AMSA Legal Alert (Leg02-10)

On August 19, 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) will take direct final action to increase its civil penalties for violations of environmental statutes and regulations for the first time since 1997. See 67 Fed. Reg. 41,343 (June 18, 2002). As a result of EPA’s action, administrative penalties under Clean Water Act (CWA) § 309(g) and judicial civil penalties under CWA § 309(d) automatically will increase in the amounts outlined below. EPA’s civil penalty regulations are codified at 40 CFR Parts 19.1 – 19.4. The new amounts will apply to statutory and regulatory violations that occur after August 19, 2002.

EPA and other Federal agencies are required to review and adjust their civil penalty structures at least once every four years pursuant to § 4 of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996. The increases are intended to account for inflation and to maintain the penalties’ deterrent effect. EPA’s action will increase all environmental civil penalties by the determined 13.6 percent rate of inflation. Information regarding penalty increases for the many other environmental statutes and regulations EPA enforces also are listed in Table 1 of the June 18 Federal Register notice at page 41,345.

Administrative Penalties, CWA § 309(g)
Class I - Presently $11,000/maximum $27,500       Increasing to $12,000/maximum $31,500
Class II - Presently $11,000/maximum $137,500    Increasing to $12,000/maximum $157,500

Judicial Civil Penalties, CWA § 309(d)
Presently $27,500 per day per violation                   Increasing to $31,500 per day per violation

If you have any questions regarding this information, please feel free to contact AMSA’s General Counsel, Alexandra Dunn, at 202/533-1803 or via e-mail at adunn@amsa-cleanwater.org.