A coal industry lobbyist at the consulting arm of Faegre Baker Daniels in Washington vowed to minimize any potential conflicts of interest stemming from his nomination to the second-in-command post at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Andrew Wheeler, nominated on Oct. 5 as deputy administrator under Secretary Scott Pruitt, revealed his law firm compensation and clients in an ethics pledge and a financial disclosure posted by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

Wheeler is a nonequity principal at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting who co-leads the firm's energy and natural resources practice. Wheeler identified his salary and bonus at the firm as $741,074, an amount that would include income from last year, according to the financial disclosure. He has worked at Faegre Baker Daniels since 2009.

Wheeler's financial disclosure identified four clients as having received “strategic advice and counseling”—Growth Energy, General Mills Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Co. and International Paper. Additionally, Wheeler listed seven clients for whom he was a registered lobbyist—including Murray Energy Corp., Energy Fuels Resources Inc., Xcel Energy Inc. and Houston-based Bear Head LNG Corp.

Wheeler advocated for Ohio-based Murray Energy, one of the country's largest coal producers, this year on energy and environmental matters, lobbying records show. The advocacy for Energy Fuels Resources focused on uranium mining and milling. Murray was Wheeler's largest lobbying client, based on the revenue the engagement generated, the records show.

EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ ALM

Wheeler's ethics pledge, reflecting standard language for executive branch nominees, said he would not participate “personally and substantially” for one year in any matters that involve a former client. Executive branch officials are permitted to receive ethics waivers to participate in certain work that touches on past legal or lobbying services provided to a client.

Before private practice, Wheeler served as Oklahoma Republican U.S. Sen. James Inhofe's chief counsel and as staff director for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

“Andrew will bring extraordinary credentials to EPA that will greatly assist the agency as we work to implement our agenda,” Pruitt said in a statement at the time of Wheeler's nomination. “He has spent his entire career working to improve environmental outcomes for Americans across the country and understands the importance of providing regulatory certainty for our country.”

Environmental advocates and Democrats in the Senate criticized Wheeler's nomination, which is pending before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “Andrew Wheeler is a big-time lobbyist who has represented Big Coal for almost a decade, including in numerous lawsuits challenging the EPA,” Melinda Pierce, the Sierra Club's legislative director, said in a statement on Oct. 5.

Wheeler's financial disclosure and ethics agreement are posted below:

Wheeler's ethics agreement is posted below: