The number of civil environmental enforcement cases brought and concluded in 2011 was over 3,000, but that declined to approximately 2,000 cases in 2017 and continued to decline to about 1,600 cases in 2021. While the Biden administration has vowed to increase enforcement efforts under the nation’s federal environmental laws, EPA’s FY 2021 enforcement results reflect a continued steep decline in federal enforcement activity. While it appears unlikely Congress will ultimately approve all of these budget increases (Biden’s FY 2022 proposed budget was reduced from $11.2 billion to $9.2 billion in the Annualized Continuing Resolution), the Biden administration is signaling that it intends to reverse a multidecade trend that has seen dramatically reduced federal environmental enforcement. Finally, the budget includes an increase in funding for environmental justice programs from a baseline of $11.8 million to $294.9 million. The budget also proposes the hiring of an additional 1,900 employees at EPA, including 291 new employees dedicated to criminal enforcement work. The 2023 Budget Overview provides that EPA’s budget for civil enforcement would increase from a baseline of $168 million to $213 million, compliance monitoring would increase from $102.5 million to $147.9 million, and criminal enforcement would increase from $51 million to $69.5 million. President Joe Biden’s FY 2023 EPA budget proposes sharp escalations in civil enforcement, environmental compliance monitoring and criminal enforcement. If enacted, the FY 2023 budget would be EPA’s largest since the $10.3 billion budget in FY 2010. The proposed budget of $11.881 billion is a significant increase from the FY 2022 budget of $9.217 billion. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seeks to increase EPA’s budget by $2.644 billion and reverse a decades-long slide in federal environmental enforcement. “It’s time for the EPA to finish the job that it began over a decade ago to protect this national treasure-and the people and wildlife it sustains,” Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.The Biden administration recently proposed a fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget for the U.S. Mine opponents have been pressing the agency to provide protections against large-scale mining in the region. Leaders behind the proposed mine had seen as favorable to the project an environmental review from the corps released several months before the rejection decision. Army Corps of Engineers during the Trump administration in 2020 that denied approval of a key permit for the project in southwest Alaska. The Pebble partnership, owned by Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., is appealing a decision from the U.S. “The EPA’s proposed veto of Pebble is legally, environmentally and technically unsupported,” he said. John Shively, CEO of the Pebble partnership, in a statement Wednesday suggested any veto of the project would likely be contested in court. The EPA has said the Bristol Bay region supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world and that it also contains significant mineral resources. The debate over the proposed mine in a region known for its salmon runs has spanned several presidential administrations. The agency’s regional administrator now must decide whether to withdraw the proposed restrictions or to advance to a higher level in the agency a recommendation on restrictions or prohibitions. within the mine site footprint proposed by the Pebble Limited Partnership, the developer pursuing the Pebble Mine project, a copper and gold mine. The EPA earlier this year released a proposal that it said would bar discharges of dredged or fill material into the waters of the U.S. EPA rules call for a decision on next steps within 30 days after public hearings though not before the end of a comment period, the notice said. The agency, in a recent notice, said this would “help ensure full consideration of the extensive administrative record, including all public comments.” The public comment period ended Tuesday. 2 the timeline to decide whether to proceed with proposed restrictions that would block plans for the Pebble Mine project in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. Environmental Protection Agency is extending until Dec.
The proposed Pebble Mine site, pictured in 2014.
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