SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined a letter to U.S. Representative, and Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, supporting the Accounting for the Uses, Disbursements, and Income on our Taxes at EPA Act (H.R. 8395) – the AUDIT EPA Act. The letter was led by West Virginia and co-signed by a coalition of States.
According to the U.S. House of Representatives, this proposal, sponsored by Rodgers, would “require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide for an objective and independent audit of the programs and activities of the Agency under the Clean Air Act and other applicable authorities relating to air pollution.” Rodgers’ press release announcing the introduction of the bill noted that “since [January 2021] the EPA has been given $109 billion in additional funding and grown its workforce to over 15,000 employees – yet under current law, the EPA is not required to conduct an audit to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent the way they should be.”
In their letter, the attorneys general argue that “EPA has seen its power and reach grow under the Biden administration, [that] EPA has devoted substantial time and staff attention to dismantling traditional American energy, [and that] EPA’s anti-energy campaign has led to another enormous line-item expense: litigation.”
The coalition of States writes, “With more insight into what EPA is doing (and how it’s doing it), we’re confident that Americans will begin to demand more answers from an agency that – thus far – seems unwilling to give any…The agency should be called to meaningfully account for its work.”
Joining Utah and West Virginia as signatories on the letter were the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia.
