In a split vote of 51-47, the Senate confirmed Jessica Kramer to serve as assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Water. The vote was held Sept. 18, 2025, and Kramer was among 48 other nominations confirmed “en bloc” (together) by the Senate.

The Office of Water works to ensure that drinking water is safe, wastewater is safely returned to the environment, and surface waters are properly managed and protected, the EPA said in a press release announcing Kramer’s confirmation. In addition, the office is responsible for implementing key environmental statutes, including the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.

“I am grateful and humbled by this opportunity. Clean and safe water is the foundation for healthy Americans, and I look forward to protecting this vital resource while ensuring that our work secures the win-win of environmental protection and economic prosperity,” Kramer said in the press release. “As assistant administrator for water, I will listen to our partners and accelerate progress achieving Congress’ vision laid out in the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, and other environmental statutes.”

In addition, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin praised Kramer saying she “brings unprecedented expertise, leadership, and experience to EPA’s Office of Water,” and she is “exceptionally well-equipped to help carry out President Trump’s agenda, of providing the cleanest water to all Americans.”

During the nomination process, Kramer discussed policies she supports including delegating the implementation of federal programs to the states, a concept called “cooperative federalism”.

Kramer, who served in the Office of Water during the first Trump administration, said under cooperative federalism EPA programs such as the Underground Injection Control Well Program (UICWP) would be “delegated from federal implementation to the states,” and to “those who actually implement the program.”

The Safe Drinking Water Act established the UICWP to prevent contamination of underground sources of drinking water (USDW) by regulating the discharge of hazardous and non-hazardous fluids into subsurface disposal systems that can also affect surface water due to the flow into rivers and streams by groundwater. The UICWP oversees six classes of injection wells—including hazardous and non-hazardous wastes, and fluids used in petroleum and natural gas production—with each well class based on the type and depth of the injection activity, and the potential for that injection activity to endanger USDW.

EPA delegating implementation of the UICWP to the states is a policy Kramer supports because “states know their resources best,” thereby allowing “the states the ability to be more stringent in the restrictions that they put in place,” she said.

By implementing a policy of “working together,” EPA recognizes “expertise in the states while also maintaining the oversight role that is required under the federal law,” Kramer said.

Furthermore, Kramer said policies such as cooperative federalism are needed to establish “common sense in regulation” because “a regulated community has no hope for compliance if it does not have a definitive and clear framework to work from.” Therefore it is incumbent for the EPA to produce “a thoughtful, legally and scientifically sound regulatory framework.”

Another policy change sought by EPA and supported by Kramer is a proposal to revise Section 401 of the CWA that requires applicants for federal licenses or permits that allow discharges into “waters of the United States” to first obtain certification from a state or an authorized tribe in order to ensure that such discharges will comply with water quality standards. Under Section 401, states and authorized tribes are empowered to play important roles in protecting their water resources from the effects of federally regulated activities. Kramer said revising Section 401 of the CWA is necessary to ensure the CWA is being implemented “without weaponizing” it against beneficial infrastructure projects. However, Kramer has not provided any evidence the CWA is being weaponized.