EPA’s Annual Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Results Include Strongest Outcomes Since 2017
Revitalized enforcement and compliance efforts delivered public health benefits for people and communities, combatted climate change, and ensured cleaner air, water and land
WASHINGTON – Today, Dec. 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 2024) Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Annual Results, highlighting the agency’s enhanced efforts to hold polluters accountable and protect communities from harm. The agency’s enforcement efforts resulted in over 1,800 concluded civil cases, over 120 criminal defendants charged, and more than 225 million pounds of pollution reductions in overburdened communities, providing substantial environmental and public health benefits for the nation.
In FY 2024, EPA’s enforcement and compliance assurance program delivered results to address 21st century environmental challenges including climate change, environmental justice, and waste and chemical risks, leveraging an expanded and reinvigorated enforcement program that had suffered more than a decade of budget cuts.
“In Fiscal Year 2024, EPA’s enforcement and compliance assurance program produced its strongest results since 2017, focusing on efforts to combat climate change and tackling some of the nation’s most significant environmental threats to our shared air, water and land,” said David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The progress made under the Biden-Harris Administration has sent a clear signal that polluters will be held accountable and that protecting communities from harm is a top priority. Based on investments Congress has made over the last two years, the EPA enforcement program is poised for even greater gains in the years ahead. Communities across America should expect nothing less.”
EPA made significant progress in efforts to support communities that have suffered the worst pollution in the United States. During the fiscal year, EPA conducted 53 percent of on-site inspections in communities overburdened with pollution, surpassing its annual goal of 50 percent. Half of EPA’s civil enforcement cases addressed facilities in overburdened areas. These efforts seek to make good on the promise of clean air and safe drinking water for everyone living in the United States.
EPA also delivered results from its “Climate Enforcement and Compliance Strategy” that directs all EPA enforcement and compliance offices to address climate change in criminal, civil, federal facilities and cleanup enforcement actions and to pursue climate mitigation, adaptation and resiliency whenever possible in its enforcement actions and compliance assurance program. This year EPA focused on cutting climate super pollutants, including methane from oil and gas operations and landfills and unlawful imports of hydrofluorocarbons, to deliver reductions under this strategy. EPA conducted over 450 inspections as part of this effort and coordinated criminal, civil and administrative efforts in ways it never has before.
EPA drove results across all six FY 2024-2027 National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives (NECIs), which are designed to address the most significant pollution threats seen nationwide. The current NECIs include the first ever national initiatives on climate change, the forever-chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and contamination from coal ash facilities. The agency continued three initiatives from the prior NECI cycle that began during the last administration focused on air toxics, safe drinking water and preventing chemical accidents.
Additional highlights of our accomplishments this past year include:
- 2.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions were reduced, treated or eliminated.
- 227 million pounds of pollution eliminated in communities overburdened by pollution, the highest total ever.
- $1.7 billion in penalties, the highest level since FY 2017.
- 1,851 civil cases concluded – the highest number since FY 2017.
- 121 criminal defendants charged, the highest since FY 2019.
- 8,500+ inspections, nearly 10 percent increase from FY 2023.
- 53 percent of inspections in areas overburdened by pollution.
- 82 percent of completed Superfund enforcement settlement agreements at sites in overburdened communities.
Enforcement and compliance assurance work completed in FY 2024 and throughout the Biden-Harris Administration has established a solid foundation for fulfilling the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment for generations to come.
To learn more about EPA’s FY 2024 enforcement and compliance accomplishments, including case highlights, visit EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance Annual Results for Fiscal Year 2024.
Members of the public can help protect our environment by identifying and reporting environmental violations. Learn more at EPA’s Report Environmental Violations web page.