Sign on letter from over 70 organizations supporting H.R. 1431 in the House and S. 606 in the Senate to ensure the independence of the EPA National Ombudsman
To:
- Chairman James Jeffords
- Environment and Public Works Committee
- 410 Dirksen Senate Office Building
- Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Jeffords,
Our organizations are writing in support of S. 606, the Ombudsman Reauthorization Act of 2001. As you know, the very essence of an ombudsman is to stand apart from the agency and to perform independent investigations. Discretion over which cases an ombudsman looks into, without having to ask permission from anyone within the organization, is essential for the effectiveness of that position. Should the ombudsman be, or appear to be, controlled by the agency whose work he is meant to investigate, his recommendations and findings of fact would be suspect, compromising the integrity and legitimacy of the position.
Unfortunately, under the current structure, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) national hazardous waste ombudsman is located within the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), the department whose decisions he is responsible for investigating. Furthermore, his budget and staffing resources are controlled by OSWER management. The regional ombudsmen's independence is also severely limited or non-existent.
The recent move by Administrator Whitman to place the function in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in January, 2002, is not an adequate solution. It would, in fact, further bury the ombudsman function. It appears the IG will determine which cases get investigated or not, and the ombudsman still will not have any staff, will not have supervisory authority over the regional ombudsmen, and will have no budget.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) has come to the same conclusions that we have. In their recently released report, "EPA's National and Regional Ombudsmen Do Not Have Sufficient Independence," the GAO concluded that, in relation to the ombudsmen's independence:
- The ombudsmen are not independent of the organizational units they are responsible for investigating;
- The national ombudsman should be located outside OSWER, the unit he is responsible for investigating;
- The regional ombudsman program should be reexamined and, if that program is necessary, should be consistent with relevant professional standards;
- The national ombudsman should be provided with his own budget and should have direct control over his staff; and
- The national ombudsman should be accountable for his activities through a publicly available annual report.
The national ombudsman serves the invaluable function of being the last recourse available to communities affected by Superfund and other hazardous waste sites. The ombudsman is also, in some cases, the first official to adequately investigate and resolve the problems faced by these communities. Ensuring an independent ombudsman function also ensures citizens with protection too frequently denied them by the EPA.
S. 606 is vital to establish a truly independent ombudsman function. It establishes and ensures independence for the national ombudsman by creating an Office of Ombudsman within the EPA and making the ombudsman report directly to the Administrator; ensures independence for the regional ombudsmen by placing the positions under the supervision of the national ombudsman; provides the ombudsman with budget and staffing resources and control over those resources; and makes the ombudsman accountable by requiring him to publish an annual report on his activities.
We urge you and your colleagues on the Environment and Public Works Committee to cosponsor and quickly pass this legislation.
Signed by:
- 20/20 Vision
- James Wyerman, Executive Director
- Aberdeen Proving Ground Restoration Advisory Board
- Theodore. J. Henry, MS
- Toxicologist and Community Involvement Specialist Community Member
- Alaska Community Action on Toxics
- Pamela K. Miller, Program Director
- Alaska Waveriders
- Mike Macy, Director of Public Policy
- Alberton Community Coalition for Environmental Health
- Lucinda Hodges, Director
- American Friends Service Committee
- Northeast Ohio Office
- Greg Coleridge, Director, Economic Justice & Empowerment Program
- Arrest the Incinerator Remediation (AIR)
- Vicki Smedley, Chair
- Berks Coalition Against Toxic Sludge (BCATS)
- Judith A. Fasching, President
- Biosolids Information Group
- C. W. Williams, Chairman
- Cetacean Society International
- William W. Rossiter, President
- Chemical Weapons Working Group
- Craig Williams, Director
- Citizens Concerned about Nuclear Waste Impacts
- Sonja Geoghegan, Co-Founder
- Citizens for Environmental Justice (CFEJ)
- Suzie Canales, Chair
- Citizens for a Future New Hampshire
- Caroline Snyder, Ph.D., President
- Citizens United for Responsible Environmentalism (CURE)
- Jacqueline Cooperman, Director, South Bronx CURE
- Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers
- Darrell Geist, Executive Director
- Common Ground
- Dr. Richard Futrell, Steering Committee
- Concerned Citizens of Lake Township
- Christine Borello, President
- Don't Waste Arizona, Inc.
- Stephen M. Brittle, President
- Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education (EAGLE)
- Craig Minowa, Projects Coordinator
- Environmental Health Watch
- Stuart Greenberg, Director
- Environmental Science Research Associates
- Ben Oostdam, Ph.D., Managing Director
- Faith & Life Resources Builder Magazine
- David Hiebert, Editor
- Friends of the Earth
- Gawain Kripke, Director, Economic Campaigns
- Friends of Miller Peninsula State Park
- Darlene Schanfald, President
- Garden Club of Tarpon Springs
- Mary Mosley, Conservation Chairman
- Glynn Environmental Coalition
- Daniel Parshley, Project Manager
- Government Accountability Project
- Tom Devine, Legal Director
- Grand Canyon Trust
- Bill Hedden, Utah Conservation Director
- Greenpeace
- Rick Hind, Legislative Director, Toxics Campaign
- GreenWatch, Inc.
- Bill Smedley, Executive Director
- Halt Environmental Lead Pollution (HELP)
- Susan Shortz, President
- Jim Morris Environmental T-Shirt Co.
- Jim Morris
- Kentucky Environmental Foundation
- Peter Hille, Chair
- Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation, Inc.
- Cynthia Valencic, Vice President for Programs
- Patricia Anne Martin
- Former Mayor, City of Quincy, WA
- Montana-Coalition for Health, Environmental & Economic Rights (CHEER)
- Tony Tweedale, Board Member
- Montana Environmental Information Center
- Anne Hedges, Program Director
- Mothers Organized to Stop Environmental Sins (M.O.S.E.S.)
- Phyllis Glazer, President and Founder
- NYS Citizens Environmental Coalition
- Jack D. Ossont, Board Member
- Valerie Gardner, Co-Chair
- National Center for Environmental Health Strategies, Inc.
- Mary Lamielle, Executive Director
- National Sludge Alliance
- Charlotte Hartman, Coordinator
- National Whistleblower Center
- William Sanjour, Senior Advisor
- Non-Stockpile Chemical Weapons Citizen Coalition
- Elizabeth Crowe, Director
- Olympic Environmental Council
- Steve Koehler, President
- Pennsylvania Environmental Network (PEN)
- Vicki Smedley, President
- Pennsylvania Environmental Network (PEN)
- Dioxin Team
- Vicki Smedley, Team Leader
- Pennsylvania Environmental Network (PEN)
- Military Toxics Team
- Tina Daly, Chair
- Pennsylvania Environmental Network (PEN)
- Sludge Team
- Tina Daly, Chair
- Physicians for Social Responsibility
- SF-Bay Area Chapter
- Robert M. Gould, MD, President
- Pi-Pa-TAG (Pinellas-Pasco Counties Technical Assistance Grant)
- Heather Malinowski, Secretary
- Protect All Children's Environment
- E.M.T. O'Nan, Director
- Protect the Peninsula's Future
- Eloise Kailin, President
- Public Citizen
- Joan Claybrook, President
- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
- Jeff Ruch, Executive Director
- Rocky Mountain Arsenal Site Specific Advisory Board
- John Yelenick, Co-Chairperson
- Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center
- Tom Marshall
- Shenandoah County Alliance Against Toxic Sludge (SCAATS)
- Charlotte H. Hughes, Secretary
- Silver Valley People's Action Coalition
- Barbara Miller, Director
- Snake River Alliance
- Gary E. Richardson, Executive Director
- Take Off Unknowns in Communities (TOXIC)
- Inese Holte, Director of Communications
- Trans Alaska Gas System Environmental Review Committee
- Mike Macy, Coordinator
- Tri-State Environmental Council
- Terri Swearingen, Executive Director
- U.S. PIRG
- Grant Cope, Staff Attorney
- United Parents Against Lead of North Carolina, Inc
- Kristin Joyner, Director
- Valley Watch, Inc.
- John Blair, President
- Washington Toxics Coalition
- Laurie Valeriano, Policy Director
- Waste Not
- Ellen & Paul Connett, Editors
- Wayne/Susquehanna RESCUE
- Joann Morsch, President
- Women's voices for the Earth (WVE)
- Bryony Schwan, Executive Director
- Yggdrasil Institute
- Mary Byrd Davis, Director
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