Over 200 attend Smith's EPA regulation roundtable

“Reining in the EPA: A Regulation Roundtable,” a public forum hosted by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), attracted over 200 participants Wednesday at the Cailloux Theater in Kerrville, Texas.

“The public has a right to know about the drastic and costly regulations that the (Environmental Protection Agency) is crafting behind closed doors,” Smith said. “These proposals will have far-reaching impacts…in communities all across Texas and the nation. We must ensure that our nation’s policies serve the interest of the American people – not an extreme political agenda.”

Smith recently subpoenaed the EPA following the agency’s refusal to release information linked to its top official, Gina McCarthy. The House of Representatives also recently approved Smith’s Secret Science Reform Act to increase accountability at the agency. In 2014, Smith exposed U.S. maps that the EPA commissioned – and tried to veil – while updating controversial waters and wetlands legislation.

“As chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that agencies like the EPA are operating in the most efficient, effective and accountable manner possible,” Smith added.

Expert panelists included Kathleen Hartnett White, director of the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment for Texas Public Policy Foundation; LaMarriol Smith, executive manager for strategic communications and public affairs of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority; Kerrville Public Utility Board’s General Manager and CEO Tracy McCuan; Gordon E. Sauer from the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association’s board of directors; and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.