Where Green Meets Red (Ink)
Regardless of the state of the economy, EPA’s enforcement of environmental regulations continues unabated. And with the new administration’s stated goal to improve environmental performance nation–wide, those enforcement actions are likely to increase both in frequency and in the severity of the fines dealt out. The following recent enforcement actions are just some examples of where EPA inspectors (as well as those from other agencies) are focusing their attention.
One Accident, Many FinesA major petroleum company was fined $50 million for violations of the Clean Air Act that resulted in a refinery explosion. In addition to the criminal fine from EPA, the company has also paid more than $1.6 billion to the victims of the explosion to settle related civil cases, has paid $21.7 million in fines from OSHA and the Texas Council on Environmental Quality, and has spent more than $265 million to complete required equipment upgrades and improvements.
Huge Penalties for Permit Violations
The third–largest penalty ever paid for Clean Water Act discharge permit violations, $6.5 million, was assigned to a large mining company in February 2009. The company also agreed to put innovative and heightened operating standards in place to serve as a model for the rest of the mining industry.
Illegal Reports Lead to PrisonIntentional violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act garnered a one–year prison sentence for the former director of public works in a North Carolina town. Falsified reports were submitted on the turbidity of drinking water being supplied to residents, which violated a national primary maximum contaminant level standard under SDWA. At the same time, the former director ordered town employees to dump large amounts of degreaser and caustic materials into the publicly owned treatment works, violating the POTW’s Clean Water Act permit for discharges into the waters of the United States.
Multi–Media Violations A PVC manufacturer and its subsidiary were issued a $2.585 million civil penalty for actions that violated the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and RCRA. The companies have also agreed to $4.8 million in supplemental environmental projects, including retrofitting existing processes on their sites, donating 300 acres of land to a nature preserve, and creating and maintaining a program in a nearby city for recycling appliances containing ozone–depleting substances.
Not Just EPA!It isn’t just federal EPA that assesses violations and assigns fines. The New Jersey DEP recently fined a company $931,000 for violations under state and federal pesticide laws.
Even unintentional violations can result in big financial impacts. In the short term, there are the monetary penalties themselves. In the long term, the cost of installing and operating more stringent control technology, coupled with more frequent compliance monitoring, long– and short–term remediation projects, and other environmentally beneficial programs mandated by court decisions, can add thousands of dollars to the price tag for non–compliance. So what strategies can you employ to make sure you are operating within the regulations?
What Can You Do to Protect Your Business?Step 1: Good Management Practices
Take the time to check the regulations, read through the applicability of each program, and understand what the triggers for compliance are.
Step 2: Self–Audit
EPA’s “Audit Policy” was originally spelled out in 65 FR 19618, April 11, 2000. The Policy “encourage[s] regulated entities to voluntarily discover, promptly disclose and expeditiously correct violations” by offering incentives including reduction of civil penalties and recommendations against criminal prosecution for the disclosing party.
Step 3: Review Your Training Programs
RCRA, OSHA and FIFRA all have explicit training requirements as part of their programs. With normal personnel turnover, compounded by the current trend towards staff consolidation, it is more important than ever to make sure personnel training is up–to–date and well–documented. While CAA, CWA, and SDWA do not have explicit initial and refresher training requirements written into their programs, ignorance of the regulations is no excuse under the law. Your Environmental, Health, and Safety personnel need to know what is required under each regulatory program that governs your site.
Good management practices, self–auditing, training that meets (or even better, exceeds) the regulatory requirements—these are simple ways to avoid the complex warren of violations, citations, consent agreements, and court appearances!
From
Lion Technologies, Inc.
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