EPA FY 2021 Enforcement Results
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EPA recently released its Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2021. The statistics generally follow a prescribed form with graphs and trends covering several different categories, such as "Total Civil Enforcement Case Initiations and Conclusions," "Criminal Enforcement: Environmental Crime Cases Opened, Defendants Charged, and Sentencing Results," and "Administrative and Civil Judicial Penalties Assessed." The Enforcement Results are often used to argue that EPA is vigorously fulfilling its mission, or that it is failing to do so. As with most things, it isn’t that simple.
Posted here is a more complete analysis. Here are some highlights:
· Context for the Numbers. Several of the graphs indicate spikes in activity under both Republican and Democrat administrations. Those are often due to major enforcement actions, where penalties and other remedies far exceed typical cases, such as the Volkswagen diesel emissions case that were developed during the Obama Administration and concluded during the Trump Administration, or the Daimler, Toyota, U.S. Magnesium, Allied Paper, and other cases that were developed during the Trump Administration and concluded during the Biden Administration. Some of the numbers are lagging indicators in other ways. For example, "Sentencing Results" come after months, if not years, of investigation, charging, and litigation.
· EPA's Budget. Not surprisingly, EPA brings more civil and criminal enforcement cases when it has more people and funds. EPA's enforcement budget has continued to fall over the past decade. The Agency seeks a considerable $2 billion increase in its FY 2022 appropriation that would include an additional $26.2 million for civil enforcement and $7.8 million for criminal enforcement. So far, though, the Agency has been operating without those increases under continuing budget resolutions.
· Senate-Confirmed Leadership. EPA's Office of Enforcement & Compliance Assurance (OECA) remains without a Senate-confirmed Assistant Administrator, and that hinders the Office's ability to fully engage with political leadership, even with a very experienced and capable career official acting in that role.
· Environmental Justice is a Priority. Echoing the President's Executive Order 14008 and affirming policy statements by EPA's Administrator, OECA's Acting Administrator issued four memoranda emphasizing the role of Environmental Justice in case selection, seeking early injunctive relief, and other enforcement actions. The FY 2021 Enforcement Results break out several graphs into Environmental Justice subsets for the first time.
Partner, Vinson & Elkins
With the combined experience of being one of the highest-ranking environmental enforcement attorneys in the federal government and over twenty years in private practice, Patrick Traylor has developed a unique skill set in the areas of civil environmental litigation, complex environmental permitting, and environmental enforcement investigations that makes him a trusted advisor to clients worldwide.
During his tenure at the EPA, Patrick supervised the agency’s nationwide Clean Air Act (CAA) civil enforcement docket. He was also integrally involved in the development of every significant enforcement policy and represented OECA in reviewing all CAA regulations and guidance issued by the EPA. Patrick leverages this insight into the EPA’s CAA enforcement process to effectively and efficiently represent clients facing enforcement investigations and actions.
Prior to his service at the EPA, Patrick spent the first two decades of his legal career at a Global Top Ten law firm where clients relied on him to represent them in a variety of environmental enforcement cases, internal compliance investigations, and complex permitting matters.
Partner, Secil Law
John Irving brings nearly three decades of experience in white collar criminal defense, government investigations, and high-stakes congressional and corporate inquiries. A former federal prosecutor and trusted advisor within the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, John is known for his calm under pressure, strategic clarity, and unwavering discretion.
His clients have included Members of Congress, senior executives, political appointees, and corporate entities navigating complex criminal, civil, and regulatory matters—including matters that have dominated national headlines. John’s practice today is defined by sophisticated representation in sensitive investigations, classified matters, and strategic crisis response—often involving multiple enforcement authorities.
John served for over a decade in the U.S. Department of Justice, including as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., where he prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases and appeared regularly in court. He later served as Counsel to two Deputy Attorneys General and as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, advising on departmental policy and enforcement matters at the highest levels.
Prior to his tenure at DOJ, John served as Investigative Counsel to the (then-named) U.S. House Committee on Government Reform & Oversight and as an Associate Independent Counsel in the investigation of former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Before joining SECIL Law, John was a Partner at E&W Law, a boutique firm focused on environmental and white-collar litigation, and previously spent over a decade at Holland & Knight LLP in Washington, D.C. There, he was a key member of the firm’s White-Collar Defense, Investigations & Compliance team.
His private practice experience includes:
John’s clients appreciate his deep fluency in government processes, his strategic precision in high-pressure moments, and his ability to quietly resolve matters that others cannot.