Farm-state lawmakers prod EPA chief on biofuels and WOTUS
The Biden administration is turning a cold shoulder to biofuels and rural America by encouraging the use of electric vehicles, said farm-state Republicans during a complaint-filled House hearing with EPA administrator Michael Regan on Wednesday. Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon pointed to the so-called WOTUS rule on wetlands protections and declared, “Any goodwill the administration has built with farmers and ranchers is gone.”
Snyder is named EPA ag adviser
Ron Snyder, with a background in traditional and sustainable agriculture, will serve as the EPA's agriculture adviser, announced administrator Michael Regan on Thursday. Snyder said he would pursue "practical, science-based solutions that protect the environment and ensure a vibrant and productive agricultural system."
Biden administration will replace Trump clean water rule
Shortly after telling senators that he wanted a "long-term, durable solution," EPA administrator Michael Regan said on Wednesday that the Biden administration would write a new definition of the upstream reach of clean water laws. The process would include repeal of the 2020 Trump-era rule that replaced 2015 Obama water regulations the farm sector decried as federal overreach.
RFS ‘is definitely a priority for this administration,’ says EPA nominee
The Biden administration plans a thorough review of recent EPA decisions involving the federal mandate to mix corn ethanol and other biofuels into gasoline, said Michael Regan, the White House nominee to run the agency, at his Wednesday confirmation hearing. "The RFS is definitely a priority for this administration."
Biden’s EPA nominee navigated diverse interests in North Carolina
In nominating North Carolina’s Michael Regan to head the Environmental Protection Agency, President-elect Joseph Biden has tapped a state regulator who for the past four years has navigated a political divide as contentious as the one he’ll face in Washington, D.C.(No paywall)