EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Touts 'The Great American Comeback' During Opening Remarks

Forbes Breaking News

On Wednesday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Transcript

00:00Administrator. Thank you, Chair Murkowski, Ranking Member

00:03Merkley, and members of the subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to appear

00:08before you today to discuss the President's fiscal year 2026 budget

00:12request for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA has wasted no

00:17time advancing President Trump's directive to help deliver clean air, land,

00:21and water for all Americans while restoring common sense, accountability,

00:26and cooperative federalism to environmental policy. We are fulfilling our

00:31core mission of protecting human health and the environment while powering the

00:36great American comeback and removing unnecessary barriers that have

00:40burdened American families and businesses for far too long. We hit the ground

00:45running immediately upon President Trump's inauguration, completing the largest

00:50wildfire cleanup in agency history in less than 30 days after the catastrophic Los

00:55Angeles wildfires. We are taking bold steps to combat PFAS contamination and

01:00have advanced redevelopment at 21 Superfund sites across 13 states, delisting all or

01:07parts of four sites from the national priorities list. We've also completed 25

01:13state implementation plans, 16 of which were backlogged from the prior

01:17administration. With this renewed focus and commitment, the EPA is proudly working

01:22working for the American people. We are revising the definition of waters of the

01:27United States to align with the Supreme Court decision in Sackett and have issued

01:32immediate actions for Mexico to permanently and urgently end the Tijuana River

01:37sewage crisis that has plagued Southern California for decades. Following my trip to

01:43St. Louis, we cut nearly two years from the cleanup timeline at the Westlake Superfund site, which has

01:49been contaminated by nuclear waste from the Manhattan Project. In fact, to mark the

01:56100th day of the Trump presidency, the EPA released a list of 100 environmental

02:02actions we took during those first 100 days, a pace that motivates us to keep up

02:08each and every day. Together, these actions reflect the administration's

02:12commitment to environmental stewardship, cooperative federalism, and delivering results

02:18that make a real difference in people's lives. In lockstep with the president's

02:22agenda, EPA is also helping to unleash American energy, pursue permitting reform,

02:28make America the AI capital of the world, and bring back American auto jobs. We've

02:34eliminated waste and abuse in areas like the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, reversed

02:39unlawful overreach like the so-called Good Neighbor Rule, and begun reconsidering many

02:44overreaching rules, including the power plant and EV-related regulation that

02:50threatens grid reliability, energy affordability, and consumer choice. These

02:55historic actions will reduce regulatory costs, which act as invisible taxes on

03:01Americans, making it more affordable now to own a home, heat homes, operate a

03:07business, and bring manufacturing back to local communities. By reducing the EPA's

03:12budget by billions of dollars, the president's FY 2026 budget demands maximum

03:17efficiency from the EPA, while we continue to fulfill all of our statutory

03:22obligations. Also included in the president's proposal is an additional $9

03:27million above FY 2025 enacted levels to equip EPA with funds to respond to

03:34drinking water disasters. There's also a $27 million increase in funding for

03:39tribes to address drinking water and waste water infrastructure on their lands. As

03:44I've stated in the past at the Trump EPA, we will not view the status quo as a

03:49sacred cow that is untouchable. We will not consider the Biden era regulations we

03:54inherited to be etched in stone, and we absolutely refuse to waste even a penny of

04:00tax dollars. Under the president's leadership and with the support of Congress, we

04:05will continue to deliver real results with greater accountability and a stronger

04:09environmental return on investment per dollar spent. I look forward to

04:13answering your questions. Thank you.

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