[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 65 (Wednesday, May 9, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S3045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Risch, Mr. DeMint, 
        Mr. Wicker, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin, 
        Mr. Paul, Mr. Moran, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Hoeven, Mrs. 
        Hutchison, Mr. Toomey, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Barrasso, 
        Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Thune, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Vitter):
  S. 3053. A bill to require Regional Administrators of the 
Environmental Protection Agency to be appointed by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate; to the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, in an attempt to refresh our memory on 
what happened with the overreach of the EPA, we might remember that it 
was from this podium, I guess, 2 weeks ago--it was on a Friday that we 
found out and we had access to a tape that we released to the public. 
It has been on the TV and everyone has seen it now. It is a tape of the 
region 6 administrator of the EPA, Mr. Armendariz. At that time, when 
talking to the regulators who were under his jurisdiction and along 
with the public at a public meeting that was taking place in Texas, he 
said:

       But as I said, oil and gas is an enforcement priority. . . 
     . I was in a meeting once and I gave an analogy to my staff 
     about my philosophy of enforcement, and I think it was 
     probably a little crude and maybe not appropriate for the 
     meeting but I'll go ahead and tell you what I said. It was 
     kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages 
     in the Mediterranean. They'd go into a little Turkish town 
     somewhere, they'd find the first five guys they saw and they 
     would crucify them.

  And let them die on a cross. Everyone would look at that. Then he 
said:

       And then you know that town was really easy to manage for 
     the next few years. . . . So, that's our general philosophy.

  This is the EPA we are talking about, and this is 1 of 10 of the 
regulators. This happens to be the region 6 administrator. This 
regional administrator recently resigned when not only his statement 
received attention but also following public awareness about the manner 
in which he initiated the enforcement actions in region 6.
  We know about--and I have already mentioned in my previous remarks--
the company down in Texas. This company was cited by Armendariz. They 
are accused of groundwater contamination. They are accused of perhaps 
misusing hydraulic fracturing. All these were just accusations. But 
then they sent a letter to them and said we are going to fine you 
$33,000 a day--$33,000 a day. If we read those letters carefully, we 
will find out that decision isn't already made, it is not going to 
start, but to the person who is reading the letter, who receives the 
letter, they will think, I can stay in business for 30 more days and 
that is it.
  One has to ask the question: How many companies are out there that 
have received a letter such as this from the EPA and assumed they are 
going to have to start paying this fine, so they folded up their tent 
and they quit? This is what they want. They want to put people out of 
business.
  I told the story from this podium about a company in my State of 
Oklahoma. This was back probably 10 years ago. I received a letter--we 
had a lumber company in Oklahoma and the president of the lumber 
company said: I don't know what to do. The EPA has just put us out of 
business.
  I said: What did you do wrong?
  He said: I don't think I did anything wrong. He said: I have been 
selling our used crankcase oil to the same licensed operation for the 
last 10 years and some of that--this contractor was licensed by the 
State of Oklahoma and the Federal Government in the County of Tulsa. He 
said: We have been selling it to the same group, this organization, for 
10 years. He said: Some of that has been traced to a site where they 
have said this came from our used crankcase oil, and they said for that 
reason you have violated the law and we are going to fine you $5,000 a 
day.
  Now, $5,000 a day, this is to a relatively middle-sized lumber 
company, Mill Creek Lumber, it is called--and they are still in 
business today--and that would have put them out of business. I said: 
Send the letter to me and let me read it. I read it and I told him they 
are just threatening you and trying to run you out of business.
  We have to wonder as to how many companies out there are closed now 
or out of business because of actions such as this. How many of these 
companies received a letter such as the operation did down in Texas 
saying we are going to impose $33,000 a day and, finally, they just 
fold up their tent and quit? We don't know that. There is no way of 
knowing. We have invited people from this podium to call and we have 
received calls from people who have been out of business. This is an 
intentional effort we are dealing with and have been dealing with for 
quite some time.
  So we introduced today, just a few minutes ago, S. 3053. I have a 
whole bunch of cosponsors--it looks like about 20 cosponsors--on the 
bill. What we do is a very simple thing. I have found in my experience 
in both the House and the Senate that the shorter and simpler we make 
something, the easier it is to understand. This is a little, small, 
two-page bill, and all it does is say that anyone who is going to be 
appointed--or nominated, I should say--as a regional administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency would have to be appointed by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate. We have a list in our laws 
as to what has to have Senate confirmation. The Administrator of the 
EPA has to--and she went through that process and that person is Lisa 
Jackson--but not these 10 regional directors. So we are saying they 
should be subjected to the same advice and consent of this Senate, and 
we wouldn't have these kinds of problems. I suspect the Administrator 
of the EPA did not know what was going on in region 6 with Mr. 
Armendariz. I will give her the benefit of the doubt that she didn't. 
In fact, she was very critical of him once we stood here and exposed 
what was going on.
  This will solve the problem. I am going to invite people to join in. 
We have already introduced it. It is S. 3053. It is one that would 
force the administrators to be subjected to confirmation by this 
Senate. Keep in mind that these administrators, these regional 
administrators, have the power of life and death over many companies in 
America.
  I believe this will solve that problem, and I look forward to passing 
this bill and having it become law.
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