Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Annual Results for FY 2024: Environmental Justice
The Environmental Protection Agency recognizes that vigorous enforcement of the Nation’s environmental laws is the backbone of environmental protection for communities across the United States. EPA has been increasing its presence in communities, particularly those underserved and overburdened by pollution, more than ever before. Making a real difference in communities that have experienced the worst pollution is at the core of the agency's enforcement and compliance assurance program. As a result, environmental justice principles are considered and incorporated throughout the enforcement process.
In FY 2024, EPA continued its commitment to advance the protection of communities overburdened by pollution through:
- Targeting inspections and enforcement in overburdened communities.
- Bringing timely and comprehensive relief to communities.
- Addressing imminent and substantial endangerment.
- Enhancing community engagement efforts.
- Improving public access to data.
Targeting Inspections and Enforcement in Overburdened Communities
Maintaining a significant presence in communities overburdened by pollution is a cornerstone of EPA’s enforcement and compliance assurance program’s environmental justice strategy. Inspections to assess compliance, including with existing enforcement agreements and orders, are critical to uncovering violations of environmental laws, bringing appropriate enforcement actions, and deterring further unlawful conduct that may harm communities. In fiscal year 2024, EPA conducted 53% of inspections in overburdened communities surpassing our goal of 50%. In addition, we made advances and refinements in our screening tool to ensure that we are focused on the most overburdened and underserved communities, where our presence can have the biggest impact.
Exemplifying the importance of promoting environmental justice in overburdened communities, EPA has for the first time integrated environmental justice in each of the EPA's six FY 2024-2027 National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives (NECIs). The initiatives focus enforcement and compliance assurance resources on the most serious environmental problems facing the United States. Inspection, compliance monitoring, sampling for potential contamination, and taking enforcement actions through these initiatives ensure that everyone living in the United States can breathe clean air; drink clean water; and live, work, and play without fear of exposure to harmful and toxic pollutants.
EPA’s enforcement and compliance assurance program recognizes the importance of protecting communities that suffer impacts from higher levels or multiple sources of toxic air pollution. The 2024-2027 Reducing Air Toxics in Overburdened Communities NECI revised the focus of the existing initiative to target and identify overburdened communities within geographic areas that are facing high levels of toxic air pollution from hazardous air pollutants. Many of these pollutants are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious neurological, reproductive, developmental, and respiratory health effects when breathed in or ingested through the food chain. In FY 2024, EPA identified 27 such communities and conducted 184 inspections to focus attention and use advanced monitoring tools, investigate for noncompliance, and bring necessary enforcement actions.
Timely and Comprehensive Relief for Communities
To ensure timely and comprehensive relief for communities, EPA vigorously pursues case resolutions to return facilities to compliance and tailors the relief to prevent reoccurrence and, in appropriate cases, further reduce the harm to the communities impacted by noncompliance.
Hazardous Waste Violations Settlement Address Noncompliance Across Multiple States
In December 2023, EPA, the Department of Justice, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and the state of Indiana collaborated on a settlement agreement with Heritage-Crystal Clean, LLC for violations of hazardous waste and used oil management requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act at current and former facilities. These facilities are in communities overburdened by pollution, including Indianapolis, IN; Shreveport, LA; Atlanta, GA; Fairless Hills, PA; and Denver, CO. Under the settlement, the company will pay civil penalties totaling more than $1.1 million. Additionally, the company must implement various measures to bring the facilities into compliance at a cost estimated by the company to be over $1.6 million. Read more: Heritage-Crystal Clean, LLC Settlement for Violations of Hazardous Waste Regulations press release.
Company Fined $1.4 Million for Clean Air Act Violations Leading to Facility Fire
In April 2024, EPA agreed to a settlement with Sasol Chemicals over alleged violations of the chemical accident prevention provisions of the Clean Air Act at the company’s facility in Westlake, Louisiana. On the fence line of Sasol, and close to many other industrial facilities, is the historic Mossville community. Under the settlement, Sasol will pay more than $1.4 million in civil penalties and correct violations related to an October 2022 fire at the facility and those found during a compliance evaluation in 2021. Read more: Sasol Chemicals Pays $1.4 Million Penalty for Chemical Accident Prevention Violations press release.
EPA Settles with Albuquerque Water Utility for Clean Water Act Violations Impacting the Integrity of the City Sewer System
In September 2024, EPA settled with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority for Clean Water Act violations on Pueblo of Isleta lands. The Authority, which services over 600,000 residents, had a sewer line collapse, causing the discharge of approximately 6.7 million gallons of untreated wastewater that impacted both the West Bluff Pond and Rio Grande River. In addition to a $72,600 penalty, the Authority will implement two supplemental environmental projects to address water quality concerns within the Rio Grande and Pueblo’s surrounding water infrastructure.
One project will result in an E. Coli laboratory in Pueblo’s Natural Resources Department facilities to identify any ongoing harms to the Rio Grande, irrigation canals, and the Pueblo’s overall ecosystem. The second project provides five portable advanced water quality monitoring systems for the Pueblo to conduct spot-checks and long-term monitoring. This monitoring will allow for immediate action by the Pueblo during a contaminating event. Read more: Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility to Pay Civil Penalty and Complete Two SEPs Addressing Clean Water Contamination.
Addressing Imminent and Substantial Endangerment
Facilitating early action in situations that may pose immediate risks is critical to helping overburdened communities. EPA continues to improve cross-program coordination and planning that promotes using all enforcement tools to address harm, including bringing imminent and substantial endangerment cases when appropriate. These legal tools can provide rapid relief for communities.
In FY 2024, EPA issued 12 Safe Drinking Water Act section 1431 emergency orders to protect over 21,000 individuals in small or overburdened communities. For example:
Lower Yakima Valley dairies manure practices endanger neighboring well-users
In July 2024, EPA and the Department of Justice filed a motion to immediately force three large Lower Yakima Valley dairies to test wells south of the dairies and supply alternative drinking water to homes where well water exceeded the federal standard for nitrate. Located in EPA Region 10, the Lower Yakima Valley has been historically overburdened by environmental and public health challenges. In 2010, EPA found that nitrate contamination in wells in the Lower Yakima Valley may present an “imminent and substantial endangerment to human health.” Exposure to nitrate in drinking water can pose health risks such as cancer, birth defects, and other serious illnesses. This failure to control nitrate contamination was also a violation of the settlement agreement the dairies agreed to in 2013. Read more: EPA and DOJ sue Lower Yakima Valley dairies for manure practices endangering neighboring well-users press release.
Additionally, EPA’s Region 10 (Pacific Northwest) office conducted public outreach to potentially affected residents in their valley to provide information regarding the litigation using mailers, online fact sheets, and a hotline.
Enhancing Community Engagement
Early and frequent engagement with overburdened and underserved communities is essential to addressing environmental injustices. Communicating with and understanding a community’s concerns, among other things, better informs EPA’s ability to negotiate appropriate relief and cleanup work responsive to those concerns.
Examples of community engagement activities conducted by EPA regional offices in FY 2024 include:
Region 2 - Serving New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight Indian Nations.
In August 2024, Region 2 held a virtual public meeting for the St. Croix community concerning an enforcement action against Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation LLP (PHRT) for Clean Air Act violations identified during a 2022 facility inspection. During that inspection, EPA discovered releases of ammonia and other hazardous and toxic substances in violation of the Act’s regulations to prevent chemical accidents. In addition to the public meeting, EPA maintains regular communication with the community, including a toll-free hotline and website to provide details on EPA’s initiatives at the refinery. Read more: EPA Orders PHRT to Remove Additional Chemicals from the Refinery on St. Croix.
EPA Region 9 – Pacific Southwest serving Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands (American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau), and 148 Tribal Nations.
Community Outreach Efforts at Oasis Mobile Home Park
Throughout FY 2024, EPA's Pacific Southwest regional office conducted outreach to Oasis Mobile Home Park residents in Thermal, CA, to keep the community informed of actions the agency was taking to address drinking water contamination in their community. The EPA region office also encouraged public participation in EPA’s tap water sampling program, under which EPA collected drinking water samples from homes and hand-delivered the results to residents.
In March 2024, the EPA regional office hand-delivered meeting flyers to all approximately 200 residences in the mobile home park ahead of a community event to provide updates on enforcement actions, the mobile home park’s compliance with a 2021 order, and the drinking water sampling program.
In May 2024, the office again engaged with residents to collect drinking water samples from over 50 homes. The results were shared with residents by text message. The office again followed up in July and August to schedule an August 2024 drinking water sampling event. During this event, drinking water samples were collected from approximately 47 homes. Read More: Oasis Mobile Home Park Emergency Drinking Water Order, Thermal, CA.
Public Engagement Keeps Community Informed about Guam Waterworks Authority Sewage Discharges
In January 2024, Guam Waterworks Authority (GWA) violated the Clean Water Act by discharging untreated sewage from its wastewater collection system and treatment plants. Under the enforcement agreement, GWA will conduct major improvements to its wastewater treatment plant collection system over the next 10 years, costing approximately $447 million. GWA must also conduct extensive community engagement to increase transparency about their work and educate the public on their efforts. The public engagement activities include:
- Posting information and summaries of projects to be discussed at public meetings;
- Providing the public with an opportunity to comment before or at meetings;
- Considering and responding to comments orally or in writing and posting the comments and responses on GWA’s website;
- Posting status reports of its projects on social media and in employee newsletters; and
- Providing informational updates for projects that impact human health and the environment and are of interest to the public.
Superfund Enforcement at Federal and Private Facilities
In FY 2024, EPA resolved nine Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as Superfund) disputes at federal facilities listed on the National Priorities List in or near communities overburdened by pollution. Timely resolution of these disputes ensures that cleanup at these sites continues as quickly as possible.
In FY 2024, 82% of the 84 sites addressed by the Superfund enforcement program are in overburdened communities. The FY 2024 Superfund enforcement cleanup agreements to address site contamination will benefit approximately 611,662 people living in communities within a one-mile radius of a Superfund site, with 96% (584,184) of those living in communities that have experienced the worst pollution.
Supporting Cleanup and Reuse of Contaminated Properties
Prospective purchasers, real estate developers, lenders, and others may hesitate to acquire contaminated properties because of Superfund liability concerns. Many of these properties are in areas overburdened by pollution, blighted, and not reused. The sustainable reuse of previously contaminated property is an important goal of EPA’s cleanup program. The agency continues to support site-specific agreements and comfort letters with parties willing to clean up and reuse these properties.
In February 2024, EPA and the Department of Justice finalized a prospective purchaser agreement with the Cone Mills Acquisition Group for cleanup work and redevelopment at the U.S. Finishing/Cone Mills Superfund site in Greenville, SC. As a result of the agreement, the purchaser will clean up surface and subsurface contamination and plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use development involving commercial, residential, and recreational uses. More information on Superfund enforcement accomplishments and the benefits to overburdened and underserved communities is available in the FY 2024 Annual Results for Superfund enforcement section.
Criminal Enforcement
EPA prioritizes communities that have suffered the worst pollution in its criminal investigations and prosecutions as well. Sixty-one percent of new criminal cases opened in FY 2024 were in communities overburdened by pollution. For criminal violations, EPA seeks punishments that serve as effective deterrents and assure communities that illegal pollution will not recur.
Aluminum Process Company Fined and Paying Restitution for Hazardous Release in the Building
In December 2023, Hydro Extrusion USA, an Illinois based company’s aluminum processing facility in Dalles, OR, was fined for negligently releasing a hazardous air pollutant in violation of the Clean Air Act. The facility’s furnaces were open to the interior of the building and did not pass through any pollution control devices before reaching employees. The company was ordered to pay a criminal fine of $550,000 and more than $213,000 in restitution to an employee sickened by release. Read more: Criminal Fine and Restitution Ordered for CAA Violations at Aluminum Processing Facility press release.
Illegal Handling of Hazardous Waste Results in Five Year Prison Sentence
In a case involving the illegal handling of hazardous waste, a man was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years supervised release for three Resource Conservation and Recovery Act violations involving:
- Transportation of hazardous waste without a manifest;
- Falsification of a hazardous waste manifest; and
- Illegal storage of hazardous waste.
Improved Screening Tools and Public Access to Information
Access to EPA’s compliance data enables communities to understand, better manage risks, and monitor compliance at nearby facilities and sites. EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online or ECHO database provides public access to nationwide inspection, violation, and enforcement information for approximately 800,000 EPA-regulated facilities.
In FY 2024, EPA advanced its goal to provide better access to this data by improving its online tools, such as the Water Quality Indicators tool to make it easy for the public to identify pollutant hotspots based on water quality monitoring data. The EPA also further refined and updated EJScreen, the agency's environmental justice screening and mapping tool, adding a Drinking Water Noncompliance Indicator. This new indicator improves EPA’s ability to consider the potential cumulative impacts of environmental burdens for communities served by public drinking water systems. The indicator improves identification of populations served by systems that have challenges complying with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.