I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 347

To provide additional authority to the Office of Ombudsman of the 

Environmental Protection Agency. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2003

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. MILLER of 

Florida, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. NADLER, and Ms. SOLIS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To provide additional authority to the Office of Ombudsman 

of the Environmental Protection Agency.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ombudsman Reauthor5 ization Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF OMBUDSMAN. 

7 The Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et 

8 seq.) is amended by striking section 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

9 6917) and inserting the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 2008. OFFICE OF OMBUDSMAN. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘Agency’ means the 

4 Environmental Protection Agency. 

5 ‘‘(2) DEPUTY OMBUDSMAN.—The term ‘Deputy 

6 Ombudsman’ means any individual appointed by the 

7 Ombudsman under subsection (e)(1)(A)(i). 

8 ‘‘(3) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of9 fice of the Ombudsman established by subsection 

10 (b)(1). 

11 ‘‘(4) OMBUDSMAN.—The term ‘Ombudsman’ 

12 means the director of the Office. 

13 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 

15 the Agency an office to be known as the ‘Office of 

16 the Ombudsman’. 

17 ‘‘(2) OVERSIGHT.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be an 

19 independent office within the Agency. 

20 ‘‘(B) STRUCTURE.—To the maximum ex21 tent practicable, the structure of the Office 

22 shall conform to relevant professional guide23 lines, standards, and practices. 

24 ‘‘(3) HEAD OF OFFICE.—

25 ‘‘(A) OMBUDSMAN.—The Office shall be 

26 headed by an Ombudsman, who shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) be appointed by the President by 

2 and with the advice and consent of the 

3 Senate; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) report directly to the Adminis5 trator. 

6 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS FOR AND RESTRIC7 TIONS ON EMPLOYMENT.—A person appointed 

8 as Ombudsman—

9 ‘‘(i) shall have experience as an om10 budsman in a Federal, State, or local gov11 ernment entity; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) shall not have been an employee 

13 of the Agency at any time during the 1-

14 year period before the date of appointment. 

15 ‘‘(C) TERM.—The Ombudsman—

16 ‘‘(i) shall serve for a term of 5 years; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) may be reappointed for not more 

19 than 1 additional term. 

20 ‘‘(D) REMOVAL.—

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The President 

22 may remove or suspend the Ombudsman 

23 from office only for neglect of duty or mal24 feasance in office. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNICATION TO CON2 GRESS.—If the President removes or sus3 pends the Ombudsman, the President shall 

4 communicate the reasons for the removal 

5 or suspension to Congress. 

6 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Ombudsman shall—

7 ‘‘(1) receive, and render assistance concerning, 

8 any complaint, grievance, or request for information 

9 submitted by any person relating to any program or 

10 requirement under—

11 ‘‘(A) this Act; 

12 ‘‘(B) the Comprehensive Environmental 

13 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

14 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.); or 

15 ‘‘(C) any other program administered by 

16 the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Re17 sponse of the Agency; and 

18 ‘‘(2) conduct investigations, make findings of 

19 fact, and make nonbinding recommendations to the 

20 Administrator concerning the programs and require21 ments described in paragraph (1).

22 ‘‘(d) POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—In carrying 

23 out this section, the Ombudsman—

24 ‘‘(1) may investigate any action of the Agency 

25 without regard to the finality of the action; 
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1 ‘‘(2) may select appropriate matters for action 

2 by the Office; 

3 ‘‘(3) may—

4 ‘‘(A) prescribe the methods by which com5 plaints shall be made to, and received and ad6 dressed by, the Office; 

7 ‘‘(B) determine the scope and manner of 

8 investigations made by the Office; and 

9 ‘‘(C) determine the form, frequency, and 

10 distribution of conclusions and recommenda11 tions of the Office; 

12 ‘‘(4) may request the Administrator to provide 

13 the Ombudsman notification, within a specified pe14 riod of time, of any action taken on a recommenda15 tion of the Ombudsman; 

16 ‘‘(5) may request, and shall be granted by any 

17 Federal agency or department, assistance and infor18 mation that the Ombudsman determines to be nec19 essary to carry out this section; 

20 ‘‘(6) may examine any record of, and enter and 

21 inspect without notice any property under the ad22 ministrative jurisdiction of—

23 ‘‘(A) the Agency; or 

24 ‘‘(B) any other Federal agency or depart25 ment involved in a matter under the adminis-
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1 trative jurisdiction of the Office of Solid Waste 

2 and Emergency Response of the Agency; 

3 ‘‘(7) may—

4 ‘‘(A) issue a subpoena to compel any per5 son to appear to give sworn testimony con6 cerning, or to produce documentary or other 

7 evidence determined by the Ombudsman to be 

8 reasonable in scope and relevant to, an inves9 tigation by the Office; and 

10 ‘‘(B) seek enforcement of a subpoena 

11 issued under subparagraph (A) in a court of 

12 competent jurisdiction; 

13 ‘‘(8) may carry out and participate in, and co14 operate with any person or agency involved in, any 

15 conference, inquiry on the record, public hearing on 

16 the record, meeting, or study that, as determined by 

17 the Ombudsman—

18 ‘‘(A) is material to an investigation con19 ducted by the Ombudsman; or 

20 ‘‘(B) may lead to an improvement in the 

21 performance of the functions of the Agency; 

22 ‘‘(9) may administer oaths and hold hearings in 

23 connection with any matter under investigation by 

24 the Office; 
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1 ‘‘(10) may engage in alternative dispute resolu2 tion, mediation, or any other informal process that 

3 the Ombudsman determines to be appropriate to 

4 carry out this section; 

5 ‘‘(11) may communicate with any person, in6 cluding Members of Congress, the press, and any 

7 person that submits a complaint, grievance, or re8 quest for information under subsection (c)(1); and 

9 ‘‘(12) shall administer a budget for the Office. 

10 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall—

12 ‘‘(A)(i) appoint a Deputy Ombudsman for 

13 each region of the Agency; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) hire such other assistants and em15 ployees as the Ombudsman determines to be 

16 necessary to carry out this section; and 

17 ‘‘(B) supervise, evaluate, and carry out 

18 personnel actions (including hiring and dis19 missal) with respect to any employee of the Of20 fice.

21 ‘‘(2) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—The Om22 budsman may delegate to other employees of the Of23 fice any responsibility of the Ombudsman under this 

24 section except—

25 ‘‘(A) the power to delegate responsibility; 
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1 ‘‘(B) the power to issue subpoenas; and 

2 ‘‘(C) the responsibility to make rec3 ommendations to the Administrator. 

4 ‘‘(3) CONTACT INFORMATION.—The Ombuds5 man shall maintain, in each region of the Agency, a 

6 telephone number, facsimile number, electronic mail 

7 address, and post office address for the Ombudsman 

8 that are different from the numbers and addresses 

9 of the regional office of the Agency located in that 

10 region. 

11 ‘‘(4) REPORTS.—The Ombudsman—

12 ‘‘(A) shall, at least annually, publish in the 

13 Federal Register and submit to the Adminis14 trator, the President, the Committee on Energy 

15 and Commerce of the House of Representatives, 

16 and the Committee on Environment and Public 

17 Works of the Senate a report on the status of 

18 health and environmental concerns addressed in 

19 complaints and cases brought before the Om20 budsman in the period of time covered by the 

21 report; 

22 ‘‘(B) may issue reports, conclusions, or 

23 recommendations concerning any other matter 

24 under investigation by the Office; 
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1 ‘‘(C) shall solicit comments from the Agen2 cy concerning any matter under investigation by 

3 the Office; and 

4 ‘‘(D) shall include any comments received 

5 by the Office in written reports, conclusions, 

6 and recommendations issued by the Office 

7 under this section. 

8 ‘‘(f) PENALTIES.—An investigation conducted by the 

9 Ombudsman under this section constitutes—

10 ‘‘(1) a matter under section 1001 of title 18, 

11 United States Code; and 

12 ‘‘(2) a proceeding under section 1505 of title 

13 18, United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(g) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No employer may discharge 

16 any employee, or otherwise discriminate against any 

17 employee with respect to compensation, terms, con18 ditions, or privileges of employment of the employee, 

19 because the employee (or any person acting at the 

20 request of the employee) complied with any provision 

21 of this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) COMPLAINT.—Any employee that, in the 

23 opinion of the employee, is discharged or otherwise 

24 discriminated against by any person in violation of 

25 paragraph (1) may, not later than 180 days after 
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1 the date on which the violation occurs, file a com2 plaint in accordance with section 211 of the Energy 

3 Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5851). 

4 ‘‘(h) APPLICABILITY.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section—

6 ‘‘(A) does not limit any remedy or right of 

7 appeal; and 

8 ‘‘(B) may be carried out notwithstanding 

9 any provision of law to the contrary that pro10 vides that an agency action is final, not review11 able, or not subject to appeal. 

12 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON PROCEDURES FOR GRIEV13 ANCES, APPEALS, OR ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.—

14 The establishment of the Office does not affect any 

15 procedure concerning grievances, appeals, or admin16 istrative matters under this Act or any other law 

17 (including regulations). 

18 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

20 appropriated to carry out this section—

21 ‘‘(A) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

22 2004 and 2005; 

23 ‘‘(B) $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

24 2006 through 2009; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

2 2010 through 2013. 

3 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE LINE ITEM.—In submitting the 

4 annual budget for the Federal Government to Con5 gress, the President shall include a separate line 

6 item for the funding for the Office.’’.

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