Since my post last week ("Convictions for Violations of the Clean Water Act Continue to Ebb"), a number of significant things have occurred. On October 20, the EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Cynthia Giles, announced that the Director of the Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training was retiring and that the Director of the Criminal Investigation Division had decided to pursue new challenges within the agency. In addition to this personnel shake-up, Assistant Administrator Giles has pledged to hire 40 more criminal investigators at EPA. The number of investigators had fallen from 205 in 2003 to approximately 160. The agency appears, therefore, to be committed to reinvigorating what seems to have been, at least until recently, a lagging criminal enforcement effort.
In response to a reporter’s inquiry prompted by my post, EPA disputed TRAC Reports' projection of convictions that would be obtained for violations of the Clean Water Act during fiscal year 2010. EPA provided statistics on the total number of CWA convictions since 1990. Instead of 28 CWA convictions (as projected by TRAC Reports), the statistics provided by EPA indicate that 32 convictions were actually obtained in FY 2010 (Greenwire, via NYTimes.com). Although the total number of convictions was somewhat higher than those originally projected by TRAC Reports, the trend remains a matter of concern. The total of 32 convictions is the lowest, according to these EPA figures, since FY 1994 and is approximately 50 percent lower than the number in FY 2000 and nearly 25 percent lower than in FY 2009, when 42 convictions were obtained.
On the other hand, the agency statistics indicate that total convictions under all of the environmental statutes increased by about 10 percent in FY 2010 over FY 2009 levels, a year in which the downward trend of the first decade of the new century reached its nadir (140 total convictions). This rise in convictions may well reflect the fact that the total number of criminal cases opened in FY 2009 and total number of defendants charged had increased from the depths reached in FY 2008.
One would hope that, with new leadership and added resources, the criminal enforcement program at EPA will continue to rebound and that renewed emphasis will be placed upon Clean Water Act enforcement. One would also hope that EPA will undertake in the future to publish more detailed, timely, and comprehensive statistics on enforcement trends, including comprehensive figures on state criminal, civil and administrative enforcement as well as civil actions filed under the various citizen suit provisions.
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William Andreen | October 26, 2010
Since my post last week (“Convictions for Violations of the Clean Water Act Continue to Ebb“), a number of significant things have occurred. On October 20, the EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Cynthia Giles, announced that the Director of the Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training was retiring and that the Director […]
Daniel Farber | October 20, 2010
On October 14, the White House’s Climate Change Adaptation Task Force released its recommendations to President Obama for how agencies can better prepare the United States to respond to the impacts of climate change. Once again we are reminded of how important it is to have an Administration that takes climate science seriously. According to […]
Matt Shudtz | October 19, 2010
Today, OSHA released a “proposed interpretation” of its 39-year old noise exposure standards. Talk about making up for lost time. All joking aside, this move truly is a positive step for American workers, and may demonstrate a path of action that could help OSHA address hazards in addition to excessive noise. Over the years, the federal courts […]
William Andreen | October 19, 2010
According to the latest data published by TRAC Reports, the number of federal convictions obtained for violations of the Clean Water Act during fiscal year 2010 has continued to follow a recent downward trajectory. Since reaching a high of nearly 70 in FY 1998, the number of convictions has continued to decline toward what may be […]
Celeste Monforton | October 14, 2010
Cross-posted from The Pump Handle. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and MSHA asst. secretary Joe Main are proposing new rules to protect U.S. coal mine workers from developing illnesses related to exposure to respirable coal mine dust. The most commonly known adverse health effect is black lung disease, but exposure is also associated with excess risk […]
Yee Huang | October 14, 2010
The EPA Region 5 recently published a refreshingly blunt report on the state of concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) permitting in Illinois, and the assessment is disturbing. EPA concluded that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program for CAFOs “does not meet minimum thresholds for an adequate program.” Ouch. […]
Rena Steinzor | October 13, 2010
Whatever happens at the polls this November, President Obama will get a chance to turn the electoral tide in 2012, perhaps without the loadstone of recession around his political neck. And, while the economy and many other issues will continue to occupy the President for the best and most obvious of reasons, it’s fair for everyone […]
Catherine O'Neill | October 12, 2010
EPA’s proposal to curb emissions from the second largest source of mercury in the United States – industrial boilers and process heaters – has come under fire in recent weeks. Those industries that would be subject to the “boiler rule” have objected to its costs, and some senators have embraced their claims (see also Lisa Jackson’s […]
James Goodwin | October 8, 2010
Back in the 1970s, when many of the great environmental, health, and safety statutes were adopted, public interest groups shared an overwhelming optimism that greater public participation held the key to maintaining—and even expanding upon—their successes. All they needed was a seat at the table where decisions are made, and their ideas would ultimately prevail. At first, […]