Issa, Davis Call For Investigation of EPA Conduct Supporting Calif. Greenhouse Gas Waiver

Press Release

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), the Ranking Member of the Full Committee, today, in a letter to Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman called for an investigation into questionable conduct by senior Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") officials in connection with EPA's recent decision on the State of California's request for a federal waiver to allow the state to enforce its own regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. The Committee, under Chairman Waxman's direction, is already investigating alleged lobbying by a Department of Transportation ("DOT") official to oppose the California request. "A decision not to investigate this matter would seem to indicate that otherwise improper lobbying will not be scrutinized by the Committee if the majority happens to agree with the position being advocated," wrote Issa and Davis.

Committee Democrats, in a letter to Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters, previously asserted that use of federal resources to lobby EPA on the California request was inappropriate. "[DOT staff's action] raises serious concerns. It is not an appropriate use of federal resources to lobby members of Congress to oppose state efforts to protect the environment," the June 12, 2007, letter stated.

According to press reports and evidence obtained by the Committee in its investigation of the EPA's rejection of California's request, senior EPA officials responsible for the agency's work on the request provided substantial information and advice to a private individual to assist in his lobbying effort to persuade the EPA Administrator to grant the waiver. Such conduct raises serious questions about whether senior EPA officials either violated the lobbying ban or otherwise misused their positions to surreptitiously influence EPA's decision on the waiver request.

Issa, the Ranking Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, said a refusal by Democrats to investigate these new revelations would be yet another example of this Committee neglecting legitimate government oversight in favor of partisan politics and media show trials. "This Committee has used partisan politics and a zeal for media attention in choosing its investigations," said Issa. "Its duty to seek and stop misuse of taxpayer dollars has been compromised by the partisan political lens through which it views its responsibilities."

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