EPA Outpacing Its Goals in Environmental Justice Enforcement

EPA enforcement continues to ratchet up under agency head Michael Regan, especially in environmental justice communities, where it outperformed its stated goal, the agency said on Monday.

Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent strategic plan, it’s aiming to boost the percentage of on-site inspections it does in those communities from 30% to 55% by fiscal 2026. During the current fiscal year, the EPA hit 60%. More than half of the agency’s civil settlements were also based in those areas.

The EPA also said it has carried out more on-site inspections in fiscal 2023 than before the pandemic. That continues an ongoing upward trend in which the agency’s on-site inspections have risen from 3,198 in fiscal 2020 to 3,288 the next year and 5,861 the year after that.

The agency also said it opened 199 criminal investigations in fiscal 2023—a 70% increase over the previous year—and concluded 1,789 settlements, an increase of more than 150 over fiscal 2022.

The EPA’s enforcement work resulted in the reduction, treatment, elimination, or minimization of 1.8 billion pounds of pollutants and required violators to pay more than $704 million in penalties, fines, and restitution, a 57% rise over fiscal 2022.

Further, the EPA issued 203 orders to public water systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act, affecting nearly 2 million people. Eight of those orders were emergency orders in small, overburdened communities, the agency said.

The agency’s enforcement section has also added about 300 new positions to help make up for the loss of about 950 staffers over the past decade.

“While our work is not complete, EPA’s revitalized enforcement program is making a positive difference in communities across America, particularly for people living in underserved and overburdened communities that for too long have borne the brunt of pollution,” David Uhlmann, head of the agency’s enforcement division, said in a statement.

Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator, agreed that the EPA still has work to do in environmental justice communities.

“Enforcement of environmental laws is a major problem in particular states including Texas, Louisiana, and West Virginia, to name a few,” said Enck, now president of Beyond Plastics. “EPA needs to be more aggressive and willing to step in when states are not willing to comprehensively enforce the law.”

Susan Bodine, a former assistant administrator of the EPA’s enforcement directorate and now partner at Earth and Water Law, said the pandemic was a key factor behind the agency’s dipping enforcement numbers.

“Inspectors shifted to off-site inspections, and entry of settlements and plea agreements was delayed by the backlog created by court shutdowns,” she said.