U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson appeared this week before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to discuss the Clean Water Act's (CWA) permit program and EPA's immediate plans to strengthen its enforcement efforts. Jackson specifically called out construction sites as one of "the biggest threats" to our nation's waters, adding that EPA needs "to target enforcement to the most serious violations and the most significant sources."聽 To address what she describes as an "unacceptably low" level of enforcement activity, Administrator Jackson announced the release of EPA's new action plan to strengthen federal and state CWA enforcement.聽
to the Committee, Administrator Jackson stated that "it is long overdue for EPA to reexamine its approach to Clean Water Act NPDES [National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System] enforcement to...address the water pollution challenges of this century."聽 Recipients of all types of NPDES permits can expect to see increased enforcement by EPA - including criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance - as well as more reporting and public oversight. The Administrator went on to highlight EPA's new "" that calls for the following actions:
- Target Enforcement to the Most Important Water Pollution Problems - EPA will tackle violations of existing law by the sources of pollution posing the biggest threats to water quality.
- Strengthen Oversight of State Permitting and Enforcement Programs - In situations where states are not issuing protective permits or taking enforcement to achieve compliance, EPA needs to act to strengthen state programs and to pursue federal enforcement actions as necessary.
- Improve Accountability and Transparency - EPA believes that making information on environmental discharges available to the public will increase the pressure on regulated facilities to self-police and reduce their pollution.