2026 Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference Wednesday

And our regional administrators the opportunity to discuss how that agency is utilizing regulatory reform to drive growth and deliver results that matter to all of us. We're joined by experienced and very knowledgeable group of regional administrators representing that federal agency. If we could, I'm going to show a quick slide deck that will at least point out where they're at. We, we do have to re— calibrate just slightly a map. So here's the official map of EPA's regions, okay?

And we do have Ann from Region 5, which is Great Lakes. We have Scott from Region 6 and Emma from Region 10. So it's a good map. EPA uses this one. Take a look at this, though.

That's a little more appropriately recalibrated. Okay.

Uh-oh. Thank you for that, Commissioner Bates. Appreciate the accuracy. Yeah. And look, Alaska, on an appropriate size scale, is as big as any of the other regions that are out there.

So anyway, if there's a collaborative federalism approach that we could take that might bring this map to become the new EPA regions map, that would be great. But I do want to give each of these regional administrators the opportunity to introduce themselves. And we'll go by alphabet— number order. We'll go with Ann Vogel from Region 5, Great Lakes. And just a couple minutes on yourself, if you would.

Of course. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Emma. Thank you, Governor, for inviting me to be here. Why the Great Lakes region?

Why am I here at an energy conference? Believe it or not, Ohio and Michigan produce oil and natural gas. We're not Alaska, we're not Texas, but we do have over the last 25 years when I've been in the industry, a 1,200% increase in natural gas production. So we're new to this business, but we're growing. And it's fun for me to be here representing Administrator Zeldin and learning more about the industry.

We are, we are doers in Region 5. And I love being here because we got this little note from the governor when we showed up. And it said the purpose of this was to turn ideas into action and vision into reality. And if you've heard anything about the EPA so far in these few days, it's— that's what we're doing. We are action-oriented.

Administrator Zeldin and the Trump EPA are about delivering results for the American people. And so across Region 5, what we've been able to do and what we'll talk a little bit about here today is refreshing for me. About me, I came from a regulated utility background. I worked in 10 years for one of the largest utilities in the country, and then I worked for Governor DeWine at the state and was the state EPA director and on the governor's staff for 6 years. So I've been regulated, I've been a state, and now here I am representing the federal agency.

So a good perspective and a lot of appreciation for the states and what you all do here in Alaska. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Great to have you up here. Next up is Region 6, and this is Scott Mason.

He'll tell you exactly where he's from, but he represents the energy-producing South Central, which includes Texas and Oklahoma. The powerhouse of the country. Can I say that? Alaska? I actually— first of all, I want to thank you, Commissioner, for hosting the panel.

Thank you to Administrator Pokon for hosting us. And of course, Governor Dunleavy. This is my third visit to Alaska, and every time I grow more and more fond of this state. And I tell my friends and family back home in Oklahoma and Texas that if you question if God exists, just come to Alaska. And in all seriousness, The beauty of this place is unbelievable.

And so it's a rich state in its culture, its people, and of course its natural resources. But I have profound respect for Governor Dunleavy. He invited us back in the fall, I guess, when we were at IOGCC up here. And I was actually on a trade delegation mission with him to Canada when I was Deputy Secretary of Energy in Oklahoma. It's all— it's fun to see all of this come to fruition and full circle, but tremendous respect for Alaska.

Even though you said that you were going to overlay the map of Alaska over Texas just to show how big it is, honestly, it doesn't offend me. You'd be doing me a favor. I'm an Oklahoman, so Oklahoma will always be on top of Texas. Just don't tell my Texas friends that. But in all seriousness, I appreciate this opportunity.

I'm looking forward to diving into everything this morning. Outstanding. Thank you, Scott. Yeah, it's just a quiet secret between you and 1,000 people here, right? They're not live streaming this, by the way, to your home state.

And let's go to next slide.

Yep. Region 10. This is obviously with Emma Pocan, homegrown, moved to Seattle to take on this role under this administration. She is from the beautiful and resource-rich Region 10, which includes Alaska, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Thank you, Commissioner, and thank you for having us.

It's really nice to be back home in Alaska. I'll just take a moment to say yes, I was— I needed to move to Seattle for the job, but our chief of staff for Region 10 here is here in Anchorage. So for folks that have a need for a good conversation, Christina is available, as is Tammy Fordham and the rest of our team here in Anchorage. So, yeah, thank you for having us. I think I hold Alaska close to my heart.

Alaska has been very good to me over the years, personally and professionally. I had opportunities to live in Fairbanks and Utqiagvik and Anchorage and to spend a fair amount of time in Juneau during legislative session as as well. And as I said, the state was very good to me in terms of professional opportunity. So it feels like a very privileged place to be in, to be in a position where I can help pay that forward and ensure that there is continuing opportunity in Alaska. And doing that and protecting the environment and human health to ensure that it's a good place to live and continues to be a wonderful place to live.

So thank you for having us and looking forward to the conversation. Excellent. Excellent. Just the next slide is just a reminder of where they're at in their names. So I sincerely encourage you to interact with these quality individuals throughout the rest of the conference.

Look, here's my perspective. I've been with the state for 25 years, been with DEC for a number of years as well. We work directly with federal agencies. I have throughout my career and most recently directly with EPA. In the last year and a half, I have never seen a better relationship between a state and a federal agency like we do with EPA and the state of Alaska.

It is hands down productive, collaborative, communicative, reasonable, rational, logical. I have not seen a federal agency take on a set of talking points that we may have drafted and they're talking from the same sheet. They're using the very same talking points that we have. This is the best relationship and the best setting that I've ever seen. So with that, the idea is let's get something done.

Let's make a difference here. We have a window. We have a time. Let's take advantage of that and push some issues and some agendas forward. So let's get into some really tough questions that I've crafted.

And let's have a conversation. So— and this is open for all of you. Anybody can answer. All of you can answer. All right?

As we just looked at, you guys saw the different maps around the state. You can understand that the EPA regions 5, 6, and 10, they cover states with very different geography, very different economics, very different political wills and priorities. And with these differences, How have you all interacted with the energy sector and our state partners to further President Trump's agenda and Administrator Zeldin's priorities?

Anybody can go. Oh, they're hesitating. I'm going to jump in. So I think for me, obviously, our direction from our leadership is always a touchstone, and that relationship between President Trump and Governor Dunleavy, I think, has really helped contribute to that collaborative relationship with Alaska in particular. But we do have quite a bit of diversity around Region 10.

You can imagine that Oregon and Washington have different policy priorities than Idaho and Alaska. So in covering all of those states, I think a couple of things that are really important in addition to maintaining the leadership direction as a touchstone are, you know, having the door open, right, ensuring that whether it's whether it's the state commissioner or a member of the public or a facility that's operating in Region 10, ensuring that there's a good line of communication available so that other people can help me understand the things that maybe I don't already have visibility on or I don't understand yet. And I'll say another piece, I'll emphasize Administrator Zeldin's real focus on cooperative federalism. Right? That's one of his 5 pillars.

And it makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. Many of our environmental statutes were crafted with the intent and the direction that state agencies should be taking up these federal programs and implementing them. There's a lot of advantages to that, right? Commissioner Bates is here in the state. He's accountable to residents of the state in the way that, you know, the bulk of Region 10 centralized in Seattle isn't going to be.

We maintain a presence here, but Randy and his team do have a broader presence in the state. They're tied into the broader landscape of what facilities and industries are facing in terms of operating in the state and can help navigate that. And so I think genuinely there's a lot of advantages to that state leadership in those programs. And so really maintaining that focus on the administrator's directive to us to make cooperative federalism a real thing.

I agree with all that, what Emma said. I will add one of the ways I interact with industry, particularly in Region 5, something that our Office of Enforcement and Compliance put out last year was a compliance-first memo. And the compliance-first memo has been a real opportunity for us to engage with industry to say, not— we're not inspecting, we're not enforcing the law, but if your goal is compliance, so is ours. So let's work for a win-win. Let's figure out how to get you in compliance.

And that has been not only well received, but truly an opportunity for people to come directly to me and say, this This is our goal too. How do we get there? Help us. And I want to be careful to say Region 5 has achieved some of the highest penalties. Our inspection numbers are what they were last year.

So nobody leave here thinking that the agency is not enforcing compliance with the law. But we're also not afraid of talking with industry and working with industry to achieve compliance. That's one thing that I really appreciated about. Working for Zeldin.

Yeah, Commissioner, I'll just say, so Region 6 is truly a powerhouse and a key strategic part of President Trump's agenda. And I think Emma alluded to this a few minutes ago, but it is really infectious, the direction from the White House, from the President himself, to Administrator Zeldin, down to us each week, that you want to come to work every day to achieve these goals and results. And work at the speed of Trump, which is you work extremely fast, faster than lightning speed to get stuff done, to accomplish our agenda. And so in Region 6, we're 73% of the US-Mexico border. We're 69% of the Gulf of America coastline.

So we have a huge area where industry plays a key part. And one of the things that I told Administrator Zeldin when I came into office last January was the EPA has got to repair its relationships with the states. That is not a choice. That is a mandate. We have got to do that because having been Deputy Secretary of Energy in Oklahoma, it is a fact that the Biden administration failed to have decent relationships with the states.

And so when I came in on day one, I called every single DEQ Commissioner and Cabinet Secretary, as well as Ag Secretary and Oil and Gas Commissioner. I said that this EPA— not only is it a new day at EPA, but this EPA will be working with you and not against you. And a prime example of that, that again, that we started on day one when I came into office, was overseeing Texas Class VI primacy, which was vitally important to the state of Texas. And we believe that the states are best equipped for handling their own primacy and regulations like that. So we worked hand in hand with the State of Texas.

I sent that off to the Office of Water at the end of February. By April, I had signed an MOA at the Texas Railroad Commission with the 3 commissioners of the Railroad Commission. And then by late summer, early fall, Texas— our Office of Water had finalized, the administrator signed off, and Texas had Class 6 primacy. So it's just an example of working with the states, working with the regulated industry. If you expect to get anything done, you have to have partnerships.

Yeah, my goodness. Just these responses are the reason I'm so proud to sit here next to you and share a stage. This would have been a very different response, very different interaction a few years ago. And so it's— I hope you're hearing that the relationship and the commitment coming out of these answers. This is great.

Appreciate that. There's been significant national discussion around permitting reform and reducing unnecessary delays. Where is EPA seeing opportunities to streamline processes while still maintaining the strong environmental protections and the regulatory certainty?

Scott, I love that line, working at the speed of Trump. I'm going to steal that, I think. So obviously there's a number of places where the agency is working at streamlining things and making processes move along more promptly, realizing that our work is essential to companies getting out and doing work on the ground. And we want to do it right. We want to do it well.

So there's a number of places where the agency is making adjustments. In Region 10, a priority for me has been in really evaluating and focusing our NEPA efforts. NEPA work. There's a lot of federal lands in the western states. You have a lot of water here in Alaska, so a lot of work that's going to be done is going to have a federal intersect, and often that means that there's going to be a NEPA review.

EPA has a role in evaluating the NEPA analyses of other federal agencies, but also it has been, I think, in the past, there has been, I think, a little— a mission creep, a little scope creep in how that work is being done. And also we've had relatively recent guidance from the courts around, you know, where the authority for regulations under NEPA live, what the scope of NEPA should be. So I know that at headquarters they're working on providing, you know, updated regulations and guidance in response to that. But in the meantime, we've got programs to implement in the region. So in Region 10, things I'm asking for from our NEPA team is to keep those reviews really focused.

Keep them focused on where we have a knowledge base and where our equities are. We want those evaluations to be accurate. We want to ensure that purpose of NEPA, of having informed decision makers, is met and we're fulfilling that. But I don't need to duplicate the expertise. Expertise of a permitting agency like DEC.

I don't need to duplicate, you know, the expertise or try to take the place of, you know, Fish and Wildlife Service or NPS and their expertise. Let those agencies speak to their expertise. We don't need NEPA documents to pre-decide the outcome of permitting actions when those permits haven't been submitted yet. Say the permit is going to be required. Say what the standard is that's going to need to be met and let the appropriate permitting agency make the decisions about what control technologies or mitigation measures might be required through those processes.

We don't need to pre-decide that in a NEPA document. So really drawing our focus in and ensuring that we're fulfilling the direction that Congress gave us, we are ensuring the law is met and we are following the law. But we're keeping that efficient. Excellent. All right.

I can't think of a program area where we haven't been putting out guidance on how to move faster. I wouldn't have done this in any previous life, but if you aren't subscribing to the EPA's press releases, you should start. Because there's— it is hard for us to keep up with the The amount of the actions that are coming out and all about streamlining, all about removing unreasonable and unnecessary barriers. The administrator is a lawyer and very, you know, is focused on the rule of law and making sure that we are back to basics, that we are staying within our statutory authority. And so what that looks like for us is whether it's NEPA or something important in Region 5 is coal combustion residual.

We have more than anywhere in the country of coal ash ponds. And so the rules are out for comment now on how states are going to be able to deal with those. To Scott's point about primacy, the encouragement from the agency is for states to come in quickly and get primacy for coal combustion residual regulation so that the people closest to the issue, the people that know their communities and know their needs, can regulate those on a flexible case-by-case basis. And across the board, I think that is how you would describe the permitting and the regulatory reforms that you're seeing at the agency.

Yeah, and I think Emma and Ann summed that up very well. I'll just say that really, if you want an idea for our policy at the Trump EPA, it's protection that empowers rather than restricts. It's regulation that clarifies rather than complicates. And it's an approach or an idea that the environment and the economy are partners rather than adversaries, something we haven't heard a lot of in the last several years. And as I often like to say in my Western Oklahoma twang, you can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Yes, you can protect the environment. You can also grow the economy. And so, so, and Emma talked about the streamlining of the permitting process, and that's so true. One of the areas that we have really focused on in Region 6 is our SIP backlog, State Implementation Plans. I know you're familiar with those.

We have approved 34— I'm sorry, we have 34 still in backlog. We have approved 15, and I have 16 in the queue for final. Approval, but we are plowing through those at record speed. But again, it's moving at the speed of Trump. It is moving quickly and accurately.

And another thing that I'll bring up too is I've been out to the Permian Basin now in the year and a half that I've been in office more times than any other Region 6 administrator in that short amount of time. And the one thing that I always come away with that they tell me without hesitation every single time is that we want regulatory certainty. And I believe this EPA is leaning into that. It's a directive from the President. It's a directive from Administrator Zeldin.

And we are working every day to ensure that we have regulatory certainty and the streamlining. Beautiful. Good. Thank you so much. A little bit of a follow-up cue and question.

Over the past year, EPA has emphasized clearer rules and regulations. And what rules have— has EPA prioritized to provide clarity to Americans to ease the regulatory burden? Let's get a little bit specific if we can.

Randy, I know what you're thinking about. No major announcement here today. So, you know, the WOTUS rule obviously has been a really high-profile effort that EPA has undertaken. Given the guidance from the Supreme Court in the Sackett decision, I think in the past our experience in Alaska is that just about everything fell under federal jurisdiction, fell within the scope of the Clean Water Act because of how the agency had been interpreting it in the past. And the Supreme Court gave some pretty firm guidance to the agency, I think, about adjusting our approach there.

The agency is committed to really fulfilling and following through with that guidance.

I know headquarters received a lot of comments, and they are really working on ensuring that what they come out with is going to be durable, and it's going to make sense, and again, that it's going to fulfill the Supreme Court's direction on that front. And I will be sure, Commissioner Bates, that the second I hear that something is out the door, you'll be getting a phone call from me, and you'll know first thing. So recognize that there's an interest in that, and we're all eager to see what the final rule is going to look like. Why would you go to that specific issue? 115,000 Comments on that particular rule.

I'm sure Alaska's comments are at the top of that stack, so. But I also— I don't want the point to be lost either that there's a lot of other work that the agency is doing, right? You'll probably learn soon about the Title V permit guidance that was issued last month and this month that really says don't duplicate work again. So for your team implementing that program, you don't need to take up questions if there hasn't been a change. And we'll concurrently review where there's a need for EPA review, we'll do that concurrently with the public process, if that makes sense.

So we're really looking at places where we can ensure that the focus is on the places that matter and that— where there will be genuine questions that need to be resolved. Okay. Thanks. Well, energy dominance, clearly one of— that's why we're here, right? One of the administrator's pillars as well.

A couple of recent announcements in this space that are literally making energy more affordable and more abundant in the Midwest, particularly very esoteric, but rolling back some unnecessary and extra-legal effluent limit guidelines for coal plants. So this will make— it will reduce barriers on keeping some of the coal plants online in the Midwest, particularly so near and dear to our heart in Region 5. In— we have a lot of ethanol production in Region 5, so year-round E15 is something that is— results in more affordable gas prices for folks in the Midwest. So it's a very practical reduction in regulation that is really delivering results for the American people.

Well, I learned in Trump One when I was at Owyda, and I see Tammy out there, when I first came to Alaska during that time, and one of the things that you have to do in these jobs is you have to get out from behind your desk and you have to go out there where real America is. Real America is right here in Anchorage, Alaska. It's not in Washington, D.C. It's—. I don't know if it's in Dallas, Texas or not, but In all seriousness, it's— Real America is the— in Region 6, it's the San Felipe Pueblo.

In New Mexico, it is the St. John the Baptist Parish. In Louisiana, it's Burns Flat, Oklahoma. These are places where I've held roundtable discussions with people. Get out there and listen to them. And one of my favorite stories— and you talk about action— one of my favorite stories that I like to discuss is going out to Burns Flat, Oklahoma, in the western part of Washita County where I'm from.

And I held this huge agriculture roundtable last May. We had industry leaders there. We had a lot of farmers and ranchers from the Texas Panhandle and from western Oklahoma. Attended. The number one thing that they said that day that was the biggest topic of discussion— I know it's a huge issue here in Alaska— and that's DEF, diesel exhaust fluid.

And I know Alaska— Alaskans have a lot of issues with DEF. And they said, if you could do anything at the EPA, please do something about that. So we took that back to our Office of Air in Washington. Took it to the administrator. The administrator has also been hearing the same thing.

Please do something about DEF. This EPA has leaned into that from the moment that we heard how big of an issue this really is. And I'm proud to say we've already started working with manufacturers on significantly reducing the derapements, but we are now finalizing a new proposed rule that would eliminate the possibly eliminate the DEF deratements altogether. So I would say stay tuned on DEF, but that's a tangible action result that this EPA is working on. Why?

Because we listen to the American people, because you all are the ones who are on the front lines and who are regulated. You may not realize it, but you have, you have things that for better or worse are regulated by the EPA. And so when we get out from behind our desk and and we actually listen to you. This is the driver of results. The same with, with restoring right to repair.

And I know a lot of you in this room know what right to repair is. Same with farmers and ranchers. So those are just two things that I like to talk about, amongst others, of actions that we are taking and actually delivering real results to the American people. I'll just say that, that we are truly in the golden age of American prosperity. Of American energy dominance with oil— with record-setting oil and gas production, with unleashing the permitting process and streamlining that, delivering policies that actually put the American worker first and thus the American family, and strengthening national security.

That's what it's all about. And the best part of this, Randy, is that we're just getting started. Absolutely. Excellent. Beautiful.

All right. We're going to move to one final question. It's going to be a speed round. And look, as appointed politicians, you guys have been very brief in your remarks. I'm going to ask you to be as brief as you can.

Look, if we're going to play musical chairs and Emma in Region 10 is going to go to Scott's Region 6, Scott is going to go from Texas, Oklahoma, South Central is going to move up to Great Lakes, and Great Lakes gets to come to Alaska and see more moose. You did see a moose the other night. And bear. We saw some bear from the train. Oh, fantastic.

It is a wild place. What advice would you give to the incoming regional administrator? Start with Emma. So for me, the keys in Region 10 really are having that open door so that you can hear the different perspectives that you're going to get in a region with the diverse perspectives that Region 10 has. Really leaning on the state partners.

I think we all as alumni of state agencies know that the state agencies have great expertise, incredible programs, and they deserve the respect that they deserve, right? So really treating the states as partners. They warrant that. And I'm going to steal a little bit of Scott's answer from before as well. Really, that getting out there, not just having an open door, but getting out there.

The example the administrator has set for us of getting out, meeting with people, hearing from real Americans, but just not hearing from them, taking that feedback and turning it into action at the agency. Doing that, repeating that, reflecting that in the region as well, I think has a lot of value. Excellent. All right. So my advice for Emma coming to Region 5, don't sleep on the Great Lakes.

Don't underestimate the political nature of the Great Lakes. We run elections. People win or lose on their Great Lakes position, believe it or not. And I'd say reputationally, Region 5 struggles with responsiveness and timeliness and consistency and predictability. These are things that we work on every single day in the region, down to the very first level of staff, looking at the tone of the emails that go out, you know, looking at our communication with our stakeholders.

So just a vigilance with all levels of the team and making sure that we are good partners.

Well, no offense, Ann, but I actually would— don't want to go to the Great Lakes. I'd rather go to Alaska and take Region 10. It's good country up here and good people. I would just say build the relationships. That's what's most important.

That's what's going to take you the furthest. And that's, that's where the action starts and where it happens. And that's how we deliver real, tangible results to the American people. And I'm just so grateful that we have restored and repaired those relationships, because that is, that's the action that you're seeing taking place. Before your very eyes.

So that would be my advice. That's beautiful. Outstanding. So thank you so much for your willingness to travel from your states and come up here. Look, I hope you can help recognize the conversation we're having is real, meaningful, and there's dialogue.

There's both hearing, listening, sharing, accepting information here. So I can't thank you enough for the relationship we have. I look We look forward to the continued partnership. Thank you for being on the panel. Please join me in thanking EPA for coming up here and sharing time with us.

Next time. Next time. Isn't it nice to see the EPA learn the lessons of 1984 when Administrator Walter Peck got a little too zealous in the containment unit in Manhattan Island? You'll have to Google that joke.

Those of you of a certain age remember seeing Ghostbusters in the theater and wondering, what the heck is an EPA agent and why the hell did he turn the damn thing off?

All right, our, uh, as we continue this conversation this morning, we're turning our focus to one of the fundamental energy resources that has helped shape Alaska for generations: hydropower. From powering communities and industries to supporting long-term energy reliability,.