The Energy and Power Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and the Environment and the Economy Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), today held a hearing with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on the administration's fiscal year 2017 budget. Members questioned EPA Administrator McCarthy on various EPA rules and regulations including the administration's Clean Power Plan and ozone regulations, as well as the water contamination issues in Flint, Michigan.
Committee member Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) pressed Administrator McCarthy on failing to recognize the real life impact EPA's regulations are having on the people of West Virginia, stating, "You're part of this bureaucracy that's passing all these legislative fiats and regulations but never really touching base with the people that you are affecting, their lives."
Chairman Shimkus commented on EPA's pursuit of numerous rules and regulations. He stated, "The problem, and the reason we cut your budget, is that your agency is prioritizing new rules and regulations that Congress never told you to pursue in the first place. This isn't the way our constitutional republic is meant to operate. Congress writes the laws, not the executive branch."
Chairman Whitfield added, "The costs of climate regulations are having real effects on people and family budgets. According to a NERA study, electricity prices could increase by an average of 11 percent to 14 percent nationwide under the Clean Power Plan. Thousands of jobs are being lost throughout coal country in large part due to EPA regulations, with many more yet to come as several of the agency's rules targeting coal have not fully taken effect."
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) concluded, "Heartbreaking events unfolding in Flint, Michigan, are a sign that EPA has strayed from its core mission. Make no mistake, the system failed at all levels that resulted in the lead contamination problems with Flint's water supply, but it is clear EPA's poor performance of its duties under the Safe Drinking Water Act was part of the problem. It is going to take creative solutions and there will surely be challenges, and I hope we can put our heads together and put a greater emphasis on problem solving and doing right by the American people rather than playing the blame game."