Testimony before a Senate committee indicates the Environmental Protection Agency’s ombudsman would not have the independence necessary to do the job under a reorganization planned by the E.P.A. Administrator. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham explains:
Transcript
Testimony before a Senate committee indicates the Environmental Protection Agency’s ombudsman would not have the independence necessary to do the job under a reorganization planned by the EPA Administrator. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
The
ombudsman is supposed to represent the interests of the public within the EPA without fear of repercussion. An official with the General Accounting Office told senators that the EPA’s plan to put the ombudsman under the EPA’s Office of Inspector General would take away the ombudsman’s independence. The General Accounting Office finds that the ombudsman needs independence, impartiality and confidentiality to do the job correctly. By putting the ombudsman under the authority of another office, the ombudsman would lose control of the budget and authority to decide which cases
to pursue. That would mean the ombudsman would lose — at the very least — the appearance of operating independently of the rest of the EPA. The EPA indicates it wants to combine the offices to streamline bureaucracy. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.