Chairwoman Johnson Sends Final Request to EPA on Integrated Risk Information System Program
(Washington, DC) – This morning, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) sent one final letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, seeking relevant documents and transcribed interviews with EPA staff. It was a follow-up to numerous previous requests related to the decision to remove formaldehyde and nine other chemical assessments from its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program outlook. The deadline for the EPA to fully cooperate is November 5.
“Since my July letter, the Agency has made claims of privilege on an item of interest and has flooded the Committee with thousands of irrelevant documents while positioning itself as fully responsive to my requests,” said Chairwoman Johnson in the letter. “The Committee is now prepared to issue subpoenas for the requested materials should the Agency fail to meet the deadlines outlined in this letter.”
The Chairwoman continued, “On July 24, you sat down with me in my office and assured me that you would be responsive to the Committee’s oversight requests. Based in part on your personal assurances, the Committee has allowed the EPA considerable time to respond to our requests. Unfortunately, the EPA’s responses to the Committee’s requests on this issue are completely lacking.”
A copy of the full letter can be found here.
Copies of the April 3 and July 18 letters can be found here and here.
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