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Earth Night

Environmental Issues--Enforcement

Why? We rely on a network of existing laws to protect - and hopefully improve - the Massachusetts environment. Laws governing discharges to water, air, and land were put in place through hard-fought efforts and broad recognition of the need for rules that limit pollution. Unfortunately, however, we don't know whether our environmental laws are working, as we don't know if permittees are complying with their permits. Inspections, followup, and enforcement are frequently overlooked aspects of environmental regulation. Further compounding our inability to assess the benefits of existing environmental laws, air and water quality monitoring is spotty at best.

The goals of the proposed bill are to:

• Ensure that environmental laws already on the books are resulting in environmental improvements.
• Increase accountability of agencies charged with compliance inspections through more thorough reporting of inspections and enforcement actions.
• Improve the targeting of enforcement, focusing state efforts on poor performers and making the system fairer for those consistently in compliance.
• Ensure a level playing field, where violators are not allowed to gain economic benefits from their noncompliance.

How? ELM, along with interested members of the Massachusetts Environmental Collaborative, are promoting a bill, sponsored by Senator Marian Walsh (D-Boston) and Representative Cory Atkins (D-Concord), to meet these goals. The proposed legislation has several components, outlined below.

Increased reporting by DEP (Sections 10, 11, 12). The agency must report to the public each year regarding the number of permitted facilities; the number of new, modified, and expired permits; the number of unannounced inspections; the number of permit violations, enforcement actions taken, and the result of those actions; any measurable improvements in environmental quality observed, and any "supplemental environmental projects" undertaken. The agency must also prepare an estimate of the funding required to develop a database that provides the status of all permits and enforcement actions.

Penalties that fit the violation (Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 13). When penalties for violations of existing laws are determined, they must exceed the economic benefits of the violation (that is, the facility should not make money if they violate their permit). The agency can negotiate supplemental environmental projects as part of a penalty, but the monetary value of the project must be equal to or greater than any corresponding decrease in monetary penalties.

The benefits of compliance, the costs of violations (Sections 14, 15). State-funded benefits should go to companies that follow the rules. If a facility has had repeated or egregious violations of environmental laws, they should be debarred from bidding on government contracts or grants - as violators of labor laws, anti-discrimination laws, and occupational safety and health laws already are.