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"Auditors went too far, Perry says
Governor criticizes report on environmental commission

08:58 PM CST on Friday, December 19, 2003 By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN .. Gov. Rick Perry blasted a state audit of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Friday, saying auditors overstepped their bounds when they criticized the agency's policies for being weak and ineffective against polluters.

During a wide-ranging discussion with reporters, Mr. Perry was asked if he was concerned about findings of the audit released this week. He indicated his concern was more focused on the auditor's office than on the environmental quality commission.

"It appears to me that the State Auditor's Office has now gone from auditing to trying to make statements on public policy, and I would need to see substantially more evidence of what the state auditor's office is saying before I would be impressed one way or the other," Mr. Perry said.

"That's not the state auditor's function, in my humble explanation," he said.

Lynn Coulam, executive assistant to State Auditor Lawrence F. Alwin, said he would have no comment on Mr. Perry's remarks.

The audit found that the agency responsible for protecting the state's air and water had reduced, capped and inconsistently collected penalties to the extent that some polluters economically benefited from continuing to violate the law.

In 80 cases reviewed by the auditors, polluters received about $8.6 million in benefits while in noncompliance and were fined only $1.68 million...."