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EPA’s Andrew Wheeler opening statement excerpts: ‘Trump Admin is proving that burdensome federal regulations are not necessary to drive environmental progress’

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/latest-acting-epa-boss-deregulation-champion-60417046

A top Senate Democrat is describing President Donald Trump‘s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency as “just as extreme” as his predecessor.

Acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler is appearing Wednesday before a Senate committee considering his nomination to head the agency.

Democratic Sen. Tom Carper told Wheeler and other senators that Wheeler’s environmental policies in six months at the agency’s acting head were “just as extreme” as those of Scott Pruitt, who resigned last July amid ethics investigations.

 

Excerpts from Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s opening statement before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, January 16, 2019:

“In 2018, EPA finalized 13 major deregulatory actions, saving Americans roughly $1.8 billion in regulatory costs.”

“In Fiscal Year 2018, EPA deleted all or part of 22 sites from the National Priorities List, the largest number of deletions in one year since Fiscal Year 2005.”

“In May 2018, EPA convened its first-ever National Leadership Summit to help states address the emerging risks associated with PFAS…we will release a PFAS Management Plan in the very near future.”

“Through our regulatory reforms, the Trump Administration is proving that burdensome federal regulations are not necessary to drive environmental progress.”

“In Fiscal Year 2018, EPA enforcement actions required the treatment, disposal, or elimination of 809 million pounds of pollutants and waste – almost twice as much as compared to 2017.”

Last week, EPA and DOJ announced a $490M settlement with Fiat Chrysler for cheating U.S. emissions standards. “For 3 years, Fiat Chrysler told us that their vehicles were compliant. Yet, it was EPA engineers in Ann Arbor that caught them cheating.”

“Thanks to our hardworking public servants, pollution is on the decline. Our focus now is to accelerate its decline, particularly in communities where it poses the most immediate and lasting harm.”

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