Senator John Hoeven recently called on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to ensure regulatory certainty for the nation’s energy producers and respect private property rights. Hoeven emphasized the need for improving the reliability and affordability of the electrical grid. He referenced reports from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which indicate that losing baseload power, due to early retirement of coal-fired plants, has weakened grid reliability.
Hoeven urged Zeldin to address regulatory overreach from the Biden administration, including revisiting rules like the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and Clean Power Plan 2.0. He also advocated for restoring the traditional definition of “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) to safeguard private property rights and states’ roles in water management.
The expanded WOTUS definition, promoted by both Obama and Biden administrations, sought federal regulatory authority beyond what is established under the Clean Water Act. According to Hoeven, these regulations imposed unmanageable mandates and increased compliance costs on landowners, energy producers, agriculture producers, and other industries.
Hoeven expressed his support for efforts by the Trump administration to provide regulatory certainty and align WOTUS with the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA. “The Biden administration imposed a regulatory blizzard on this nation,” said Hoeven. “This undermined our energy security… we need to empower technological innovation.” He added that he would continue working with Administrator Zeldin and others to roll back policies he views as harmful while respecting private property rights.
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