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Summer 1998 "What is the industry response to POGO?" EPA Ombudsman to Take on Ohio Superfund Site This site is a classic example of the failures of the Superfund cleanup program, and the burdens shouldered by communities to protect their own health and safety. Because communities have no legal standing to challenge the EPA's arrangements with the polluting companies, the EPA's Ombudsman is their only recourse. Unfortunately, the EPA tries to keep the Ombudsman under tight control. The American Bar Association has criteria for an Ombudsman Office, requiring independence and discretionary power over what complaints the Ombudsman does or does not investigate. The EPA's internal policy, however, is to attempt to stifle their Ombudsman's power. POGO is also working with whistleblowers inside the EPA, as well as the Natural Resources Defense Council, to change existing law so that Superfund communities will have legal standing in the negotiations between the EPA and the polluters.
Are They Members of Congress or BIG OIL Lobbyists?
Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Pete Domenici (R-NM) and John Breaux (D-LA) have been working to prevent the Department of the Interior (DOI) from issuing rules needed to protect the public's oil royalty income. By delaying DOI's proposed rules, the pro-oil Senators will cost the public at least $66 million annually and probably more than $100 million a year in income used for education and the environment. DOI's proposed rules would base royalties on real world market prices, rather than prices picked by the companies themselves. The proposed rules would impact the major oil companies, not smaller independents. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) will introduce an amendment on the Senate floor to repeal the pro-oil amendments. Meanwhile, the pro-oil industry Senators and Big Oil executives met with DOI officials behind closed doors without including a voice for the taxpayer. The oil interests forced DOI to reopen the comment period on the rules so they could again voice their opposition. As a result of our vigorous complaints about this special treatment for the oil industry, a second meeting was held with DOI officials. This meeting, hosted by Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and George Miller (D-CA), included members of taxpayer, environmental, educational and Native American groups as well as POGO, who were able to voice their views of DOI's proposed rule. We were surprised to find that POGO has recently been listed as a panel topic at the 2nd Annual National Oil and Gas Royalty Conference . The panel is to address, "What is the 'Project on Government Oversight (POGO)'? What is the industry response to POGO?" Recognizing they can't win a substantive debate on the underpayment of royalties for crude oil produced on federal lands, the oil companies are resorting to "shooting the messenger." Buy First -- Test Later After many bad experiences, it was finally established that it was a good idea for the government to test-fly expensive and advanced new aircraft before buying them. The idea is that most of the promised flight-testing program should be completed before committing to production. Yet now the Air Force is replacing the hard-learned and common sense fly-before-buy principle with the opposite, buy-before-fly. The Air Force has pushed Congress to authorize the purchase of the F-22 aircraft with only an astoundingly low four percent of its planned flight testing completed. Senator Dale Bumpers (D-AR) sponsored an amendment to require more testing before approving the aircraft. POGO issued an Alert opposing the Air Force move. The Alert pointed out that one of the main reasons that the Defense Department ends up with over-budget, behind-schedule, and under-performing weapons is that it insists on pushing weapons through the various steps of production before they are ready, proven, and tested. While the rhetoric popular in government now is to adopt commercial "best practices" -- such as full testing -- the reality in the Pentagon is far different. Unfortunately, the Senate voted to approve the Air Force plan. POGO plans to continue the fight on this precedent setting issue. Tripwired Airliners? POGO was completing its report on the dangers of faulty aircraft wiring when the FAA announced its emergency grounding of Boeing 737 commercial airliners because of potentially catastrophic wiring failures. The POGO report Tripwired? gained national media attention and served to expose the broader issue -- that the failures are not limited to wiring in 737's wings, but also could affect other wires in most commercial and military aircraft. Using information from an aircraft wiring whistleblower who had long been pushing for more attention to hazardous wiring, POGO pointed out that military and civilian agencies were not sharing enough information about dangerous wiring problems, and called for a series of steps to better assess the extent of the problem and improve system-wide response to the issue. POGO's recommendations are currently being examined in Congress. FCA: Yet Another Battle POGO has recently learned that the defense industry plans to mount a campaign similar to the health care industry's attack on the False Claims Act (FCA). Sources tell POGO that defense lobbyists plan to use the health care industry's complaint that small contractors are being threatened with "unfair" lawsuits based on nickel & dime "mistakes". POGO will continue to fight off these special interests and their efforts to gut or repeal one of the most effective tools in deterring, exposing, and penalizing those who defraud the federal government. Rulemaking Required to Improve FEC Data Because the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and some Members of Congress lack the incentive to improve FEC data, POGO has taken the initiative to craft a proposed Rulemaking that potentially will force public comments for improvements to FEC's current system of collecting and disclosing campaign contributions. FEC's numbers are inaccurate, thereby misinforming the public. POGO's proposal, like our April report on this issue, will detail current loopholes in the FEC system and improvements which will correct differentials in PAC contributions when compared to candidate receipts in the FEC data bases. Lowering Standards The federal government, and especially the Defense Department , is unable to balance its books. Apparently, the solution to the accounting chaos in the Pentagon promoted by the defense industry is to eliminate accounting requirements. POGO testified against two separate but similar initiatives. In the first case, an allegedly "independent" panel is reviewing whether to eliminate the Cost Accounting Standards Board , a small office that sets standards to be followed primarily by defense contractors. The standards apply to $90 billion in defense contracts each year. The review panel is clouded by conflicts of interest, as it includes members from the defense industry and firms that have lobbied against the standards. Testifying before the panel in June, POGO pointed out the continued importance of an objective Cost Accounting Standards Board and the standards it sets. Whereas the Cost Accounting Standards Board sets standards for contractors, the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) sets standards for government agencies. In the second case of weakening government standards, the FASAB proposed to eliminate one very useful form of Defense Department weapon cost reporting. POGO Defense Specialist Marcus Corbin testified before the Board that the public needs more clear information on the costs of the weapons it spends so much of its taxes on, not less. According to trade press reports, following a day of testimony by POGO, Taxpayers for Common Sense , and others, the Board is reconsidering its proposal.
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