On Thursday, August 6th , 2015, EPA announced that Arch Coal, Inc. will enter into a Consent Decree for Clean Water Act violations. Arch Coal is the latest example of EPA levying Consent Decrees as a preferred enforcement tool in recent years. EPA’s website shows that it has enforced Consent Decrees and levied multi-million dollar penalties on municipalities (including Kentucky cities such as Lexington and Louisville), state highway departments, food producers, pipeline companies, home builders, and various manufacturing facilities in the past two decades.
A basic review of the EPA’s enforcement website shows more than a 300% increase in reported Consent Decrees under the Clean Water Act since 2008 compared to the previous decade (http://cfpub.epa.gov/enforcement/cases/index.cfm?templatePage=12&ID=3). Among those with the largest penalties assessed is Transocean which was required to pay $1 billion in civil penalties related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
At Smith Management Group, we have over 25 years of experience helping industry, businesses, and other organizations address their environmental compliance requirements. If you would like help understanding the status of your environmental compliance, you can contact me at josiahf@smithmanage.com.