Civil Enforcement

EPA’s civil enforcement program protects human health and the environment by taking legal action to bring polluters into compliance with the federal environmental laws. Every year, we stop the release of millions of tons of illegal pollution into the air, water, and onto the ground; we ensure the clean up of contamination problems; and we prevent the causes of the pollution from reoccurring. More...

If you are looking for information about situations where violations are committed by federally-owned facilities or businesses, visit the Federal Facility Enforcement site. For information about the remediation or clean up of abandoned waste sites, visit Cleanup Enforcement. If you seek information about how EPA deals with intentional or deliberate violations, visit the Criminal Enforcement site.

Clean Air Act (CAA)
Enforcement relating to sources of air pollution, including both stationary and mobile sources.
Statutes and Regulations | Enforcement Programs | Enforcement Priorities | More...

Clean Water Act (CWA)
Enforcement relating to chemical, physical and biological integrity of water.
Statutes and Regulations | Enforcement Programs | Enforcement Priorities | More...

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
Enforcement relating to protecting drinking water quality
Statutes and Regulations | Enforcement Programs | Enforcement Priorities | More...

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Enforcement relating to the generation, transportation, treatment, disposal and other handling of solid and hazardous wastes.
Statutes and Regulations | Enforcement Programs | Enforcement Priorities | More...

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
Enforcement relating to the manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce, use or disposal of chemicals.
Statutes and Regulations | Enforcement Programs | Environmental Results | More...

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
Enforcement relating to pesticide registration and sale, distribution, and use except for those exempted.
Statutes and Regulations | Enforcement Programs | Environmental Results | More...

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
Protection from chemical emergencies through disclosure of chemical use and reporting of emissions.
Statutes and Regulations | Enforcement Programs | Environmental Results | More...

Through National Enforcement Priorities, we emphasize addressing the most widespread types of violations that also pose the most substantive health and environmental risks.

The federal laws regulate a wide variety of sources, including businesses, individuals, organizations, and public entities (such as water authorities). Other EPA enforcement programs specialize in particular aspects of these laws. Where violations are committed by federally-owned facilities or businesses, the Federal Facility Enforcement program has primary responsibility. When the remediation or clean up of abandoned waste sites, private facilities or federal facilities is required, Clean Up Enforcement takes over. If an intentional or deliberate violations are found, they are referred to the Criminal Enforcement program for enforcement action.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is "any procedure that is used to resolve issues in controversy, including but not limited to, conciliation, facilitation, mediation, fact finding, mini-trials, arbitration, and use of ombuds, or any combination thereof." (Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996, 5 USC 571(3)). All of these procedures involve a neutral third party, a person who assists others in designing and conducting a neutral process. The neutral third party has no stake in the substantive outcome of the process. Neutral third parties may be Agency employees or may come from outside EPA, depending on the nature of a specific dispute or need.

EPA utilizes a series of computer models to address three economic issues that commonly arise in the assessment of civil penalties. Those three issues are: 1) what economic benefit did the violator obtain in violating the law? 2) how do we evaluate claims that the violator cannot afford to pay for compliance, clean-up and/or civil penalties? and 3) what is the real out of pocket expense for a SEP, a supplemental environmental project (i.e. a project whereby the violator goes beyond legal compliance in mitigation of its penalty liability). The BEN model calculates a violator’s economic benefit; ABEL, INDIPAY and MUNIPAY evaluate inability to pay claims; and PROJECT calculates the net-present value of a SEP. See EPA's Economic Enforcement Models to access these models.

The Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) Policy is one of many tools that the enforcement program utilizes when settling a civil judicial or administrative enforcement action. The SEP Policy provides for the inclusion in settlements of environmentally beneficial projects which the defendant/respondent is not otherwise legally required to perform. A violator's willingness to implement a SEP is one of several factors taken into consideration by EPA when determining an appropriate settlement penalty.

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