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Aug 12, 2020

DOJ Announces Policy to End Enforcement Overlap with States under Clean Water Act

No Penalty

On Monday, July 27, the DOJ issued a memo stating that federal actions seeking penalties under the Clean Water Act (CWA) will be strongly disfavored when a state has already initiated its own enforcement action.  The memo notes that the CWA already precludes federal action when a state is pursuing administrative proceedings against an alleged violator under comparable state law, but that the CWA does not have the same prohibition when a state is pursuing a judicial enforcement action.  The policy applies only to civil actions, not criminal cases, and is designed to respect state authority, and avoid duplicative enforcement… Read more


Jul 11, 2013

EPA Extends Six Enforcement Priorities to 2016

The U.S. EPA announced that it intends to extend its six, sector-based enforcement priorities through 2016.  The agency has been prioritizing the same six enforcement initiatives since fiscal year 2011, which include targeting air emissions from the largest sources, and ensuring that energy extraction efforts comply with environmental regulations.  While the agency acknowledges that it has made considerable progress to reduce air emissions from large sources that modify their facilities without installing pollution controls, including coal-fired power plants, cement kilns, glass manufacturing facilities, and acid facilities, it acknowledged that it has much more work to do.  Aside from reducing air… Read more