Office of Administrative Law Judges 800 K Street, NW, Suite 400-N Washington,
DC 20001-8002
DATE: January 17, 2001
CASE NO.: 1999-CAA-12
2000-CAA-10
2000-CAA-11
In the Matter of
DAVID L. LEWIS
Complainant
v.
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Respondent
APPEARANCES:
Mr. Stephen M. Kohn, Attorney
For the Complainant
Mr. David P. Guerrero, Attorney
For the Respondent
BEFORE: Richard T. Stansell-Gamm
Administrative Law Judge
RECOMMENDED DECISION AND ORDER -
DISMISSAL OF COMPLAINTS BASED ON SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT
At the end of December 2000, I received a tele-faxed Joint Motion to Approve
Settlement and Dismiss Complaint. In the motion, the parties indicated they have reached a
complete settlement concerning all three complaints.
Complaints
Between December 1, 1998 and December 10, 1999, the Complainant
filed three complaints under the employee protection provisions of the Clean Air Act
("CAA"), 42 U.S.C. 7622; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation
and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. 9610; the Solid Waste Disposal Act
("SWDA") also known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
("RCRA"), 42 U.S.C. § 6971; the Toxic Substances Control Act
("TSCA"), 15 U.S.C. 2622; the Safe Drinking Water Act ("SDWA"), 42
U.S.C. § 300j-9; and, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ("WPCA"), 33
U.S.C. § 1367.
1In his initial complaint, the Complainant also
asserted the Respondent had improperly processed his Inter-government Personal Act assignment. On July 2, 1999,
counsel for the Complainant withdrew that allegation as part of the complaint.
2About two weeks after the November 11,
1999 complaint, the Complainant also asserted he was denied a promotion due to his activities. That allegation was
treated as a separate complaint, 2000-CAA-11.
3Three of the Federal environmental statutes
invoked by the Complainant (CAA, SDWA, and TSCA) require the Secretary to approve settlements of whistle blower
complaints. See Beliveau v. U.S. Department of Labor, 170 F.3d 83 (1st Cir. 1999) and Beliveau v. Naval
Undersea Warfare Center, 1997-SDW-1, 4, and 6 (ARB Nov. 30, 2000). The Administrative Review Board
("ARB") exercises the Secretary's powers in whistle blower cases--see Secretary's Order 2-96, 61 Fed. Reg.
19,978 (1996).