Congress

EPA has decided to outsource the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) audit of the agency's fiscal year 2008 financial statements, a move that will prompt reassignments of OIG staff and will likely raise the ire of congressional Democrats, who are already concerned about job cuts and related staffing issues at OIG.

OIG staff were told in a Sept. 10 e-mail obtained by Inside EPA that the office has lost the bidding process for conducting EPA's FY08 financial audit, meaning a private company will now be responsible for auditing the agency's annual financial statements.

The Oklahoma attorney general (AG) is indicating that he may be willing to negotiate a very limited settlement in a controversial Superfund case involving large-scale poultry farms in Arkansas and Oklahoma, but an agriculture industry source says that even such a narrow settlement in this case could have disastrous effects for the industry.

Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) political troubles and possible resignation could be a major setback for the legislative agenda of industry groups who say they would be losing a strong advocate of offshore drilling and key opponent of mandatory greenhouse gas controls. Moreover, the senator's possible departure would prompt a shakeup on the environment and energy committees, where Craig is a senior member, as well as changes on an appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over EPA's budget.

Procedural concerns being raised on Capitol Hill about convening a conference committee on final passage of energy legislation are detailed in a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, which says energy bills passed by both chambers earlier this summer must overcome "constitutionally-required congressional procedures" before the bills can go to conference.