A report issued this week details how the Environmental Protection Agency paid $1.5 million for subsidized and unoccupied parking spaces in violation of executive orders in Washington D.C.
As the government watchdog Judicial Watch pointed out, the waste happened over a two-year period at the EPA headquarters and a regional office in Atlanta, Georgia. The two sites spent $840,000 on subsidized employee parking while another $690,000 was spent on unoccupied spaces. It came at a time when the government was cracking down on parking subsidies in a move to save money and protect the environment.
The EPA Inspector General’s 42-page report noted there was a certain irony for the agency charged with promoting air quality had disobeyed federal orders enacted to improve air quality and public health. One of them was Executive Order 13150, Federal Workforce Transportation. It requires federal agencies in the capital area to create a transit subsidy fringe benefit to discourage commuting with only a single driver in a vehicle.