Office of Civil Enforcement (OCE) Organization

Offices

Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA)

The Office of Civil Enforcement (OCE) has four divisions as shown in the organization chart and characterized in the descriptions below.

The Office of Civil Enforcement's Mission Statement, the OCE Divisions have the following responsibilities in common:

Planning and setting priorities for enforcement activities;
Development of the national enforcement policy and guidance;
Developing and prosecuting administrative and civil judicial cases;
Providing legal and technical support and advice for Regionally-initiated cases and investigations;
Directly implementing and enforcing federal programs, i.e., those where there has been no authorized state programs;
Participating in Agency rule-makings to ensure that the regulations contain clear and enforceable provisions;
Implementing effective communications to alert regulated entities to potential compliance problems; and
Managing and responding to Contressional, General Accounting Office (GAO) and Inspector General (IG) inquiries.

The Divisions and their roles:

Air Enforcement Division

The Air Enforcement Division, Office of Civil Enforcement, is responsible for the enforcement activities under the Clean Air Act (CAA), including the 1990 Amendments.

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Special Litigation & Projects Division

The Special Litigation and Projects Division develops, implements and manages several of EPA's priority enforcement approaches, including (1) multimedia enforcement, that emphasizes a whole facility and/or a whole geographical or sector-based approach to enforcement; and (2) a rapid response capability that focuses on remedying environmental harm through targeted and streamlined enforcement mechanisms. The Division also focuses on the use of innovative enforcement tools, such as the Audit Policy, as well as the development and support of models and cross-media enforcement policies (such as the BEN and ABEL programs and policies governing the recovery of economic benefit and supplemental environmental projects) that are used by EPA Regions, States and others in enforcement actions across all media. Finally, through its Resource Management Team, the Division provides support to the entire Office of Civil Enforcement in the areas of financial management, strategic planning, human resources, contracts management, and other administrative areas.

Waste and Chemical Enforcement Division

The Division provides national direction for enforcement activities arising a number of statutes including Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), except corrective action, Toxics and Substance Control Act (TSCA), and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) under these regulatory programs, including developing and litigating civil and administrative enforcement cases, and providing technical, legal and policy support on Regional civil judicial and administrative enforcement actions. The Division participates with other offices in developing enforceable regulations and policies that will ensure compliance with these programs. The Division also develops and implements various enforcement initiatives and ensures that nationally significant issues in administrative and civil judicial cases are managed, litigated and resolved in a manner consistent with national policy.

Water Enforcement Division

The Water Enforcement Division (WED), Office of Civil Enforcement, is responsible for the enforcement programs under four statutes: the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Ocean Dumping Act (Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act), and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA).

For additional information about the OCE Divisions, follow the above links.