[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 40 (Friday, March 23, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2829-S2830]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mr. Allard, and Mr. Craig):
  S. 606. A bill to provide additional authority to the Office of 
Ombudsman of the Environmental Protection Agency; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Ombudsman 
Reauthorization Act of 2001 in partnership with the Senator from 
Colorado, Senator Allard, and my colleague from Idaho, Senator Craig.
  We all expect our federal agencies to operate professionally, 
efficiently, and with the interests of the American people at the 
forefront. To help ensure this commitment, several officials are 
charged with the responsibility of internally auditing and monitoring 
the operations and expenses of agency and department programs. These 
individuals are sometimes known as ``watch-dogs'' for their role in 
alerting the public and Congress to questionable activities.
  Within the Environmental Protection Agency's, EPA, Office of Solid 
Waste and Emergency Response, OSWER, this duty is held by the 
Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is ultimately responsible for responding to 
public inquiries into the activities of OSWER and investigating those 
matters that warrant closer scrutiny.
  Originally established in 1984, the Ombudsman provides the public and 
Congress with an added measure of confidence that controversial waste 
control and emergency response actions by the EPA are being properly 
overseen and investigated where appropriate. Communities in Idaho, for 
their part, have twice welcomed the Ombudsman and his staff to our 
state to look into questionable decisions made by the EPA under the 
Superfund statute. In both cases, the Ombudsman has made extraordinary 
efforts to keep the public informed on the issues and a part of the 
investigations. Each time, the people of Idaho have shown collective 
relief that someone of the Ombudsman's stature and expertise has become 
involved in cleanup decisions in our state. In both cases, the 
Ombudsman has demonstrated an ability to understand the will of the 
community and, despite strong agency resistance, to point out policy 
decisions for cleanups that were not justified or in the public 
interest.
  In 1988, the standing authority of the Ombudsman expired, leaving the 
office and investigations in a precarious position. In essence, while 
the Ombudsman endured as an ``at will'' employee of the EPA, the 
Office's independence and authority have continuously been eroded by 
the agency. Today, the Ombudsman must get approval for new 
investigation and budgetary needs from the very people he and his staff 
must monitor. With these restrictions on the Ombudsman's functions, the 
public has become increasingly alarmed by the loss of a true internal 
watch-dog of EPA activities.
  The Ombudsman Reauthorization Act of 2001 would help restore public 
confidence. First and foremost, it would reestablish the statutory 
recognition of the Office of Ombudsman within the OSWER function of the 
EPA. Second, it would clarify the operational guidelines and 
authorities of the Ombudsman to collect information on matters 
requested by the public and investigate questionable agency activities. 
Finally, the measure would create a separate budget authority, free 
from the possible influence of those that may be subject to 
investigations.
  This legislation is a careful balance between the need to restore 
public confidence in the independence of the Ombudsman and the need to 
ensure discretion and accountability in investigations conducted by the 
Ombudsman. I invite the Administration to engage us in an effort to 
recreate the Ombudsman in the model originally envisioned by Congress 
in the 1980s when the office was established. Our work together will 
help ensure the American people that EPA OSWER programs are chosen 
based on merits, functioning well, and are conducted in the interests 
of the public health and the environment.
  I would like to take a moment to congratulate my colleague, Senator 
Allard, for his partnership in this effort. His leadership on this 
issue has helped raise public and congressional attention when few 
others recognized the importance of this cause. I salute him for his 
diligence in advancing this debate, and I have welcomed the opportunity 
to work with him on this legislation.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I rise today to say a few words about an 
issue of government accountability and public safety. Today, my 
colleague from Idaho, Senator Crapo and I are introducing the Ombudsman 
Reauthorization Act of 2001. The bill's goal is to reauthorize the 
Ombudsman's Office within the Environmental Protection Agency's Office 
of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, (OSWER).
  I'd like to keep my remarks brief, but I want to share my reasoning 
and interest in this issue. Last year, I introduced similar legislation 
because of an ongoing battle between the citizens of a Denver 
neighborhood and the EPA concerning the Shattuck Superfund site. Only 
through the work of the Ombudsman's office, did the truth finally 
become known.
  The story surrounding the Shattuck site in the Overland Park 
neighborhood in southwest Denver and what the EPA did to this community 
will have a lasting impact not only on the residents of the Overland 
Park neighborhood, but on each and every one of us who looks to the EPA 
to be the guardian of our nation's environmental health and safety. In 
1997, after several years of

[[Page S2830]]

EPA stonewalling, the residents of Overland Park in Denver brought 
their concerns about a Superfund site in their neighborhood and their 
frustrations with the EPA to my attention. I learned that the 
neighborhood had run into a wall of bureaucracy that was unresponsive 
to the very public it is charged with protecting and I requested the 
Ombudsman's intervention. In early 1999, the Ombudsman's office began 
an investigation and quickly determined that the claims made by 
residents were not only meritorious, but the EPA officials had engaged 
in an effort to keep documents and decisions hidden from the public 
thereby placing their health in danger.
  The Shattuck saga has been a frustrating and often disheartening 
experience for all involved. It is an example of what can happen when a 
government entity goes unchecked. For the residents of Denver, the 
Office of Ombudsman afforded the only opportunity to reveal the truth, 
and for the health and safety of the public to be given proper 
priority. In fact, the Ombudsman was so successful at uncovering the 
facts surrounding Shattuck, his investigation has resulted in EPA 
officials restructuring the office so that its actions may be 
restricted, and its independence compromised.
  Without the Ombudsman's investigation on Shattuck, the residents of 
Overland Park would have never learned the truth about the decisions 
made which had direct impact on their personal health. The Ombudsman's 
investigation brought integrity back into the process. Without the 
Ombudsman's work, a trusted federal agency would have been able to 
successfully hide the truth from the very people it is charged to 
protect. The Shattuck issue is a decade long example of why citizens' 
trust in their government has waned. Our bill will preserve the only 
mechanism within the EPA that the public can trust to protect their 
health and safety.
  I am not alone in my concerns and the Shattuck case is not unique. 
Many of my fellow Senators and Representatives have experienced similar 
battles with the EPA over the years in their states.
  After I introduced legislation last year, Senator Crapo joined me in 
my legislative endeavors and has been a great asset. In experiencing a 
similar superfund problem in his home state of Idaho, Senator Crapo 
knows firsthand the need for this independent and trustworthy office. 
As a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, his 
assistance is greatly appreciated by me, and by all those who believe 
that their government should be there to serve the needs of the people. 
With Senator Crapo's assistance, the committee held a hearing on my 
bill last year which helped to bring many of these concerns to light 
and push the issue forward. We have worked together in the first months 
of this Congress to craft this new bill, which I believe takes great 
strides in properly defining the role, powers, duties and 
responsibilities of a federal ombudsman. The bill guarantees the much 
needed independence of the office without creating another 
unaccountable government entity.
  Let me make it clear that my main priority in introducing this bill, 
is to keep the EPA OSWER Ombudsman Office independent and open for 
business. I believe that in the future, my colleagues may find 
themselves in a similar situation and I want to make sure that they 
have every assurance that the public's safety is protected, that its 
voice is heard, that its questions are answered and that its concerns 
are addressed.
  I look forward to working with new EPA Administrator Whitman to 
address these concerns and I'm sure she will agree with me on the need 
for government accountability and public confidence.
  I would ask all my colleagues to take a close look at this bill and 
join Senator Crapo and me in passing it.
                                 ______