Making Epa Great Again

205 Pages·2017·4.39 MB·English

MAKING EPA GREAT AGAIN
HEARING
BEFORETHE
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND
TECHNOLOGY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
February 7, 2017
Serial No. 115–01
Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
(
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COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
DANA ROHRABACHER, California ZOE LOFGREN, California
MO BROOKS, Alabama DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
BILL POSEY, Florida ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky AMI BERA, California
JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut
RANDY K. WEBER, Texas MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
STEPHEN KNIGHT, California DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia
BRIAN BABIN, Texas JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia JERRY MCNERNEY, California
GARY PALMER, Alabama ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia PAUL TONKO, New York
RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana BILL FOSTER, Illinois
DRAIN LAHOOD, Illinois MARK TAKANO, California
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida COLLEEN HANABUSA, Hawaii
JIM BANKS, Indiana CHARLIE CRIST, Florida
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas
NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana
(II)
C O N T E N T S
February 7, 2017
Page
Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2
Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3
Opening Statements
Statement by Representative Lamar S. Smith, Chairman, Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ..................... 4
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 6
Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Member, Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .... 9
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 10
Witnesses:
The Honorable Jeffrey Holmstead, Partner, Bracewell LLP
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 11
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 14
Dr. Kimberly White, Senior Director, Chemical Products and Technology,
American Chemistry Council
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 19
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 21
The Honorable Rush Holt, CEO, American Association for the Advancement
of Science
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 30
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 32
Dr. Richard Belzer, Independent Consultant
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 37
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 39
Discussion ................................................................................................................. 52
Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
The Honorable Jeffrey Holmstead, Partner, Bracewell LLP ............................... 82
Dr. Kimberly White, Senior Director, Chemical Products and Technology,
American Chemistry Council .............................................................................. 88
The Honorable Rush Holt, CEO, American Association for the Advancement
of Science .............................................................................................................. 91
Dr. Richard Belzer, Independent Consultant ........................................................ 95
Appendix II: Additional Material for the Record
Documents submitted by Representative Lamar S. Smith, Chairman, Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .... 102
Documents submitted by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking
Member, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of
Representatives .................................................................................................... 113
Documents submitted by Representative Randy K. Weber, Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ..................... 187
(III)
IV
Page
Documents submitted by Representative Gary Palmer, Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .................................... 190
MAKING EPA GREAT AGAIN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY,
Washington, D.C.
The Committee met, pursuant to other business, at 11:04 a.m.,
in Room 2318, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Lamar Smith
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
(1)
2
LAMAR s. SMITH, Tsxiiis EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
CHAIRMAN RANKING M£MBER
Q::ongrcss of the 'Bnitcd
~tatcs
'!ilOUllC Of 'iRcprcscntatiUCll
COMMITIEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
2321 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE 8U!LD!NG
WASHINGTON, DC 20515~6301
[phone]
www.scien;:;e,hollse.gov
Full Committee
Making EPA Great Again
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.
2318 Ray bum House Office Building
The Honorable Jeffrey R. Holmstead, Partner, Bracewell & Giuliani
Dr. Kimberly White, Senior Director, Chemical Products and Technology, American
Chemistry Council
The Honorable Rush Holt, CEO, Amedcan Association for tbc Advancement of
Science
Dr. Richard Belzer, Independent Consultant
3
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HEARING CHARTER
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
TO: Members, Committee on Science, Space and Technology
FROM: Majority Staff, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
SUBJECT: Full Committee Hearing: "Making EPA Great Again"
The Committee on Science, Space and Technology will hold a hearing titled Making EPA
Great Again on Tuesday, February 7, 2017, at II :00 a.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House
Office Building.
Hearing Purpose:
The purpose of this hearing is to examine the Environmental Protection Agency's process
for evaluating and using science during its regulatory decision making activities. Witnesses will
discuss how EPA can pursue environmental protection and protect public health by relying on
sound science.
Witness List
• The Honorable Jeffrey Holmstead, Partner, Bracewell LLP
• Dr. Kimberly White, Senior Director, Chemical Products and Technology, American
Chemistry Council
• The Honorable Rush Holt, CEO, American Association for the Advancement of
Science
• Dr. Richard Belzer, Independent Consultant
Staff Contact
For questions related to the hearing, please contact Majority Staff at 202-225-6371.
4
Chairman SMITH. The Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
nology will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is author-
ized to declare recesses of the Committee at any time.
Welcome to today’s hearing entitled ‘‘Making the EPA Great
Again.’’ I’ll recognize myself for an opening statement and then the
Ranking Member.
Today, we will examine how the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy evaluates and uses science in its regulatory decision-making
process.
Sound science should be at the core of the EPA’s mission. Legiti-
mate science should underlie all actions at the Agency, from re-
search to regulations, and be an integral part of justifying their ac-
tions. Unfortunately, over the last eight years, the EPA has pur-
sued a political agenda, not a scientific one.
Time and again, we saw the EPA under the Obama Administra-
tion propose regulations that would have no significant impact on
the environment. For example, the so-called Clean Power Plan, pro-
posed by the EPA last June, set impossible targets for carbon emis-
sions. Yet even EPA data shows that this regulation would only
eliminate a miniscule amount of global carbon emissions and would
reduce sea level rise by only 1/100 of an inch. In fact, the EPA has
proposed some of the most expensive and expansive and ineffective
regulations in history.
The rules proposed and finalized by the EPA placed heavy bur-
dens on American families. Often, huge costs were shouldered by
the taxpayer with little to show for it. And the EPA routinely relied
on questionable science based on nonpublic information that could
not be reproduced, a basic requirement of the scientific method.
Americans deserve to see the science for themselves. If the EPA
had nothing to hide, why didn’t it make the scientific data it used
for its regulations publicly available? What was the EPA hiding?
The Committee conducted oversight of EPA’s use of suspect
science to justify its claims. Our hearings culminated in legislation
that required the EPA to make its data publicly available.
With the transition to a new Administration, there is now an op-
portunity to right the ship at the EPA and steer the Agency in the
right direction. The EPA should be open and accountable to the
American people and use legitimate science. Though ignored by the
previous Administration, the EPA does have internal processes to
ensure this accountability. The internal review process at the EPA
should be restored and strengthened.
The Science Advisory Board provides critical feedback to the EPA
on its proposals, but in recent years, SAB experts have become
nothing more than rubberstamps who approve all of the EPA’s reg-
ulations. The EPA routinely stacks this board with friendly sci-
entists who receive millions of dollars in grants from the federal
government. The conflict of interest here is clear.
Fortunately, the EPA can once again become an agency that is
credible and respected. Simple changes, such as eliminating con-
flicts of interests, adding more balanced perspectives, and being
more transparent can go a long way to restoring the Agency’s credi-
bility.
In recent years, the EPA has sought to regulate every facet of
Americans’ way of life. Instead, we should invest in research and
5
development and let technology lead the way. Far too often, the
EPA has deliberately used its regulatory power to undercut Amer-
ican industries and advance a misguided political agenda that has
minimal environmental benefit. The new Administration has the
opportunity to let technology and innovation protect our environ-
ment without government mandates that impose costly and unnec-
essary regulations on the American people. The EPA should focus
on environmental policies that can be justified and are based on
good science.
Lastly, recent news stories report that another agency, NOAA,
tried to deceive the American people by falsifying data to justify a
partisan agenda. A senior scientist at NOAA has questioned the
scientific integrity of a study written by Tom Karl while at NOAA
that claimed that there was no stop in global warming from 1998
to 2013. This official has provided evidence that Karl ‘‘had his
thumb on the scale’’ throughout the entire process. The Karl study
was published in Science, the journal overseen by the American As-
sociation for the Advancement of Science.
In light of this new information, AAAS and Science should re-
tract the Karl study. The Committee will continue our investigation
of NOAA’s refusal to provide the Committee with responsive docu-
ments on this subject.
It is clear that the Committee’s investigation is justified. Al-
though NOAA, AAAS, and others attempted to block the Commit-
tee’s efforts, our goal remains to ensure that the scientific process
funded by the American taxpayer is in fact open and honest.
[The prepared statement of Chairman Smith follows:]
6
COMMITTEE ON
SCIENCE, & TECHNOLOGY
Lamar Smith. Chairman
For Immediate Release Media Contact: Kristina Bourn
February 07, 20 l 7 [phone]
Statement of Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas)
Making EPA Great Again
Chairman Smith: Today we will examine how the Environmental Protection Agency
evaluates and uses science in its regulatory decision making process.
Sound science should be at the core of the EPA's mission. Legitimate science should
underlie all actions at the agency. from research to regulations, and be an integral
part of justifying their actions.
Unfortunately, over the last eight years, the EPA has pursued a political agenda, not a
scientific one.
Time and again, we saw the EPA under the Obama administration propose regulations
that would have no significant impact on the environment.
For example, the so-called Clean Power Plan, proposed by the EPA last June, set
impossible targets for carbon emissions.
Yet even EPA data shows that this regulation would only eliminate a miniscule amount
of global carbon emissions and would reduce sea level rise by only 1/lOOth of an inch.
In fact, the EPA has proposed some of the most expensive and expansive and
ineffective regulations in history.
The rules proposed and finalized by the EPA placed heavy burdens on American
families. Often, huge costs were shouldered by the taxpayer with little to show for it.
The previous EPA's regulations were all pain and no gain.
And the EPA routinely relied on questionable science based on nonpublic information
that could not be reproduced, a basic requirement of the scientific method.
Americans deserve to see the science for themselves. If the EPA has nothing to hide,
why not make the scientific data it uses for its regulations public ally available? What
was the EPA hiding?
This Committee conducted oversight of EPA's use of suspect science to justify its
claims. Our hearings culminated in legislation that required the EPA to make its data
publicly available.