I am pleased to report that Mr. McCabe and Mr. Eberhard are well qualified for their positions. I welcome them today and I also welcome Senator Biden, who is here today to introduce Mr. McCabe. The President has nominated W. Michael McCabe to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Deputy Administrator for EPA works with the Administrator to provide Agency leadership and is the Acting Administrator in the Administrator's absence. Mr. McCabe has served as EPA's Acting Deputy Administrator since last November. Formerly, Mr. McCabe was Regional Administrator of the EPA's Region 3 where he lead the implementation of Federal environmental programs in the Middle Atlantic states. He also has worked for Senator Biden of Delaware as Communications and Projects Director and advisor on Delaware issues, and as Staff Director of the House Energy Conservation and Power Subcommittee. He received a B.A. from Duke University. He is accompanied today by his wife, Maria. The President has nominated Eric D. Eberhard to serve as a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation. Currently, Mr. Eberhard is a partner at Dorsey & Whitney where he practices in the areas of Federal Indian Law, Environment and Natural Resources, Gaming and legislation. Formerly, he was Staff Director and Counsel on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and Minority Staff Director and Counsel for the committee. He served for 2 years as Legislative Counsel for Senator John McCain of Arizona. Mr. Eberhard received a B.S. in Political Science from Western Reserve University, a J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, and a LL.M. from George Washington University National Law Center. The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation was established by Congress in 1992 to educate and prepare a new generation of Americans in effective environmental public policy conflict resolution. Based in Tucson, Arizona, the Foundation's activities are supported by the interest accrued in a Federal trust fund and contributions from the private sector. Now we will hear the statements of other committee members. Then Senator Biden will introduce Mr. McCabe and we will hear testimony from our nominees. Senator SMITH. I understand that Senator Biden is coming, Mr. McCabe, to introduce you formally, so let me just go a little bit out of order. Actually, Mr. Biden is coming in right now. Joe, I have a little bit of a problem here on your side. Frank needs to leave to go to Budget. Do you want to do your introduction, and then I can call on Frank? Senator BIDEN. Whatever suits you. I have all the time in the world. Senator SMITH. All right. I'll call on Senator Lautenberg. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY Senator LAUTENBERG. I was going to vote one way, but having Senator Biden here has caused me to rethink my vote. [Laughter.] Senator SMITH. Senator Lautenberg? Senator LAUTENBERG. Thanks very much, and thanks, Senator Biden. I know that Michael McCabe has had a lot of contact with Joe Biden, and he comes with exceptional qualifications, as does Mr. Eberhard. I'm sorry I can't stay, but the position of the EPA Deputy Administrator is one of the great "unsung hero" jobs, and it's the Deputy who brings order to the far-flung Agency of 18,000 employees. It is the Deputy who oversees work on the several major statutes we have passed, and if the Deputy doesn't do his or her job properly, EPA can't help but fall short of our expectations. That's why I am so pleased and excited about the nomination of Michael McCabe. As Regional Administrator for EPA's Mid-Atlantic Region since 1995, Mr. McCabe has managed a unit that is a microcosm of the whole Agency. He has managed air, water, waste, Superfund, right to know programs, and he served as a bridge between the Mid-Atlantic States and the EPA Headquarters. From all accounts he has done a terrific job. As we know, Mr. McCabe has worked with our colleague and friend from Delaware-it should not be held against him— [Laughter.] Senator LAUTENBERG [continuing]. It's very good experience for anyone in line for the job of Deputy Administrator. He has proved that he has broad shoulders, because if he can take working with Senator Biden like that, he had to have broad shoulders. So we are pleased at the prospect that Mr. McCabe is going to be in that position and that he will do an outstanding job in a very important and demanding post, and I look forward to working with him on bipartisan legislation. I know that we will move some things this year, Mr. Chairman, and also I want to congratulate Mr. Eberhard on bringing the qualifications that he does to the Morris K. Udall Foundation. I thank all of my colleagues for letting me interrupt the process, particularly the Chairman. [The prepared statement of Senator Lautenberg follows:] STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK LAUTENBERG, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY Mr. Chairman, the EPA Deputy Administrator is one of the great unsung heroes. It is the Deputy who brings order to a far-flung Agency of 10,000 employees. It is the Deputy who oversees work on the several major statutes we have passed. If the Deputy is not doing his or her job right, EPA can't help but fall short of our expectations. That is exactly why am so excited about the nomination of Michael McCabe. As Regional Administrator for EPA's Mid-Atlantic Region since 1995, Mr. McCabe has managed a unit that is a microcosm of the whole Agency. He has managed air, water, waste, Superfund, and Right-to-Know programs. He has served as a bridge between the mid-Atlantic states and EPA headquarters. From all accounts, he has done a terrific job. And as we have heard, Mr. McCabe has worked with our friend and colleague from Delaware-again, very good experience for anyone in line for the job of Deputy Administrator. I believe Mr. McCabe will do outstanding work in a very important and demanding job. look forward to working with him on the bipartisan legislation know we will move this year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for being so quick to move his nomination through our committee. I hope we can keep that momentum going, and put this good man to work. Senator SMITH. All right, thank you, Senator Lautenberg. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MAX BAUCUS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MONTANA Senator BAUCUS. Yes, Mr. Chairman, first to congratulate you on your first DC hearing with this committee. I know you had a hearing in Florida which I was unable to attend, but this is your first hearing as Chairman, and I look forward to a good, prosperous year working with you, and I congratulate you. Senator SMITH. Thank you. Senator BAUCUS. Also I congratulate these nominees and thank them for their dedicated service in the past, and their continued service in their new positions. You have a lot of work ahead of you. You are not going to be thanked very much by people, but-as with all of us-the gratitude and fulfillment comes from doing the best we can. We think that we are helping to make life better for a lot of people. I compliment you on that. This is interesting, that you are here for the Chairman's first hearing. You will be confirmed, and I hope very quickly. I hope that is a harbinger of how this committee is going to operate and how the Senate is going to operate. Congratulations and good luck, and if you have any questions, just let us know how we can help you. Senator SMITH. Thank you, Senator. Does anyone else have an opening statement prior to turning to the witnesses? Hold your questions if you have them, but if you have an opening comment? OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RON WYDEN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OREGON Senator WYDEN. Mr. Chairman, I will be brief as well. I don't want to turn this into a bouquet-tossing contest, but I, too, want to join in extending good will, and thank you for the opportunity to work with you. We've worked on a whole host of issues-Federal facilities, the streamlining of the ISTEA permitting process where you win in terms of both the environment and in terms of the economy. Mike McCabe is a terrific guy. I have some questions that are important for my State in a minute or two, but we had a chance to work closely with him in the House when he was at the Energy and Commerce Committee. So I think he's going to be a tremendous asset to the Federal Government and will continue the kind of bipartisan approach that we've tried to follow, first with Chairman Chafee and Senator Baucus, which you've told me you want to continue. So it's going to be an exciting time, and I look forward to working with you. Senator SMITH. Thank you very much, Senator Wyden. Why don't we start with you, Senator Biden, to introduce Mr. McCabe. STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH BIDEN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE Senator BIDEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My congratulations to you as well. You and I are always characterized as being on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum. I don't want to ruin your reputation, but we've been friends and I have great respect for you. I appreciate your having this hearing in as timely fashion as you have. Let me say that although I am here to speak for Mike McCabe, Mr. Eberhard, from what I know of his record, is completely suited for the job. It makes me feel very old, though, to realize that I served with Morris K. Udall, and now you are about to become a Board Member of a foundation named after him and all that he has done. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you and the committee for allowing me the opportunity to be here today to introduce Mike McCabe as we move forward with his nomination to become Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. I have known Mike for almost 30 years, starting in 1972 when he volunteered to work with me as a 29-year-old kid-I was 29, and he was younger than that-in a campaign for the Senate. His work during that campaign distinguished him immediately. After my election, while still a student at Duke University, I asked Mike to join me as one of my first interns-that's dating you, Mike, but I think you may have been the first, if not one of the first. Not surprisingly, Mike's first project as a young intern in my of fice was to research the environmental impacts of the construction of a proposed project along the Delaware River. That's in the beginning when we had a Republican Governor who did a very fine thing, in my view, who set up a thing called the Coastal Zone Act. It was very controversial, but now it is totally embraced by everyone, including business, in my State. From the start, Mike's interest and dedication in the preservation and restoration and improvement of our environment was clear, compelling, and deeply rooted deeply rooted traits that would come to define his entire career. In 1976, while working as a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate, Mike was instrumental in expanding the Bipartisan Congressional and I emphasize "Bipartisan"-the Bipartisan Congressional Environmental and Energy Study Conference, designed to provide timely information to Congress on environmental and energy legislation and issues at a time when I was originally on this committee, Mr. Chairman, as the Public Works Committee. I remember one of the first things that I said to then-Chairman Randolph was, "Maybe we should call it the Public Works and Environment Committee." And he said, "Son, how long do you want to stay on this committee?" [Laughter.] Senator BIDEN. That's a true story. But at any rate, under Senator Chafee's direction, Mike served as Staff Director for the Conference for 3 years. He acted as the National Director for the 10th anniversary of Earth Day in 1980; served as Director on the U.S. House of Representatives Energy Conservation and Power Subcommittee, and under his leadership, the first national program to deal with the safe disposal of nuclear waste was enacted by Congress. In 1987, Mike returned to Delaware to become my Communications Director, and later my Projects Director. And whether he was advising me on issues of national significance or working to help revitalize, in a parochial sense for us, the Christina River waterfront in Wilmington, Delaware, or assisting me in an effort to return over 1,000 acres of land to the State of Delaware from the Federal Government that now is preserved in perpetuity-and hopefully all of you can take advantage of it—and that is Cape Henlopen State Park, Mike's counsel and contribution to my office and to me personally was invaluable. Few people understand so many issues so well, articulate them coherently to a wide array of audiences, and have developed solutions with significant results, and do it in a way that everyone feels like they're a part of it. By 1995, Mike's knowledge of the issues, his strength in managing staff, and his savvy in dealing with government on a local, State, and Federal level impressed so many of us in and outside of the State of Delaware that it would prepare him well for his next-and most recent-position as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for Region III. As you know, Region III covers Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Mike has the distinction of working as the Region's longest-serving Administrator. Bias aside-which is hard to do, I acknowledge-Mike is the best Administrator ever to serve the Environmental Protection Agency, directing a staff of 1,000 people and turning it into a more well-rounded, efficient, and well-respected organization. As we all know, and you all know better than any of us who do not serve on this committee, there is-Mike did something fairly remarkable, I think, at least in my region. Mike gained the confidence of business. Mike gained the confidence of the corporate community who, generally speaking, in my area view the EPA as "whatever it is, it's going to cost me money; it's going to be a problem." It has been remarkable, and I might add in part becauseand Mike will not like my saying this-Mike's nonprofessional background is that he has a working social and first-hand relationship with the CEOs of many of the Fortune 30 companies that are in my region. It is not merely that they know Mike; Mike used every one of his assets, including his ability to socially interact with those people, as well, and by talking to people, by talking to these folks whose immediate reaction was, "whatever the hell he's going to do about the water or the air or the environment"-you're going to laugh; you all kid us about this in Delaware "chicken manure," that is hundreds of thousands of tons of it that is having an impact on the other major industry in our State, recreation, Mike is able to sit down with these folks as an equal, not merely as the guy who ran the Agency. It has been remarkable in my State. During his tenure, Mike was successful in restoring the District of Columbia's drinking water supply; streamlining permitting and pollution control measures; to achieve outstanding environmental performance in the printing industry; and directing EPA's approach to managing poultry waste in Delaware and other States. I just point this out to you again, just to tell you how this guy comes at this job, and I predict-I say to my friend from Wyoming-he is result-oriented. Instead of going down and insisting that the industry, the multi-billion dollar industry in my home State-I must tell you, I was holding my breath, because everybody knows that "Mike was my guy, I recommended him," right? Well, the industry in my State is a little bit like the mining industry in your State or the cattle industry in your State or the recreation industry in your State or the high-tech industry in your State, and so on. It is the deal. And here we have this gigantic problem that Maryland is in an uproar over. The legislature is absolutely having great difficulty. And Mike, calmly, over a 4-month period, gained |