Federal Daily - July 10, 2008

DOT Report Critical of FAA Oversight

The Department of Transportation (DOT) Inspector General has issued a report concluding that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had a too cozy relationship with Southwest Airlines (SWA). The IG report suggested, as part of a remedy plan, that the FAA begin periodically rotating supervisory inspectors to ensure objective oversight. The report, sparked by whistleblowers' complaints that the FAA and Southwest had been lax in inspecting the fuselages of the SWA’s Boeing 737 fleet for cracks, found that passengers were put at risk by “an overly collaborative relationship” between the airline and federal regulators. In general, the report noted that the FAA was too lenient with the air carrier. “The events at SWA demonstrated serious lapses in FAA’s air carrier oversight,” said the report, dated June 30. “The breakdown in FAA’s air carrier oversight occurred because FAA did not implement and enforce effective management controls over its air carrier oversight program.” The report noted that the FAA to date had balked at two central recommendations—the periodic rotation of supervisory inspectors and the establishment of an independent organization to investigate safety issues identified by FAA employees. To see more, go to:  www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2324.

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GAO: NARA, Agencies Lax in Oversight of Agency E-mail Management

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), among other agencies, needs to improve its oversight of federal agency e-mail recordkeeping systems, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit has found. The GAO report noted that without improved e-mail tracking, important federal records could be lost forever. The GAO looked at how well NARA was overseeing e-mail recordkeeping at federal agencies, where it is an essential communication tool. The report noted that government e-mail messages, in general, must be managed and preserved in accordance with the Federal Records Act. In addition to NARA, GAO also audited the e-mail recordkeeping practices of four agencies: the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Departments of Homeland Security and of Housing and Urban Development. The reviewed agencies generally managed e-mail records through paper-based processes, rather than using electronic recordkeeping. Although each agency had some policies that complied with NARA regulations, every sampled agency also violated one or more rule. For example, one agency’s policy did not specify, as required, that draft documents circulated via e-mail may be considered federal records. The email practices of 15 senior officials also were reviewed, and about half did not consistently conform to key requirements in NARA’s regulations for e-mail records. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d08742high.pdf.

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EPA Whistleblower Confirms White House Interference in Testimony

A former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) associate deputy administrator, Jason K. Burnett, who also had served as the agency’s Senior Adviser on Climate Change, this week confirmed in a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that the Bush administration pressed agency officials to make major deletions in testimony to Congress on climate change. “History will judge this Bush administration harshly for recklessly covering up a real threat to the people they are supposed to protect,” Sen. Boxer said in response to the confirmation. The controversial redacted testimony was delivered last October by Dr. Julie Gerberding, the Director of the Center for Disease Control, before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the health effects of global warming. The White House continues to reject the allegations, stating that any removed text was simply not consistent with science. Critics counter that the same testimony was submitted and approved, in its entirety, for publication as scientific fact by an esteemed international panel—the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “The White House should get out of the way and let the EPA do its job,” said Brenden Bell, a representative of the Union of Concerned Scientists. For more, go to: www.ucsusa.org.

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