The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) deadlocked 10-10 on April 7 on the nomination of Carlton Waterhouse to serve as assistant …
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) deadlocked 10-10 on April 7 on the nomination of Carlton Waterhouse to serve as assistant administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management in the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA)—but a motion by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) could still send it to the Senate floor. Waterhouse—a law professor and international expert on environmental law and environmental justice—was re-nominated for the position this year by President Joe Biden, following a 2021 nomination that stalled. Senators also deadlocked 10-10 in the December EPW meeting that considered Waterhouse’s nomination. But a Senate rule allowed the nominations of Waterhouse and other Biden nominees to be returned to the president in January 2022. Biden sent back Waterhouse’s nomination to the Senate, which re-referred it to the EPW committee. The Office of Land and Emergency Management handles EPA’s waste and emergency response programs, including cleanups of hazardous spills and the placement of wind or solar power on contaminated sites. In a September hearing on Waterhouse and other Biden administration nominees, senators discussed his qualifications for the role. “He spent years in the 1990s working as an EPA attorney and acting on behalf of vulnerable communities that have suffered from the impacts of industrial waste, receiving the agency’s bronze star award four times for his work,” said EPW Chair Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) at that meeting. “Mr. Waterhouse would be an asset to the Office of Land and Emergency Management in assisting communities confronted by the dangers of contaminated sites and making sure their voices are heard in government.
