GAO Report hits EPA Enforcement Efforts

Yesterday (10/21), the Government Accounting Office (GAO) released a report evaluating the EPA’s enforcement performance over the past 10 years.  The report found that the EPA’s mechanisms for reporting environmental violations overstates the value of penalties by reporting assessed penalties – not the final settlement amounts actually paid.  However, the GAO found that EPA understates the value of penalties by not including amount settled to the states in their calculations.

The report also assesses the EPA’s performance in assessing the amount of injunctive relief obtained and the amount of pollution reduced.  The GAO found a number of inconsistencies in reporting these as well and suggested improvements for increased transparency.

The report can be found here.