'Food Security Is National Security': Britt Questions EPA Administrator On Recent Regulations

4 months ago

At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) questioned EPA Administrator Regan about new regulations from the EPA.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Administrator, thank you for being here today and taking

00:06time before the subcommittee.

00:09Alabama farmers are greatly concerned with the EPA's recent Endangered Species Act pesticide

00:16proposal, like the Herbicide Strategy. These proposals could impose hundreds of millions

00:22of dollars in new restrictions on farmers who need these tools to protect crops and

00:27maintain conservation practices like reduce tillage and cover crops. Some farmers are

00:34finding that they may lack options to comply with the EPA proposal, which means that they

00:39have to entirely stop using tools that are vital to their farms.

00:44And I hope that you and I both share the thought that food security is national security and

00:49making sure that we continue to support our farmers and continue to support the job they

00:55do, knowing that they protect their land. The fruitfulness of it is what allows them

01:00to continue to do their job and support the work they do, not only for their community,

01:05but truly for the entire nation.

01:07In that vein, bipartisan instructions were provided to EPA in the final fiscal year 2024

01:14Interior Appropriations Report to ensure the use of, quote, best scientific and commercial

01:20data available, end quote, to assess species risk as the law requires. These instructions

01:27include using real-world data on pesticide usage, existing conservation practices farmers

01:34are using to protect wildlife, real-world data on spray drift and water concentrations

01:40to supplemental models, among other sources.

01:44My question for you, Mr. Administrator, is how does the EPA plan on implementing Congress's

01:49bipartisan instructions?

01:51Well, thank you for that. And we do share that goal. And I can say that I agree that

01:56no farmer should wake up in the middle of a growing season and have to face some of

01:59the decisions that they're having to face.

02:01Thank you.

02:02You know, I think previous decisions that span decades and court rulings have put us

02:08all in a precarious position. I do feel really good that we are speaking with our farming

02:15community, our agriculture community, on how we approach the Pesticides and Endangered

02:20Species Act. And we've come up with some strategies that, quite frankly, a number of farm groups

02:25have spoken very positively about.

02:27Okay.

02:28The American Soybean Association and the Ag Retailers Association. So I think we're digging

02:32our way out of this hole. We're having a lot of conversations using similar conversations

02:38around using the same science so that we can achieve some of these goals that will provide

02:42certainty for our agriculture.

02:43So one of the two things I've heard, and so these are my concerns, is that we're not using

02:50kind of the directive that was in the bipartisan report language. And so it's been brought

02:56to my attention that in some ways the EPA seems to be intentionally using conservation

03:01models that are designed to overestimate risk, which is explicitly not, you know, the best

03:07scientific and commercial data available.

03:09And so that type of risk assessment is something that I'm worried about because I believe it

03:13will necessitate farmers adapting additional restrictions and, you know, to just mitigate

03:19what may be a phantom risk. And so I just want to make sure if that comes across, if

03:23you will make sure to just kind of drill down and ensure that's not happening because I

03:27just want to caution EPA.

03:29After last year, you know, we saw the D.C. Circuit Court rule against the National Marine

03:33Fisheries Services for taking that similar approach of overstating risk to different

03:39species. And so I just, I strongly advise EPA to implement the bipartisan data instructions

03:44as Congress has directed. And the other feedback that I have gotten is that there may be a

03:49potential of you having some type of, you know, significant volume of things and maybe

03:55not having, you know, staffing in order to be able to implement this. And so my question

04:01on that front is would the EPA consider appointing designated non-federal representatives to

04:07help you meet the ESA responsibilities and Congress's bipartisan data instructions?

04:14I think you will see in the budget we attempted to be responsible and provide a request for

04:20the necessary bodies to do so. That particular office or the office that we're talking about

04:25is down to levels that early 2000s and more. So I think what there is a common agreement

04:32is, is that we need more staff and more resources to keep pace with what the courts are pushing

04:39our way. And I'm not certain that we are comfortable with the over-reliance of a federal responsibility

04:45to volunteers or folks who have expertise that are not contractually acquired. So we

04:52would really need to talk through what your suggestions are.

04:54Yeah, would you mind, I know I'm about out of time, would you commit that our staffs

04:57could get together and actually talk about this? Because I don't think the EPA needs

05:01to do this alone. You know, if you look at the Endangered Species Act, it actually allows

05:05the agency to designate non-federal representatives to help do this work. And so would you commit

05:09to me that we can sit down and have that conversation and see if there is a path forward?

05:14I would, and I'd love for us to prioritize doing it in a way that we haven't done in

05:18the past. The court decisions and the use of that program contributes to why we are

05:23here today.

05:24Well, let's work together and see if we can find a path forward.

05:26Thank you so much.

05:27Thank you.

'Food Security Is National Security': Britt Questions EPA Administrator On Recent Regulations

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