Group Asserts EPA Exaggerating Enforcement Claims

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Fri, 19 Nov 2004 14:03:07 GMT

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Group Asserts EPA Exaggerating Enforcement Claims

 

November 19, 2004 | Back Issues

 

Group Asserts EPA Exaggerating Enforcement Claims

 

Earlier this week the Environmental Protection Agency released its

annual report, which asserted that EPA enforcement during the past

fiscal year would reduce pollution in America's air, land and water by

one billion pounds. The report also stated that EPA sent 265 cases

forward for action by the Justice Department, compared with 250 in the

final year of the Clinton administration.

 

" The baloney about EPA abandoning enforcement is just that, baloney, "

said EPA enforcement head Thomas Skinner in an interview with the New

York Times. [1]

 

But the EPA report was quickly challenged by Eric Schaeffer, director

of the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). A former top enforcement

official at EPA, Schaeffer resigned three years ago in protest of what

he said was EPA's weakening enforcement of the Clean Air Act and other

laws.

 

" EPA's beleaguered enforcement staff should be congratulated for what

they manage to accomplish despite the political handcuffs they are

forced to wear under the Bush administration, " Schaeffer said in a

statement. The EPA report, he said, " suggests that efforts to weaken

environmental enforcement are beginning to take their toll. " [2]

 

Among other things, the EIP statement said that although cases are

being referred to the Justice Department, many are not being brought

to closure. For the first time, it said, the EPA annunual report did

not include the number of judicial cases actually settled.

 

" And no wonder, " said Schaeffer. " The agency's online data base shows

that the Justice Department was able to conclude fewer than 160

enforcement actions in 2004, the lowest by far in the 10 years such

data has been tracked. " Schaeffer said Justice averaged over 230

settlements during each of the last six years of the Clinton

administration.

 

On another front, EIP stated that civil penalties for enforcement of

the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and others, dropped to $57

million--the lowest in the 15 years of recorded data. EIP also pointed

out that of the $4.8 billion EPA claimed was won via injunctive

relief, over three-quarters came as the result of just two cases.

 

One of those, in which the city of Los Angeles will spend $2 billion

to clean up sewer systems, was actually filed before the Bush

administration took office, " and was settled, " said Schaeffer, " only

after the judge threw the book at the city. " The number of complaints

filed by the Justice Department, said Schaeffer, has declined 75% over

the past three years.

 

###

 

SOURCES:

[1] " EPA Says Enforcement Shows Results, " New York Times, Nov. 16, 2004.

[2] EIP response, Nov. 15, 2004.

 

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