House probes EPA voluntary program

Two House Energy & Commerce subcommittees are investigating EPA's National Environmental Performance Track program, which is designed to reward industrial facilities for environmental excellence. After finding that Performance Track members included some facilities that had increased their pollution or had trouble complying with environmental regulations, EPA's inspector general last month called for reform of the voluntary program (C&EN, April 23, page 36). Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D-Md.), chair of the Environment & Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chair of the Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee, who are conducting the probe, said they are seeking information on how much money EPA has spent to recruit facilities into Performance Track and to provide services and goods, such as motivational posters and conference planning, to program participants. The congressmen say they "are concerned about taxpayer dollars being used wisely" when EPA's core regulatory programs "are severely underfunded."