GAO Report Finds OSHA Underuses Audit System A recent GAO report found that OSHA is underusing its audit system, thereby missing opportunities to address serious worker safety and health violations. The report reviewed 2002 and 2003 regional audits from the five OSHA regions conducting the most inspections. The report found that four out of the five regions studied failed to meet OSHA's requirements for annual and biannual audits. Furthermore, OSHA's average penalty fell far below the proposed average penalty. The lax use of audits by OSHA offices may have allowed significant problems to continue unaddressed. Bush Policies Leave Wetlands Open for Development In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that federal law does not protect isolated wetlands -- those that do not cross state boundaries and are not navigable -- to the same extent as other wetlands. According to a report released by several environmental groups, the Bush administration has interpreted this decision in such a way that thousands of acres of wetlands have been drained by developers over the past year. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said last year that they could only protect wetlands connected to interstate commerce. The strict interpretation of the court ruling has left once protected wetlands open to development, such as those on the northwest shoreline of Galveston Bay. Once deemed to be of "national significance" by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the 120-acre stretch of wetland is now turning into a shipping-container terminal by the Port of Houston Authority. The Corps of Engineers ruled that only 19.7 of the 120 acres are protected from development. Superfund Super Broke? Alarmed by Inspector General reports revealing shortfalls in the Superfund clean-up budget for the last two years and indications from EPA staff that the shortfalls will continue for a third consecutive year, Reps. John Dingell and Hilda Solis sent a letter to the EPA demanding more information. Citing information from EPA's own staff, Dingell and Solis identified 46 sites in 27 states that will receive inadequate funding, if any, for Superfund clean-ups.