Ricketts at Zeldin Confirmation Hearing: EPA Must “Follow the Law” and “Get Back to the Fundamentals”
January 17, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, questioned Lee Zeldin at the confirmation hearing of Zeldin’s nomination by President Trump to be Administrator of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA).
“The rule of law is what binds Americans’ trust to government,”Ricketts said. “All too often, we’ve seen under this Biden administration that the rule of law and congressional intent has been subverted by trying to appease radical, left-wing environmentalists. And that undermines people’s faith in government and the rule of law and the trust of our institutions.”
“So thank you for your commitment to implementing the laws as Congress has written and has intended, to be able to get back to the fundamentals of the EPA, which is protecting our environment, safeguarding our health, and looking out for the well-being of the public,” Ricketts continued. “I’m excited to restore this proper balance of limiting risk with using sound science to protect our environment, which is the EPA’s mission, as Congress directed to do. We must follow the law to restore Nebraskans’ faith in our government institutions.”
Ricketts made the comments in a hearing of the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
TRANSCRIPT:
Senator Ricketts: “Congressman Zeldin, good to see you again. Thank you very much for being here. And again, appreciate your family sacrifices in the past and serving our country and your continued willingness to sacrifice and serve our country again in this new role.
“The rule of law is what binds Americans’ trust to government. All too often, we’ve seen under this Biden administration that the rule of law and congressional intent has been subverted by trying to appease radical, left-wing environmentalists. And that undermines people’s faith in government and the rule of law and the trust of our institutions.
“So thank you for your commitment to implementing the laws as Congress has written and has intended to be able to get back to the fundamentals of the EPA, which is protecting our environment, safeguarding our health, and, looking out for the well-being of the public.
“I’m excited to restore this proper balance of limiting risk with using sound science to protect our environment, which is the EPA’s mission, as Congress directed to do.
“We must follow the law to restore Nebraskans’ faith in our government institutions.
“So one of the areas that you’re going to have an opportunity to be able to do that has to do with our renewable fuel standard. And this is one of the things I’ve commented in the past. I love this committee because we talk about ethanol and biodiesel and renewable diesel all the time. Chairman Capito will get tired of me doing that. But with what we’ve seen in the past under the Biden administration is that, you know, RVOs are set below production levels, that and they’re chronically late. You know, for example, the RVOs for 2026 are required by law to be published on November 1st, 2024.
“That did not happen, and it’s not likely to happen until probably December 2025. The 2023 and 2024 RVOs will lag behind industry production by 3 to 4 billion gallons. That’s the actual capacity of the industry today.
“Congressman Zeldin, do you commit to give producers and the industry certainty in the marketplace, the marketplace deserves. And again, this is what businesses want. They want certainty. They want to know what the rules are so they can plan for it.
“Will you give them the certainty by following the law as it relates to the timely and appropriate RVO rulemakings?”
Mr. Lee Zeldin: “Yes, Senator.“
Senator Ricketts: “Great. Thank you very much. Another pressing biofuel issue for Nebraskans is year-round E15. I want to thank Senator Fischer and, your former colleague, Congressman Smith, for their leadership on the issue. And I’m happy to lend my enthusiastic support to this cause. The solution is over a decade in the making, and we were very, very close in the last Congress to actually getting E15 year-round. And I’m hoping to build on that momentum here in 2025.
“Congressman Zeldin, although the issue will not be solved entirely by the EPA, can we rely on you to do your part to create a market of certainty for liquid fuel stakeholders and agricultural producers, by doing all you can to ensure that Americans will have access to E15 all year round?
Mr. Zeldin: “Senator, while I can’t prejudge the outcome of processes to follow across the board, I know how important this issue is to you, and I know how important this is to President Trump. The president has, expressed this time and again. With regards to you, you’ve heard it from, Senator Ernst. I’ve heard it from Senator Grassley, Senator Thune, Senator Fischer, and others, Senator Hawley.
“So I understand how much of a priority this is for you. As far as establishing certainty, hopefully this is something that Congress is able to resolve. To the extent that you’re relying on the EPA to establish that certainty, I look forward to being able to do my part, and I want to continue to work with you, to achieve, the outcomes that we have discussed.
Senator Ricketts: “Great. Thanks. And, you know, one of the things that, and we’ll get into it in the second round of the questioning as well, but I think it’s really, really important that we get away from what the Biden administration was doing with regard to trying to tip the scales toward their solution. That’s how I interpret their delay on renewable fuels. We all want to reduce our impact on the environment. Renewable fuels are one of the ways we can do that.
“They wanted to push their solution with electric vehicles. And again, electric vehicles are, can be part of the solution on how we do that as well. But what we should be focusing on is how American innovation, and I appreciate the fact that you mentioned this in your opening, american innovation is how we solve our problems in this country. So allow Americans to innovate, to find ways to be able to reduce our impact on the environment. And I’ll give you one example. Last year, maybe it was two years ago, I was seeing a demonstration by a hybrid vehicle that with for a $600 kit, had been equipped to burn 85% ethanol. And it was getting 38 miles to the gallon while reducing the amount of emissions that would have normally been done with a gasoline engine.
“So that’s the kind of innovation that can help us reduce our impact on the environment. If we’re allowed, if we’re allowed as Americans to actually innovate. And rather than have this big top-down government, one size fits all, like we’re going to push this solution on you whether it works or not.
“So I see my time has expired, but I look forward to the second round of our questions.”
Second Round of Questioning:
Senator Ricketts: “Thank you, Chairman Capito, for having a second round of questions, I appreciate it. And, Congressman Zeldin, presuming that you get confirmed to be the EPA Administrator, you’re going to have to work to reestablish some credibility, reestablish the trust, for the EPA. And that’s going to involve a process of transparency and good faith action on EPA’s part.
“Part of what I expect you to bring back is accountability. President Biden’s EPA had a $41.5 billion, billion with a B, program to carry out EV mandates and ‘environmental justice’.
“How many additional dollars went to the inspector general’s office to conduct oversight over those IRA funds that went out? Zero. None. Yeah, that’s a problem, when you’re spending that kind of dollars.
“Can we have your commitment that you will look into this to make sure those dollars were spent appropriately? That the process was followed properly for all those dollars, to make sure that any dollars that were not spent appropriately. In fact, Senator Capito and I actually had a press conference on how some of these dollars were being distributed. But if they weren’t being distributed, you’ll work to claw back those taxpayer dollars?”
Mr. Zeldin: “Yes, Senator.”
Senator Ricketts: “Great. Thank you. We talked a little bit earlier also about the EV mandate. Part of what this IRA dollars were supposed to be pushing is this EV mandate. Of the 147 communities in my state that are classified as cities, 99 of them don’t have a single EV charger.
“If you’re living in communities like Bloomfield, Alliance, Valentine, you’re 45 minutes from the nearest charging station. And in my state, EV adoption is like 2% when nationally it’s about 7%.
“And of course, the current mandate that the EPA is pursuing with their emission standards was to have two thirds of all new vehicles being sold as EVs in the year 2032.
“That that’s just clearly not realistic. And again, as we discussed, we should allow American innovation to be able to help us reduce the impact on the environment, not have the administration pick one solution that they want to push.
“Do you commit to rolling back these out-of-touch mandates that are costly to Americans and dangerous to our energy grid, increase our reliance on our adversaries like the People’s Republic of China?”
Mr. Zeldin: “Senator, it is my obligation, if confirmed, to be following my obligations under the law. And with regards to Administrative Procedures Act, rules, laws, set out that guide.
“The way I answer that question, I’m not allowed to prejudge outcomes going into rulemaking, to ensure that there is durability of any decision to be made at the end of the process, where my answer to that question could potentially be used against any type of a rule, regulation that is made.
“I will tell you that I have heard concerns from you and many others in this chamber of how important it is to look at rules that are currently on the books. I don’t sit before you with any type of announcement that I’m able to make of any rules that are going to change upon confirmation.
“I will tell you that I will not prejudge outcomes. However, it is my commitment to follow my obligations under the laws set by Congress, to look at laws, decisions, that have been made by the United States Supreme Court, and to make sure that we are pursuing common sense, pragmatic solutions that make sense to you, that you can defend when going back to the constituents that you fight so hard for, from your home state.
“So I look forward to the opportunity of being able to make you proud, in being able to make this entire committee, the Chairman, proud, in hitting the ground running to do my part so that the EPA is being accountable to you as a Senator and as accountable to your constituents, as taxpayers, and as Americans.”
Senator Ricketts: “Great. Well thank you, Congressman Zeldin.
“One of the things we also talked about was certainty. We talked about it in the context of the RVOs. But there’s another area of certainty that we’ve talked about, and we need to continue to talk about. The Supreme Court’s Sackett vs EPA decision was a clear directive to narrow the scope of the federal jurisdiction on the Clean Water Act.
“And here’s just one of the things that just drives me nuts. Because this has not just been a Biden administration, this happened under the Obama administration. The Clean Water Act over 50 times says navigable waters. Navigable waters means you can put a boat on it and go someplace. That’s the Merriam-Webster definition in really broad terms. Clearly out of scope of what the Congress’s intent was.
“And the decision in this Act was intended to provide clarity to producers. President Biden’s WOTUS revisions have only confused it by talking about things like relatively permanent waters or unclear determinations on which waters are actually jurisdictional under the law.
“Farmers and ranchers in Nebraska deserve better than an EPA taking years to decide the best way to regulate a ditch that might someday hold water.
“Do you plan on providing clear and durable Waters of the US guidance to producers as an administrator?”
Mr. Zeldin: “Senator, I believe that it’s incredibly important for the EPA to provide clear and durable guidance as it relates to Waters of the US.
“And the Sackett decision is easy to understand for any of those property owners in your state. Yet still they have questions as it relates to the rules and regulations that are on the books.
“It should be as clear as possible so that your people can understand without having to go hire an attorney or someone else to assist them with compliance and definitions.”
Senator Ricketts: “Well, again, I would just remind you that the Clean Water Act says navigable waters. It’s a pretty plain English definition. Congress’s intent could not have been more clear.
“And so I just remind you, as you’re going through that process, to keep that in mind. Thank you very much, Congressman Zeldin. Thank you, Chairman.”