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Washington -- Enlisting the assistance of key government officials in addressing the Nation's mounting energy needs, Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Ranking Member Fred Thompson (R-TN) asked the Inspectors General of the 18 largest energy-consuming agencies to evaluate agencies' compliance with statutory and administrative requirements for improving federal energy efficiency and conservation.
Noting "the extreme importance of energy management to the Nation, to the function of individual agencies, and to the taxpayers and consumers who must ultimately pay the Federal Government's energy bills," Lieberman and Thompson in letters dated July 26 asked the Inspectors General to describe their plans to review their respective agencies' energy management activities, provide information on past and ongoing reviews of such activities, and assess agencies' progress in meeting federal energy management goals.
Federal agencies are required to reduce energy use and improve energy efficiency pursuant to the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA), the National Energy Policy Act, and sundry other laws and Executive Orders. Under NECPA, the Inspectors General are responsible for conducting periodic reviews of agencies' compliance with the provisions of these mandates.
Citing a report that federal agencies used nearly $8 billion worth of energy in Fiscal Year 1999, Lieberman and Thompson pointed out that "[s]ince then, the Nation has experienced significant price increases across the entire spectrum of energy sources and throughout all regions of the country" as well as "energy supply shortages on a regional basis." The lawmakers hope that their inquiry will spur the Inspectors General to focus attention on federal energy conservation, a matter that is of special public policy concern, especially in the wake of California's recent energy crisis.
The targeted agencies together consume more than 99 percent of the energy used by the federal government. They include the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Service, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Transportation, Treasury, Veterans' Affairs, Labor, and State and the Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
For more information, please contact John Tagami (Lieberman) at 202-224-0384 or Harvey Valentine (Thompson) 202 224-4944 .
Text of Lieberman-Thompson Letter to Inspectors General
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