HEATH SHULER UPDATE: TVA INSPECTOR GENERAL cites appearance of preferential treatment in Shuler case. “TVA’s Inspector General said actions by agency employees and U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., created the appearance of preferential treatment in a transaction involving water access rights. The conclusions were part of a report that was issued today by the IG, and that focused on TVA’s maintain and gain program, which allows landowners to gain water-access rights in one location by trading rights they own somewhere else on a reservoir.”