Now I Know Why EPA Can’t Meet Any of Its Statutory Deadlines…

…because agency employees are too busy watching pornography!

Allow me to explain: The statutes that authorize EPA’s regulatory programs—the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, etc.—are rife with date-certain deadlines by which EPA must complete its regulatory responsibilities. The agency, however, is woeful at meeting these deadlines. For example, since 1994, EPA has missed 98% (196 out of 200) of its Clean Air Act deadlines, by an average of 5 years. Because EPA won’t do its job, environmental special interests are able to leverage a legal strategy known as “sue and settle” into effective control of the EPA’s regulatory agenda. See this issue brief for the whole story.

I’d long thought that EPA ignored its statutory duties because the agency was pouring agency resources into greenhouse gas regulations (which is, mind you, a discretionary regime—unlike statutory deadlines, which are non-discretionary, and should, therefore, take priority). But now I’m not so sure. Reports the Washington Free Beacon’s CJ Ciaramella.

An Environmental Protection Agency official spent up to six hours a day on the taxpayer dime looking at pornography, according to the EPA Inspector General.

Allan Williams, the deputy assistant inspector general for investigations, told the House Oversight Committee Wednesday that his office had discovered an EPA official who habitually watched porn on a government computer.

“One such investigation involves a career EPA employee who allegedly stored pornographic materials on an EPA network server shared by colleagues,” Williams testified. “When an OIG special agent arrived at this employee’s work space to conduct an interview, the special agent witnessed the employee actively viewing pornography on his government-issued computer. Subsequently, the employee confessed to spending, on average, between two and six hours per day viewing pornography while at work. The OIG’s investigation determined that the employee downloaded and viewed more than 7,000 pornographic files during duty hours.”

Washington Free Beacon later reported that this particular employee received a performance bonus, despite his evident porn problem. Below, I’ve posted video of the House Government & Oversight Reform hearing exchange, in which the EPA confirms the bonus. Unbelievable!