United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-06-01 monographic deposited born digital 76 p. GA 1.13:RCED-00-108 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-108 P0b002ee1803843b0 f:rc00108 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-108 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-108 RCED-00-108 Environmental law Performance measures Pollution control Law enforcement State-administered programs Environmental policies Noncompliance Federal/state relations Industrial pollution Program evaluation EPA Denver Regional Oversight System EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Chapter Report RCED Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the consistency of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regional offices' enforcement of environmental requirements, focusing on: (1) the extent to which variations exist among EPA's regional offices in the actions they take to enforce environmental requirements; (2) what factors contribute to any variations; and (3) what EPA is doing to achieve consistency in regional enforcement activities.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) variations exist among EPA's regional offices in the actions they take to enforce environmental requirements, as illustrated by a number of key indicators that EPA headquarters enforcement officials have used to monitor regional performance; (2) GAO also found variations in regions' overall strategies in overseeing the states within their jurisdiction, which may result in more in-depth reviews in some regional programs than in others; (3) EPA headquarters enforcement officials emphasize that the data, by themselves, do not offer the appropriate context to help determine the extent to which the variations pose problems; (4) the officials note, however, that the data are useful for identifying general trends and possible strengths and weaknesses in regional and state programs, along with potential issues to investigate at greater length; (5) also corroborating the variation it identified among regional enforcement activities, GAO found broad agreement in its interviews with EPA and state enforcement officials on key factors that contribute to such variations; (6) among the factors most commonly cited by these officials are: (a) differences in the philosophical approaches among enforcement staff about how to best achieve compliance with environmental requirements; (b) differences in state laws and enforcement authorities, and in the manner in which regions respond to these differences; (c) variations in resources available to both state and regional enforcement offices; (d) the flexibility afforded by EPA policies and guidance that allow states a degree of latitude in their enforcement programs; and (e) incomplete and inadequate enforcement data which hamper EPA's ability to accurately characterize the extent of variations; (7) EPA headquarters and regional enforcement officials have a number of efforts underway to help achieve greater consistency in regional enforcement activities; (8) at the headquarters level, enforcement officials are developing performance information that will allow for comparisons among both regions and states in their conduct of key enforcement responsibilities; (9) a number of EPA regional offices have also sought to ensure more consistency in their state oversight by developing and applying new audit protocols in their state reviews and by encouraging more effective communication between and among regional and state enforcement staff; and (10) however, a number of factors will continue to challenge EPA's ability to ensure consistent regional enforcement, including the absence of reliable data on how both states and regions are performing their enforcement responsibilities. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-108/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-108.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-108/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-108.pdf GAO/RCED-00-108 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-108 Chapter Report GAO/RCED-00-108; Environmental Protection: More Consistency Needed Among; Environmental law Performance measures Pollution control Law enforcement State-administered programs Environmental policies Noncompliance Federal/state relations Industrial pollution Program evaluation EPA Denver Regional Oversight System EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System