While compliance assistance, incentives and the threat of punitive action all help motivate the regulated community to comply, the EPA also relies on extensive monitoring to ensure that environmental regulations are being observed. Monitoring takes a number of forms, including self-monitoring reports conducted by regulated entities and submitted to EPA, site inspections by EPA inspectors and the issuing of permits and licenses. Monitoring, like many compliance and enforcement activities seeks to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the administration of regulated programs and operations.

Recommended EPA Web pages

• Compliance Monitoring
  Compliance monitoring identifies which facilities are and are not following environmental laws and EPA regulations.
• Compliance Monitoring: Statutory Programs
  Provides information about compliance monitoring programs.
• Planning and Results: IDEA
  Comprehensive single source of environmental performance on regulated facilities within EPA.

Compliance Assistance

Compliance Incentives
Audit Policy

Compliance Monitoring
Audit, Inspection, Investigation

Criminal Enforcement

Delegation
Oversight

Environmental Liability

Multi-Media Compliance

Reporting

Settlement
Maximum Achievable Control Technology Emission Standards (MACTs), Mediation, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs), Penalty, Recertification, Reportable Quantity, Supplemental Environmental Project

Violation

Voluntary Standards
Consensus Standards, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Voluntary Standards Network