Scott Pruitt Confirmed by Senate to Lead EPA

Jenner & Block LLP
Allison A. Torrence

February 17, 2017

Friday afternoon, Scott Pruitt was confirmed by the Senate to serve as the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 52 Senators voted for Mr. Pruitt’s confirmation, while 46 Senators voted against him. The vote was largely along party lines, with Democratic Senators Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia voting for Pruitt and Republican Susan Collins of Maine voting against him.

As we previously reported here, Mr. Pruitt has been the Attorney General of Oklahoma since his election to that post in 2011. As Oklahoma Attorney General, Mr. Pruitt has sued EPA numerous times to challenge EPA regulations, including current litigation over the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan. Oklahoma is part of the coalition of 28 states challenging EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants – a key component of the Clean Power Plan – in the case of West Virginia v. EPA, Case No. 15-1363. This case is currently pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Mr. Pruitt’s confirmation came after a flurry of activity related to his nomination over the past several days. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office to release thousands of emails related to Mr. Pruitt’s communications with fossil fuel companies while Attorney General. Senate Democrats wanted to delay Mr. Pruitt’s confirmation vote until after those emails were made public, and held an all-night session of the Senate to voice their concerns over Mr. Pruitt. However, when a motion to extend debate and delay Mr. Pruitt’s confirmation vote until February 27th was put forward by the Senate Democrats, the motion was voted down and the confirmation vote went forward today.

One of the first orders of business for Administrator Pruitt will be to review recent and pending EPA regulations that have been subject to the Trump Administration’s “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review.” As we previously reported here, all pending EPA regulations that have not yet been published in the Federal Register are on hold, and all EPA regulations that have been published in the Federal Register but had not reached their effective date (as of January 26, 2017) have be delayed until March 21, 2017.

Administrator Pruitt’s biography is already posted at EPA’s website. The biography sates that:

Administrator Pruitt believes that promoting and protecting a strong and healthy environment is among the lifeblood priorities of the government, and that EPA is vital to that mission.

As Administrator, Mr. Pruitt’s overarching goal is to lead EPA in a way so that our future generations inherit a better and healthier environment, as he works with the thousands of dedicated public servants at EPA who have devoted their careers to helping realize this shared vision, while faithfully administering environmental laws.

The EPA website also invites the public to join the new Administrator on Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at noon ET, as he addresses EPA employees, and to “stay tuned” for more information.

This article is being provided for informational purposes only and not for the purposes of providing legal advice or creating an attorney-client relationship. You should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem you may have. In addition, the opinions expressed herein are the opinions of Ms. Torrence and may not reflect the opinions of Synergy Environmental, Inc., Jenner & Block LLP or either of those firms’ clients.

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