U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), along with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today launched an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) practice of frequently granting fee waivers for Freedom of Information Act requests to national environmental groups, but rarely granting them to conservative think tanks, States and local entities.

 

 

Click here to view this and more charts showing the fee waiver discrepancy.

"According to documents obtained by the Committees, EPA readily granted FOIA fee waivers for environmental allies, effectively subsidizing them, while denying fee waivers and making the FOIA process more difficult for states and conservative groups," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Bob Perciasepe, acting Administrator of the EPA.

Vitter is the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; Issa is Chairman of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee; Grassley is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Inhofe is the top Republican on the Oversight Subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Click here to read the letter.

 

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