GAO: EPA Broke Law on WOTUS

OMAHA (DTN) -- EPA officials broke the law when they created a social media campaign to generate support for the controversial Clean Water Act rule redefining waters of the U.S., the Government Accountability Office said in a report Monday.

EPA's campaign to pump up the waters of the U.S. rule constituted "covert propaganda" and violated laws against such public-relations campaigns, GAO said in its report.

The investigation report comes as farm groups, manufacturers and others have been pushing lawmakers to follow through on votes against the rule in both chambers by including a policy rider blocking EPA from implementing the rule. EPA sought to finalize the change in definition for waters of the U.S., but states and industry groups immediately sued. The rule remains tied up in a federal appeals court injunction blocking it from being implemented.

According to the GAO report, EPA used Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and other social media from February 2014 to July 2015 to generate a positive campaign about the waters of the U.S. rule. EPA officials used a "crowdspeaking platform" called Thunderclap to send out specific messages to a broad array of people at one time. EPA used Thunderclap multiple times, which included a campaign message "I Choose Clean Water."

GAO said EPA engaged in covert propaganda by failing to disclose its role in the Thunderclaps. The messages included links to EPA blogs explaining the agency's position on the Clean Water Act rule and asking people to lend their support. Yet, EPA did not identify the agency as the author of the message. The GAO stated, "The critical element of covert propaganda is the agency's concealment from the target audience of its role in creating the material."

EPA also violated grassroots lobbying laws by linking the agency's website to the website of lobby groups that supported EPA's position.

The GAO stated that EPA directly asked people to appeal to Congress not to stop the rule from going into effect. The GAO said that's a violation of laws against grassroots lobbying or campaigning.

The GAO sent the 26-page report Monday to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., laid into the agency, declaring the agency's actions bolster the need for more oversight and investigations of EPA not just regarding the water rule but EPA's Clean Power Plan as well.

"GAO's finding confirms what I have long suspected, that EPA will go to extreme lengths and even violate the law to promote its activist environmental agenda," Inhofe said. He added, "EPA's illegal attempts to manufacture public support for its waters of the United States rule and sway congressional opinion regarding legislation to address that rule have undermined the integrity of the rulemaking process and demonstrated how baseless this unprecedented expansion of EPA regulatory authority really is."

In a statement, EPA officials disagreed with the GAO assessment and indicated that the agency simply did not meet reporting requirements. EPA officials stated the agency would "fulfill whatever reporting requirements are necessary."

Also, agency officials added, "At no point did the EPA encourage the public to contact Congress or any state legislature."

Agency officials also did not back down on the use of social media. "We maintain that using social media to educate the public about our work is an integral part of our mission. We have an obligation to inform all stakeholders about environmental issues and encourage participation in the rulemaking process. We use social media tools just like all organizations to stay connected and inform people across the country about our activities."

EPA staff created social-media hashtags such as #DitchtheMyth to counter the American Farm Bureau Federation campaign called #DitchtheRule. The #DitchtheMyth campaign translated into EPA including hyperlinks for people to send out Tweets stating messages EPA sought to champion and encouraged people to "tweet the truth" regarding EPA's message.

Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the GAO report made it clear Congress needed to "clean up this mess by taking a corrective measure in the omnibus bill now taking shape on Capitol Hill." Stallman pointed out the rule is already tied up in courts. "Now that it has become clear that the agency used illegal tactics to manufacture ill-informed support for the rule, Congress should act immediately to prohibit implementation of this rule, which is the product of an unlawful and misguided process."

Stallman also credited Inhofe for asking the GAO to investigate the agency's campaign. "The GAO findings vindicate those, like the American Farm Bureau Federation, who have claimed all along that EPA's tactics advocating for this rule stepped past the bounds of proper agency rulemaking. EPA was focused only on promoting the rule rather than hearing good-faith concerns from a wide cross-section of Americans. The public deserves better when important matters of public policy are at stake," Stallman said.

EPA got called out by different agency opponents regarding its social media campaign after the agency posted multiple blogs touting their efforts. The agency's communications staff stated that the best thing to do for clean water was to "spread the word about how much it matters." The staffer then suggested people post photos or statements using some of the agency hashtags such as #CleanWaterRules.

EPA's efforts also included linking the agency's websites with the websites of environmental groups that agreed with EPA's position, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council. GAO officials noted EPA officials continue to link to the webpages for NRDC and others.

Tom Reynolds, the EPA communications director who spearheaded most of these tactics, now works at the White House trying to build support for President Barack Obama's climate-change agenda.

The GAO report can be found at: https://www.documentcloud.org/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN

(AG/CZ)

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