Witness links White House to EPA rejection of California’s emission rules

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency supported California's request for a waiver allowing the state to enforce its own curbs on global warming emissions from vehicles, but reversed himself after talking with White House officials, according to a key witness at a congressional investigation.

"The record before this committee suggests that the White House played a pivotal role in the (EPA) decision to reject the California petition," said a 20-page summary of an investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles.

The report, made available Monday, noted that it would be a "serious breach" of the Clean Air Act if President Bush or other White House officials directed the EPA "to ignore the record before the agency and deny California's petition for political or other inappropriate reasons."

The key committee witness on the reversal, EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett, testified that he was directed not to identify the White House officials or answer any other questions about White House involvement in the agency's recent decision that blocked California's landmark law.

That law, Assembly Bill 1493, was enacted in 2002 and was to take effect with 2009 model year cars and passenger trucks. It is key to the state's crusade against climate change: Cutting motor vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide would account for one-sixth of the greenhouse gas reductions required by California's other global warming law, Assembly Bill 32, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed in 2006.

California, and 15 states that enacted identical vehicle emissions laws, sued the Bush administration to win the right to enforce exhaust limits.

Questions about White House intervention began to surface soon after Dec. 19, when EPA administrator Stephen Johnson announced his decision not to grant the California waiver.

Johnson and Susan Dudley, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the White House, are expected to testify before the oversight committee today.

"This is nothing new from the committee," said EPA press secretary Jonathan Shradar. "Administrator Johnson was presented with and reviewed a wide range of options and made his decision based on the facts and the law."

Shradar did not respond when asked whether Johnson initially supported fully or partially granting the waiver request.

"Administrator Johnson has been clear that he made an independent decision," White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said on Monday when asked about the congressional committee's memo.

After the Dec. 19 decision, the Washington Post quoted anonymous sources saying Johnson had overruled the unanimous opinion of his legal and technical staff in blocking California's effort. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., later released internal EPA documents in which agency staff members urge higher-ups to approve California's request.

The House report released Monday is the first to yield evidence suggesting White House influence in denying California the permission it needs to limit greenhouse gases from tailpipes.

In testimony before committee members, Burnett said his boss, Johnson, was very "interested in a full grant of the waiver" last summer and then thought a partial grant of the waiver "was the best course of action," according to the committee report.

Burnett said Johnson's position did not change until after he communicated with the White House.

Burnett also said there was "White House input into the rationale in the Dec. 19th letter" announcing the denial of California's waiver.

Among the 27,000 EPA documents congressional investigators gathered and examined in five months was a briefing prepared by the EPA's lead staff lawyer, who stated, "After review of the docket and precedent, we don't believe there are any good arguments against granting the waiver. All of the arguments … are likely to lose in court if we are sued."

The report fueled the ire of Boxer, who said the EPA action was directed by the White House.

"Clearly the Bush administration at the highest levels killed the California waiver," Boxer said. "The people of California and the other states have a right to know how this indefensible decision happened, and we demand that EPA and the Bush White House turn over the documents we have asked for immediately."

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Chris Bowman, (916) 321-1069. Renee Schoof of the McClatchy Washington Bureau and the Associated Press contributed to this report.