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Compliance and Enforcement Quick Finder

 

Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs)

SEPs are environmentally beneficial projects that a violator voluntarily agrees to undertake during settlement of an enforcement action.The purpose of a SEP is to secure significant environmental or public health protection improvements beyond those achieved by bringing the violator into compliance.  The violator is not legally required to do the work.  A cash penalty may be lowered if the violator chooses to perform an acceptable SEP.  An acceptable SEP must improve, protect or reduce risks to public health or the environment, and have a relationship with the violation.  EPA does not manage or control the money for the project.  EPA does provide enough oversight to ensure that the company does what it promises to do.   Additional information regarding SEPs.

WE WANT YOUR IDEAS!

This web site was created as a tool for Region 6 to enhance community involvement. A library has been created for your SEP ideas. These ideas may be considered by violators of Federal environmental laws during the case negotiation process. Please realize that SEPs are not mandatory and there is no way to ensure that your project will be adopted. The project must relate to the environmental violation. Other legal requirements also should be met. Therefore, many ideas, such as a playground or an employment center, do not meet legal requirements and are not appropriate to propose as a project. If you would like to send an idea click here.

SEP Categories: EPA has set out eight categories of projects that can be acceptable SEPs. To qualify, a SEP must fit into at least one of the following categories:

  1. Public Health: SEPs may include examining residents in a community to determine if anyone has experienced any health problems because of the company's violations.
  2. Pollution Prevention: These SEPs involve changes so that the company no longer generates some form of pollution. For example, a company may make its operation more efficient so that it avoids making a hazardous waste along with its product.
  3. Pollution Reduction: These SEPs reduce the amount and/or danger presented by some form of pollution, often by providing better treatment and disposal of the pollutant.
  4. Environmental Restoration and Protection: These SEPs improve the condition of the land, air or water in the area damaged by the violation. For example, by purchasing land or developing conservation programs for the land, a company could protect a source of drinking water.
  5. Emergency Planning and Preparedness: These projects provide assistance to a responsible state or local emergency response or planning entity to enable these organizations to fulfill their obligations under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA.) Such assistance may include the purchase of computers and/or software, communication systems, chemical emission detection and inactivation equipment, HAZMAT equipment, or training. Cash donations to local or state emergency response organizations are not acceptable SEPs.
  6. Assessments and Audits: A violating company may agree to examine its operations to determine if it is causing any other pollution problems or can run its operations better to avoid violations in the future. These audits go well beyond standard business practice.
  7. Environmental Compliance Promotion: These are SEPs in which an alleged a violator provides training or technical support to other members of the regulated community to achieve, or go beyond, compliance with applicable environmental requirements. For example, the violator may train other companies on how to comply with the law.
  8. Other Types of Projects: Other acceptable SEPs would be those that have environment merit but do not fit within the categories listed above. These types of projects must be fully consistent with all other provisions of the SEP Policy and be approved by EPA.
National Information

Publications

ECHO - Enforcement and Compliance History Online

Following are projects that companies agreed to perform as part of case settlements during FY 09 -

Texas

On March 9, 2009, BP Products North America Inc. was issued an Order that include the follollowing projects.

BP Products will spend $365,000 on projects that are intended to improve Texas City’s ability to respond to emergency releases that threaten human health or the environment and include an ambulance, upgrade of the city’s computer system, communications equipment and an Optigon system to assist with traffic control during emergencies. Also included in the projects are funds to improve the city’s Emergency Operations Center and upgrade the city’s mobile command post.

On March 5, 2009, a Final Order was issued to Shintech Inc. in Texas

Shintech will spend $4,700,000 on three projects:

1. Refrigerant/Appliance Recycling Program. This project will collect, recycle, and dispose of at least 6,400 residential appliances containing ozone depleting substances in the city of Houston, Texas. The largest city in the country that does not have funding for this type program.

2. PVC poly-vinyl chloride Slurry Stripper. This project aims to reduce vinyl chloride monomer emissions and change the facility permits to reduce the emissions limit from 35 ppmw to 10 ppmw.

3. Green buffer - This project is to donate approximately 300 acres of wetlands to the U.S. Fish and Wild Life Service to be held in perpetuity for the protection of wild life habitats.

Oklahoma

CRM Energy Partners will spend $35,399, on a project requiring extensive remediation to soils contaminated from brine discharges. The soil remediation involve applying soil amendments such as lime, hay, and manure to these contaminated areas.

 

Air/Toxics Inspection & Coordination Branch - works with state, local and tribal governments, other federal agencies, businesses and community groups to implement and enforce the CAA regulations.

Hazardous Waste Enforcement Branch - provides guidance on all aspects of managing hazardous wastes and chemical substances; and offer compliance assistance to citizens, facilities, States, and Tribes.

Water Enforcement Branch - assures compliance and takes appropriate enforcement action against facilities for violations of the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water acts, including animal feed lots, stormwater. Additional water quality information in Region 6.

 

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