Senator Carper Welcomes DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin to Testify at EPW Subcommittee Hearing Spotlighting Clean Air Act Protections

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, welcomed Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary Shawn Garvin to a hearing of the Environment and Public Works Committee Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety to discuss the importance of the Clean Air Act. The hearing examined the importance of federal standards set by the Clean Air Act for downwind states, like Delaware that sits at the end of ‘America’s tailpipe,’ and the crucial partnerships between federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the states in their work to prevent air pollution that does not respect state borders.

“For nearly fifty years the Clean Air Act has protected Delawareans, and every American, from pollution created in other states hundreds of miles away by holding states accountable for their pollution contributions,” said Senator Carper. “At a time when the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is intent on rolling back clean air protections that for decades have helped Delaware meet national health pollution standards, we must do all we can to hold our neighbors, and EPA, accountable. I’m grateful for the work Secretary Garvin and Governor John Carney are doing to reduce Delaware’s own emissions – through programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – while also working with other downwind states to protect the clean air progress the Clean Air Act has helped us achieve these past decades.”

“Delaware considers cooperative federalism invaluable in the relationship between the EPA and states,” said Secretary Garvin. “However, part of that relationship needs to be EPA’s taking leadership on cross-state pollution issues as relates to clean air for the citizens of Delaware. We all benefit when the federal government works alongside states to determine the best methods to continue progress toward clean air, provides the resources that the states need to enforce our regulations, and steps in when a state fails to meet its obligations.”

Secretary Garvin’s full testimony can be found here, and his full bio can be found below:

Shawn Garvin

Shawn Garvin leads Delaware’s state agency tasked with protecting and managing the state’s natural resources, protecting public health, providing outdoor recreational opportunities and educating Delawareans about the environment.

Secretary Garvin’s career in intergovernmental affairs spans more than 20 years at the federal and local levels. In November 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Administrator of Region III for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), overseeing the agency’s work in the Mid-Atlantic, which includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia.

Before he was named Regional Administrator, Secretary Garvin served as the senior state and congressional liaison for EPA Region III, providing counsel to agency leadership on complex public health and environmental matters. Prior to his service with the EPA, he served as an aide to then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden, and also was Executive Assistant to former New Castle County Executive Dennis Greenhouse.

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