Senator CHAFEE. Thank you very much, Senator Baucus. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES M. INHOFE, After listening to all my colleagues, and having had personal conversations with you-I know you called my office and offered that, but I didn't get in until too late to visit with you. That was my loss, not yours. I guess I would start off by addressing your parents and telling you something that has impressed me since I came in the room. guess it's all right to call you Katie; everybody else does. Ms. MCGINTY. Yes, please do. Senator INHOFE. My No. 4 child is Katie; she's your age; she looks exactly like you. She is beautiful and charming and brilliant, and it's like talking to my own. So we can be very, very proud, and I know that you are. Senator REID. She's a Democrat, too, I'm sure. [Laughter.] Senator INHOFE. Senator Reid, I'd have to suggest to you that she's not a Democrat. [Laughter.] Senator INHOFE. But anyway, there are honest differences of opinion. I think it's kind of neat that you can come to a hearing like this and talk to people, really, with affection, and disagree with them. I think that in a lot of the areas that we've gone into we have gone too far. When the Chairman was reading the definition of the job, he used several times "productive harmony," and I think that in the current Administration and since the 1960's, we've gone to more harmony and less productivity, I fear. I read several things, as did the Senator from Idaho, that you have written. One of the comments that caught my eye was in reference to the Contract With America when you said, "The provisions pertaining to risk assessment, takings of private property, unfunded mandates, and other regulatory issues amount to a lawbreaker's bill of rights." We all come from different perspectives, different parts of the country. I have just finished my 100th town hall meeting since January, since I continue to live back in Oklahoma. I talk to these people, such as on the takings issue; as I go around the State, it's really odd, Katie, because I don't get questions about the farm bill from farmers. I get more questions about property rights. This is something that is of great concern to them. We have an Oklahoma landowner, the guy's name is Wells, who bought a piece of property, 10 acres, that was not in any way wetlands, had never had water on it, and because of a Government road going through, they are now-actually, for all practical purposes, in terms of valueconfiscating six out of this ten acres. You hear stories like this over and over again. In the area of unfunded mandates that you mentioned in your statement, characterizing the Contract With America, I spent three terms as the mayor of a major city in America, Tulsa, OK. If you talk to any mayors around, they will tell you that their major con cerns are not so much welfare and crime and the things we hear about and talk about on the floor, but they are unfunded mandates. We have addressed that this year in the Senate; of course, if that becomes law, that's going to correct a lot of those problems. But I think that in the administration of the Clean Air Act and many of the other acts that we will be talking about today, they have become unfunded mandates that our local communities, our counties, and our cities and our States cannot absorb. So while we can talk in an environment of friendship and not hostility, we can still disagree on these things. I come from a perspective that is different from the Administration's, and you are upholding the Administration's perspective very, very well. So I look forward to this hearing. Ms. MCGINTY. Thank you. Senator CHAFEE. Does that complete your statement, Senator Inhofe? Senator INHOFE. Do you want more? OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. HARRY REID, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEVADA Senator REID. Thank you, Senator Chafee. This kind of reminds me of the accounting course I took. One of the principles we studied was "first in, last out." I was first in and I'm last out, but that's OK. [Laughter.] Senator REID. Mr. Chairman, I very much appreciate this hearing. I'm glad we had the persistence to stay here. She came with her family, and I'm very impressed with her nine brothers and sisters. I am especially impressed with your mother. I am also impressed with the fact-I have read your statement; I think it is a very thorough statement. I am encouraged to note that you recognize the work of your brothers. Two of them have been coal miners in Wyoming. I think the committee should take note of the fact that you are not only a lawyer, but a scientist. We, too often are driven by lawyers alone. I think having your scientific background, not only having been educated in the scientific field but actually having worked there, is important to the committee, at least to me. I also am glad you noted your work on lead and the work that the Administration has done and the problem that we still have there. Your work in reinventing government is significant. I think that Senator Gore gets the credit for this, but some of it should go to you. The fact that in these Government regulations alone, some 16,000 pages were eliminated as a result of the work of reinventing government. So I think that you bring a lot to this Administration. That has already been shown; not only do you have the qualifications that I've outlined, but you have the confidence of not only the President but also the Vice President, and I think that's important. Your having worked on the Hill gives you some understanding of the legislative branch; that's also important. So I think that you are really well qualified, and I hope that the committee quickly endorses your nomination so that you can have this job on a permanent basis. Senator CHAFEE. Thank you very much, Senator. Ms. McGinty, let me say that I'm under a difficult situation here because of the Finance Committee markup. That is our last chance, as you know, in connection with that. So I will not be able to stay. Senator Kempthorne said he would stay and continue to preside. By the way, how many siblings do you have, brothers and sisters? Ms. MCGINTY. Nine, sir, six brothers and three sisters. Ms. MCGINTY. Yes, sir. Senator CHAFEE. Well, well, well. Let's give another round of applause for your parents. [Applause.] Senator CHAFEE. That's a big family to raise and educate, and obviously they've done a marvelous job. I see that Senator Kempthorne mentioned that your nephew is here, and this is a day that he can be excused from school. Let me briefly tell you that this room is a hearing room. You see these lights? This isn't a hearing we're having today, at least not a formal hearing of the type with witnesses. We turn these lights on, and we adjust them; usually a witness can speak for 5 minutes, and then the warning light says that you have a minute to go, and then the red light means please wind it up. We're not using those on your aunt, though. [Laughter.] Senator CHAFEE. Ms. McGinty, are you willing, at the request of any duly constituted committee of the Congress, to appear in front of it as a witness? Ms. MCGINTY. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. Senator CHAFEE. Do you know of any matters which you may or may not have thus far disclosed which might place you in any conflict of interest if you are confirmed in this position? Ms. MCGINTY. No, sir, I do not. Senator CHAFEE. All right. Thank you. Now, you have a statement. Why don't you proceed? I just don't want anybody to feel that I'm taking this lightly, should I leave, and I will have to leave in a very few minutes; it's due to the circumstances. But Senator Kempthorne is kind enough to remain here, and Senator Inhofe will be here for a while, and Senator Lieberman. So why don't you proceed with your statement? STATEMENT OF KATHLEEN A. MCGINTY, NOMINATED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Ms. MCGINTY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to appear before you today. I am especially appreciative of that opportunity, given the tremendous press of business before the Senate. I do have a prepared statement, Mr. Chairman, that I hope can be entered into the record in full. Senator CHAFEE. Yes, it will be. Ms. MCGINTY. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I have had the honor of serving as the chair of CEQ since my recess appointment by President Clinton in December 1994. As this committee knows, CEQ does not regulate the private sector, nor is its mission solely to protect the environment. Rather, as has been noted, CEQ has the unique role of achieving productive harmony among our environmental, social, and economic goals. I believe strongly in this mission. The effort to stop the collision between our economic and our environmental policies has always been important, but I think it is now more pressing and urgent than ever-especially, as Senator Baucus noted, as we enter into a new era of environmental protection. Because of my science background, my experience as a scientist and a lawyer working in and with industry, I have put a priority on good science, and welcome industry's perspective, as well as that of the environmental community, in all of my undertakings as chair of CEQ, and previously as director of the White House Office on Environmental Policy. I believe that this inclusive approach is essential if we are in fact to achieve that "productive harmony" that NEPA calls for. I would like to share with the committee very briefly several examples of my efforts that I believe in fact demonstrate a better harmonization of these goals. First, as has been noted in the area of environmental regulation, on March 16, the President announced the results of a major review of our system of environmental regulation that I chaired at his direction. Our report, entitled "Reinvention of Environmental Regulation," includes 25 initiatives that bring the environment and the economy together by, for example, expanding the use of market mechanisms; tradeable permit schemes in the Clean Air Act; and borrowing from your suggestion and Senator Baucus' suggestion last year in the Clean Water Act, as well; improve efficiency and reduce cost. EPA will, for example, reduce its paperwork burden by 25 percent, and this will save industry more than 20 million hours of work in complying with our regulations. Help small business-we have committed to establishing compliance assistance centers, the notion being that if we work with small businesses, we can help them to achieve environmental protection goals rather than simply penalizing them for failing to do so. As part of that goal, we will institute a 180-day grace period during which violations can be fixed rather than penalties imposed. As Senator Lieberman noted, the March 16 report also launched Project XL. Project XL is based on a year-long dialog with industry and communities across the country. The idea behind this project is simple. If industry or a community can achieve superior environmental performance through new technologies, through a multimedia approach, by redesigning or reengineering their systems, we ought to let them. They can chart their own course, and we will put aside the EPA rulebook. A second example of our effort to harmonize these goals is in the natural resources area, and, Senator Kempthorne, you are very familiar with efforts to amend and change the Endangered Species Act. We have initiated reforms that will relieve the vast majority of homeowners in this country from ever having to worry about Endangered Species Act requirements. We have worked with the States; where a State has a conservation plan in place, we have said that that plan can suffice for Federal Endangered Species Act requirements. We have tried to make partnerships with private landowners rather than have the continued and protracted legal battles that we've seen. I have worked hard to bring the agencies to these new directions and to see these policies through. Recently I traveled to southern California, where I signed an agreement with a major real estate developer that protects critical habitat, but then allows thousands of new homes to be built with no further Endangered Species Act Requirements. In Washington State I signed an agreement with a timber company that lays out mutually agreed conservation measures, in exchange for which we gave that timber company a 100-year guarantee that all of their requirements under the Endangered Species Act have been met. Sometimes, as this committee well knows, the first step in trying to form these partnerships or launch out in new directions is to get the Federal house in order. While perhaps less exciting, I take it as probably one of my most important responsibilities to bring the Federal agencies together to resolve, and hopefully to prevent, disputes among them. In the wetlands area, for example, while previously we had four different agencies battling for jurisdiction over agricultural wetlands, we have stepped back and put one agency, the Department of Agriculture, in charge. This was an idea that Senator Bond had suggested. Also, in southern California we had for 20 years four different Federal agencies at loggerheads with one another, and then collectively at loggerheads with the State of California, with agricultural interests, industry, and environmental interests. We worked to bring those Federal agencies together around an agreed plan, and then bring the other interests into it as well, so that now, after two decades of fighting, we are finally out of the courts and moving forward together. Finally, Mr. Chairman, oversight of the National Environmental Policy Act is also one of my top priorities. While we have spoken to the goal of NEPA, this productive harmonization, and recognize its importance, the implementation of NEPA has not always been the best. We have committed to undertaking significant reforms in NEPA's application so that we are dramatically reducing paperwork burdens and increasing the flexibility that previously has not been brought to bear in the use of NEPA. Where, for example, the Forest Service used to do individual environmental assessments of every single grazing permit, we are now stepping back and doing one assessment of the overall landscape, and I think that will be much cheaper, much quicker, a much more efficient way to get the job done. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I have worked hard to try to bring that productive harmony that we've been speaking about among our environmental, economic, and social goals. If given the honor by this committee and then the Senate as 22-061 - 96 - 2 |