NC Senate Republicans act to deny Cooper environmental appointee’s confirmation, a first
A state Senate committee voted Wednesday to reject the nomination of Dionne Delli-Gatti, Gov. Roy Cooper’s nominee to head the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.
The vote represents the first time the Senate has moved not to confirm a cabinet-level secretary since the process was created following Cooper’s victory in 2016.
Sen. Paul Newton, a Cabarrus County Republican who made the motion to deny Delli-Gatti’s appointment, said his decision was tied to Delli-Gatti’s “failure to articulate” the Cooper administration’s stance on natural gas or the MVP Southgate pipeline during an April confirmation hearing.
“Her failure on those two counts is disqualifying,” said Newton, a former state president of Duke Energy.
Senate Republicans did not give Delli-Gatti a chance to speak during Wednesday’s meeting. Sen. Phil Berger, the Senate leader, said he expects the full Senate to vote on Delli-Gatti’s nomination Thursday.
After Wednesday’s vote, Delli-Gatti told The News & Observer that she had “an inclination” Tuesday that the Senate Agriculture, Energy and Environment Committee might vote to reject her nomination.
“I had hoped it would potentially go another way or I would at least have the opportunity to respond to the concerns that were raised in the hearing, but unfortunately I did not have that opportunity,” Delli-Gatti said.
Wednesday afternoon, Cooper urged the Senate to delay its vote and said he supports Delli-Gatti.
“She is well-qualified to handle this job and to do the job,” Cooper said at a Wednesday news conference. “And I’ll say this to anybody who is listening, any lobbyists or whoever: that nothing’s going to stop this administration from working toward a clean energy future for North Carolina and protecting our air and water.”
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Duke Energy pledged its support for Delli-Gatti’s nomination, noting that she had been part of its N.C. President’s Advisory Council. During her confirmation hearing, Delli-Gatti said the first person to congratulate her upon her nomination was Stephen De May, the president of the company’s operations in North Carolina.
“Based on our many years of experience working with DEQ Secretary Delli-Gatti, we fully support her confirmation to lead the Department of Environmental Quality,” the Duke statement said.
Delli-Gatti’s appointment
During a two-hour confirmation hearing, Delli-Gatti identified helping financially distressed utilities, addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the state’s water and making the state’s permitting process more efficient as her priorities at DEQ.
An exchange between Newton and Delli-Gatti at that hearing would become pivotal. In response to a series of questions from Newton about natural gas, Delli-Gatti said DEQ considers each permit on its own merits and that she believes North Carolina leaders “need to be thoughtful” about how energy is generated in the state.
Soon after, Newton asked, “Do you know what the governor’s position is on the expansion of natural gas in North Carolina?”
“No, sir, I do not,” Delli-Gatti said.
“Are you familiar with the MVP Southgate project? Have you worked on that?” Newton asked.
“I didn’t work on it, I have little bit of knowledge on that. I have some briefing materials on it,” Delli-Gatti said.
“So do you have a position on the permitting of that project one way or the other at this point?” Newton asked.
“Not at this point, no, sir,” Delli-Gatti said.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Newton noted that on April 29, two days after Delli-Gatti’s confirmation hearing, DEQ reissued its denial of a water quality certification for the MVP Southgate project.
“That Ms. Delli-Gatti would only have a cursory knowledge of the single most important infrastructure projects in North Carolina and one her own agency is tasked with reviewing is disqualifying,” Newton said.
The MVP Southgate pipeline is proposed to run from Chatham, Virginia, into North Carolina near Rockingham County before running across Alamance County, terminating near Graham. Key to DEQ’s denial of the MVP Southgate water quality permit was the fact that neither Virginia nor West Virginia have provided water quality permits for the MVP project’s main pipe, which would send natural gas from the Marcellus Shale to the Virginia starting point of the Southgate pipeline.
“They can reapply,” Delli-Gatti said. “It was simply to ensure that we do not cause environmental damage for a resource that might be a stranded asset if the pipeline in Virginia is never approved.”
At the time of April’s hearing, Delli-Gatti said, DEQ’s lawyers and permit writers were reviewing the reissuance of the MVP Southgate denial.
Delli-Gatti also noted that the state environmental agency is not responsible for determining whether North Carolina needs additional supply of natural gas. When a company seeks to build a pipeline, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the body that typically considers whether the natural gas is needed.
“It is, I think, a conflation of responsibilities,” Delli-Gatti said. “Our concern and priority is with the construction of these resources as well as any releases that might happen from them. We permit them from an environmental quality perspective.”
Several senators, including Berger, questioned Delli-Gatti’s qualifications based on the exchange with Newton.
Those concerns came up again last month after the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, during which the Senate energy committee held another hearing. At that meeting, energy industry officials said all of North Carolina’s natural gas is supplied via one pipeline and that most other states have multiple pipelines.
“The Colonial situation has just brought home for folks the real risk that North Carolina faces with the fact that we do not have the kind of redundancy and just drove home the point that this nominee is someone that is ill-qualified based on her own statements to lead that agency,” Berger said.
First woman to lead DEQ
Delli-Gatti has been leading DEQ since Feb. 16. Cooper appointed Delli-Gatti after then-Secretary Michael Regan was confirmed as the administrator of President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency.
Upon her appointment, Delli-Gatti became the first woman to lead North Carolina’s environmental agency.
Delli-Gatti last worked as the Environmental Defense Fund’s southeast director of climate and energy. Previously, Delli-Gatti had worked for the EPA’s southeastern office and for the city of Dallas, as well as serving in the U.S. Air Force.
“It was never my goal to be the first woman, sort of anything, but the gravity of that is not lost on me,” Delli-Gatti told The N&O. “I think it’s a shame that the process was so limited today, and I hope there’s further opportunity to continue to work with the legislature to get past this.”
David Kelly, the Environmental Defense Fund’s director of North Carolina affairs, joined those calling on the Senate to reconsider its vote.
“Dionne’s qualifications and accomplishments speak for themselves,” Kelly said in a prepared statement. “She is a committed public servant, a veteran, a successful working mom who’s dedicated her career to bettering the lives of people and families in the communities she serves.”
Secretary confirmation process
Sen. Mike Woodard, a Durham Democrat, made a motion to ask Delli-Gatti a series of questions during the meeting. But Sen. Chuck Edwards, a Hendersonville Republican, said the confirmation process has already involved a hearing and that Senate procedures do not typically include a second chance to testify.
Edwards said senators “enjoyed the opportunity to meet with her individually. The committee had two full hours of questions. It appeared that we had exhausted those questions. ... The committee has heard all of the testimony that I believe that we need in order to make a decision.”
Woodard responded by calling the confirmation process “a total sham.”
“This has been a mockery of a nomination process today,” Woodard said.
As the committee voted, four Democrats walked out of the hearing room.
During a press conference after the committee meeting, Senate Democrats said they stand behind Delli-Gatti’s nomination and intend to debate the matter Thursday on the Senate floor.
“I have spent years in the energy industry, I’ve traveled internationally, I’ve worked with the electric power and research institute, I’ve worked with utilities, and let me tell you: Secretary Delli-Gatti is one of the most equipped, one of the most ready people for this job,” said Sen. DeAndrea Salvador, a Charlotte Democrat.
Following the vote, environmental groups across the state came out in support of Delli-Gatti’s nomination, saying she is qualified to head the state’s environmental regulator. Brian Buzby, executive director of the N.C. Conservation Network, called Delli-Gatti “overwhelmingly qualified” to lead the agency. Delli-Gatti had previously served on the Conservation Network’s board of directors.
“It’s unfortunate that the General Assembly appears to be using the nomination process for political gamesmanship when there are a number of urgent environmental and public health matters that require DEQ’s attention and leadership,” Buzby said in a written statement.
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This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 11:48 AM.