Mitigating Climate Change in Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Addressing Climate Change

EPA’s enforcement and compliance assurance program is focused on addressing the 21st century environmental challenge of mitigating climate change. The agency’s efforts are a critical component of the whole of government approach to combatting climate change.

While climate change is a global problem, the impacts of climate change disproportionately affect communities already overburdened by pollution. These communities have few resources to adapt and recover from climate change.

EPA’s ability to achieve meaningful reductions of air pollutants that cause or contribute to climate change (i.e., carbon dioxide, methane, and fluorinated gases) depends on several factors, including the willingness of the agency to take swift enforcement action against violators. EPA is working with state, local, and Tribal partners to prioritize enforcement and compliance activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

On this page:

National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative 

EPA selected Mitigating Climate Change as one of six National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives NECIs for FY 2024-2027 because tackling the climate crisis is EPA’s top priority, and enforcement and compliance efforts that reduce greenhouse gas emissions will help limit the worst effects of climate change.

The initiative focuses additional resources on reducing emissions of the highest impact climate super pollutants - hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and methane. To implement the initiative, EPA will use criminal and civil enforcement authorities to ensure compliance with the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which phases down production and consumption of HFCs by 85% by 2036.

EPA will also first seek greater compliance with the Clean Air Act's new source performance standards at oil and gas facilities and landfills, the second and third largest sources of methane emissions. As new climate rules are adopted, enforcement of those requirements could also be included in this initiative.

The methane emissions and HFC import cases highlighted below provide examples of EPA enforcement actions taken over the past several years to combat climate change. The new Mitigating Climate Change NECI continues this work with heightened focus and additional resources to tackle this pressing issue.

Methane Enforcement Actions

Methane, a climate super pollutant, is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28 times higher than carbon dioxide. Under the Mitigating Climate Change NECI, EPA will seek greater compliance with environmental laws at oil and gas facilities and landfills, the second and third largest sources of U.S. methane emissions.

The following case summaries highlight EPA enforcement actions related to methane emissions.

  • Marathon Oil Company: In July 2024, EPA reached a record-breaking settlement with Marathon Oil Company for Clean Air Act violations at nearly 90 oil and natural gas production facilities located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The settlement requires Marathon to pay a $64.5 million civil penalty and perform work at over 200 facilities across the state that will cut emissions of methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other pollutants resulting in the equivalent of over 2.25 million tons of reduced carbon dioxide emissions over the next five years which is equivalent to taking 487,000 cars off the road for one year. Read more: Marathon Oil Clean Air Act Settlement Summary.
  • Mewbourne Oil Company: In August 2023, EPA agreement to a settlement with Mewbourne Oil Company to undertake projects to ensure 422 of its oil and gas well pads in New Mexico and Texas comply with state and federal clean air regulations and offset past illegal emissions at a cost of at least $4.6 million. A co-benefit of the actions by these companies will also result in a reduction of more than 1,300 tons of methane (equivalent to 33,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually or similar to the amount of greenhouse gas reductions that would be achieved by taking 7,300 gasoline powered vehicles off the road for one year). Read more: Melbourne Oil Company to Pay $5.5 Million Penalty and Eliminated Tons of Harmful Air Toxics press release.
  • Matador Production Company: In May 2023 EPA agreed to a settlement with Matador Production Company addressing Clean Air Act violations and ensure compliance with both state and federal clean air regulations at all 239 of its New Mexico oil and gas well pads to resolve unlawful operations, Matador’s compliance with the consent decree will result in a reduction of more than 16,000 tons of pollutants, including oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide. Additional, as a co-benefit, the company’s work will reduce approximately 1,100 tons of methane emissions per year, equivalent to 31,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually or similar to the amount of greenhouse gas reductions that would be achieved by taking 6,060 gasoline powered vehicles off the road for one year. Read more: Matador Production to Reduced Air Pollution and Eliminate 16,000 tons of Harmful Air Pollutants press release.

Additional methane enforcement cases can be found on EPA’s Mitigating Climate Change NECI webpage, including:

  • Apache Corp.: 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.
  • Allied Waste Niagara Falls 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.

Hydrofluorocarbons Enforcement Actions

HFCs are potent greenhouse gases or GHGs with global warming potentials hundreds to thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). HFCs were used as a replacement for ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment and are also used in foams, fire retardants, and many other applications.

The 2020 American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, AIM Act which implements the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, by 2036 requires the United States to phase down HFC production and consumption by 85%.

The following case summaries highlight EPA’s enforcement actions related to the import of HFCs.

  • USA Wholesale: In April 2024, EPA filed a complaint against USA Wholesale, Inc. for unlawfully importing HFCs through a port of the United States in 2022. This is the first time EPA has used its authority under the AIM Act to file an administrative complaint for illegally importing HFCs, demonstrates EPA will not hesitate to sue to hold companies accountable. The complaint states USA Wholesale attempted to illegally import 34,480.3 pounds of HFC-134a and seeks civil penalties for violating the AIM Act. Read more: Compliant Against California Company for Unlawful HFC Imports press release.
  • California Illegal Smuggling Criminal Case: In March 2024, the first arrest and criminal charges were brought against an individual for illegally smuggling and HFCs in violation of the AIM Act. Illegal smuggling of HFCs undermines U.S. efforts to combat climate change and this arrest demonstrates EPA’s commitment to the climate enforcement initiative and efforts to prevent refrigerants that are climate super pollutants from illegally entering the United States. Read more: California Man Arrested for Smuggling Potent GHGs into U.S. press release.
  • Open Mountain Energy, LLC/Sigma Air LLC: In January 2024, EPA reached settlement agreements with Open Mountain Energy, LLC and Sigma Air, LLC, for the illegal import of HFCs under the AIM Act. These settlements further illustrate how EPA’s enforcement actions are protecting the environment from illegal emissions of climate super pollutants. Read more: EPA Enforcement Prevents Multiple Illegal Imports of Super Climate Pollutant press release.
    • The settlement with Open Mountain Energy, LLC, prevented the illegal importation of approximately 20 metric tons of HFCs. This enforcement action preventing the release of climate super pollutants, which if released into the air, would have a climate impact equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide produced from powering approximately 4,000 homes with electricity produced from coal for a year.
    • The settlement with Sigma Air, LLC, is the first settlement finalized under EPA’s HFC Expedited Settlement Agreement Pilot Program and prevented the illegal importation of 3,736 pounds of HFCs. The pilot program addresses violations that are easily detected, can be corrected in an easy and timely manner, and are not likely to result in significant harm to human health or the environment.
  • Resonac America, Inc.: In March 2024, EPA reached a settlement agreement with  Resonac America Inc. for the illegal importation of HFCs. The settlement imposed a penalty of $416,003 - the largest penalty as of March 2024, prevented the illegal importation of approximately 6,208 pounds of HFCs, and required, for the first time, the destruction of 1,693 pounds of HFCs. Read more: Settlement with Resonac America for Illegal Import of HFCS into the Port of Los Angeles press release.

Additional information on EPA HFCs enforcement activity is also available from EPA's:

Driving Greenhouse Gas Reductions

EPA’s day-to-day enforcement actions aim at returning facilities to compliance with existing laws are directly and indirectly resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Under settlement agreements where companies agree to increase energy efficiency, conserve energy, or switch fuels, the environmental benefits include a reduction in carbon dioxide, the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The Clean Air Act authority to protect the ozone layer and to provide for a smooth transition away from ozone-depleting substances (ODS) results in the direct reduction of fluorinated gases, such as CFCs and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which have global warming potentials thousands to tens of thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. Read more: Enforcement Actions under Title VI of the Clean Air Act webpage.

The following case summaries highlight EPA enforcement actions resulting in greenhouse gas reductions unrelated to the Mitigating Climate Change NECI:

  • Derichebourg Recycling USA, Inc.: In January 2022 EPA reached a settlement agreement with Derichebourg Recycling USA Inc. to resolve Clean Air Act violations at 10 scrap metal recycling facilities in Texas and Oklahoma. The company failed to recover refrigerant from appliances and motor vehicle air conditioners before disposal or verify with the supplier that the refrigerant had been properly recovered prior to delivery. Derichebourg paid a penalty of $442,500 and must take to mitigate future harm by preventing the release of ozone-depleting refrigerants and non-exempt substitutes from refrigerant-containing items during their processing and disposal processes. Read more: Company will implement refrigerant recovery management programs at 10 facilities press release.
  • New York City Public Schools:
    1,300 oil-fired boilers
    In September 2021, EPA reached a settlement agreement with the New York City Public Schools to address their longstanding failure to properly monitor and control harmful emissions from their over 1,300 oil-fired boilers. When these boilers are not properly maintained, they can emit excess hazardous air pollutants, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide and greenhouse gases. The school system agreed to convert to natural gas or replace seven large oil-fired boilers, which is projected to reduce the New York City Department of Education’s oil consumption and combustion by over three million gallons by November 2027. Read more: Clean Air Act Settlement with New York City Public Schools press release.

Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

The Clean Air Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program supports national and international goals to reduce the use of HFCs. The data is used to track and compare importers’ and facilities’ emissions, identify opportunities to cut pollution, minimize wasted energy, and save money. Communities can also use the data to find high emitting facilities in their area.  

Failure to report greenhouse gas emissions in a timely manner to the reporting program harms the regulatory program by undermining the usefulness of the program’s data. These HFC importers’ violations diminished the ability of federal, state, and local, and Tribal governments to compare emissions between similar facilities and develop common-sense climate policies, making it harder to address climate change.

The civil penalties in these actions include six landmark settlements totaling more than $1.4 million:

Incorporating Renewable Energy Provisions in Settlement Agreements  

To help reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutant emissions, EPA’s enforcement program is including clean renewable energy (wind, solar, etc.), energy efficiency, and electrification requirements into settlement agreements where appropriate.

Examples of renewable energy provisions in EPA settlement agreements include:

  • Argos Puerto Rico, agreed as part of a 2022 settlement agreement to implement a supplemental environmental project (SEP) where they will install rooftop systems and battery backup systems at a San Juan, PR childcare facility, and a Vega Alta school. The SEP will replace emergency generators that use dirtier diesel fuel. Solar power with battery storage and microgrids provide backup during grid disruptions, ensuring continuous learning and serving as emergency shelters during disasters. Read more: Argos Puerto Rico Commits to Install Solar Energy at School and a Childcare Facility press release.
  • Louisville Gas & Electric 2021 settlement agreement for Clean Air Act violations includes a diesel-emissions reduction SEP project aimed at reducing ground-level emissions to resolve allegations that it emitted too much sulfuric acid mist. Read more: Company Will Also Pay $750,000 Civil Penalty and Perform Diesel-Emissions Reduction Project press release.
  • JEG’S Automotive 2021 settlement for selling aftermarket motor vehicle parts that violated the Clean Air Act agreed to perform a SEP to replace three older buses with new electric buses featuring modern pollution controls in response to air emission control “defeat device” violations in an area of Columbus, overburdened by pollution. Read more: Company to perform SEP valued at $275,000 to replace school buses in Ohio press release.

Enforcement

Enforcement: Contact Us
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on December 23, 2024