Environmental Protection Agency acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler pitched himself as a faithful executor of President Trump’s deregulatory agenda Wednesday as he made his case to Congress to stay on in the job.
Wheeler, in testimony prepared for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the EPA finalized 13 major deregulatory actions in 2018, saving Americans roughly $1.8 billion in regulatory costs.
“We are advancing the president’s regulatory reform agenda,” said Wheeler in testimony posted online before the 10 a.m. hearing.
Wheeler, a former energy lobbyist and Senate Republican staffer, has led the EPA since July after former Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned from the post amid numerous scandals over his misuse of federal funds.
Since he replaced Pruitt, Wheeler has introduced major actions started by his predecessor to delay, weaken or repeal various regulations on air, water and climate change.
Wheeler on Wednesday planned to highlight three of those moves, none of which have been finalized and will face court challenges.
They include the EPA’s effort to weaken the Obama administration’s two signature climate change regulations: His strict fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, which were set to steadily rise through 2026, and the Clean Power Plan that was set to limit carbon emissions from power plants. And it includes his proposal introduced last month to shrink the Obama administration’s Waters of the United States rule, commonly referred to as WOTUS.
Wheeler on Wednesday minimized the damage these actions would have on reducing carbon emissions.
He claimed the EPA’s narrow replacement of the Clean Power Plan, known as the Affordable Clean Energy or ACE rule, would reduce power sector emissions 33 to 34 percent below 2005 levels.
But critics say the ACE rule would actually increase carbon emissions because it is designed to encourage coal plants to invest in efficiency upgrades that would allow them to burn less pollution — and exist longer than they otherwise would.
Critics also say the Trump administration’s freezing of fuel efficiency rules would not meaningfully fulfill the EPA’s legal requirement to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Wheeler also Wednesday emphasized his mission, started by Pruitt, to impose a “back to the basics” agenda at EPA, moving the agency’s focus away from climate change to basic duties such as cleaning hazardous toxic sites, and ensuring healthy drinking water.
He said in fiscal year 2018, the EPA deleted all or part of 22 Superfund sites from the National Priorities List, the largest number of such actions in one year, he said, since fiscal year 2005.
“We are in the process of cleaning up some of the nation’s largest, most complex sites and returning them to productive use,” Wheeler planned to testify.
Wheeler also noted his intent to introduce an implementation plan in March for a strategy to combat lead in drinking water.
His confirmation is likely certain, with Republican supporters crediting Wheeler for implementing Trump’s agenda in a more disciplined, understated, and professional manner than Pruitt.
Democrats, however, planned to force Wheeler to answer for his moves to weaken Obama-era climate change and environmental regulations before being confirmed by the Senate again.
Wheeler was previously approved by the Senate last year when he was EPA’s No. 2 official before he replaced Pruitt as acting administrator.
