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."