During Wednesday’s Senate Environment and Public Works Committee nomination hearing, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) questioned Sean Donahue, Trump’s nominee to be an Assistant Administrator of the EPA, and Jessica Kramer, Trump’s nominee to be an Assistant Administrator of the EPA.
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NewsTranscript
00:01Senator Ulster-Brooks.
00:02Senator Ulster-Brooks.
00:03Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
00:04Ms. Kramer, Mr. Donohue, and Mr. Nesbitt, first of all, welcome.
00:08Thanks for being here, and congratulations to each of you on your nominations.
00:14Ms. Kramer, if confirmed, you will be head of the office that ensures safe drinking water
00:19and protects our watersheds and aquatic ecosystems.
00:22And Mr. Donohue, if confirmed, you will be responsible for ensuring that the EPA follows
00:28the law.
00:29Thank you for those questions.
00:30I'm going to begin by raising the importance of the Chesapeake Bay.
00:34And this is relevant for both of the positions that you've been nominated for, and the Bay
00:38is so important as a source of drinking water, and it's important to Marylanders.
00:43It serves as a habitat for wildlife, it drives tourism in the region, and supports our seafood
00:49industry.
00:50Now, the funding that Congress recently passed continues previous funding levels for the
00:55Chesapeake Bay.
00:56That's $92 million for the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, and broken down, it's about $10
01:01million for Chesapeake Small Watershed Grants, $10 million for Innovative Nutrient and Sediment
01:08Reduction Programs, $8 million for the state to target pollution.
01:12That is the greatest impact on bay water, water quality.
01:16And so I just want to ask each of you whether you can commit that you will follow the law
01:21and get those dollars on the ground without delay in Maryland.
01:25Thank you, Senator.
01:26Absolutely.
01:28Senator, I love the Chesapeake Bay.
01:31I will absolutely commit to that.
01:34And second, Congress reauthorized, this is for Mr. Nesvick, Congress reauthorized the
01:39Chesapeake Wild Program with strong bipartisan support last Congress, and Congress has provided
01:45funding for the Chesapeake Wild Program for the last three years.
01:50These investments have had an outsized impact on our region.
01:54The program provided, for example, $19.7 million in grants, which leveraged over $28 million
02:00in matching funds for a total conservation impact of $48.3 million.
02:05And the funding enabled 66 projects in all, six bay watershed states in D.C.
02:13And this led to the restoration of over 1,700 miles of freshwater habitat, the planting
02:18of more than 75,000 trees, and improved public access to our natural resources.
02:24And so I think this is a pretty good bang for the buck.
02:26So our current government funding bill includes $8 million for this small but important program.
02:32And so I just want to ask you a similar question.
02:35And that question is whether you can assure me that the Chesapeake Wild will get its full
02:41allocation of the $8 million that Congress intended, and will you make sure that the
02:46grants get out the door expeditiously?
02:49So excellent question.
02:51Thank you, Senator.
02:52And I am familiar with Chesapeake Bay and how important it is to many states, not just
02:56one.
02:57And it's because it's such a central and integral part of a larger ecosystem.
03:01I remember sitting in front of this committee probably six or seven years ago on a bill
03:07that included funding for Chesapeake Bay.
03:09So absolutely, I think there's been some excellent, exceptional progress made there on a lot of
03:15great initiatives with water quality and wildlife habitat, and certainly interested
03:19in continuing to execute any directives or appropriations by Congress.
03:23Okay.
03:24So you support the $8 million for that Chesapeake Wild program for Maryland?
03:27Senator, yes, I do.
03:29Okay.
03:30Thank you so much.
03:31Now, unfortunately, and this, again, is for Mr. Nesbitt, the latest round of Chesapeake
03:37Wild grants has faced some delays.
03:40And we've seen the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, for example, received a grant of $500,000,
03:46and the administration has frozen this funding.
03:48This project, in cooperation with private landowners, is set to protect approximately
03:54500 acres of marsh habitat between the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and Nanticoke River
04:03in Dorchester.
04:05And so freezing these funds, as you might imagine, really reduces efficiencies because
04:11the cost of the project could increase.
04:13And so if confirmed, will you work with me to ensure that the Fish and Wildlife Service
04:17and partner agencies can quickly release the funds for this project so that the intended
04:23restoration work can continue?
04:26Yes, Senator, absolutely.
04:27And I have a lot of experience and have found a lot of achievement in being able to work
04:32with private landowners who are incentivized to provide good wildlife habitat.
04:36And so I'm certainly very interested in working with you on this.
04:41And just quickly, I only have a few seconds left for Ms. Kramer.
04:43I know the PFAS, how much work you've done in this area, and you know the importance
04:49of all of the efforts that have been made.
04:52In 2024, Maryland received $124 million for drinking water, wastewater, stormwater infrastructure
04:59upgrades, all through that bipartisan infrastructure law that you worked really hard on.
05:04Now, as you might know, the administration has pledged to roll back the bipartisan infrastructure
05:08law-related funding.
05:10So I just wonder whether or not you will continue to work with us and work with members of this
05:16committee to continue implementing the law, or whether you would agree to roll back, in
05:21concert with the administration, the bipartisan infrastructure funding.
05:25Thank you, Senator.
05:26I, of course, will commit to working with this committee to follow the law.
05:29Thank you so much.
05:30I yield.