House Democrats examining EPA enforcement dropoff

Andrew Wheeler during his confirmation hearing to be Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency before the United States Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill on Nov. 8, 2017 in Washington, D.C. less Andrew Wheeler during his confirmation hearing to be Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency before the United States Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill on ... more Photo: Alex Edelman/CNP, FILE / TNS Photo: Alex Edelman/CNP, FILE / TNS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close House Democrats examining EPA enforcement dropoff 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON - House Democrats are scrutinizing a dramatic drop off in enforcement action at the EPA under the Trump administration, as the president seeks to reduce regulations and build up American industry.

Last year the agency collected less than $4 billion through enforcement actions, two thirds of what it collected in 2009 - the next lowest year in collections over the past decade - according to a memo from House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J.

"It appears the Trump administration is relying on industry to voluntarily come forward and disclose when they are not in compliance," Pallone said at a hearing Tuesday. "This is not surprising considering president Trumps promise on the campaign trail to reduce the agency to little tidbits."

At Tuesday's hearing, the Environmental Protection Agency's top enforcement official was called to appear before a divided energy committee, with Democrats and Republicans split on the administration's approach to the environment. Among the non-actions under scrutiny is a close to 500,000 gallon gasoline spill at Magellan Midstream Partners' terminal on the Houston Ship Channel during Hurricane Harvey.

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Under former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, officials have adopted a more cooperative approach to correcting the polluting activity of industrial and mining activity. That includes decreasing the number of inspections of polluting facilities.

But Susan Bodine, assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assistance, testified Tuesday that did not mean EPA was taking it easy on industry but rather looking to work with companies to improve overall environmental compliance.

"Some are judging our work on a narrow set of parameters and drawing the conclusion EPA is somehow soft on environmental violators," she said. "Enforcement is a critical tool but not an end in itself."

House Republicans defended the EPA, arguing that instances of companies reporting their own environmental violations - to avoid larger penalties than if EPA found them - increased almost 50 percent last year.

"Obviously this is some of the first steps of election campaign 2020," said Rep. David McKinley. R-W.V. "Seems to be that someone wants to say you're successful if you have more inspections and more fines. That seems to be the only measure in this room, regardless of the outcome of what's happening."

The spill on the Houston Ship Channel was one of 10 cases highlighted in a report Tuesday by the Environmental Integrity Project, which is headed by Eric Schaeffer, who ran the EPA's civil enforcement arm in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.

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"Although it is expected that storms will produce some uncontrolled pollution, the Houston area petrochemical industry had been warned for years before Harvey that its tanks and other facilities – built in low-lying and flood-prone areas – were poorly designed and ill prepared for the rain storms and flooding happening with increased intensity due to climate change," the report read. "By imposing penalties on incidents like Magellan's during Hurricane Harvey, EPA would send a message that these companies need to invest in more robust systems that can handle future storms."

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