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Monday, October 01, 2007

EPA Official Defends Drop in Environmental Prosecutions

As Reg•Watch blogged earlier, environmental prosecutions have dropped dramatically during the Bush administration. A recent Washington Post article indicates EPA has not made prosecution a priority. Marcus Peacock, EPA's deputy administrator, has also blogged on the subject on his webpage, "Flow of the River."

Peacock sticks up for his agency. Whereas the Washington Post article focused on cuts in prosecutions, Peacock says EPA has measured increases in: "The number of pounds of pollution reduced due to enforcement actions; and the number of additional dollars invested in pollution control due to enforcement actions."

Peacock argues greater compliance naturally leads to a diminished need for prosecutions. Though he doesn't provide exact numbers, it's an interesting counter to what is presented in the Post.

Nonetheless, Peacock does not address the resource shortfall at the agency. As Reg•Watch mentioned before, EPA now employs only 172 criminal investigators even though federal law mandates a staff level of at least 200, according to the Post.

As Peacock acknowledges, "nobody has good data on compliance rates." So, if EPA doesn't know the level of compliance, why would it cut enforcement staff (in this case, criminal enforcement staff)? Also of concern, EPA's own failure to comply with federal law. Perhaps Mr. Peacock will blog on those subjects in the future.