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Water Pollution: Many Violations Have Not Received Appropriate Enforcement Attention

RCED-96-23 Published: Mar 20, 1996. Publicly Released: Mar 29, 1996.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) progress in ensuring that facilities comply with federal pollutant discharge requirements, focusing on: (1) the frequency of facilities' violations; (2) the limitations of EPA systems and the effects of these limitations; and (3) EPA plans to correct these facilities.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Administrator, EPA, should revise the assessment of penalties for violations of the Clean Water Act to ensure that the penalties for significant and comparable violations of different types of discharge limits are equitable. In developing the changes, the Administrator should consider the economic benefits gained from noncompliance, the severity of the violations, the permittee's previous compliance record, and the deterrent effect of the penalty.
Closed – Implemented
EPA's regional water enforcement managers have been instructed to ensure that penalties for violations of different types of discharge limits are equitable and comparable. Although this can be achieved using the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance's (OECA) existing penalty policy, OECA believes that additional guidance would be helpful and plans to issue such guidance.

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Topics

Environmental monitoringEnvironmental policiesstate relationsFines (penalties)Industrial wastesLaw enforcementLicensesNoncomplianceWastewater treatmentWater pollution controlPollutants