EPA nominee Regan clears Senate committee, appears headed for an easy confirmation
Note: On Feb. 13, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved Regan’s nomination and sent it to the Senate floor on a 14-6 vote.
Michael Regan, in a confrontation-free confirmation hearing before the Senate’s environmental committee, pledged to make environmental justice central if he takes charge of the EPA.
Regan, on track to be the first Black man to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said he planned to establish an environmental justice and equity advisor, to restructure and reorganize the agency’s civil rights office and to place staff in regional offices specifically attuned to environmental justice issues.
“As the government, we think we know, until we start to hear directly from the community,” said Regan, currently North Carolina’s secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality.
Regan, who created an Environmental Justice and Equity Board during his tenure in North Carolina, told the Senate’s Environment and Public Works committee that he’d spent much of his career on the issue, including during his first nine-year stint at EPA.
President Joe Biden, who nominated Regan in December, has also mentioned environmental justice as a key measure for environmental policy. Environmental justice tries to address the historic impact of pollution or environmental degradation on lower-income communities or communities of color.
“I look forward to partnering with you and Congress so that we can be sure that where we have gaps in our laws and regulations that we can rectify that so that we are ensuring all Americans have access to clean air, clean water and clean environments to live in,” Regan said.
Balancing regulations and jobs
Throughout the hearing, senators asked Regan to commit to visiting their states, taking time to study their specific issues or consider their constituents as regulatory decisions are made. Regan readily agreed, while pledging transparency from the agency and a desire to find consensus if confirmed.
Regan, 44, said that environmental regulation and economic growth were not adversarial goals, but instead could go hand in hand into the future.
“Preserving our natural resources isn’t something just to balance with the economy. It’s essential for economic growth, along with protecting public health and our way of life,” said Regan, a native North Carolinian who grew up in Goldsboro. “Careful stewardship of the environment is more than just passing down traditions to the next generation. It’s about learning from the past and being prepared to combat challenges that our future generations will face.”
Regan appears headed for an easy confirmation — even in the divided Senate. Republicans on the committee were generally warm in their questioning and response. Sen. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican, told Regan he has “an excellent reputation.”
North Carolina Republican Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis introduced Regan, championing his record for consensus building and fairness.
“It’s my belief that Secretary Regan will bring the same qualities in experiences and values of environmental stewardship while balancing the needs of rural communities to this new role as administrator,” Burr said. “On top of that, let me say this, Michael is a good man. A good husband. He is a great father. I look forward to supporting the nomination on the floor.”
His confirmation vote on the floor could be delayed, however, by the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, which is slated to begin Feb. 13 and could bring a halt to other business. The committee voted Feb. 13 to approve Regan’s nomination and send it to the full Senate on a 14-6 vote. All 10 Democrats on the committee and four of 10 Republicans voted yes.
Experience in NC will be a model
Regan’s wife, Melvina, and 7-year-old son, Matthew, were in attendance at the hearing. Matthew drew rave reviews for his behavior throughout the three-hour hearing. Regan joked that there was a toy waiting for him at the end of it.
Regan’s mother worked as a nurse for more than 30 years in Wayne County. “The best nurse in Wayne County,” Regan said. His father served in Vietnam and retired as a colonel in the North Carolina National Guard. He worked for the North Carolina agriculture and extension service for years, Regan said.
Regan, who attended North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, consistently referred to his experiences in North Carolina as a model for how he would approach things nationally or as an example for how he tackled difficult issues.
He compared the situation at the EPA, where as many as 1,000 employees left during the Trump era, to the one he inherited at DEQ in North Carolina as part of a Democratic administration taking over from a Republican one.
“When I inherited the Department of Environmental Quality in 2017, morale was low. Decisions had been made that we didn’t believe were transparent and didn’t bring forth the proper science and data,” Regan said. “And so we did have to do a damage assessment. We had to take a look at what had been done, what had not been done and we quickly had to rectify those situations.”
While in North Carolina, Regan dealt with so-called “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, in the Cape Fear River and reached a settlement with Duke Energy on the nation’s largest coal ash chemical cleanup. Senators from both parties questioned Regan on PFAS, specifically asking if his EPA would set a drinking-water standard related to the amount of chemicals permissible.
State officials and members of Congress have been asking the EPA to establish a standard for several years.
“We will pursue discharge limits. We will pursue water-quality values. We will pursue all avenues that we can while we’re developing these rule-making processes to give the proper signals to states, so that states can take the appropriate actions like we’ve had to take in North Carolina,” said Regan, who did not specifically commit to a drinking-water standard.
Republicans on the committee questioned Regan on Biden’s executive orders related to fracking on federal land and decision to block a permit for the Keystone Pipeline. They pressed him on how to preserve jobs in fossil fuels and help workers who may be displaced in energy-dependent economies in Alaska, West Virginia and Wyoming — all represented by senators on the panel.
“If we can design regulations that are complementary to the types of investments and research and development that we need to harness the power of the private sector and create new jobs, I believe that this country will be a global leader and other countries will follow,” Regan said.
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This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 6:35 PM.
