"GREEN" RULES * USA - Report details EPA's rule reversal
Agency head changed opinion on Calif. limits after White House talk
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -May 20, 2008: -- The head of the Environmental Protection Agency reversed himself on whether to grant California's request to impose a 30-percent reduction in vehicle tailpipe emissions by 2016 after talking to White House officials, according to a report released Monday... According to the report, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson "was very interested in a full grant of the waiver" in August and September, Jason Burnett, a political appointee and associate deputy EPA administrator, said in a deposition. Later, Johnson shifted to supporting a partial grant of the waiver and then ultimately changed positions completely, denying it on Dec. 19, Burnett said... Burnett declined to tell the committee whether Johnson met with President Bush on the waiver, or to explain why Johnson changed his mind... The report said the EPA and White House withheld 32 documents "that evidence telephone calls or meetings in the White House involving at least one high-ranking EPA official and at least one assistant to the president or the president himself."... The report, based on interviews with eight key EPA staffers, paints a picture that political officials in the EPA sought to soften or eliminate the career staff's recommendation to grant California's request...
Labels: green regulations
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