The hot environmental topics over the last several months have been related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and vapor intrusion (VI). But as every “seasoned” environmental manager knows, the environmental constants are compliance and enforcement. Below is a brief update on environmental compliance and enforcement developments.
Cost for Non-Compliance Increases Again
Last year, we shared that the cost of non-compliance had gone up fairly substantially. In some cases, the potential penalties more than doubled. For example, the Clean Air Act (CAA) maximum civil penalty increased from $37,500.00 to $93,750.00.
The cost of non-compliance with environmental regulations just went up again this year, though it was a relatively minor increase. These increases are mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended.
The new inflation-adjusted maximum penalties include:
Act | Old Maximum Penalty | New Maximum Penalty |
Clean Air Act | $95,284.00 | $97,229.00 |
Clean Water Act | $52,414.00 | $53,484.00 |
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act | $71,264.00 | $72,718.00 |
Safe Drinking Water Act | $54,789.00 | $55,907.00 |
Toxic Substance Control Act | $38,114.00 | $38,892.00 |
Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act | $54,789.00 | $55,907.00 |
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act | $19,057.00 | $19,446.00 |
2017 Annual Environmental Enforcement Results
Relating to the EPA’s enforcement efforts in 2017, the Office of Compliance and Enforcement Assurance recently announced their annual results. They list several billion-dollar-plus fines and commitments, many of which we covered in previous blogs. They also reinforced their overall goal, stating, “In fiscal year 2017, we focused on expediting site cleanup, deterring noncompliance, and returning facilities to compliance with the law, while respecting the cooperative federalism structure of our nation’s environmental laws.”
I would also like to note that I recently met Cathy Stepp, a relatively-new United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region 5 Administrator, at a Michigan Chemistry Counsel event. Ms. Stepp refreshingly reinforced this concept stating (and I am paraphrasing), in a perfect world, the EPA would be so good at “facilitating” compliance, they would have zero enforcement.
Recent Environmental Enforcement Cases
While we are on the subject of penalties and enforcement (in a less than perfect world), below are some notable enforcement actions.
Citizen Initiated CAA Fine: A nearly $2-million-dollar fine was issued at a recently restarted Pennsylvania Steel Company with a unique aspect. It is being referred to as “….the largest penalty ever imposed in a citizen initiated lawsuit to enforce the Federal Clean Air Act in Pennsylvania history.” This is according to David Masur, Executive Director of PennEnvironment, a citizen-based environmental advocacy group.
As we reported about one-year ago, following the previous presidential election, environmental groups had an influx of money. Presumably, they are in a better position to provide legal representation as they did in the case mentioned above.
FIFRA Fine: FMC Corporation has agreed to pay a $1-million penalty to settle alleged violations of federal pesticide regulations. According to the USEPA, “Most of the violations involved advertisements for the FMC product ‘Stallion Insecticide’ that omitted required ‘restricted use’ statements for the proper purchase and safe application of this pesticide, which is used for several crops including alfalfa and sunflowers…”
We will continue to provide updates on compliance and enforcement issues, as well as emerging environmental issues throughout the year. If you would like to sign up for our monthly newsletter, you can do so on the right side on this page.
If you have questions or need assistance with an environmental compliance issue, please contact me at 248-932-0228.