Washington D.C., March 2, 2005 - Congressman Mike Bilirakis today introduced bipartisan legislation to provide increased independence for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ombudsman. He was joined by Congresswoman Diana DeGette.
"Although the Ombudsman process virtually has been completed for the Stauffer Superfund site in Tarpon Springs, I feel that it is still important to introduce this legislation in order to ensure that other communities who need the assistance of an independent Ombudsman will have access to it," said Bilirakis.
"The Ombudsman Reauthorization Act of 2005 will allow the Office of the Ombudsman to operate independently by removing the current ombudsman function from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and creating a new Office of Ombudsman within the EPA. The bill will give the Ombudsman greater authority in choosing cases for review, administering the budget for the Office, making personnel decisions, and gathering the information critical to ongoing investigations. The bill also creates a separate line-item of funding for the Office and enhances the Ombudsman's reporting requirements," explained Bilirakis.
The Ombudsman Reauthorization Act is similar to legislation Bilirakis introduced in the 107th and 108th Congresses, and legislation approved by the U.S. Senate in November 2002.
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