The study, which uses data from the Permit Compliance System (PCS), focused on major facilities, defined as those that discharge at least one million gallons per day. Out of the 6,652 facilities examined, EPA found 1,670 in significant noncompliance. For the year 2001, 50 percent of violators exceeded the limit for toxics by 100 percent, and 13 percent were over by 1000 percent. For conventional pollutants, 33 percent of violators exceeded their discharge permits by 100 percent, and 5 percent by over 1000 percent.
Given the large number of violators, EPA’s enforcement has been severely lacking. In the last two years, EPA took enforcement action against only 24 percent of those in significant noncompliance, 27 percent in “repeat significant noncompliance,” and 32 percent in “perpetual significant noncompliance.” Less than half of these violators ended up paying fines, which averaged a paltry $6000.
The report, completed in February by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance, is the first comprehensive examination of EPA’s failure to enforce the Clean Water Act, and was undertaken to develop a “performance-based” assessment of compliance. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) issued two reports in 2002 (here and here) that contained similar findings to the EPA report. J.P. Suarez, EPA’s assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, told the Post that the agency is trying to be more aggressive in monitoring state agencies, which handle most enforcement cases.