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Source: Congress.gov
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All right, the subcommittee will come to order, and let me first say I apologize for the late start. It drives me crazy, but the president was speaking with the conference this morning, very engaging. I did leave a few minutes, I don't know how long before he finished, but I felt I needed to get here at least with some semblance, but I do apologize to you, Mr. Administrator, and to all the members who were here on time. Please forgive me. I will try not to let it happen again, but it is rare that the president comes to talk to the conference. All right. I now recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement. I am glad to have the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, a friend and former colleague, back in the House today. Welcome back, Mr. Administrator. Is that the proper way to refer to you? Call me Lee. All right. Lee. Lee. I was glad to have you back to testify before the Subcommittee on Environment on President Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget request. This is certainly an important time for the EPA. After four years of economically disastrous, legally questionable, and expensive policies of the Biden-Harris administration, it is a welcome sight to see President Trump and Administrator Zeldin focused on the rebuilding, of the American economy and fixing the problems of the previous administration. I remember when Administrator Zeldin was in the House representing the eastern part of Long Island. He was willing to work across the aisle in a pragmatic way to try and address environmental issues like protecting the Long Island Sound or addressing emerging contaminants like PFAS. It is great to see him bringing the same problem-solving skills to the EPA And there are a lot of problems there to solve, as we all know. I am pleased to see that the administrator recognizes that there is a middle ground to tread where environmental protection does not need to come at the expense of good jobs and a strong economy. I know that the administrator is already working to closely examine the previous EPA spending spree on Green New Deal-style programs.
That provided unprecedented levels of taxpayer funds to environmental groups and consultants and to undo burdensome regulations that increased energy costs and made it more difficult to make things in America. The reconciliation bill passed out of this committee last week is an important step in saving taxpayers' money and redirecting the EPA to focus on its core mission of cleaning up the environment and protecting human health. In February, Administrator Zeldin announced the broad pillars that the agency will focus on under his plan, Powering the Great American Comeback. In March, Administrator Zeldin announced 31 regulatory actions to support greater energy production, a more robust auto manufacturing sector, a more predictable permitting process, and a more state-based enforcement system. I'm glad to see that the EPA is taking another look at a lot of the rulemakings from the last administration, particularly those regarding air pollution. as many of those rulemakings didn't take into account industry's ability to meet compliance timelines on which pollution mitigation technologies would be able to be installed. EPA has a duty to enforce the statutes that Congress passed, though I do believe encouraging cooperative compliance with industry will lead to better environmental outcomes and less economic disruption. And as I've often said, one of the problems we have is if we push beyond what industry can do. They just pick up and move to another country. And many of those pollutants, according to a NASA study, come right back to us because the NASA study showed a number of years ago, following a sandstorm, that it takes about 10 days for the air to get from the middle of the Gobi Desert in China to the eastern shore of Virginia. As many of those rulemakings that the EPA did previously didn't take into account industry's ability to meet compliance timelines, that's what we're talking about.
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