HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING
For questions on the note below, please contact the Delta Strategy Group team.
On April 27, the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies held a hearing to examine the Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Budget Request for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The witness in the hearing was EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, with his testimony available here.
Below is a summary of the hearing prepared by Delta Strategy Group. It includes several high-level takeaways from opening statements and discussion.
Key Takeaways
- Administrator Zeldin outlined his focus on returning the EPA to its core statutory mission, reducing regulatory burdens, improving operational efficiency, and balancing environmental protection with economic growth.
- References to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda focused on addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and review of glyphosate applications, with discussions of cost-effective alternatives to pre-harvest desiccation uses of pesticides on crops. Administrator Zeldin stated that EPA is playing a role in the MAHA agenda while ensuring farmers have access to resources and affordable equipment. He also stated that pre-harvest desiccation, precision agriculture, and regenerative farming will be in focus.
- Comments raising the EPA’s pesticide review process focused on reducing inherited backlogs, improving the timeliness of pesticide application decisions, removing older chemicals from the market, modernizing systems, and ensuring reviews are grounded in science and statutory obligations. Illegal pesticide discussions focused on import enforcement as a top priority, with EPA shoring up efforts to prevent non-compliant or dumped products from illegally entering the U.S.
SUMMARY OF OPENING STATEMENTS & DISCUSSION
- Subcommittee Chairman Simpson (R-ID) outlined how the administration has focused on right-sizing EPA and returning the agency to its statutory requirements. He referenced concerns about regulatory overreach by prior administrations that made it harder for farmers and industry to thrive, despite reductions in environmental footprints. He commended efforts to provide certainty for farmers and industries, as well as to review pesticide and chemical applications in a more timely and effective manner. He called for policy to focus on common-sense approaches that lower costs and increase U.S. competitiveness, while balancing environmental protection and economic growth.
- Administrator Zeldin outlined how the EPA is working to strike a balance between protecting the environment and growing the economy, contrasting that approach with prior leadership. He discussed how the FY27 budget proposal reflects efficiencies and a renewed focus on Congressional priorities, describing a more efficient and accountable EPA, reiterating that environmental protection and economic growth are not a binary choice.
- Administrator Zeldin discussed how EPA is reviewing newer chemicals, removing older chemicals from the market, and approving state implementation plans previously disapproved. He emphasized how EPA has reduced the backlog by several thousand cases and intends to continue making progress while advancing gold-standard science and transparency. He also cited how the $17 million information technology investment provided by Congress in the March 2025 appropriation has helped modernize systems after delays caused by prior software outages.
- Representative Ellzey (R-TX) asked about what EPA has done regarding illegal pesticides and ongoing efforts to stop them from coming from foreign countries. Administrator Zeldin responded that import enforcement has been a top priority for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance, and that efforts regarding illegal pesticides have been ramped up. He distinguished between foreign pesticides, particularly from China, that go through a registration process versus illegally dumped pesticides entering the country.
- Subcommittee Ranking Member Pingree (D-ME) criticized the administration’s position on pesticides, citing support for Bayer’s Supreme Court appeal involving Roundup lawsuits, as well as proposals that would shield chemical manufacturers from lawsuits and preempt state and local warning label laws or usage regulations. She argued that states and local governments are often nimbler in evaluating science and safety considerations, pointing to slow EPA pesticide re-evaluations and how glyphosate’s last re-registration was in 1993.
- Subcommittee Ranking Member Pingree (D-ME) questioned how EPA developed the proposed $30 million prize challenge to create cost-effective alternatives to pre-harvest desiccation uses of pesticides on crops, including glyphosate, as part of the MAHA initiative. Administrator Zeldin noted that EPA is in the request for information phase and that there is a strong interest in reducing reliance on pesticides to the maximum extent possible, grounded in gold-standard science and transparency. He added that pre-harvest desiccation, precision agriculture, and regenerative farming are among the topics that have been enhanced by MAHA activists.
- Subcommittee Ranking Member Pingree asked why MAHA advocates are concerned by the administration’s claims to support making America healthy again while EPA is weakening PFAS protections, sidelining agency scientists, defending Bayer, and elevating chemical industry leaders within EPA. She also asked whether Administrator Zeldin had answers for MAHA advocates who sent a letter at the end of March calling on EPA to immediately initiate emergency review of pesticides banned in peer nations, close toxic pesticide loopholes, shut the revolving door between EPA and the chemical industry, rebuild the Office of Research and Development, and restore the EPA scientific core. Administrator Zeldin responded that EPA enjoys its working relationship with MAHA and has partnered on a number of different efforts. He referenced additions to the contaminant candidate list, including microplastics.
- Subcommittee Ranking Member Pingree questioned whether Administrator Zeldin agrees that glyphosate poses health risks and whether those risks are a reason to find ways to phase it out, especially its use as a desiccant. She also asked whether the study would investigate ingested glyphosate as well as dermatological effects. Administrator Zeldin responded that EPA is working to complete its review of glyphosate in 2026 and that he wants dedicated career scientists inside the Office of Chemical Safety to conduct that review without any political interference.
- Subcommittee Chairman Simpson praised EPA’s work on Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), describing it as a long-running issue continually rewritten by new administrations. He emphasized how farmers and ranchers, among others, are seeking greater certainty and expressed appreciation for the direction of the new rule. Administrator Zeldin stated how EPA is developing a durable and clear definition of WOTUS consistent with the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision to provide predictability, consistency, and clarity for Clean Water Act permitting.
- Committee and Subcommittee Ranking Members criticized the administration’s environmental policies and the FY27 EPA budget request for working to reduce environmental protections and weaken regulations. They outlined how under Administrator Zeldin, EPA has avoided enforcement of environmental protections and made poor decisions related to regulatory cost-benefit analysis, citing rollbacks of protections and cleanup requirements.
- Committee Ranking Member DeLauro (D-CT) further criticized the FY27 EPA budget request for cutting the EPA’s budget by more than fifty percent, with budget reductions to programs, grants, and revolving funds. Comments referenced reductions in EPA staffing paired with the dismantling or cuts to programs, including the Office of Research and Development and the Science and Technology Account, as undermining evidence-based policymaking and scientific expertise.