U.S. EPA – Next Generation Enforcement – Already Here With More Coming Soon

The 2016 budget focus for the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("U.S. EPA") is on continued implementation of its "Next Generation" enforcement initiative, and this could mean big costs for manufacturers who choose to adapt their environmental compliance practices accordingly and big penalties for those who do not. Under this initiative, U.S. EPA intends to make a significant shift toward electronic reporting for most required environmental compliance reports, as well as dramatically increase the quality of this reporting—most significantly through the use of continuous, real-time monitoring for manufacturing and other regulated facilities. This increase in the quantity and quality of electronic data could easily lead to increased enforcement.