EPA enforcement drops sharply
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press
WASHINGTON Feb 8, 2019 5:43 PM ET
Civil and criminal crackdowns on polluters dropped sharply in the second year of the Trump administration, according to 2018 enforcement figures released Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency ...
Jeff Ruch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said the newly released 2018 totals show environmental enforcement "entering a near dark age."
Declines include civil investigations carried out by the agency, which fell to 22 last year, down from 40 in 2017 and 125 in 2016, the last year of the Obama administration.
Criminal fines and restitution tumbled, from $207 million in 2016, $3 billion in 2017 including a $2.8 billion fine against Volkswagen over emissions-rigging, a case initiated under the Obama administration to $86 million last year ...
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/epa-enforcement-falling-sharply-obama-era-60948346