Matsui Releases Statement on Bill Wehrum's Departure from EPA

WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-6) issued the following statement after the departure of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) controversial Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation a longtime opponent of the 2012 Clean Cars Rule and the California waiver authority under the Clean Air Act.

"Bill Wehrum is a symptom of a larger problem at the EPA," said Congresswoman Matsui, a senior Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. "He has worked tirelessly to pollute and undercut negotiations for CAFE and vehicle emission standards, and it is my sincere hope that we can now return to a thoughtful, productive conversation between my home state of California and the EPA."

Last week, then-Assistant Administrator Wehrum and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Deputy Administrator Heidi King refused to testify on the same Energy and Commerce panel as Mary Nichols, Chair of California Air Resources Board (CARB) and leading air quality and climate change expert. Congresswoman Matsui criticized the move last week in her opening statement to the Energy and Commerce Committee, which can be found here.

Congresswoman Matsui is also the author of H.R. 978, the Clean and Efficient Cars Act of 2019, which reverses the Trump Administration efforts to roll back the Obama-era Clean Cars Rule. For a fact sheet on the bill, click here.

# # #