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Reporting Environmental Violations
General Information
EPA seeks your help! Please let us know about potentially harmful environmental activities in your community or workplace.
- What EPA's Enforcement Program Does
- How You Can Help
- What is an Environmental Crime?
- What Not to Report
- What to do in Case of an Emergency
- Brochures
- Reporting Potential Violations by Phone
What EPA's Enforcement Program Does
The mission of EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) is to improve the environment and protect human health by ensuring compliance with environmental laws and regulations, preventing pollution and promoting environmental stewardship. An effective environmental protection system requires a strong and vigorous enforcement program. Using an appropriate combination of enforcement and compliance assistance, we and our partners prevent and reduce pollution, thereby protecting human health and the environment.
How You Can Help
We invite you to help us protect our nation's environment by identifying and reporting environmental violations. EPA's Report an Environmental Violation website provides a way for you to report suspected environmental violations.
Assuring compliance with our nation's environmental laws is one of EPA's primary commitments. In carrying out this responsibility, we use many different approaches. One approach is to seek help from you by asking you to provide EPA with information about potentially harmful environmental activities in your communities and workplaces. Reports from the public have led to state and federal enforcement cases and ultimately served environmental protection well.
In its 35 years as a federal agency, EPA has changed the way each of us looks at how our own actions can make a difference. Most importantly, you, the public, are seeing yourselves as custodians of the nation's environment, and have become aware of how your actions can affect the health and welfare of our communities.
What is an Environmental Crime?
Violations of environmental laws take many different forms. Some are done intentionally and may be criminal violations. For more information on environmental crimes, please review the environmental crimes page.
What Not to Report
EPA does not have jurisdiction over automobile safety, consumer product safety, foods, medicine, cosmetics, or medical devices. These and other issues are concerns of other federal, tribal, state or local agencies. Examples of different situations and who to call.
What to Do in Case of an Emergency
If you are experiencing an environmental emergency or are witnessing an environmental event that poses an imminent threat to human health or the environment, contact the National Response Center.
More information on the differences between environmental violations and emergencies.
Brochures
The following brochures briefly describe what we do, how you can help, and signs of potential environmental law violations.
Reporting Environmental Violations Brochure [English] (PDF) (2 pp, 5MB, About pdf )
Denunciando Violaciones Ambientales [Spanish] (PDF) (2 pp, 5MB, About pdf )
Reporting Potential Violations by Phone
Please note - the appropriate EPA personnel will receive your complaint much faster if you use the Report an Environmental Violation web form.
To submit a tip by phone, please contact the EPA regional office responsible for the state in which the potential violation is occurring.
