NOMINATION OF KATHLEEN A. McGINTY WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1995 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:57 a.m. in room 406, Senate Dirksen Building, Hon. John Chafee (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Senators Chafee, Kempthorne, Inhofe, Baucus, Reid, and Lieberman. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN H. CHAFEE, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND Senator CHAFEE. The committee will come to order. First of all, I want to apologize to everyone here for the delay. We were going to start at 9:30, then we had a series of votes, and because of the arrangement of the votes-plus the fact that Senator Baucus was involved with one-it just didn't seem to make sense to start the hearing. As Senator Kempthorne calls it, it is the "tag team" approach to trying to run a hearing. [Laughter.] Senator CHAFEE. We are here today to hear testimony from Katie McGinty, the President's nominee to chair the Council on Environmental Quality, CEQ. Katie has had a diverse and interesting background. She was trained as a chemist, she has a law degree, and she worked in industry before she came up to the Hill on a 1-year science fellowship for then-Senator Al Gore. When her fellowship was completed, she was asked to stay on Senator Gore's staff as senior adviser on environment and energy. Many of us remember working with Katie during that time, and certainly I had that pleasure during those years. Katie then went to the executive branch as the director of the new White House Office of Environmental Policy. She later became the chairperson of the Council on Environmental Quality through a recess appointment. Her appointment expires in December of this year, and that is why we are considering her nomination. CEQ was created when the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, was signed into law on January 1, 1970. That was by President Nixon. NEPA was designed to make "more rational the process by which the Federal Government makes decisions." As set forth in section 202 of NEPA, each member of CEQ "shall be a person who, as a result of his training"-maybe it should say his or her, but I am quoting the law-"his training, experience, and attainments is exceptionally well qualified to analyze and interpret (1) environmental trends and information of all kinds; to appraise programs and activities of the Federal Government in the light of policies set forth in this act; to be conscious of and responsive to scientific, economic, social, aesthetic, and cultural needs and interests of the Nation"-now, that's a broad order, isn't it, to be conscious of and responsive to scientific, economic, social, aesthetic, and cultural needs and interests of the Nation-"to the improvement of the quality of the environment." Section 101 of NEPA sets forth the policy referred to: "The Congress declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local governments and other concerned public and private organizations, to use all practical means and measures, including financial and technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of America." I must say, that's really wonderful language, and I subscribe to it, "to use all practical means and measures, including financial and technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations." That's a tall order, but it's also an extremely important one. These are some of the challenges that come with the job at CEQ. Katie McGinty has proven in her visits with me that she recognizes the importance of CEQ's mission. I look forward to hearing from Ms. McGinty this morning. [The prepared statement of Senator Chafee follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN H. CHAFEE, We are here today to hear testimony from Katie McGinty, The President's nominee to chair the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Katie has a diverse and interesting background. She was trained as a chemist, she has a law degree, and she worked in industry before she came up to the Hill on a 1-year Science Fellowship for then-Senator Al Gore. When her fellowship was completed she was asked to stay on Senator Gore's staff as a senior adviser on environment and energy. Many of us remember working with Katie during that time. Katie then went to the executive branch as the director of a new White House office on environmental policy. She later became the chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality through a recess appointment. Her appointment expires in December of this year and that is why we are considering her nomination today. CEQ was created by when the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law on Jan. 1, 1970. NEPA was designed to "make more rational the process by which the Federal Government makes decisions." As set forth in Sec. 202 of NEPA, each member of CEQ "shall be a person who, as a result of his training, experience, and attainments, is exceptionally well qualified to analyze and interpret environmental trends and information of all kinds; to appraise programs and activities of the Federal Government in the light of policy set forth in [this Act]; to be conscious of and responsive to scientific, economic, social, aesthetic, and cultural needs and interests of the Nation; and to the improvement of the quality of the environment." Section 101 of NEPA sets forth the policy referred to in Section 202. In Section 101, "The Congress, declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local Governments, and other concerned public and private organizations, to use all practicable means and measures, including financial and technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans." That is a tall order, but it is also an extremely important one. Those are some of the challenges that come with the job at CEQ. Katie McGinty has proven in her visits with me that she recognizes the importance of CEQ's mission. I look forward to hearing from her this morning. I would like to acknowledge her parents, John and Alma McGinty, and her husband Karl Hausker and other members of her family who are here today-we welcome you. Senator CHAFEE. I would also like to acknowledge that your parents are here, Ms. McGinty. Do you want to introduce them? Ms. MCGINTY. Yes, sir, they are. My father, John McGinty, Sr.; my mother, Alma McGinty; and I would never take the committee's time to begin individually introducing the members of my family [Laughter.] Senator CHAFEE. Well, why don't they stand en bloc so that we can recognize the McGintys? How nice. [Applause.] Senator CHAFEE. And your husband is here? Ms. MCGINTY. Yes, Karl Hausker, my husband, is here as well. Senator CHAFEE. Good. Well, that's wonderful, and we welcome. each of you, and again apologize for the delay. Now, Senator Baucus is not here. He is expected very shortly. I will say, these are trying times; in addition to being here, I am on the Finance Committee, as is Senator Baucus, and we're having a big markup on Medicare, and then Senator Baucus also informed me he has an Agriculture Committee markup, so he's trying to be in three places at once, whereas I'm only trying to be in two. But perhaps Senator Lieberman from the Democratic side would like to make a comment. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT Senator LIEBERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I welcome Katie McGinty and her considerable family. Dealing with the multiple interest groups involved in the environmental world these days requires the kind of background that you had from birth with your family, so I'm sure they schooled you well in conflict resolution. Let me say, Mr. Chairman, very briefly, that I've come to know Katie from my time when she served with Senator Gore, and obviously afterward in the Administration. In these times in the history of the modern environmental protection movement, now into its third decade and drawing-at least here on Capitol Hill-a counterreaction, it seems to me that Katie is the perfect person to be in the position that she's in because she is, No. 1, profoundly and deeply committed to protecting our environment; No. 2, she understands that as we head into the third decade of environmental protection, not all the things we did before should continue to be done, that we've got to alter our approach, that we've got to look to build a consensus. Where the old command and control doesn't make sense, we have to look for new ways to achieve the ends that we say we all have to protect our environment, and she has done that. I would mention this Project XL, which has been developed under Katie's leadership, in which EPA will develop alternative strategies by which regulatees-people in the business community who are regulated-can follow to comply with the law and do a better job of achieving environmental protection, while not having to follow each and every one of the EPA's rules. It's a kind of regulatory reform in practice, in action, and I know from my own conversations with people in the business community that it has engendered a lot of support. In fact, I know several companies that are devoting considerable resources to submitting their applications under this XL program because they think it is so very important. Mr. Chairman, I have comments from three business leaders which I am going to ask to be printed in the record. They go to the heart of what I have just said. In specific cases one from the Environmental Business Council of New England, the other from John Berone, who was until recently senior project manager for the Fieldstone Company in California-these are testaments to Katie's ability to make specific projects work and to bring together those who are regulated with those who regulate in a common partnership to protect our environment. [The referenced letters follow:] CLAIBORNE PELL United States Senate WASHINGTON, DC 20810–3501 September 25. 1995 The Honorable John H. Chafee Chairman Senate Environment and Public Works Committee 505 Dirksen Senate office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear John; I am writing to express my support for the nomination of Ms. Katie McGinty to serve as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CBQ), a nomination that I understand soon will be under consideration by your Committee. As you know, since its creation by Congress in 1969, CEQ's mission has included ensuring that every president and every administration has an effective environmental policy advocate in the executive office. сво In addition, under the National Environmental Policy Act, has historically served as an honest broker among the many federal agencies, when it comes to environmental policy disputes and implementation. I am convinced that Ms. Mcaincy's leadership as confirmed Chair would help to strengthen CBQ and would allow it to continue its vital role in effectively overseeing and shaping our nation's environmental policies. She has served ably as a senior legislative staff member handling environmental policy issues for then Senator Al Gore. and, subsequently, as Director of the White House Office on Environmental Policy. I believe you will find that she's moderate, interested in reform, and has a real knack for solving problems. She already has proven her skills at bringing all the stakeholders to the table and building concensus. I hope you will do what you can to see that she continues to put her experience and skills to work for CBQ. Warm regards, Ever sincerely, Claiborne Pell |