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Bush Declares Eco-whistleblower Law Void For Epa Employees
El_Kabong
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http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=743
BUSH DECLARES ECO-WHISTLEBLOWER LAW VOID FOR EPA EMPLOYEES — Stealth Repeal of Clean Water Act Protections by Invoking “Sovereign Immunity”
Washington, DC — The Bush administration has declared itself immune from whistleblower protections for federal workers under the Clean Water Act, according to legal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result of an opinion issued by a unit within the Office of the Attorney General, federal workers will have little protection from official retaliation for reporting water pollution enforcement breakdowns, manipulations of science or cleanup failures.
Citing an “unpublished opinion of the [Attorney General’s] Office of Legal Counsel,” the Secretary of Labor’s Administrative Review Board has ruled federal employees may no longer pursue whistleblower claims under the Clean Water Act. The opinion invoked the ancient doctrine of sovereign immunity which is based on the old English legal maxim that “The King Can Do No Wrong.” It is an absolute defense to any legal action unless the “sovereign” consents to be sued.
The opinion and the ruling reverse nearly two decades of precedent. Approximately 170,000 federal employees working within environmental agencies are affected by the loss of whistleblower rights.
“The Bush administration is engineering the stealth repeal of whistleblower protections,” stated PEER General Counsel Richard Condit, who had won several of the earlier cases applying environmental whistleblower protections to federal specialists. “The use of an unpublished opinion to change official interpretations is a giant step backward to the days of the secret Star Chamber.” PEER ultimately obtained a copy of the opinion under the Freedom of Information Act.
At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a more extreme position that absolutely no environmental laws protect its employees from reprisal. EPA’s stance would place the provisions of all major federal environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, beyond the reach of federal employees seeking legal protection for good faith efforts to enforce or implement the anti-pollution provisions contained within those laws.
These actions arose in the case of Sharyn Erickson, an EPA employee who had reported problems with agency contracts for toxic clean-ups. After conducting a hearing, an administrative law judge called EPA’s conduct “reprehensible” and awarded Erickson $225,000 in punitive damages but the Labor Secretary overturned that ruling.
“It is astonishing for the Bush administration to now suddenly claim that it is above the law,” said PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein, who is handling Erickson’s appeal of the Labor Secretary’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit based in Atlanta. “Congress could end this debate by simply declaring that it intends that the whistleblower protections of these anti-pollution laws apply to the federal government.”
Congress is now debating Clean Water Act clarifications in the wake of a confusing U.S. Supreme Court decision (Rapanos et ux., et al. v. United States) handed down this June that muddies the extent of federal jurisdiction over wetlands. Unless Congress also resolves the Clean Water Act sovereign immunity question, scores of federal employee whistleblower cases may be dismissed or languish in limbo while the issue is litigated.
###
Read the unpublished opinion of the Attorney General’s Office of Legal Counsel
View the EPA’s brief advocating sovereign immunity from all environmental statutes
Look at the PEER brief against the Bush sovereign immunity claim
See how Labor Secretary Elaine Chao invited the reopening of the sovereign immunity issue
BUSH DECLARES ECO-WHISTLEBLOWER LAW VOID FOR EPA EMPLOYEES — Stealth Repeal of Clean Water Act Protections by Invoking “Sovereign Immunity”
Washington, DC — The Bush administration has declared itself immune from whistleblower protections for federal workers under the Clean Water Act, according to legal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result of an opinion issued by a unit within the Office of the Attorney General, federal workers will have little protection from official retaliation for reporting water pollution enforcement breakdowns, manipulations of science or cleanup failures.
Citing an “unpublished opinion of the [Attorney General’s] Office of Legal Counsel,” the Secretary of Labor’s Administrative Review Board has ruled federal employees may no longer pursue whistleblower claims under the Clean Water Act. The opinion invoked the ancient doctrine of sovereign immunity which is based on the old English legal maxim that “The King Can Do No Wrong.” It is an absolute defense to any legal action unless the “sovereign” consents to be sued.
The opinion and the ruling reverse nearly two decades of precedent. Approximately 170,000 federal employees working within environmental agencies are affected by the loss of whistleblower rights.
“The Bush administration is engineering the stealth repeal of whistleblower protections,” stated PEER General Counsel Richard Condit, who had won several of the earlier cases applying environmental whistleblower protections to federal specialists. “The use of an unpublished opinion to change official interpretations is a giant step backward to the days of the secret Star Chamber.” PEER ultimately obtained a copy of the opinion under the Freedom of Information Act.
At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a more extreme position that absolutely no environmental laws protect its employees from reprisal. EPA’s stance would place the provisions of all major federal environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, beyond the reach of federal employees seeking legal protection for good faith efforts to enforce or implement the anti-pollution provisions contained within those laws.
These actions arose in the case of Sharyn Erickson, an EPA employee who had reported problems with agency contracts for toxic clean-ups. After conducting a hearing, an administrative law judge called EPA’s conduct “reprehensible” and awarded Erickson $225,000 in punitive damages but the Labor Secretary overturned that ruling.
“It is astonishing for the Bush administration to now suddenly claim that it is above the law,” said PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein, who is handling Erickson’s appeal of the Labor Secretary’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit based in Atlanta. “Congress could end this debate by simply declaring that it intends that the whistleblower protections of these anti-pollution laws apply to the federal government.”
Congress is now debating Clean Water Act clarifications in the wake of a confusing U.S. Supreme Court decision (Rapanos et ux., et al. v. United States) handed down this June that muddies the extent of federal jurisdiction over wetlands. Unless Congress also resolves the Clean Water Act sovereign immunity question, scores of federal employee whistleblower cases may be dismissed or languish in limbo while the issue is litigated.
###
Read the unpublished opinion of the Attorney General’s Office of Legal Counsel
View the EPA’s brief advocating sovereign immunity from all environmental statutes
Look at the PEER brief against the Bush sovereign immunity claim
See how Labor Secretary Elaine Chao invited the reopening of the sovereign immunity issue
standin above the crowd
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/26/ldt.01.html
DOBBS: There is mounting concern tonight that the Bush administration is about to take away key whistleblower protections for federal environmental workers. All of this as the Bush administration has eased environmental restrictions in the wake of the nation's two hurricane disasters.
Lisa Sylvester reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hugh Kaufman has blown the whistle on issues ranging from pollution in the Love Canal to contaminated water in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The EPA veteran is protected by the federal government's whistleblower program. But critics say the Department of Labor is trying to water down those protections. Without them, government employees may be more reluctant to expose waste, fraud and abuse.
HUGH KAUFMAN, WHISTLEBLOWER: Most working level troops at all government agencies, not just EPA, are youngsters who basically don't want to blow their careers in dead end jobs if they commit truth. SYLVESTER: In a case pending before the Labor Department, administrators have asked to explore whether a provision in the law called sovereign immunity applies.
JEFF RUCH, PEER: The sovereign immunity defense is a notion that's taken from English common law that says the king can do no wrong. And what it means in this context is that federal employees can't bring claims or complaints about federal agencies.
SYLVESTER: Public employees for environmental responsibility says 170,000 federal employees working in environmental agencies, including the EPA and the Interior Department, would be impacted if labor officials follow through. The Labor Department administrative review board would not comment because it's an ongoing case.
Sharyn Erickson brought the complaint which involves toxic cleanup sites.
SHARYN ERICKSON, WHISTLEBLOWER: Well, if the general public can't count on accurate information from EPA on are these sites being cleaned up, is there health being protected, you know, their whole health and the health of future generations is at risk.
SYLVESTER: Government watchdog groups second that opinion.
TOM DEVINE, GOVT. ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: And there's really no excuse for what the Labor Department is considering in this case, taking away punitive damages when Congress wrote them into the law. It's not the Labor Department's business to write the laws.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: And we should reiterate that this is something the Labor Department is considering. It's not a done deal.
The Labor Department's administrative review board is asking for the parties to weigh in. Also OSHA, another division in the Department of Labor, filed a brief and sided with Sharyn Erickson, supporting whistleblower protection in four out of six statutes -- Lou.
DOBBS: And once again, these protections under assault. This bears careful watching. And Lisa Sylvester, I'm pleased to say, will be doing so, as always.
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
I'm gonna have to take the earth!
Sorry George...I know you played intramural rugby at Yale and everything...I'm gonna just have to side w/ Nature and God on this one....
we'll see if your lawyers can protect you in the afterlife.....
-Big Fish
"170,000 federal employees in environmental agencies"
:eek:
there is some scary shit going on around here... stay tuned for more consolidation of power to the "executive branch"...same bat time, same bat channel
no shit there... i cant even open the fucking newspaper down here any more