Jessica Kramer, the nominee to serve as the next assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), participated in a Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing last week, garnering some water sector support.
Kramer was nominated by President Donald Trump in February and had been awaiting a confirmation hearing. Kramer worked in the Office of Water during the first Trump administration and was recently working for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as deputy secretary of regulatory programs.
The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) said it sent a letter of support to Kramer prior to the hearing. Kramer has also been endorsed by the National Rural Water Association (NRWA), National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA).
In her written testimony, Kramer talked about better aligning regulatory policy with achievable outcomes for water systems.
“A regulated community has no hope for compliance if it does not have a definitive and clear framework to work from….regulating water systems across the country out of business through siloed rulemakings without providing an achievable path for compliance is simply not good government, nor is it good public health policy,” she wrote.
Before her time at Florida DEP, Kramer worked for a short time in an environmental law practice in Washington, D.C., after time on Capitol Hill on the staff of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), then-ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (now chairman). AMWA said, on Capito’s staff, Kramer oversaw a range of drinking water and wastewater issues and led many of the Republicans’ contributions to the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supporting numerous AMWA priorities.
Kramer has previously supported the Water Coalition Against PFAS, which endorses the “polluter pays” principle in PFAS cleanup and supports liability protections under CERCLA for drinking water and wastewater systems.
If confirmed, Kramer would become the latest Senate-confirmed assistant administrator for water following the departure of Radhika Fox from the position in February 2024. Bruno Pigott took over leading the office for Fox, serving as principal deputy assistant administrator for water for the remainder of the Biden administration.
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