Environmental Law

USEPA Cover-Up ? Part 2?

By Walter James

The Government Accountability Office report has been release regarding the overstatement of enforcement of environmental penalties by the USEPA.  Here is a link to the twenty-one (21) page report http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d081111r.pdf.

The GAO report finds that the USEPA has overstated its enforcement of environmental violations to the public and to Congress by reporting the fines and penalties levied even though the fines and penalties may never be paid.  The USEPA defended its reporting practices as ?that's the way the agency has always reported fines, including before President Bush took office.?  Granta Nakayama, the head of USEPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, responded in a letter to the GAO that reporting the penalties levied rather than those collected deters polluters.  ?We do not believe that penalties collected should be publicly reported,? Nakayama wrote. 

My question is, why not?  How much money is the government leaving on the table?  Could a citizen bring a private attorney general action to collect those unpaid fines and penalties?

Removing those penalties, when compared to fines and penalties collected, ?results in a significant reduction in the overall level of penalties reported,? the Report finds.  House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who requested the GAO investigation, accused the USEPA of trying to cover up its enforcement record.  ?The bottom line is that environmental enforcement has significantly declined since the Bush administration took office,? Dingell said.

More later.

As always, feel free to contact me by e-mail with any questions at walter.james@jamespllc.com.

WDJiii

Full post as published by Environmental Crimes Blog on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).