The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released its enforcement results for fiscal year (FY) 2009. Legal experts report that the federal agencies' budget justifications and appropriation levels for FY 2010 provides a warning for regulated companies that they are likely to see a significant increase in the federal government's enforcement efforts this year. President Obama's proposed federal budget for FY2011 released Feb. 1 would add $18 million to EPA's enforcement and compliance assurance program.
At the end of 2009, President Obama signed the fiscal year (FY) 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes the FY2010 budget for the Department of Justice and other enforcement agencies. The for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) sought a budget increase of $4.2 million, which includes funding for 10 new attorneys - two for civil enforcement and one for criminal enforcement.  The document includes the following description of its criminal enforcement efforts:
Criminal litigating activities focus on identifying and prosecuting violators of laws protecting wildlife, the environment, and public health. ... ENRD enforces criminal statutes designed to punish those who pollute the nation's air and water; illegally store, transport and dispose of hazardous wastes; illegally transport hazardous materials; unlawfully deal in ozone-depleting substances; and lie to officials to cover up illegal conduct.
The document also explains that in FY 2008, ENRD's Environmental Crimes Section "successfully prosecuted 109 defendants, achieving a 95% success rate, and imposing criminal fines and penalties over $68 million."
The from the conference version of the Department of Justice appropriation bill indicates that ENRD's request for a total budget of $109,785,000 was matched.
EPA's sought a criminal enforcement budget of $57.7 million "to complete its three-year hiring strategy of raising its special agent workforce to 200 criminal investigators."Â EPA's (at p. 548 of 944) states that the six priority areas of the criminal enforcement program are as follows:
- National compliance and enforcement priorities,
- Regional enforcement priorities,
- Stationary source air cases,
- High impact cases based upon specific criteria,
- Repeat or chronic civil noncompliance and
- Import/export violations.