but we don't want it to
lead to taxpayers' tears," Boxer said.
Boxer wanted Whitman's assurance that she would preserve the
EPA's authority to add new Superfund sites to the National Priorities
List, a compilation of some of the most hazardous waste sites in the
nation. Boxer noted that there is a stigma of "bad press" associated
with a Superfund classification, but she emphasized that the new
EPA administrator must support the program.
Whitman faced a host of probing questions leveled by Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton, a New York Democrat and the wife of the nation's
outgoing chief executive. Clinton queried Whitman about her
"commitment" to the EPA's $460 million plan to clean up New York's
Hudson River, which is contaminated with more than 100,000 pounds
of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) released by the General Electric
Company.
Whitman said that she would "look closely" at
the plan, which GE has vowed to fight in
court. But Whitman said that it would be
"inappropriate" for her to comment on the
cleanup proposal until she is confirmed as EPA
administrator, and then only after the public
comment period on the proposal is over.
Whitman gave a similar response to Nevada
Senator Reid, who asked if she would enforce the landmark diesel
emissions rule that the Clinton administration and outgoing EPA
administrator Carol Browner announced last month. The rule, heralded
as one of the Clinton administration's most significant environmental
accomplishments, mandates that diesel emissions from heavy duty
trucks and buses be reduced by some 97 percent by 2006.
Whitman would not commit to enforcing the rule, saying that as part
of the Bush administration, she would have an "obligation to review
all pending rules and all new rules" before signing on to them.
Inhofe has been a leading Senate proponent of that strategy. The
Oklahoma Republican has objected to the spate of "midnight
regulations" that the Clinton administration has enacted in the waning
weeks of its final term, which ends at noon on Saturday.
"What is most disturbing is that the Clinton/Gore administration will
promulgate these regulations at any cost," Inhofe wrote in a recent
op-ed piece published in the "Washington Times" newspaper. "This
last minute regulatory push serves two purposes: first, it panders to
special interest groups for political gain, and second, it preempts
regulatory decisions which should properly be made by the next
administration."
Reid also questioned Whitman about her commitment to the concept
of environmental justice, which is concerned with keeping polluting
facilities from clustering in poor neighborhoods and neighborhoods of
color.
Whitman affirmed her commitment to the principle, saying that no
community should be "singled out" to be "dumped on."
Reid was not satisfied with that answer, pressing Whitman on the
matter of a controversial cement plant that was allowed to locate in
poor minority neighborhood in Camden, New Jersey.
Whitman said that she would respond to Reid's environmental justice
question in writing before Monday.
Reid, after the hearing, called Whitman "very non-committal."
"She didn't pin herself down very often," Reid said. "She gave herself
lots of wiggle room."
Still, Reid and other Democratic Senators told ENS that they fully
expect that Whitman will win Senate confirmation and become EPA
administrator.
Reid said that the committee will try to report back on Whitman's
nomination hearing by the end of next week.
Meanwhile, environmentalists have mounted a much more concerted
effort to derail the nomination of another one of Bush's would-be key
environmental advisors - Interior Secretary designate Gale Norton.
The Sierra Club and other environmental groups have compiled a six
figure war chest to fund a series of television and radio
advertisements critical of Norton, who as Interior Secretary would
wield great power over the disposal of the nation's public lands.
Norton has been sharply criticized by the
environmental community for her ties to
James Watt who served as Interior Secretary
for three years under President Ronald
Reagan. Many critics maintain he was the
most anti-environmental interior secretary in
the nation's history.
Still, sources on Capitol Hill say it is highly unlikely that the campaign
to block Norton's confirmation will prevail. Norton's confirmation
hearing will be held tomorrow afternoon in the Senate's Energy and
Natural Resources Committee.
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