November 10, 2010

Vitter Request of IG Investigation Reveals Obama Administration Guided by Politics, Not Science on Moratorium

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter today made the following comments after an Inspector General report released yesterday revealed that the Department of the Interior inappropriately manipulated a 30-day report to justify the moratorium on offshore drilling. On June 16, Vitter sent a letter to Inspector General Mary Kendall calling for an investigation of the administration’s recommendations to move forward with the moratorium amid concerns that proper protocol had not been followed.

“This report reveals exactly what I suspected all along – Obama administration officials appear to have deliberately disregarded the Information Quality Act to push their destructive moratorium that has crushed job growth along the Gulf Coast. I initially requested this investigation on June 16 because I wanted to make sure that the federal government was basing policy decisions that would directly impact so many Louisianians on science – not politics. Unfortunately, this report reveals the contrary,” said Vitter.

Additionally, at a Small Business Committee hearing in September, administration officials admitted that no economic analysis of the moratorium’s effects were conducted prior to the issuance of the moratorium, proving that the administration’s economics, and now science, have failed the people of the Gulf Coast.

The text of Vitter’s letter follows:

June 16, 2010

The Honorable Mary L. Kendall
Acting Inspector General
Department of the Interior
1849 C St., NW
Washington, DC 20240

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL AND FACSIMILE
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION REQUESTED

Dear Inspector General Kendall:

It has come to our attention that inappropriate activity may have occurred as it relates to a 30-day review the Department of the Interior utilized in justifying the current moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico. Recent press releases have stated that “the team of engineers reviewed, approved and signed off on a version of the 30-day review that was presented to them by the Administration. However, after they signed their names to this document, a significant change was made – a change that led to the 6-month suspension of deepwater exploratory drilling.”

In justifying its broad moratorium on deepwater drilling, senior officials emphasized that the measure was recommended by a DOI report prepared in consultation with scientists and industry experts. Unfortunately, it appears that the team of scientists assembled by the National Academy of Engineering strongly refutes this claim.

Section 515 of the Information Quality Act (IQA) directs federal agencies to maximize “the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity” of information they prepare and disseminate and it requires agencies to adopt and follow implementing guidelines. The OMB guidelines note the IQA applies to the “creation, collection, maintenance, and disseminating of information.” The basic standard of care is that information must be “accurate, clear, complete, and unbiased.” Stricter and even more rigorous quality standards apply when the information is “influential,” meaning it will “have a clear and substantial impact on important public policies…”

In light of the allegations of inappropriate tampering with a scientific review with significant public policy implications, we ask you to identify when and how the modifications to the report occurred, and if there was any violation of law as it relates to the Information Quality Act or otherwise.

Sincerely,



David Vitter

U.S. Senate

Steve Scalise 

U.S. House of Representatives