Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Annual Results for FY 2024: Year in Review

In fiscal year 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement and compliance assurance program continued to vigorously address violations of environmental statutes, leveraging additional staff resources, and implementing results-oriented strategies. Fair and robust enforcement is the cornerstone of EPA’s enforcement and compliance assurance program and helps deliver on the promise of our nation’s environmental laws.

EPA implemented and began to see results from the FY 2024-2027 National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives or NECIs addressing climate change, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, coal ash, safe drinking water, air toxics, and chemical accidents. These national initiatives, developed in a non-partisan way across administrations to address the largest national public health and environmental threats, have allowed EPA and its state partners to meet the goals of our environmental laws: healthier air, cleaner water, and reduced exposure to hazardous waste and toxic chemicals.

In addition to outcomes in each of our NECIs, EPA completed landmark cases, implemented a groundbreaking strategic partnership between the criminal and civil programs, and provided environmental and public health protections that benefited communities overburdened by pollution.

During the past two years, EPA has achieved stronger enforcement and compliance assurance results in several important areas than it has over the previous decade.

Historic, Precedent-Setting Cases

EPA increased inspections and case conclusions to drive impactful, precedent-setting results across communities that cut harmful pollution in our air, water, and land, and reduced exposure to toxic chemicals. The Nation’s environmental laws provide EPA broad enforcement authority to seek civil and criminal enforcement against those who violate them. The agency also leverages monitoring, incentives, and data reporting to better promote compliance, transparency, and accountability.

In FY 2024, EPA completed two record-breaking Clean Air Act cases resulting in the single largest stationary source and the single largest mobile source enforcement cases in the agency’s history.

Three significant cases highlighted below demonstrate that EPA is seeking to deter violations and hold polluters accountable across industry sectors and implement transformative requirements as part of its civil and cleanup enforcement settlements. These efforts help promote environmental compliance, establish a level-playing field for industry, and protect communities from contamination and potential health risks.

Marathon Oil

In September 2024, EPA and the Department of Justice finalized a first of its kind settlement with Marathon Oil Company resolving Clean Air Act violations at the company’s oil and gas production operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Marathon agreed to implement extensive compliance measures and mitigation activities to achieve major reductions in harmful emissions from over 200 facilities across the state as well as pay a $64.5 million civil penalty, the largest ever for violations of the Clean Air Act at stationary sources. Marathon’s actions will result in the equivalent of over 2.25 million tons of reduced carbon dioxide emissions over the next five years, a reduction comparable to taking 487,000 cars off the road for one year.

The Clean Air Act violations at nearly 90 Marathon facilities caused thousands of tons of illegal pollution, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide, which contribute to asthma and increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses. Other emissions, including greenhouse gases like methane, a climate super pollutant, were released in large quantities. More information is available on the Marathon Oil Company Settlement Summary webpage and EPA and DOJ Announce $241.5M Settlement Agreement with Marathon Oil press release.

Cummins Inc.

In January 2024, EPA, DOJ, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Attorney General’s office finalized a settlement with Cummins Inc., a diesel engine maker, for federal and state Clean Air Act violations related to the use of software “defeat devices.” These devices are used to circumvent vehicle emissions testing and certification requirements. Cummins paid a $1.675 billion civil penalty—the largest ever assessed in a Clean Air Act case and the second highest penalty in EPA history—and will spend more than $325 million to remedy the harm caused by the violations. Vehicle emission releases of nitrogen dioxide can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, and may also contribute to asthma development in children.

Cummins also must complete a nationwide vehicle recall to repair and replace the engine control software in hundreds of thousands of their diesel engine vehicles. Additionally, Cummins will extend the warranty period for certain parts in the repaired vehicles, fund and perform projects to mitigate excess smog and ozone-creating nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from the vehicles, and employ new internal procedures designed to prevent future emissions cheating. More information is available on the 2024 Cummins Inc. Settlement summary and Cummins Inc. to Pay a Record $1.675 Billion Civil Penalty in Vehicle Test Cheating Settlement with U.S. and California press release.

Gowanus Canal Superfund Site

The Gowanus Canal, located in Brooklyn, NY, is identified as one of the Nation’s most contaminated waterways. High levels of more than a dozen contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals are present. The communities located around the canal have historically been overburdened by pollution, and the area is vulnerable to climate change impacts.

On June 27, 2024, EPA amended a 2020 unilateral administrative order issued to six potentially responsible parties to dredge and cap accumulated sediments and perform other cleanup work. The 2024 amendment to the order extended the dredge and cap work to the middle segment of the canal, which has the highest level of contamination, at an estimated cost of $369 million, the second largest Superfund amendment in terms of dollar value ever agreed to. Overall, the current cost of the cleanup plan for the Canal is estimated at over $2 billion. More information is available on the Gowanus Canal Superfund site profile page and EPA Reaches New Milestone in Cleanup of the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site Cleanup press release.

Cutting Climate Super Pollutants

EPA implemented  EPA’s Climate Enforcement and Compliance Strategy (pdf) (336.37 KB)  and Mitigating Climate Change NECI through targeted actions focusing on two climate super pollutants – hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and methane. HFCs have a global warming potential hundreds to thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. Methane is approximately 25-28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.

To address methane, EPA inspected over 353 oil and gas facilities and 64 landfills in FY 2024 and completed cases totaling over 918,000 (metric) tons of avoided carbon dioxide equivalents from both sectors.

EPA also advanced climate adaptation efforts through several settlements and initiatives.

Operation: Disrupt HFCs

To stem the illegal importation of HFCs into the United States, EPA’s Criminal Investigative Division, in partnership with other federal agencies including Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations, launched Operation: Disrupt HFCs to impact the illegal supply chain of HFC refrigerants entering the United States without required allowances. This operation has led to a significant increase in criminal cases opened, resulting in several defendants being charged for illegal smuggling of HFCs into the United States.

Apache Corporation

In April 2024, EPA and the State of New Mexico finalized a settlement with Apache for Clean Air Act violations at 23 oil and gas production facilities in New Mexico and Texas. Apache paid a civil penalty of $4 million, will bring 400 facilities across the two states into compliance with existing air regulations, and will undertake additional mitigation activities. The environmental harm caused by these violations is estimated to be 25,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, including 900 tons of methane and over 9,650 tons of VOCs. Apache also agreed to replace 400 pieces of equipment that release emissions with zero-emitting equipment. More information is available on the Apache Corporation Settlement Summary and Apache Corporation to Pay $4 Million and Reduce Unlawful Air Pollution from Oil and Gas Wells press release.

Allied Waste Niagara Landfill

In February 2024, EPA reached a settlement with Allied Waste Niagara for Clean Air Act violations at its landfill in Niagara Falls, NY. Under the settlement, Allied will pay a $671,000 penalty and operate a gas collection and control system to reduce the amount of air emissions, primarily methane, as well as other harmful organic compounds. The landfill’s collect and control system will eliminate an estimated 86,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent methane emissions, and the company’s implementation of operational changes will prevent an additional 32 metric tons of non-methane landfill gas emissions per year. These improvements will also provide safeguards from toxic releases into the air to protect the health of the people working and living near this landfill. Read more: Allied Waste Resolves CAA Violations at its Niagara Falls Landfill press release.

Driving Results in Overburdened and Underserved Communities

In FY 2024, EPA committed to drive compliance and ensure robust enforcement in overburdened and underserved communities. For the first time, all six of EPA’s NECIs included promoting environmental justice to ensure the benefits of our Nation’s environmental laws can be shared by everyone living in the United States. See FY 2024 Annual Results for Environmental Justice section for more details. In FY 2024, EPA achieved the following accomplishments in communities that have suffered the worst pollution in the United States:

• 53% of all inspections conducted,
• 50% of civil enforcement case conclusions,
• 235M pounds of pollution and waste treated, minimized, eliminated, or properly disposed of, and
• 82% of completed Superfund enforcement settlement agreements.

For the first time, EPA revised its Reducing Air Toxics in Overburdened Communities NECI to include a geographic focus, requiring identification of communities overburdened by air toxic pollution. EPA identified 27 communities of focus across the country for enforcement and compliance assurance work, completing over 184 inspections in these areas in FY 2024.

Environmental Justice Community Focus: Guayama, Puerto Rico

In FY 2024, EPA took multiple enforcement actions for air and hazardous waste violations threatening the health and wellbeing of the people living in Guayama, PR, an area known to have the greatest contamination on the island. These actions in Guayama demonstrate EPA’s commitment to protect overburdened and underserved communities. The settlements address the following:

• Failure to properly operate and maintain control equipment at a gasoline storage and loading facility;
• Failure to properly monitor emissions of several air toxics, including mercury; and
• Groundwater monitoring issues and improper reporting of a coal ash landfill.

More information on EPA’s settlement agreements with companies in Guayama is available on the FY 2024 Annual Results for Environmental Justice section.

Enhanced Partnership between the Civil and Criminal Programs

In FY 2024, EPA issued the Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy to strengthen the partnership between EPA’s civil and criminal enforcement programs. Collaboration between the two programs is critical to promote robust and fair enforcement that holds polluters accountable, ensures justice for communities scarred by pollution, and upholds the rule of law to level the playing field for law-abiding companies.

The enhanced civil-criminal partnership is a paradigm shift for the enforcement program, ensuring we do not have a bifurcated approach and instead focus on how the two enforcement programs can best collaborate on case selection, information sharing, and use of resources. Along with the Department of Justice, this new approach will help promote compliance, deter violations, and protect communities from harmful pollution.

With an integrated enforcement program, defined by a dynamic and strategic partnership between EPA’s civil and criminal enforcement programs, the agency is better addressing 21st century environmental problems and delivering on the promise of our Nation’s environmental laws. The following case summary demonstrates the results that can be achieved from EPA's civil and criminal partnership enforcement actions.

Rudy’s Performance Parts Inc.

On September 10, 2024, Rudy’s pleaded guilty to criminal charges and was sentenced to one count of conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act for tampering with vehicle monitoring devices. Rudy’s paid a $2.4 million criminal penalty as part of a $10 million global criminal and civil resolution with both Rudy’s and its owner, Aaron Rudolph. EPA’s criminal program investigation discovered that between January 1, 2014, and March 20, 2017, Rudy’s sold over 43,000 tunes or tuners, sold over 62,000 defeat devices, and provided technical support to their customers to assist with installing and troubleshooting these defeat devices.

Disabling or removing emissions controls and tampering with the onboard diagnostics of a diesel truck causes its emissions—including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and non-methane hydrocarbons—to increase significantly. From January 6, 2015, and continuing through 2017, Rudy’s employees disabled or removed the emissions control components and tampered with onboard diagnostics on approximately 300 diesel trucks at the Rudy’s facility located in North Carolina.

As part of the civil enforcement action, Rudy’s and Mr. Rudolf are prohibited from making, selling, offering to sell, and installing defeat devices; transferring intellectual property that would allow others to make or sell defeat devices; and investing in or profiting from defeat devices manufactured or sold by other businesses. Read more: North Carolina Auto Parts Seller and Owner Pay $10 Million for CAA Defeat Devices Violations press release.

Both EPA’s civil and criminal enforcement programs are surging, including through increased case conclusions, higher penalties, and more defendants charged.

Compliance Assurance

A strong compliance assurance program is critical to fulfilling EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment. Delivering a robust compliance assurance program is achieved by helping companies understand their obligations under U.S. environmental laws,  strengthening EPA's inspector program to promote a level-playing field, and revitalizing our training program through the National Enforcement Training Institute to keep up with 21st century environmental challenges, such as cybersecurity threats, climate change, and PFAS contamination. 

Focusing EPA’s compliance assurance resources where most needed, including in and communities overburdened by pollution, and ensuring that people have information to understand the environmental conditions of their neighborhood, are priorities for the agency. In FY 2024, the compliance assurance program continued to develop cutting-edge information technology to meet those goals, and to promote access to data and analytic tools. EPA made meaningful strides toward modernizing our information technology systems to meet current and future needs and beginning efficiency improvements to reduce burden on industry, state, and tribal partners and conserve agency resources.

The compliance assurance program also oversees state authorized programs through the State Review Framework, working with delegated programs to ensure consistent enforcement of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Additionally, to address noncompliance efficiently, the compliance assurance program provides incentives to regulated entities to voluntarily discover, disclose, and correct environmental problems.