Letter to the Hon. Gina McCarthy, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - EPA Receives October Golden Fleece Award

Letter

I write today to inform you of my recent Golden Fleece Award to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for wasting $75 million annually for military-type purchases, including guns, body armor, and ammunition for EPA law enforcement agents. Although we must effectively investigate and prosecute violators of our environmental laws, I believe that our federal agencies should rely on the Department of Justice and our U.S. marshals to investigate and enforce criminal laws. In an age of tight fiscal challenges, this annual spending of $75 million for guns, ammunition, and other equipment seems unnecessarily excessive.

A recent report on EPA spending highlighted numerous purchases for guns, ammunition, night vision, and armament training devices for EPA law enforcement officials. Our federal budget is severely strained, and the EPA is facing a disaster of its own making at the Animas River, which could cost millions, if not billions, of dollars.

Although the EPA is not the only federal agency that provides funding for its own law enforcement arm, I believe it is time for the agency to implement policy changes to limit the amount of military-type purchases at the agency and work with Congress to determine how we can best consolidate our federal efforts to support enforcement of our Nation's environmental laws.

While Congress still must work to enact necessary reforms to ensure the further protection and proper utilization of federal tax dollars, EPA must be accountable and responsible for implementing common-sense policies to fund critical priorities at the agency.

I urge you to implement changes in the purchase of this equipment and provide my office with an update on any progress you make throughout the rest of this Congress to accomplish this goal. I thank you for your consideration and look forward to working with you to address this important issue.

Source