[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 86 (Thursday, May 4, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22063-22064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-11033]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[Docket No. 95F-00 FRL-5202-8]


Interim Revised Clean Water Act Settlement Penalty Policy Issued

AGENCY: Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Environmental 
Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Assistant Administrator Steve Herman of the Office of 
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance issued an ``Interim Revised Clean 
Water Act Settlement Penalty Policy'' on February 28, 1995. This 
Interim Policy supersedes the 1986 Clean Water Act Penalty Policy and 
six subsequent guidances.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Hindin, 202-564-6004 or Kenneth Keith, 202-564-4031, Office of 
Regulatory Enforcement, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20460.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 309 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 
(33 U.S.C. 1319) authorizes the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (``EPA'' or ``Agency'') to bring civil judicial and 
administrative actions against persons who violates various Federal 
water pollution control standards and requirements in the CWA. In such 
actions the Administrator may seek civil penalties.

    EPA brings enforcement actions to require alleged violators to 
promptly correct the violations and remedy any harm caused by the 
violations. As part of an enforcement action, EPA also seeks monetary 
penalties. Penalties promote environmental compliance and help protect 
public health by deterring future violations by the same violator and 
deterring violations by other members of the regulated community. 
Penalties also help ensure a national level playing field by ensuring 
that violators do not obtain an unfair economic advantage over 
competitors who have done whatever was necessary to comply on time. 
Penalties also encourage companies to adopt pollution prevention and 
recycling techniques, so that they minimize their pollutant discharges 
and reduce their potential liabilities.
    This Policy guides EPA in establishing appropriate penalties in 
settlement of civil judicial and administrative actions. Subject to the 
circumstances of a particular case, this Policy provides the lowest 
penalty figure which the Federal Government should accept in a 
settlement. This Policy is drafted so that violators whose actions, or 
inactions, resulted in a significant economic benefit and/or harmed or 
threatened public health or the environment will pay the highest 
penalties.
    The purpose of this Policy is to further four important 
environmental goals. First, penalties should be large enough to deter 
noncompliance. Second, penalties should help ensure a level playing 
field by ensuring that violators do not obtain an economic advantage 
over their competitors. These two goals generally require that 
penalties recover the economic benefit of noncompliance, plus an 
appropriate amount reflective of the gravity or seriousness of the 
violations. Third, CWA penalties should be generally consistent across 
the country. This provides fair and equitable treatment to the 
regulated community wherever they may operate. Fourth, settlement 
penalties should be based on a logical calculation methodology to 
promote swift resolution of enforcement actions and the underlying 
violations.
    This interim revision of the Clean Water Act Penalty Policy 
provides numerous improvements to the 1986 Policy. First, this revision 
establishes an alternative approach to use in appropriate cases to 
determine penalties against municipalities. This approach, called the 
national municipal litigation consideration, is based in part on the 
penalties obtained in prior case settlements and on an evaluation of 
four factors: size of the facility (as measured by service population), 
duration of violations, environmental impact and economic benefit. 
Second, the methodology for evaluating the gravity of violations has 
been revised to reduce redundancy, improve national consistency, and 
provided broader coverage for all types of violations. 
[[Page 22064]] Finally, two new gravity adjustments have been 
established to provide incentives for quick settlements and to mitigate 
penalty amounts for small facilities.
    The Agency is issuing this Policy in an interim version because it 
may be subsequently revised based on public comments and our experience 
in using it. (It is being issued as an Interim Policy, rather than as a 
draft, because this revision is superior in many ways to the existing 
1986 version of the Policy.) The Agency is specifically interested in 
comments on how well the national municipal litigation consideration 
and gravity adjustment factors function, and how the Policy should 
apply in conjunction with EPA's new Voluntary Environmental Self-
Policing and Self-Disclosure Interim Policy Statement, 60 FR 16875 
(April 3, 1995).
    Comments from the public are welcome and should be sent within 90 
days of the date of this publication to: U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Water Enforcement Division (2243A), 401 M Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20460.

    Dated: April 17, 1995.
Steven A. Herman,
Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance 
Assurance.
[FR Doc. 95-11033 Filed 5-3-95; 8:45 am]
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