Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990 TAG: 9003290649
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The House voted 371-55 on Wednesday to elevate the Environmental Protection Agency to Cabinet level. The move is intended to give the agency greater prestige and influence within the administration.
President Bush has said he wants to sign such a measure on Earth Day, April 22. But the White House strongly opposes parts of the House bill, saying they would infringe on the president's authority to manage the executive branch.
The administration particularly opposes a provision that would give full autonomy to a new Bureau of Environmental Statistics within the department, including a requirement that none of its technical reports would be subject to administration review.
Officials suggested that Bush might veto the measure if the parts the administration opposes are not deleted by the Senate or in a conference committee that will produce the final version.
A similar bill elevating the EPA to Cabinet rank has been approved by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. It has yet to be taken up by the full Senate, which has been preoccupied with clean-air legislation.
In addition to creating the government's 15th Cabinet-level agency, the House bill requires for the first time that the federal government comply with the same environmental laws on disposal of toxic wastes as industry.
"We're asking the federal government to live by the same rules as everyone else," said Rep. Hank Brown, R-Colo. He said several federal facilities in his state have violated toxic waste disposal requirements for years.
The House bill also would require:
The new Department of the Environment to limit its use of private consultants and guard against conflicts of interest involving consultants and outside advisory panels.
The director of the independent Bureau of Environmental Statistics to be a civil servant who would not be subject to dismissal except for malfeasance.
A certain share of senior department officials, including regional administrators, to be non-political appointees.
Strengthening of enforcement against polluters, including the hiring of additional investigators. The number of criminal and civil investigators would be increased by 30 percent a year over five years.
House Republicans argued that many of the additional provisions were "designed to embarrass" the president and force him to veto the legislation.
"We're not here to fine-tune or micromanage," complained Minority Leader Robert Michel, R-Ill.
But Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., a key sponsor of the legislation, said the bill was intended not only to change the name of the EPA, but to address some of its problems.
The bill will "depoliticize" the EPA, provide reliable environmental statistics and put "a halt to conflicts of interests" at the agency, Conyers said in a statement.
An independent regulatory agency, the EPA has about 16,000 employees and a budget of $5.5 billion.
by CNB