Context of 'August 7, 2001: California EPA Official Defends New Source Review in Letter to Congressman'

Following the replacement of Michael Scheuer by Richard Blee as chief of Alec Station, the CIA’s bin Laden unit (see June 1999 and June 1999), the relationship between Alec Station and its FBI counterpart headed by John O’Neill does not improve. The relationship between Scheuer and O’Neill was extremely stormy, but Blee’s arrival does nothing to calm matters. As O’Neill is the FBI manager most knowledgeable about al-Qaeda, the combative nature of the relationship may hamper interagency counterterrorism efforts. Author James Bamford will write, “The epicenter of the clash between the two cultures [of the FBI and CIA] was the relationship between [Blee] and John P. O’Neill, the flashy, outspoken chief of the FBI’s National Security Division in New York.” An associate of O’Neill’s will say of Alec Station staff, “They despised the FBI and they despised John O’Neill.” A CIA officer will add, “The working relationships were very difficult at times.” [Bamford, 2004, pp. 217-8]

In a letter to Senator James Jeffords, California Air Resources Board executive director Michael P. Kenny says that a recent testimony by C. Boyden Gray may have misled Congress into believing “that since California has made considerable progress toward achieving clean air standards there is justification for relaxing or eliminating the New Source Review program.” Rather, according to Kenny, the continuation of the New Source Review program is essential. “[I]n both verbal and written comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency (enclosed) we shared our experience with the success of New Source Review in California.… The New Source Review program in California… has… resulted in the construction of some of the cleanest power plants in the nation.… New Source Review is based on the solid premise that new emissions should be minimized and mitigated so that industrial growth can continue without undermining progress toward achieving clean air mandates.… We believe that any weakening of New Source Review control requirements will increase the need to achieve a greater proportion of emission reductions from existing sources and will likely result in a less effective pollution control program.” [US Congress, 7/26/2001, pp. 104]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says in a report to Congress that for the second year in a row, “limited funding prevented EPA from beginning construction at all sites or providing additional funds needed to address sites in a manner believed necessary by regional officials, and caused projects to be segmented into phases and/or scaled back to accommodate available funding.” The report explains that for 2003 (see July 17, 2003), the funding shortfall amounted to $174.9 million. As a result, clean-up work at 11 Superfund sites was put off and work at 29 other locations was slowed down. [Environmental Protections Agency, 1/7/2004 ; Government Executive, 1/8/2004; Associated Press, 1/9/2004] The 11 sites where work was postponed include Jennison-Wright Corp. in Granite City, Ill.; Continental Steel Corp. in Kokomo, Ind.; Marion Pressure Treating in Marion, La.; Atlas Tack Corp. in Fairhaven, Mass.; and Mohawk Tannery in Nashua, N.H. In 2003, the EPA completed 40 clean-ups, compared to 42 in FY 2002, and 47 in 2001. Under the Clinton administration, an average of 76 clean-ups had been completed each year. [Associated Press, 1/9/2004] The report was requested in July by US Senator Barbara Boxer, House Energy and Commerce ranking member John Dingell, Rep. Hilda Solis, and Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member James Jeffords. [Government Executive, 1/8/2004; Associated Press, 1/9/2004]