{"id":405663,"date":"2024-02-22T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=405663"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"CUC-will-be-working-with-EPA-to-resolve-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/CUC-will-be-working-with-EPA-to-resolve-penalty\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018CUC will be working with EPA to resolve penalty\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acting Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Betty G. Terlaje said last Tuesday they will be working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the coming weeks to come to a \u201cproductive resolution\u201d on the $162,000 penalty that EPA has imposed on CUC for failing to timely fill critical vacant positions.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the public comments portion of a Senate session, Terlaje said they do not interpret this assessment of penalties as punishment, considering that EPA has always been in CUC\u2019s corner.<\/p>\n

She said the court-appointed orders that outlines the things that CUC must do (called \u201cstipulated orders\u201d)\u2014including filling in critical positions\u2014provide a venue for CUC to conduct informal dispute resolution and negotiate with EPA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear to us that, rather than fining CUC for its understandable difficulties, it would be much more prudent to direct these funds toward attracting a qualified candidate to apply, whether by raising salary, or through other incentives,\u201d Terlaje said.<\/p>\n

Since 2008, CUC has been under two court-stipulated orders in which the EPA, through the U.S. Department of Justice, provides oversight for numerous aspects of CUC\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

Terlaje said this is to make sure that CUC conducts itself in a manner that is environmentally responsible and is aligned with federal and Commonwealth laws.<\/p>\n

Terlaje said EPA has been an incredible partner in this oversight, and has always proven to be a helpful ally by providing funding, technical guidance, and other assistance.<\/p>\n

She said EPA has also been strict, but fair, in its assessment of CUC when it comes to compliance with the stipulated orders.<\/p>\n

Terlaje noted that one of the stipulated orders is that CUC\u2019s management must be filled with competent people who can do the work, and make sure that laws are complied with.<\/p>\n

There are eight positions in which CUC is mandated to fill, two of them being the chief financial officer and executive director. Terlaje said CUC has admittedly struggled with filling those positions.<\/p>\n

She said CUC has struggled with competition from the U.S. mainland, and a lack of local people either willing or qualified to do the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is difficult to convince people to move to the other side of the world when there are competitive salaries at home,\u201d Terlaje said.<\/p>\n

She said EPA\u2019s admonition is standard of court filings. \u201cWhile it sounds heavy-handed, there is no other way to describe our situation: because we lack these positions, we are simply not in compliance,\u201d Terlaje said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Acting Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Betty G. Terlaje, second from left, talks about their plan to resolve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s assessment of $162,000 fine against CUC , during the Senate session last Tuesday. Also in the photo from left, are CUC counsel assistant attorney general Hunter Hunt, CUC deputy executive director for drinking water and wastewater division Kevin Watson, and CUC board chair Janice A. Tenorio.<\/p>\n

-FERDIE DE LA TORRE
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Acting Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Betty G. Terlaje said last Tuesday they will be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-405663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}