President Biden’s EPA Nominee Says He Will Work With Business

That could mean conflicts with business interests, but North Carolina’s two Republican senators— Sen. Richard Burr and Sen. Thom Tillis —said Mr. Regan worked effectively with business in his years heading North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality.

“I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people in North Carolina, people in the agriculture sector, people in the energy sector—and what they all said is Michael distinguished himself as somebody who listens,” Mr. Tillis said. “I do believe he will be somebody that we can rely on to be fair.”

The EPA is often at the center of rifts between Republicans and Democrats, but the comments from the Republican senators and a generally friendly confirmation hearing suggested he is on a path to Senate approval. The committee didn’t take a vote Wednesday.

Mr. Regan said that he would give priority to collaboration with businesses and seek to avoid overly burdensome regulation. The EPA must have the budget and the resources to give help to the businesses it regulates, he said.

“We can’t achieve our goals without very strong public-private partnerships,” Mr. Regan said. “I do believe that regulation is not the sole answer.”

One of the few emotional criticisms came from Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.), who said he would vote for Mr. Regan but criticized business interests as heavy polluters in poor and minority communities. Mr. Regan said he would put more emphasis on protecting those communities disproportionately affected by pollution.

Mr. Booker spotlighted the pesticide chlorpyrifos, asking for a review of recent EPA changes during the Trump administration that Mr. Booker said weakened protections for farmworkers.

“I want an affirmation from you that you will not render farmworkers in America invisible,” Mr. Booker said. “Would you consider putting science ahead of big business when it comes to the chemical chlorpyrifos?”

Mr. Regan said he would help farmworkers. “We’ll be driven by science, and we’ll be driven by the rule of law,” he said.

Democrats also asked for Mr. Regan’s philosophy on rebuilding an agency pressured for years by shrinking budgets and a push from the Trump administration to shrink its authority. Mr. Regan touted his history in North Carolina, where he said he faced similar problems.

Staff morale there was low before his arrival, Mr. Regan said. He said he started a “damage assessment” of the agency to review policies approved without proper transparency or scientific considerations. And he said he expected to go through a similar process at the EPA.

Mr. Regan received questions about his plans for power plants, pesticides and ethanol. But few senators attempted to spar with him or pin him down to detailed policy commitments, and he often deferred when they did.

Before becoming the top environmental regulator in North Carolina, Mr. Regan spent nearly a decade at the EPA. If confirmed, he would be the second Black EPA administrator in the agency’s 50-year history.

Write to Timothy Puko at [email protected]