In the wake of Gina McCarthy’s confirmation as EPA Administrator, many were hopeful that the newfound compromise in the confirmation process (i.e., enabling votes on nominees without Senate Democrats having to resort to the “nuclear option” of a rule change) would pave the way for up or down votes on the backlog of federal agency nominees. And this scenario did, in fact, play out for a large number of nominees in a flurry of confirmation votes just prior to Congressional lawmakers departing for their August recess. But, unfortunately for Ken Kopocis, the new detente on nominee confirmations did not extend to his vote.
Ken Kopocis’ nomination to head EPA’s Office of Water, which has been upheld since 2011, came before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on July 23 where members from both sides of the aisle had significant praise for Kopocis’ qualifications. There were, however, significant discussions of several contentious policy issues, particularly focused on pending Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdictional guidance and the Bristol Bay, Alaska Pebble Mine assessment. Kopocis’ nomination was voted out of the EPW committee and passed to the full Senate, but a hold has been placed on his nomination. At this time it is unclear who placed the hold, but it apparently stems from the policy disputes over the CWA guidance and Pebble Mine assessment. This must be a bit of déjà vu for Kopocis as the CWA guidance issue was at the heart of the previous hold on his confirmation in 2011. The extent and timeline for further action on Kopocis’ nomination is uncertain, but further discussions are expected sometime after the Senate returns from its summer recess in September.