EPA Issues 2016 Enforcement and Compliance Report

On December 19, 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency issued its annual enforcement and compliance report for its 2016 fiscal year, which runs from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.  The agency’s enforcement efforts brought in $5.8 billion in administrative and civil penalties, skyrocketing from $207 million in 2015.  The majority of the 2016 penalties resulted from a $5.6 billion Clean Water Act penalty to BP Exploration and Production Inc. in the Deepwater Horizon case.  Enforcement efforts this year required companies to invest more than $13.7 billion in actions and equipment to control pollution and to commit to treat, minimize, or properly dispose of approximately 62 billion pounds of hazardous waste.  A settlement with Mosaic Fertilizer concerning eight facilities in Florida and Louisiana accounted for more than 99% of the 62 billion pounds.  The same figure last year was 535 million pounds.

Some reported categories have seen a downward trend, including pounds of pollution companies commit to reduce, treat, or eliminate as the result of enforcement actions. The amount has declined from 2,194 million pounds in 2012 to 324 million in 2016.  The EPA attributes this decline to its recent focus on toxic pollution, which involves smaller volume, but more toxic, pollution.  Another downward trend is seen in environmental enforcement, which tracks environmental crime cases opened, defendants charged, and sentences (measured by years of incarceration).  The EPA attributes declining budgets to the decline in number of investigations, but emphasizes that the number of defendants charged remains constant due to the greater complexity of cases.  The number of years of incarceration in sentencing, 93 years in 2016, has seen a slight but steady decline since 2013.

The report also notes: 

• Cleanup of an estimated 174 million cubic yards of contaminated water and 17 million cubic yards of contaminated soil

• More than $1 billion in commitments from private party Superfund cleanup

• More than 13,500 federal inspections and evaluations

• An estimated $32 million committed in Supplemental Environmental Projects, which are voluntarily agreed to by the defendant but not otherwise legally required 

Notable high impact cases include the enforcement action against Enbridge, requiring it to put at least $110 million into oil pipeline safety improvements to help prevent oil spills in the Great Lakes region.  Tesoro Corporation and Par Hawaii Refining must spend $403 million to control air pollution at six refineries and spend $12 million in public health projects.  After a settlement with Marathon Petroleum Company, the company will spend $319 million to install pollution controls at refineries.  A landmark partial case settlement against Volkswagen resulted in $14.73 billion in injunctive relief to reduce air pollution and remedy environmental damage.  However, this figure was not included in the 2016 results because it was not entered until after the end of the 2016 fiscal year.

The EPA’s News Release can be found here.