EPA boss faced possible firing over waiver
WASHINGTON (AP) - February 26, 2008 Johnson denied the waiver request in December, blocking
California and at least 16 other states from implementing the
reductions.
The internal discussions were a part of transcripts released
Tuesday by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is investigating that
decision.
Among them is a staff memo prepared in October for the head of
EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Margo Oge, at the
request of William K. Reilly, who served as EPA administrator under
President George H.W. Bush.
Reilly, who later publicly questioned Johnson's decision to deny
the waiver, wanted the memo for a discussion with the
administrator, he said. The memo urged Johnson to grant the waiver
or find a compromise.
"You have to find a way to get this done. If you cannot, you
will face a pretty big personal decision about whether you are able
to stay in the job under those circumstances," said the memo,
written by a deputy to Oge, who is a career agency employee.
"This is a choice only you can make, but I ask you to think
about the history and the future of the agency in making it. If you
are asked to deny this waiver, I fear the credibility of the agency
that we both love will be irreparably damaged," said the memo.
"The eyes of the world are on you," it said.
"It is obvious to me that there is no legal or technical
justification for denying this," the memo added.
After Boxer aides released the memo Tuesday, initially saying it
had been written for Oge to deliver, Reilly came forward to explain
his role in requesting it. He said he didn't use much of the memo's
contents when he spoke with Johnson to urge him to grant the
California waiver.
"I certainly did not suggest the administrator should resign,"
Reilly told The Associated Press. "An EPA administrator gets
over-caffeinated advocacy groups saying that three times a day and
I certainly wasn't going to join that parade."
Reilly, who co-chairs a bipartisan group called the National
Commission on Energy Policy, said he "absolutely" would have
granted the waiver had he been administrator.
He said he made his position clear to Johnson and in an earlier
conversation with White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten. "My
views were well-known," Reilly said.
EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said the documents reinforced
that Johnson was exposed to a wide range of views before making his
decision.
"All these documents, all that we've produced in accordance
with the committee's oversight responsibilities, all they show is a
continuance of what we've talked about - the administrator was
fully informed, he had great career and political staff giving him
options, and he followed what he saw was the law," Shradar said.
Johnson has said repeatedly that he alone made the decision to
deny the waiver, but Boxer, who chairs the Environment and Public
Works Committee, questioned that.
She released a portion of Johnson's schedule showing a meeting
at the White House apparently to discuss the California waiver. An
attached briefing memo seems to support California's position.
"You know, a funny thing happened on the way to the White
House," Boxer said. "Mr. Johnson goes into the White House with a
briefing that tells him to fight for the waiver, and then the
waiver's not granted."
Boxer's aides have been allowed to transcribe unredacted
versions of the EPA documents under the supervision of EPA staff.
Boxer has ignored EPA requests to keep the contents confidential.
The EPA, which has been sued by California and other states over
the waiver decision, has yet to release communications between EPA
and the White House, saying they are under legal review, Boxer
said.
In a letter to Boxer, EPA Associate Administrator Christopher P.
Bliley said EPA is consulting with other executive branch agencies
on the document requests.
In denying the waiver, Johnson said that a national approach
would be better and that California had not demonstrated a
compelling need for the law, which would have forced automakers to
cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light
trucks by 2016.
Johnson made his decision on the same day President Bush signed
a new law raising fuel economy standards, which Johnson said would
provide the needed nationwide approach. California officials argue
that California's law would be stronger and act faster.
The Clean Air Act gives California special authority to regulate
vehicle pollution because the state began such regulations before
the federal government. But a federal waiver is required, and if
California gets one, then other states can adopt California's
standards, too.
Twelve other states - Connecticut, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington - had adopted
California's tailpipe standards and the governors of Arizona,
Colorado, Florida and Utah had said they also plan to adopt them.
The rules were under consideration elsewhere, too.