ZINKE SIGNED ORDER IN JANUARY MAKING ‘ACTING’ DIRECTORS OFFICIAL
From: The Hill “Signed under the radar, Zinke’s Jan. 12 order gave the acting directors for such bureaus as the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service “temporary re-delegation of authority,” according to the order obtained by watchdog group Public Employees for ...
‘WHERE IS EVERYBODY?’ SENATORS ASK OF MISSING TRUMP PICKS
From: Greenwire “Last month, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility asked Interior’s inspector general to probe the agency’s use of temporary or acting directors and whether it had violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, possibly making decisions invalid ( ...
EPA CHIEF’S CLEAN-WATER ROLLBACK SHAPED BY SECRECY, LUXURY TRAVEL AND HANDPICKED AUDIENCES
From: LA Times “The effort is aimed at removing federal Clean Water Act protection from millions of miles of streams and wetlands, including more than 80% of the waters in California and the arid West. The administration last month suspended for two years the new guidelines protecting ...
FEDS’ DISCOUNTED GRAZING FEES HURT TAXPAYERS, ENVIRONMENT, REPORT SAYS
From: The Daily Yonder ““While heavily subsidized grazing is not new to this administration, reducing low fees even further is a step in the wrong direction,” said Kirsten Stade, advocacy director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). “Keeping grazing ...
INTERIOR SECRETARY RYAN ZINKE’S NRA VISIT AMONG SEVERAL TRIPS BEING QUESTIONED
From: CNN “Internal emails obtained by the nonprofit group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and shared with CNN, show the logistical hoops Park Service staff jumped through when they had to divert an agency boat from its usual Ventura, California, location to meet Zinke ...
THE EPA WANTS TO COMBINE THREE OFFICES INTO ONE. HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW
From: Buzzfeed News “”By merging these offices, to me, it seems like another nail in the coffin of science,” Kyla Bennett, who ran wetland enforcement and permitting in EPA’s New England region under the Clinton and Bush administrations.” Read more . . . Read the ...
D.C. DIGEST: INHOFE TRAVELS TO TAIWAN, SOUTH KOREA; PRUITT’S LEGAL PRESSURE CONTINUES
From: Tulsa World “Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, known as CREW, say that Pruitt and other EPA officials avoid keeping notes on important issues to avoid leaving a paper trail the public and press can ...
ANTI-SECRECY LAWSUITS SOARING AGAINST PRUITT’S EPA
From: Politico “…two groups — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility — filed a suit last week alleging that Pruitt has illegally told staffers not to take notes” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...
ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY TOO MUCH SECRECY IN EPA
From: Courthouse News Service “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed the joint complaint against both administrator and agency on Thursday.”” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...
EPA AND NATIONAL ARCHIVES SUED OVER SCOTT PRUITT’S RECORD-KEEPING HABITS
From: Government Executive “The plaintiffs quoted the Federal Records Act’s provision to ensure the “accurate and complete documentation of the policies and transactions of the federal government.”” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...
LAWSUIT CLAIMS AGENCY BYPASSED WRITTEN RECORDS REQUIREMENTS
From: Greenwire “The groups, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, say EPA has violated the Federal Records Act.” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...
GROUPS SUE EPA OVER LACK OF RECORDS
From: The Hill “”Under Scott Pruitt, the EPA has assumed a bunker mentality where paper trails are religiously avoided unless penned in invisible ink,” PEER counsel Adam Carlesco said in a statement. “By law, the American public has a right to know the basis for public health ...
EPA AND SCOTT PRUITT SUED BY GROUPS ALLEGING AGENCY VIOLATED FEDERAL RECORDS LAWS
From: CNBC “These actions prevent Americans from obtaining records of EPA processes and decision-making through the Freedom of Information Act, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.” Read more . . . ...
TRESPASSING ALIENS; GARBAGE PRIVACY; BRAND YOUR CALVES
From: High Country News “Apparently, the public will never learn about the reasoning, scientific or otherwise, that formed Pruitt’s opinion, because the Justice Department — representing the EPA — considers PEER’s Freedom of Information Act request “a trap” that would mean ...
DUELING LAWS AT PLAY IN WHETHER INTERIOR APPOINTMENTS ARE LEGAL
From: National Parks Traveler “In essence, said Michael Nixon, PEER’s strategic programs director, while the 1998 Reform Act did provide for some agency exceptions that allowed appointments to be made, the Interior Department was not among them, and so Secertary Zinke can’t now ...
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP CHARGES INTERIOR WITH ILLEGALLY FILLING TOP VACANCIES
From: Government Executive “The current top officers at the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management are working “in blatant violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act,” said the complaint filed on Monday by the Silver Spring, Md.- ...
SCIENCE ADVOCATES TELL FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: WRITE IT DOWN
From: Union of Concerned Scientists “The guide is a joint project of UCS, the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, GAP, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and POGO. Science advocates will distribute the guide through scientific conferences and professional networks, and ...
PEER BLASTS DEP FOR FAILURES MADE DURING PETROLEUM CLEANUP PROGRAM REVAMP
From: Florida Specifier “In a white paper released in January, Florida Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility provided an extensive and well-documented critique of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Petroleum Restoration Program, pointing out its ...
DEP PREAPPROVAL/PRP TIMELINE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY THE DEP OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
From: Enviro-Net “In conjunction with our Feb/March 2018 Specifier article entitled “PEER blasts DEP for failures made during petroleum cleanup program revamp,” we offer this timeline of events that lead to the petroleum program reorganization–must-read material for anyone ...
GROUP CLAIMS ACTING NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DIRECTOR APPOINTED ILLEGALLY
From: National Parks Traveler “In its claim, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility contends that Mr. Smith’s appointment was in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. “The way the Trump administration has filled agency leadership slots with temporary or ...
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