The Obama administration will shut down a U.S. EPA program championed by the Bush administration that rewards voluntary pollution controls by hundreds of corporations with reduced environmental inspections and less stringent regulation, according to people at EPA.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will likely sign a memo this week terminating the Performance Track program, which offers regulatory perks to corporations that pledge to save energy and reduce pollution, senior EPA officials said.
Performance Track entrants are supposed to have sterling environmental records, but the program has been denounced by environmentalists as a public relations charade.
The shutdown comes three months after a Philadelphia Inquirer investigation found the program praised companies with suspect environmental records, spent millions on recruiting and publicity and failed to independently confirm members' environmental pledges.
The program, albeit small, represented a big part of former President George W. Bush's environmental strategy (Shiffman/Sullivan/Avril, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 14). -- KJH
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