02.17.17

Hoeven: Pruitt Will Rein in EPA's Overreach, Work with States to Find Best Approach to Preserve the Environment

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate confirmed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to serve as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

“For the past eight years, the EPA has imposed a score of regulations that have impeded job creation, constrained the nation’s economy and impacted our state’s core industries, agriculture and energy,” said Hoeven. “Scott Pruitt understands environmental law and recognizes that no one has a greater vested interest in preserving the environment than the states and the people who live and work on the land. I’m confident that he will partner with North Dakota and states across the nation to find the best approach to protecting our land, air and water without compromising our economy.”

Hoeven continues his work to roll back the regulatory burden on the nation’s job creators, including passing legislation to repeal the Stream Buffer Rule, a one-size-fits-all approach to regulating mining practices. Hoeven supported the Administration’s efforts to reduce the regulatory burden by requiring that two regulations be rescinded for every new regulation that comes online. The order also facilitates better measurement of the costs that federal rules impose on our economy and ensures the cost of new rules is offset by removing old regulations.

The senator has also been working to rescind the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule and said he would continue this effort with Pruitt, who represented Oklahoma in a coalition of 31 states that obtained a judicial stay of the rule. Hoeven worked in his role on the Appropriations Committee to prevent the EPA from implementing the rule in 2016 and 2017, and with the new Congress and Administration, the rule can now be rescinded permanently.

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