EPA Enforcement Division Releases 2021 Statistics, Highlighting Higher Penalties And Commitment To Environmental Justice

On January 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) released its annual enforcement results for fiscal year 2021. OECA's report provides some indication of the Biden EPA's priorities for enforcement. Notably, OECA secured higher civil penalty amounts and financial commitments to injunctive relief in 2021 than in each of the previous four years, which supports the expectation that administrative enforcement actions in key priority areas will continue to increase during the Biden administration.

In particular, OECA emphasized actions taken to support EPA's current environmental justice priorities outlined by President Joe Biden in his Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government and Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad as well as EPA Administrator Michael Regan's agencywide directive to