The Environmental Protection agency. I want to welcome also the epa chief Financial Officer who is joining the administrator. Administrator is here. We are seeing the impacts everywhere. Longer fire seasons and more intensity of those fires decreased snow packs and the impact of that on our rivers and irrigation waters. The more Severe Weather events of the Atmospheric River as weve heard so much about on the west coast this year to warmer algae infested leaks across the country to droughts and record a shattering heat waives. Every part of the world was is experiencing these impacts and the damage is staggering and is going to increase exponentially unless we act decisively. I believe that to me ats this moment we have to accelerate our transition from fossil fuel energy to renewable energy. And we have to tackle that crisis both from supplyside of fossil fuels as wells as the demand side. This is why i adamantly opposed the biden administrations approval of the fossil fuel projects one project after another. Not only does such approval slow the transition here in america but it undermines our moral authority in the world. Its hard to ask the rest of the world to transition off of coal or other fossil fuels to renewables when we are continuing to approve one fossil fuel project after another. The world leads american leadership. And to lead, we have to have the power of our example. While i believe we are headed in thear wrong direction in that regard, i do commend your agency for taking meaningful actions over the last several months. First the cars and trucks emission rules are critical to reducing our carbon footprint. The transportation sector is the largest source in the United States and that means we cant make meaningful progress without addressing those emissions. Im a strong supporter of building and deploying more electric vehicles to reduce the Greenhouse Gases from transportation and those proposed rules go a long way towards aggressively pushing up production and that direction. Recent red press reports about the plans to reduce power plant emissions also indicate a step in the right direction. Power plants another major source of Carbon Pollution and this latest rulemaking prioritizes the reduction of emissions while promoting clean energy. In march, the Energy Information administration forecasted that by the year 2050 wind and solar will account for 56 of electricity generation. Newly built gas plants become standard assets unless they have the most feasible new technology. The Inflation Reduction Act provided important distinctions to clean up the power sector and these rulesct with the new authorities and investments. These actions are commendable common sense and should be finalized as quickly as possible, which im sure you are thinking about every day. Today we are here to discuss the fiscal year 2024 budget request for epa which is 12. 119 billion increase from fy 23. Funding level would make a muchneeded grounded epa after the past decade of budget gaps and four years in the Trump Administration spent getting the agency. The budget includes a 5 million to support the work of reducing emissions and increasing resilience and engaging other nations and the challenge. It builds upon the work we made to remedy environmental injustices, the work weve done together over the years including a step up from just 11 million to 105 million in fy 22 was an important effort to tackle historic disparities in the burden of pollution and im impressed that the epa budget requests again prioritizes Environmental Justice by including anri additional 267 million increase to tackle this challenge, and i look forward tock understanding the ways that you would see these unspent to achieve that goal. Youve also highlighted in in the request the epa is working with the service on prescribed burns in a particular matter standard exceptional events into this is critical back home in my state where wildfires are growing more devastating year after year and on that particular matter the key is we have to be able to do the prescribed burns which sometimes will violate the standards and i know putting that into the overall frameworkrd is importan. Especially pleased to see agents release this notice for the grants which will close in less than a week after communities across my state and much were blanketed caused by the historic wildfires a few years ago i created this program to support locals to protect against wildfire and smoke hazards and look forward to seeing real results on relief that threatens businesses and Public Health. Even with the increases proposed in this budget the epa budget is stillep less than it needs to be because there is even more that needs to be done as i am sure you are pondering. We are behind in rebuilding the agencys workforce the Staffing Levels are still short of fiscal year 2009. We must make progress in hiring epas ecologists, hydrologists, toxicologists and specialists who can meet the challenges with the facing climate chemicalbased economy and crumbling infrastructure. Finally i look forward to talking more indepth about plastics. Just this year in East Palestine ohio and richmond indiana we have two disasters that resulted in no small part from the addiction to plastics and we are learning more and more about the problems plastics present both to human health and damage to ourns ecosystems. Then the fossil gas industry plastics are a way to expand production even as they are contributing enormously to climate chaos. So what more is to be done about pollution to combustion to where it piles up and i do appreciate your response about reports of the epa has expedited the approval of chemicals that are produced through the plastics. The article has written about that and its very concerning and i appreciate your response. If there is no objection i will entered into the letter. Without objection. Im still concerned that they are failing to protect communities already overburdened with toxic chemicals and other forms of pollution when it comes to that process. The report by the guardian shed light on the approval process epa used for products on the socalled chemical recycling. While this strategy continues the testing requirement for new the pollution that may result in the facilities may in fact increase the damage and already burdened communities. Similarly approval expending the fossil fuel pipeline in my state is contrary to the steps oregon has taken to create the future. I hope and expect the epa to work with the federal family in particularar to respect the wiss of oregonians and californians and washingtonians to stop that process from moving forward. According to the analysis, the express project would emit 2. 3 metric tonsns of emissions each year until at least 2052. Over the next 28 years it will cost 9 billion and climate damage and thats using a methodology that is systematically minimizing the climate impacts adding new emissions through pipeline extensions like this is incompatible with President Bidens pledge and would undermine the efforts for clean energy futures. Now im delighted the Ranking Member is here and we will turn to her. Ophone over good morning and welcome back to the committee. Good morning to you. Glad we are able to discuss the epas fy 24 budget request with you this morning. Im going to start off by just acknowledging and thanking you for the working relationship you and i have built with your time in office and your team working with mine. Before i turn to the issues this morning i must note my concern overve the direction that i believe the agency is taking with regards to recent and planned actions in particular i believe the agency is engaging in Regulatory Overreach which the senatete has expressed its disapprovalif one. These National Regulations often have a disproportionate impact on the state of alaska weve had an opportunity to discuss a significant percentage is considered a wetland. The finalized rule to consider special characteristics such as permafrost and will harm much muchneeded development within my state. While i have serious concerns about how the National Policies will negatively impact alaska, i would like to focus on more positive matters and i want to thank you sincerely for your agencys leadership on the issue of contaminated lands. This is sam and environmental injustice that we have discussed. Its an injustice caused by the federal government and it has been left without action for far too long but thanks to you and the support of colleagues here onre the committee we have a new Grant Program to finally begin making a difference and remediate these contaminated lenses. Under the promise and commitment to the peoples with this claim settlement they were entitled to certain lands. We have worked to make good on that commitment but unfortunately what happened over the course of years where contaminated lands had been contaminated by our own government are conveyed to the native people in settlement for their land so what theyve received is not only of questionable value but many times the land that they have received are making them ill and sick so this was an injustice that must be corrected and we are making a difference here. The agencys request continues and 20 million and i truly appreciate that. What happened with of the epa was considerable because the epa stepped forward into the leadership roll on this contaminated land. I dont mean to pit one department against the other but the fact of the matter is the department of interior has failed to be helpful on that issue so there were some key members on your team. There were some others that again put their shoulder into this and advanced to this in a way that has been positive and remarkable and i want to make sure that others know that you deserve this public accommodation now these efforts are going to directly improve t the health and wellbeing of so many communities and the work cannot be understated in its importance. So i hope andd i know there is more of you and i can do together to write this injustice soin im looking forward to finding further Creative Funding Solutions with you and invite you to come to alaska at any timeo to meet and some of the communities with me and i know we look forward to doing that at a point in time. I want to turn to an issue that weve hadt opportunity to discs before and this is the agencys certification program. I get that this is a problem you have inherited but unfortunately its coming to a head for communities in the interior part of p my state. Earlier this year they partially accepted and partially rejected the state of alaska state implementation plan. I believe that the agency fundamentally misunderstands the roll that its flawed certification played in the emissions within the region. In february of this year the epa Inspector General released a report heavilyr, criticizing the agencys handling of its program. The report states that the mismanagement has led to elevated emissions even though congress provided almost 100 million for woodstove change outs over the last eight years through the targeted air shed a grant. I worked hard on that and i think you know i secured tens of millions of dollars for the change else in the airbags area through this grant which should be good. It should be a positive. So im really very frustrated by the reports findings. Byby failing to properly certify the test would heed her ambitions the epa has frustrated the congresses investment and intended goals. So, administrator, im calling on your agency to fix its handling of the wood heater Certification Testing Program and to internally provide whatever resources are needed to achieve that. To show my commitment, last year we provided a one milliondollar increase for staffing and other efforts to help write the program, but it really is just not fair that my constituents in fairbanks and north pole are going to Face Increased Energy Prices or perhaps even worse than that, energy and security due to potential actions that the agency may take against them for their own mismanagement. Im going to be in fairbanks this weekend and i can tell you this is going to be a hot topic. Last ie. Want to discuss the agencys handling of congressionally directed spending projects. I do appreciate that the Congress Rather rapidly revive the significant workload for the agencies when we brought back the project is in fy 22 but i dont think that excuses the agencys performance so far in executing these important and needed investments. Congress has provided Additional Resources for the agency to implement thece revised program but i dont think more staffing alone is going to fix the problem. I think that the agency hasnt made this a significant enough priority. In 22 and 23 the congress funded over 1,000 projects for the epa to manage and to my knowledge only a small percentage of the projects have been awarded so im concerned about the pace particularly since congress looks poised to continue the project is for epa into the future as i think they should. The agencies got to do better here and to show you im going to be your partner in this, im certainly willing to work with you on any initiatives that you may have any suggestions that you think can improve this data processing. The delay impacts the project is nationally but also significantly in my state of alaska. I want to thank you for your help with several of those projects like those of the contaminated lands but also the building inn fairbanks and generally im somewhat a big welder to put critical water and Wastewater Infrastructure projects are lagging severely behind. So i hope that you and your team will bee able to explore ways in which the projects can be awarded faster concluding in a Creative Solutions which we could help secure in our bill. I know that implementing isnt easy so i thank you for your work and all the Agency Personnel that are working on this. Hopefully wepe can make these Success Stories that we know they should and could be. Ive given you a lot here in my Opening Statement mr. Administrator, but know that these are issues that are so important t across the state of alaska and weve got a good working relationship i think strong workingti relationship ad thats why im comfortable raising these issues with you personally because i think that we can make a difference for the state of alaska and across the country so doesnt mean im going to stop knocking on your door anytime soon. We are going to Work Together and again i look forward to the opportunity to be able to show you personally some of the challenges that we are facing and what more we can be doing to addressg them. With that, thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator. And on behalf of the chair, let me recognize the director for his Opening Statement. Thank you members of the committee i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the vision laid out in the United StatesEnvironmental ProtectionAgency Fiscal year 2024 budget request. In the request we lay out a transformative plan with a goal ofsf building a healthier and me prosperous nation while ensuring global competitiveness, Energy Independence and energy security. President bidens proposed fy 24 budget request for epa provides 12. 1 billion to advance key priorities including protecting air quality, upgrading of the nations Water Infrastructure, tackling the Climate Crisis and rebuilding Core Functions at epa. Li over the last year epa made significant progress towards many of these goals and weve taken action to cut the air pollution which would reduce the risk of cancer and nearby communities by almost 96 . Weve taken strides to ensure that all people have clean water by proposing the firstever legal limit investing billions of dollars to remove 100 of lead pipes across this country and weve accelerated the transition to a clean Transportation Future by proposing the strongest of her standards for cars and trucks while awarding 2,400 Clean School Buses to School Districts all across the country. Im proud of this foundation that we have laid out into the partnership that we have underpinning our success. But there is still more work to do so that all of our children have safe, Healthy Places to live and learn and play to build a sustainable economy and to advance American Innovation and ingenuity. Simply put, investing in apa is investing in america. Across the country, poor air quality still affects millions of people perpetuating Harmful Health and Economic Impacts. In fiscal year 20 for the agency will protect air quality by cutting emissions of particulate matter and air toxins. The president s budget includes 1. 4 billion to improv air quality and set standards that reduce pollution from multiple and stationary forces. Set the standard provide certainty to industry, build on advances and technologies and reinforces the Market Movement toward the cleaner Energy System that provides re