[Senate Hearing 117-566]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




                                                        S. Hrg. 117-566

                            BUSINESS MEETING

=======================================================================

                                MEETING

                                 of the

                              COMMITTEE ON
                      ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                             JULY 27, 2022

                               __________

  Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works



                 [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
               


        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov





                                 ______
                                 

                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

50-498 PDF                WASHINGTON : 2023










               COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware, Chairman

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland         SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West 
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont                 Virginia, 
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island         Ranking Member
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts      KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois            CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan            RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama
MARK KELLY, Arizona                  JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
ALEX PADILLA, California             ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
                                     DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
                                     JONI ERNST, Iowa
                                     LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina

             Mary Frances Repko, Democratic Staff Director
               Adam Tomlinson, Republican Staff Director







                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                             JULY 27, 2022
                           OPENING STATEMENTS

Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware..     1
Capito, Hon. Shelley Moore, U.S. Senator from the State of West 
  Virginia.......................................................     2

                              LEGISLATION

Nomination Reference and Report, PN2052, Annie Caputo, of 
  Virginia, to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission..     6
Nomination Reference and Report, PN2054, Bradley R. Crowell, of 
  Nevada, to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission....     7
General Services Administration resolutions......................     9

                          ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

Letter to Senator Cardin from the General Services 
  Administration, July 22, 2022..................................     4
Letter to Senators Carper and Capito from U.S. Representative 
  Peter A. DeFazio, Chair of the U.S. House of Representatives 
  Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, re: General 
  Services Administration resolutions, July 20, 2022.............     8








 
                            BUSINESS MEETING

                              ----------                              


                        WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2022

                                       U.S. Senate,
                 Committee on Environment and Public Works,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee, met, pursuant to notice, at 9:48 a.m. in 
room G-50, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Thomas R. 
Carper (Chairman of the Committee) presiding.
    Present: Senators Carper, Capito, Cardin, Whitehouse, 
Merkley, Markey, Duckworth, Stabenow, Kelly, Padilla, Cramer, 
Boozman, and Ernst.

          OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER, 
            U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE

    Senator Carper. Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to 
call this business meeting to order.
    This morning, we are going to be voting on several well 
qualified nominees for leadership positions at the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission as well, and also some 15 General Services 
Administration Resolutions. After the business meeting is 
concluded, we will immediately proceed with this morning's 
hearing.
    Let me start by sharing some thoughts with everyone this 
morning about Joe Goffman, President Biden's nominee to be the 
Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at 
EPA. As I said during Mr. Goffman's nomination hearing not long 
ago, this position has an outsized impact on our lives. EPA's 
work to confront emissions that cause climate change and 
protect communities that are vulnerable to airborne toxic 
pollution has never been more urgent. We are looking to the 
Biden administration to act, and that requires having key 
positions, such as this one, filled.
    I know that Mr. Goffman will succeed in this role. 
Throughout his time working on this Committee and at EPA, he 
has demonstrated a clear commitment to following the law in a 
way that provides cleaner air, a safer climate for all of us, 
while providing predictability and certainty for industry. That 
is why Joe has earned support from a broad coalition of 
stakeholders, I think a remarkable coalition of stakeholders, 
so I will be happy to join them in their support and vote yes 
to advance Joe's nomination. I urge my colleagues to do the 
same.
    Let me also say a few words about the nomination of Annie 
Caputo, no stranger to any of us, and Brad Crowell to be 
members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. During their 
hearing last month, we saw that both individuals are well 
suited to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
    If confirmed, these nominees will fill the remaining 
vacancies on the commission. Ms. Caputo and Mr. Crowell both 
possess strong backgrounds in public service. Each will bring 
unique professional experience to the commission. I have no 
doubts about their ability to serve the American people in 
these roles and look forward to seeing their swift 
confirmation.
    With that, let me yield to Senator Capito.
    Senator Capito, good morning.

        OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, 
          U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA

    Senator Capito. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is nice to see 
you back in the chair.
    Senator Carper. It is nice to be back in the saddle, thank 
you.
    Senator Capito. I am glad you are feeling well.
    Senator Carper. Thank you.
    Senator Capito. This morning, as the Chairman said, we are 
going to consider three nominations and a number of GSA 
resolutions.
    First, I would like to speak on the nominations of Annie 
Caputo and Bradley Crowell to serve as members of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission. I support their swift confirmation on 
this bipartisan pairing. Reliable, affordable nuclear energy is 
necessary to power our homes and businesses and as an energy 
source that both you and I strongly support. Nuclear energy 
provides about half of America's emission free energy and 
nearly 20 percent of our power.
    The NRC right now is facing significant opportunities and 
challenges. The commission both has to help preserve the safe 
operations of today's nuclear power plants and also ensure the 
timely and safe deployment of new, advanced nuclear 
technologies.
    In my home of West Virginia, my home State, there is a buzz 
about nuclear energy since the State opened the door to 
building nuclear plants earlier this year. Like coal and 
natural gas, nuclear is an energy source that provides reliable 
baseload electricity.
    In May, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation 
warned of high and elevated risks of energy shortfalls 
throughout much of the United States this summer. The looming 
threat of blackouts reminds us of the need for more baseload 
electricity.
    I look forward to working with Senator Carper to push for 
the paired confirmation of these two NRC nominees so they can 
get to work quickly, which I know they will.
    In contrast, I am strongly opposed to the third nominee we 
are voting on today: Joe Goffman, President Biden's nominee to 
serve as Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and 
Radiation.
    At the end of last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 
landmark opinion in West Virginia versus the EPA. The court 
ruled that the EPA had clearly overstepped its authority in 
issuing the so called ``Clean Power Plan,'' which Mr. Goffman 
developed.
    His response to the Supreme Court's decision reaffirmed why 
I am opposed to him. After the decision was released, Mr. 
Goffman told the New York Times that ``the case does not really 
take anything off the menu that we have been focused on.''
    Despite the court saying that EPA lacks authority to manage 
the electricity system, he still plans to pursue a host of 
policies to force electricity to shift away from coal and 
natural gas to renewables. Inflation hit a 40 year high in June 
based on statistics released just last week, and energy costs 
climbed greater than 40 percent over the last year. And as I 
talked about earlier, much of the country is already facing 
reliability challenges.
    Meanwhile, Mr. Goffman is hard at work on a suite of 
policies that will threaten reliability and continue to inflate 
energy prices, making hard working American families pay more. 
Just one of those policies, the so called ``Good Neighbor 
Rule,'' currently under development by Mr. Goffman, would drive 
up West Virginia's electricity prices another 5 percent.
    On June 21st, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, 
in charge of operating much of the electric grid through the 
middle of the country, said that that same proposal threatens 
the reliability of the electric power system.
    With rising inflation and energy challenges at home and 
abroad, worsened by the war in Ukraine, we have too much at 
stake to put Mr. Goffman in charge of such an important EPA 
office. I strongly oppose his nomination, and I urge my 
colleagues to do the same.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Senator Carper. Thank you, Senator Capito.
    Are there other members, would others like to speak?
    Senator Cardin.
    Senator Cardin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is nice to see 
you back.
    Senator Carper. It is great to be back. Thank you, Ben.
    Senator Cardin. We are taking up some GSA resolutions. One 
of them deals with the general use of GSA issues. As in 
previous years, I requested GSA to advise me as to whether any 
of those funds would be used for the FBI headquarters.
    As you know, this year, the GSA is proceeding under the 
omnibus language in the appropriations bill for consolidated 
facility for the FBI. I requested a letter that none of these 
funds would be utilized for the Pennsylvania Avenue FBI 
facilities. I have a letter from GSA indicating that the 
priorities for the use of the funds do not include the FBI, and 
I would ask unanimous consent that that letter be made part of 
our record.
    Senator Carper. Without objection.
    [The referenced information follows:]


    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Senator Cardin. I would also point out that we need to 
maintain our focus on a new FBI headquarters, and I thank GSA 
for its important work on this ongoing project.
    Senator Carper. Thank you, Senator Cardin.
    Others please, who might like to speak, while we are 
waiting for a quorum.
    I understand, from Mary Frances Repko, our Staff Director 
on our side, that we have a quorum. We have enough people to 
vote on two of our three nominees and the GSA resolutions.
    With that, I now call up the nomination, No. 2052, Annie 
Caputo of Virginia to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission for the term of 5 years, expiring June 30th, 2026, 
as well as Presidential Nomination 2054, Brad Crowell of Nevada 
to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the 
term of 5 years, expiring June 30th, 2027, and on top of that, 
15 resolutions relating to the General Services Administration 
en bloc.
    I note that a quorum is present, and I move to approve and 
report the nominations and resolutions favorably to the Senate.
    Is there a second?
    Senator Capito. Second.
    Senator Carper. It has been moved and seconded.
    All in favor, say aye.
    [Chorus of ayes.]
    Senator Carper. Opposed, say nay.
    [No audible response.]
    Senator Carper. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have 
it. The nominations and 15 resolutions en bloc are approved and 
favorably reported to the Senate.
    That will conclude for now this morning's Committee votes. 
I am now happy to recognize any member who wishes to make a 
statement on the nominations we have voted on today or the 
resolutions that we have just approved.
    Anybody who would like to make a comment.
    Let me just say to everyone who has been here for this 
voice vote, thank you very much for joining us.
    We now have concluded the business meeting. Before we move 
on, I ask unanimous consent to submit additional materials 
related to this morning's votes for the record.
    Without objection.
    [The referenced legislation and information follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    
    Senator Carper. Let us now proceed with this morning's 
hearing.
    [Whereupon, at 10:01 a.m., the Committee proceeded to other 
business.]

                             [all]