The U.S. Senate voted 56-42 on Wednesday to confirm former congressman Lee Zeldin of Shirley to serve as head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump’s administration.
As EPA Administrator, Mr. Zeldin will manage and enforce the nation’s environmental laws and regulations, prepare the agency’s annual budget and lead “government efforts related to environmental regulations at home and abroad,” among other responsibilities, according to the EPA’s website.
“Our mission is simple, but essential: to protect human health and the environment,” Mr. Zeldin said at a Jan. 16 hearing with the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “We must do everything in our power to harness the greatness of American innovation with the greatness of American conservation and environmental stewardship. We must ensure we are protecting the environment while also protecting our economy.”
Committee member Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia commended Mr. Zeldin for his history championing “critical environmental policies” on Long Island at the January hearing.
Mr. Zeldin said he wants the country “to thrive in a world with clean air, clean water, and boundless opportunity.” As administrator, he said he would foster a collaborative culture within the agency and support career staff who have dedicated themselves to the EPA’s mission.
Mr. Zeldin said the agency “must be better stewards of tax dollars, honor cooperative federalism and be transparent and accountable to Congress and the public.” To achieve this, he said he plans to collaborate with the private sector and “prioritize as much compliance as possible.”
In his role leading the EPA, Mr. Zeldin said he would abide by the laws of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. He also said that he believes climate change is real.
Mr. Zeldin served as congressional representative for New York’s 1st Congressional District from 2015 to 2023, representing a large swath of Suffolk County including the East End.
“My constituents took environmental issues very seriously, and I developed a record in Congress fighting hard and with great success advancing their local priorities,” Mr. Zeldin said during the Jan. 16 committee hearing.
Throughout his time in Congress, Mr. Zeldin sponsored legislation on a number of issues, including those involving veterans’ affairs, foreign affairs, law enforcement, immigration, U.S.-Israel relations and combatting antisemitism.
He also served as a member of the PFAS Task Force and voted in favor of the PFAS Action Act to limit the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances which failed to pass in the Senate. As head of the EPA, Mr. Zeldin said he would work with representatives to address cleanup projects large and small throughout the country.
In 2017, Mr. Zeldin introduced a bill known as the Plum Island Preservation Act that was passed by the House later that year. The preservation efforts have continued in the legislature as current District 1 Rep. Nick LaLota introduced a bill known as Plum Island Monument Act in 2023 and Sen. Chuck Schumer promoted a similar bill called the Plum Island Preservation Study Act in the Senate in September.
Mr. Zeldin also introduced the Local Fishing Access Act in 2017, which called for the authorization of a federal permit and regulation of Atlantic striped bass fishing in the Block Island Sound Transit Zone, located between areas south of Montauk Point and Point Judith, Rhode Island. The bill was stalled in Congress, but Mr. Zeldin was able to include an amendment that called to lift the ban on Atlantic striped bass fishing in the transit zone in the 2018 under the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Managements Act, which passed.
Group for the East End president Bob DeLuca said he had “somewhat mixed” feelings about the broader policies of the incoming Trump administration and Mr. Zeldin’s track record representing Suffolk County conservation interests when Mr. Zeldin was announced as President Trump’s EPA pick in November.
Mr. Zeldin’s familiar relationship with President Trump is something Mr. DeLuca hopes will help him fight to ensure conservation “issues transcend what has been the broader public statements about kind of dismantling the EPA and reducing its regulatory powers.”
Mr. DeLuca said he hoped to maintain a healthy line of communication with the EPA administrator, and noted that having someone from Long Island man the helm of the agency is something that he feels “could be helpful.”
“Having somebody that knows the area that you can reach out to or talk to — we always consider that to be an advantage over somebody that has no connection to the area,” Mr. DeLuca said following Mr. Zeldin’s November nomination.
This is a developing story and will be updated.