Rise in E.P.A. Penalties Against Polluters Comes With an Asterisk<br />The tally released Thursday showed a total of $1.6 billion in civil judicial and administrative penalties — money paid to punish polluters — the second largest amount in the last decade, with the single biggest amount of<br />that coming from Volkswagen, which agreed to pay a $1.45 billion penalty at the end of the Obama administration.<br />During that time frame, the agency sought civil penalties of about $50.4 million from polluters, which, adjusted for inflation,<br />was about 39 percent of what the Obama administration sought in the same time period under its first E. P.A.<br />In her statement, Ms. Bodine, who became enforcement director in December, said<br />that the agency had focused its enforcement efforts during fiscal 2017 on speeding up the cleanup of contaminated sites, “deterring noncompliance” as well as a philosophy of “cooperative federalism,” which has meant turning over enforcement responsibilities to states<br />WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has released data showing a large increase in penalties against polluters,<br />as well $20 billion in commitments from companies to correct problems that have caused environmental damage.<br />represented activity during the government’s 2017 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, meaning the totals included the final three<br />and half months of the Obama administration, when some of the E. P.A.’s biggest cases were settled.<br />“A strong enforcement program is essential to achieving positive health<br />and environmental outcomes,” Susan Bodine, head of the enforcement division at the Environmental Protection Agency, said in a statement on Thursday.
