{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://vanepps.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-van-epps-condemns-the-biden-epa-s-overreach-during-an-environment-subcommittee-hearing", "Rep. Van Epps Condemns the Biden EPA\u2019s Overreach During\u00a0 an Environment Subcommittee Hearing", "2026-06-05", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Matt Van Epps", "V000139", "vanepps.house.gov", "vanepps", "https://vanepps.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Yesterday, Rep. Van Epps participated in a Space, Science and Technology Environment Subcommittee hearing titled, \u201cAdvancing Environmental Protection Through Science and Technology.\u201d The purpose of this hearing was to discuss and review the science and technology activities at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including the new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions (OASES), and how it relates to the Agency\u2019s long-term research and development efforts and the use of science in the Agency\u2019s regulatory decision-making processes.\n\nWatch Rep. Van Epps' statement here.\n\nRead Rep. Van Epps\u2019 opening remarks here:\n\nRep. Van Epps stated, \u201cThank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Dr. Gwinn, for being here today. For years, the EPA has rightly received criticism from the public for operating without congressional authority and lacking transparency. More alarming is that the agency has been captured by the left for political ends, resulting in major mission drift from its intended purpose: to protect public health and the environment in cooperation with the states.\n\nBoth the Obama and Biden administrations diverted the EPA\u2019s mission by assaulting the American energy sector and stifling growth in the industrial sector, contracting our economy and killing jobs, while doing little to protect the environment and the public.\n\nThankfully, the Trump administration and Administrator Zeldin have taken decisive action to direct the EPA back to its core mission, driven by clear mandates, streamlined processes, state leadership, and rigorous science.\u201d\n\nRead Rep. Van Epps\u2019 questions here:\n\nRep. Van Epps said, \u201cNotably, last year, Administrator Zeldin announced EPA would shift staff from the Office of Research and Development into EPA program offices while establishing the new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions to align the EPA\u2019s scientific functions with the agency\u2019s rulemaking authority. This is meaningful reform after the Office of Research and Development has acted without accountability for decades, shrugging Congressional and public input to pursue political ends.\n\nOne of the major criticisms of the Office of Research and Development was that the office conducted scientific activities without Congressional authorization. At the same time, these activities were driving regulation and enforcement.\n\nDr. Gwinn, how have the reorganization efforts ensured that scientific activities are transparent and aligned with EPA\u2019s regulatory authority, and can you assure this committee that the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions is only conducting scientific activities that Congress has authorized?\u201d\n\nDeputy Associate Administrator for the EPA\u2019s OASES, Dr. Maureen Gwinn, replied, \u201c...Thank you for that question. One of the things, just going back again to the reorganization, I know you had described some of that, and some of the shifts from ORD. The reorganization has moved science activities directly to the program offices, where those regulatory decisions are made, in part to strengthen the relationships and collaboration there, and the understanding of the science for decisions and the decisions that inform the science that we do. With OASES, we're also doing applied research that is in coordination with those program offices. So, I think that gets to the heart of your question, in terms of ensuring that it is research that has been authorized by Congress. The research that OASES is doing is being done largely in collaboration through development of projects and problems, problem formulation, together with the program offices to make sure that the work is indeed responsive to the needs of the programs and the agency and will help inform the statutory requirements and the mission to protect human health and the environment.\u201d\n\nRep. Van Epps stated, \u201cWith over 60,000 chemicals and refining-related jobs supporting 520 businesses, Tennessee is helping to lead American innovation in advanced chemical manufacturing. In my district, Clarksville, Tennessee, is home to a growing manufacturing hub with companies conducting advanced chemical manufacturing activities, many of them in the early stages of launching new projects. The primary environmental statute that impacts these new manufacturing projects is the Toxic Substances Control Act, New Chemicals Program.\n\nDr. Gwinn, the New Chemicals Program has long had a backlog in reviewing new chemicals for manufacturing. There are tools like computational toxicology that may help the Agency chip away at that. Can you tell me what work is going on in areas like computational toxicology to advance scientific approaches that can help speed-up new chemical reviews, especially considering your expertise in toxicology?\u201d", 1, "2026-06-06T06:16:30Z", "2026-06-06T06:17:47Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://vanepps.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-van-epps-condemns-the-biden-epa-s-overreach-during-an-environment-subcommittee-hearing"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9321616962552071, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}