EPA data reveals dramatic decrease in enforcement of polluter fees

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Under President Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined far fewer polluters for breaking emissions rules than the Obama administration.

Numbers released Thursday by the EPA in its annual enforcement report revealed that polluters were fined a total of $1.6 billion in penalties in fiscal year 2017 — about a fifth of the $5.7 billion EPA penalties collected the year prior, under President Obama.

The federal fiscal year goes from Oct. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017.

The drop in the EPA's enforcement of regulations is even more stark when looking specifically at the agency's actions on injunction relief — the monetary commitments polluters pledge to spend in order to remediate their pollution and keep it from reoccurring.

The EPA report shows that injunctive relief in 2017 stood at $20 billion, compared to 2016's $13.7 billion, but $15.9 billion of the recent total come from the landmark Volkswagen settlement. When the settlement is taken out of the calculation, injunctive relief payments in fiscal year 2017 totaled just $4 billion — less than a third of 2016’s numbers and less than half of 2015’s.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/373054-epa-data-reveals-dramatic-decrease-in-enforcement-of-polluter-fees

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. Pruitt's attack

Scott Pruitt will destroy as much of the EPA as he can.

Instead of the polluters paying, everyone else will pay with increased health issues.