There is so much of this administration that is simply a pile of dead fish that the smell of actual dead fish is largely obscured. But, as the Detroit Free Press reports, sooner or later, the balance between metaphorical dead fish and the reek of actual dead fish may well tilt toward the latter.

The ELPC report looked at activity in EPA's Region 5, which covers Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Among its findings: Fewer regulatory cases are being initiated and concluded by the EPA against polluters. Between fiscal years 2012 to 2015, there were an average of 320 cases initiated per year, but that has dropped to an average of 230 cases per year for fiscal years 2016 through 2019, a more than 28% decline; Compliance with environmental regulations in the Great Lakes region is declining. In fiscal year 2019, there were 62% more facilities in "significant noncompliance" with the Clean Water Act, compared with the average number of facilities for fiscal years 2012 to 2017.



In Region 5 in fiscal year 2016, the EPA assessed $1.91 million in penalties against violators of the federal Clean Water Act and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), a program worked through state environmental regulators to monitor point sources of pollution such as factories. The EPA assessed $1.1 million in penalties for such violations the following year. But by fiscal year 2019, the penalty amount in Region 5 had dropped to $429,774.



Wow. They’re really throwing the pamphlets at them these days. And, of course, this is part of a general rollback on environmental regulations that would have occurred if any of the Republican candidates had been elected president in 2016. Last August, the EPA cut the legs out from under the Endangered Species Act, a target of opportunity for conservatives almost from the day of its passage. In so many ways, this president* is simply a louder and more profane Ronald Reagan.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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