In a final look back at a year that was anything but ordinary, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued their “2020 Annual Environmental Enforcement Results.”
Assistant Administrator, for Compliance and Enforcement, Susan Bodin said, “In FY 2020, EPA enforcement and compliance assurance staff demonstrated extraordinary resilience, creativity, and perseverance as they continued to assure compliance with environmental laws. I am very proud of the work we accomplished this year.”
2020 Started with Strong Environmental Enforcement
Before discussing the results, in their introductory paragraph, the report states, “In the first five months of fiscal year (FY) 2020, EPA was on track to significantly exceed traditional numeric metrics in many categories with more compliance monitoring activities in the first five months than in any year since 2013, more in assessed penalties the first five months than in seven out of the previous ten years, more injunctive relief in the first five months than in FY 2019, and more concluded cases in the first five months than in either FY 2018 or FY 2019.”
Of course, we know what happened next: COVID-19.
As you may recall in May 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, President Donald Trump signed an executive order essentially telling federal agencies to take a less rigid approach to enforcement (see “Bold Executive Order on “Regulatory Relief”).
COVID-19 aside, there was environmental enforcement in 2020.
While the global pandemic affected the EPA’s plans in 2020, there was still a lot of activity with respect to enforcement and compliance (Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash).
Environmental Enforcement Summary
Below are the highlights (provided by the EPA) of EPA’s FY 2020 enforcement and compliance achievements:
- Commitments to reduce, treat, or eliminate over 426 million pounds of pollution, the most in a single year since 2015.
- Proper treatment, minimization, or disposal of 1.6 billion pounds of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, more than all but two of the past eight years.
- Clean up of 104 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and water, more than in FY 2019.
- Prevention of 18.2 million pounds of air pollutants by preventing, reducing, treating, or eliminating emissions from vehicle and engine air sources through resolution of 31 civil enforcement cases for tampering and aftermarket defeat devices—the most for any one year in the agency’s history.
- 247 new criminal cases opened, 77 more than in FY 2019 and the most since 2014.
- Superfund response and cash-out settlements of over $636 million for cleanup work, $65 million more than FY 2019, as well as $178.4 million for EPA’s costs.
With respect to Superfund, there was actually some surprisingly significant progress over the past few years. See Superfund Sites Are Being Closed.
There is plenty more to read in the EPA report. Follow this link to the EPA Enforcement Annual Results FY 2020, the report is broken down by COVID, Criminal Enforcement, Compliance, Civil Enforcement, and Superfund.
Environmental Agenda Going Forward
President Biden campaigned on a very different environmental agenda. And with the use of Executive Orders, President Biden has set the tone for his environmental agenda (striking down The Keystone XL Pipeline, pause new oil and gas leasing on Federal Lands, and rejoining the Paris Climate Accord).
The focus on compliance initiatives will likely revert to enforcement initiatives. There will be an increased focus on Environmental Justice, and in general, more energy going into criminal enforcement.
While we do expect a return to a more traditional EPA, it is wise to keep a close eye on plans by (authorized) states for environmental protection in 2021.
Preparing for EPA’s Efforts in 2021
If you have questions about your compliance, assessment, or remediation activity, you might want to consider a peer review of your plans and efforts. We developed this short video to give you an idea of how we approach peer reviews.
If you have any questions or need assistance with an environmental issue, you can contact us at info@dragun.com, contact your project manager at Dragun directly, or contact me at 248-932-0228, Ext 134.
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