^t0ST%
STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: FY 1991 National Penal
FROM
Herbert H. Tate, Jr.
Assistant Administrate:
TO:
Deputy Administrator
General Counsel
Inspector General
Assistant Administrators
Associate Administrators
Regional Administrators
Attached please find a copy of the finalized FY 1991
National Penalty Report. This year the National Penalty Report
is also being published as a part of the FY 1991 Enforcement
Accomplishments Report. Fiscal Year 1991 brought in the highest
penalty dollars in EPA's history, with $73.1 million in civil
penalties and $14.1 million in criminal fines. This represents a
21 percent increase in civil penalties and a 250 percent increase
in criminal fines over FY 1990. Fifty three percent of all civil
penalty dollars in EPA's history have been assessed in the last
three years. In FY 1991 alone, 23 percent of all civil penally
dollars were imposed.
We can all take pride in this very strong performance in one
of several measures we use to gauge the strength of our national
enforcement program. The Office of Enforcement greatly
appreciates the considerable assistance of the program offices
and the Regions that contributed data and analyses, reviewed
drafts and maintained accurate penalty records throughout the
year.
Attachment
cc: Headquarters Compliance Office Directors
Deputy Regional Administrators
Regional Counsels
Regional Division Directors
Steering Committee on the State/Federal Enforcement
Relationship
OE Division Directors
Enf orcement Counsels-
Printed or Recycled Paper
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NATIONAL PENALTY REPORT
OVERVIEW OF EPA FEDERAL PENALTY PRACTICES
FY 1991
March 1992
Compliance Policy and Planning Branch
Office of Enforcement
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This report was coordinated by the Compliance Policy and Planning Branch of the Office of
Enforcement. Ann DeLong was the project manager and principal author. Robert Banks
provided the graphs. The following contributed the program-specific data:
Criminal Enforcement
Clean Water Act
Judicial
Administrative
Safe Drinking Water Act
UIC
PWSS
Wetlands Protection
Marine and Estuarine
Protection
Stationary Source Air
Mobile Source Air
RCRA
Judicial
Administrative
EPCRA§ 302-312 and
CERCLA § 103
Toxics Release Inventory,
TSCA and FIFRA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Howard Berman, OE
David Drelich, OE
Ken Keith, OWEP
Peter Bahor, ODW
Anne Jaffe Murray, ODW
John Goodin, OWOW
Catherine Crane, OW
Jerry MacLaughlin, OE
Marda S. Ginley, OMS
James Chen, OE
Robert Small, OWPE.
Joe Schive, OWPE
Jerry Stubbs, OCM
These authors and their colleagues devoted many long hours to the collection, verification,
analysis and display trf these data. Questions and comments concerning this report should
be addressed to Ann DeLong, (202) 260-8870.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
General Findings
Program Highlights
II. PURPOSE, SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS REPORT
Programs Covered
Cases Covered
Purposes and Limitations
IU. GENERAL OVERVIEW
Highlights
Median and Average Penalties
Percentage of Cases Concluded with a Penalty
Range of Penalty Amounts
Highest Penalties
Types of Cases
Criminal Enforcement
Relative Contributions
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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
General Findings
• Overall, this Administration has assessed some 55% of all civil penalties and criminal fines,
combined, assessed in EPA history ($200.7 million for FY 1989-1991 compared with $166.1 million for
FY 1972-1988).
• Fiscal Year 1991 brought the highest penalty dollars in EPA's history, with $73.1 million in civil
penalties. This represents a 21 percent increase over FY 1990. There was only a slight increase in the
number of cases from FY 1990 to FY 1991, indicating that this increase in penalty dollars was due
primarily to an increase in penalty amounts per case. Program offices are making effective and
forceful use of EPA's penalty authorities.
• EPA has obtained almost $320 million in cash civil penalties from FY 1974 through FY 1991 in some
12,530 civil judicial and administrative cases.
• In FY 1991 alone, 23 percent of all civil penalty dollars in EPA's history were obtained.
• In the last three years, 53 percent of all civil penalty dollars in EPA's history were assessed.
• The FY 1991 total includes a civil judicial penalty for $220,000 assessed under the Lead Control
Contamination Act This Act, designed to prevent excessive lead from drinking water coolers was a
1988 amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act This penalty reflects the first case broughtfby the
Agency under this Act
• Criminal fines totaled $14.1 million in FY 1991 (before deducting suspended sentences). This
represents a two and a half fold increase from FY 1990 and is the highest amount ever assessed by
EPA for criminal cases. Seventy-five years of incarceration were imposed (before suspension).
• In the five years EPA's criminal enforcement program has been tracking penalty data, $43.8 million
in criminal fines and 298 years of incarceration have been imposed before deduction of suspended
sentences. One third of all criminal fines in EPA's history were assessed in FY 1991.
• Penalties were obtained in 85 percent of the cases concluded in FY 1991.
Program Highlights
• Most programs set new records for total civil judicial and administrative penalty dollars.
In descending order of total penalties assessed, these programs were the following: CWA, RCRA,
Stationary Source Air, EPCRA §313, UIC, FIFRA, EPCRA §302-§312 and Marine and Estuarine
Protection. The increases for these programs over last year's totals ranged from 22% for Stationary
Air to 214% for UIC
Medians reached record highs for both judicial and administrative cases in the CWA and UIC, and
for administrative cases alone in Wetlands*.
* Throughout the report, Wetlands actions refer to CWA §404. CWA §402 and pretreatment actions are
referred to as CWA actions.
3
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• Many programs set records for highest penalties within program offices.
The largest penalty assessed in FY 1991 was $6,184,220 obtained in a CWA judicial case. The second
largest penalty was assessed in a RCRA judicial case which settled for $5,405,000*. Both penalties
were higher than the second highest penalty assessed in FY 1990 ($3,750,000)**. Additional
programs with highest penalties greater than $1 million included Stationary Air judicial, RCRA
administrative and TSCA administrative.
• Federal penalty dollars were dominated by CWA with 36% of the total. RCRA was second with
24%, followed by TSCA (15%), Stationary Air (10%) and EPCRA 313 (5%).
• Numbers of cases were dominated by five programs. TSCA had the highest number of cases with 20%
followed by Mobile Source Air (16%), CWA (15%), FIFRA (13%) and EPCRA 313 (12.7%). All five
programs rely heavily on administrative enforcement.
II. Purpose. Scope, and Limitations of this Report
This overview report summarizes the penalty practices of EPA in FY 1991 in civil judicial, administrative,
and criminal enforcement actions. Except where specifically noted, the term "penalties" is used in this
overview to refer only to civil (administrative and judicial) penalties, not criminal fines.
This report does not attempt to portray a complete picture on penalties obtained during enforcement of federal
environmental laws, because it does not reflect penalties obtained by state or local governments, either
directly or through court actions with EPA. States conduct the vast majority of enforcement actions under
these laws, working through programs approved by EPA to carry out federal requirements.
Programs Covered
Thirteen EPA penalty programs are addressed in this report. Table 1 gives their names, the types of
enforcement cases each used in FY 1990, and any acronyms by which they are cited in this report
Cases Covered
The penalties discussed in this report are cash amounts assessed in EPA enforcement cases that were concluded
in FY 1991. They include final judgments by court settlements in consett decrees and consent orders and final
administrative orders.
This report does not include proposed penalties or other amounts under discussion prior to die conclusion of a
case, and it does not include, penalties paid to entities other than the Federal Government. Contempt
enforcement actions (cases seeking to invoke sanctions for a failure to comply with a prior court order, decree,
or administrative order) are not included.*** "Stipulated penalties" and "deferred penalties" also are not
included in this report; they are penalties stipulated in an administrative or court order that are due only if
the violator foils to carry out certain other requirements of the order. Nor does the report include the use of
other sanctions, such as contractor listing, sewer moratoriums, or the suspension or revocation of permits.
* The RCRA judicial penalty contains $5 million in contempt actions.
** The highest penalty in FY 1990 was $15 million assessed under TSCA and RCRA in the Texas
Eastern Pipeline case. This was the single highest penalty in the Agency's history.
*** With the exception of a RCRA judicial case in Region V which includes $5,000,000 in contempt
actions.
4
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Table 1
Penalty Programs Covered in this Report
Program
Criminal Enforcement
Clean Water - NPDES (CWA)
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
Wetlands Protection
Marine and Estuarine Protection
Stationary Source Air
Mobile Source Air
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA §302-§312)
Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA §103,
or Superfund §103)
Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI, or EPCRA §313)
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
Types of Cases
Judicial
Judicial
Administrative
Judicial
Administrative
Judicial
Administrative
Administrative
Judicial
Administrative
Judicial
Administrative
Judicial
Administrative
Administrative
Administrative
Administrative
Judicial
Administrative
Administrative
Credits, benefit projects, or non-monetary actions which parties in enforcement cases often agree to carry out as
part of a settlement are also not included in this report. Such actions may yield large environmental benefits
of substantial dollar value. Narrative description of specific cases can be found in the FY 1991 Enforcement
Accomplishments Report
As in past reports, the FY 1991 Federal Penalty Report does not include penalties assessed in the Underground
Storage Tank program (UST). The reason for this exclusion was because UST is primarily a state delegated
program.
One element of this report is an analysis of the extent to which EPA used penalties in its enforcement cases.
Some cases did not obtain penalties. The cases without penalties included in this report are enforcement
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actions in which a penalty is authorized by the statutes and regulations on which the case is based. If
Congress did not authorize EPA to assess a penalty for a given type of violation, an enforcement action for such
a violation would not be counted as a case in this report
Penalties are counted in this report as assessed in a final administrative action or in a court order; appeals and
collection of penalties are not considered here. The word "obtained" is used in this report as a general term
referring to penalties that were assessed by a court or by EPA administrative orders. Its meaning is the same
as "assessed" or "imposed."
Purposes and Limitations
This overview report is not an evaluation of practices by EPA programs, and it should be viewed in the context
of the total enforcement effort. The report may illuminate individual characteristics of programs and
provide a helpful comparison among programs. Identifying differences may stimulate further thinking about
penalties in general, advancing the goal of more effective use of penalties as part of an overall enforcement
program.
The reader should bear in mind that the data presented here are historical in nature, and do not necessarily
represent present penalty practices. Nothing in this report may be used as a defense or guide to future
settlements of federal cases involving penalties.
The specific penalty data used in this report were obtained from several federal data systems. The data have
been approved by the responsible program offices, but the quality and completeness of the data may vaty.
ID. GENERAL OVERVIEW
Highlights
• Fiscal Year 1991 brought the highest penalty dollars in EPA's history, with $73.1 million in civil
penalties. This represents an 21 percent increase over FY 1990. There was only a slight increase in
the number of cases from FY 1990 to FY 1991, indicating that this increase in penalty dollars was due
primarily to an increase in penalty amounts per case. Program offices are making effective and
forceful use of EPA's penalty authorities.
• EPA has obtained almost $320 million in cash civil penalties from FY 1974 through FY 1991 in some
12,530 civil judicial and administrative cases.
• In FY 1991 alone, 23 percent of all civil penalty dollars in EPA's history were obtained.
• In the last three years,' 53 percent of all civil penalty dollars in EPA's history were assessed.
• The FY 1991 total includes a civil judicial penalty for $220,000 assessed under the Lead Control
ContaxninatioivAct This Act, designed to prevent excessive lead from drinking water coolers, was a
1988 amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act. This penalty reflects the first case brought by the
Agency under this Act
• Criminal fines totaled $14.1 million in FY 1991 (before deducting suspended sentences). This
represents a two and a half fold increase from FY 1990 and is the highest amount ever assessed by
EPA for criminal cases. Seventy-five years of incarceration were imposed (before suspension).
• In the five years EPA's criminal enforcement program has been tracking penalty data, $43.8 million
in criminal tines and 298 years of incarceration have been imposed before deduction of suspended
sentences. One third of all criminal fines in EPA's history were assessed in FY 1991.
• Penalties were obtained in 85 percent of the cases concluded in FY 1991.
6
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The total amounts of civil penalties for each program in FY 1991 are shown in Table 2. Criminal penalties are
shown in Table 4. The historical picture is shown in Figures 1 and 2, displaying total penalties by fiscal year.
The relative contributions of the different EPA programs to the FY 1991 totals of civil penalty dollars and
number of cases with penalties are shown in Figures 3 and 4.
Seven programs set new records for total civil judicial or administrative penalty dollars. These programs
were CWA, Marine, Stationary Air, RCRA, EPCRA §302-§312, EPCRA §313 and FIFRA. The penalties ranged
from the high for FIFRA of $932,925 to a high for CWA of $26.6 million. The percent increases for these
programs over last year's totals ranged from 22% for Stationary Air to a 214% increase for UIC.
A comprehensive summary of the programs' civil penalty data appears in Table 3.
Table 2
Total Amount of Civil Judicial and Administrative Penalties in FY 1991
Clean Water Act
Judicial
Administrative
Safe Drinking Water Act
Judicial
Administrative
Wetlands Protection
Judicial
Administrative
Marine and Estuarine Protection
Administrative
Stationary Source Air - Judicial
Mobile Source Air
Judicial
Administrative
RCRA
Judicial
Administrative
Total dollars (%)
$ 26,623,930 (36%)
23,109,832
3,514,098
$ 2,035,734 (3%)
570,514
1,465,220
$ 504U00 (1%)
172,500
331700
$ 264,200 (<1%)
$ 7,346,481 (10%)
$ 2,334,008 (3%)
9,800
2,324,208
$17,671,457 (24%)
10,026,594
7,644363
EPCRA §302-§312 - Administrative $ 63U18 (<1% >
CERCLA §103 - Administrative $ 258^50 (<1%)
Toxics Release Inventor^"- Administrative $ 3,910,210 (5%)
TSCA - Administrative $10,591,315 (15%)
FIFRA - Administrative $ 932,925(1%)
TOTAL $ 73,104,128
No. All Cases*(%)
205(12%)
57
148
161 (10%)
8
153
23(1%)
8
15
5 (<1%)
65(4%)
212(13%)
3
209
142 (8%)
18
124
23(1%)
20 (<1%)
194 (12%)
336 (20%)
278 (17%)
1,664
* "Number of all cases" includes all cases with or without penalties. Percentages shown here will differ from
analyses presented elsewhere in this report which are based on only those cases with cash penalties.
** The total RCRA judicial amount includes $5,000,000 in contempt actions.
7
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FIGURE 1
Federal Judicial and Administrative Penalty Assessments
FY 1977 to FY 1991
80,000,000 -
70,000,000 -
60,000,000 .
D
O
50,000,000 -
L
L
40,000,000 -
A
R
30,000,000 .
S
20,000,000 .
10,000,000 .
FY 77 FY 78 FY79 FY80 FY81 FY82 FY83 FY 84 FY85 FYS* FY87 FY88 FY89 FY90 FY91
I ADMINISTRATIVE 0 JUDICIAL
FIGURE 2
TOTAL PENALTIES BY FISCAL YEAR
80,000,000 -
70,000,000 ¦
60,000,000 .
D
o
50,000,000 «
L
L
40,000,000 -
A
R
30,000,000 .
S
20,000,000 -
10,000,000 -
1
¦
1
/
/
/
/
'—.1
/
1
^.1
/
^1
—
-
*1
C\
r
/
FY77 FY7S FY79 FY80 FYS1 FY82 FY83 FY84 FY83 FY8* FY87 FYS® FY89 FY90 FY91
8
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TABLE 3
SUMMARY OF CIVIL PENALTIES BY PROGRAM IN FY 1991
CmmwUk
Cmmw/o
Total
faum
Avang*
Avg AH
Median
MmJAII
HigttaX
at**
Ptoulljf
Cmm
WhiiH)
Fully
Cmm
taukr
Cmm
I
IWHy
OVA ADM
M7
1
HO
IH
23408
23.7M
12400
12400
125400
CWAfUD
23.UBJ&
sr
0
57
MM
409434
40.436
43400
63400
6.IH220
CWAAOM*JUD
2U1MN
20*
1
209
ram
uwot
12*473
6,144,220
UIC ADM
U3UN
4?
n
MO
40%
IUSI
tun
6400
0
125400
UtCJUD
10MN
4
0
4
100%
KIM
2^104
!4jOOO
0
74474
UICADM+JUD
(WIN
71
7J
M4
«•
21444
10473
125400
PWS ADM
HMO
II
2
13
«%
MI2
4JOOO
5400
5400
PW5JUD
246.100
4
0
4
100%
61S2S
61.H5
11,250
IMS0
230400
PWS ADM* AO
mjto
IS
2
17
M%
IHSN
ION
220400
SOWA ADM
1445.220
71
75
153
91%
iajas
9JB7
4400
400
125400
SOWAJUD
S7DJSH
0
0
0
100%
UIH
4UH
4.500
0
200400
SOWA ADM»[UD
2495.734
04
75
Ml
53%
tun
IUM
200400
WETLDADM
311.700
IS
0
IS
100%
22,113
22.113
9400
5400
100.000
wmoiuu
172.900
4
2
0
75%
20790
21343
0
0
50.000
WETID ADM«|W
90UO
21
2
23
tt%
wno
21412
100400
MARINE ADM
2MJ00
S
0
S
UD%
64J0S0
44mo
194*4
194M
150.000
STAT AIR ADM
0
0
0
0
4JU
0
STATAIIIUD
7.346.441
44
.1
45
w%
IR70»
11340
44,250
46,500
1,500.000
STAT ADM»IUD
m«l
64
1
45
M%
n*jw»
I134B3
1 >00.000
MOSAMADM
tyHJIM
»
1
m
100%
11,174
11,Ul
1.200
1.200
075400
MORAIRJUD
**BO
2
1
3
0«
4.000
w
4.400
4400
5400
MOBADM*JUD
MMjOn
2MI
2
212
M%
IUM
ii4o»
875400
ftCRA ADM
7*444*3
M
•
U4
M%
IWM
ilMI
21.479
20000
3,375400
RCRAJUD
uunuM
IS
3
ia
¦3%
<40,440
527^9
157,442
55447
2
RCRA ADMtJUD
17*71,457
131
11
142
n%
134417
124,447
3375.000
ETCRA 303 312
21
2
23
•i%
3QA90
27444
20400
24400
02.250
CFJtCLAHD
2S>ASO
14
6
20
7D%
10.461
12423
13.900
13,900
40,000
TRJ
3457,435
IM
•
IM
»%
2Ct73f
nm
12400
12,750
142400
TSCAADM
I0.S4I.3IS
245
49
334
as%
37.143
31711
7jn
12JOO
2.220,000
TSCAJUD
0
0
2
2
0%
0
0
0
0
TSCA ADM»|UD
10.591,315
245
SI
336
B%
37.143
31.S22
2.220.000
RHtA
¦34413
in
M
270
«»%
4479
}jm
450
1.920
207.920
TOTAL
njas»i
Mil
145
1464
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FIGURE 3
FY 1991
PERCENT PENALTY DOLLARS BY PROGRAM
OTHERS 10%
TSCA15%
RCRA 24%
TRI5%
FIGURE 4
CWA 36%
STATAIR10%
FY 1991
PERCENT PENALTY CASES BY PROGRAM
OTHERS 5%
FIFRA17%
MOBILE 13%
SDWA10%
CWA 12%
STATAIR 4%
TRI 12%
RCRA8%
TSCA 20%
10
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Table 4
Total Amount of Criminal Fines and Incarceration in FY 1991
Number of defendants convicted
72
Total fines assessed
Before suspension
$14.1 million
Total months incarceration
Sentenced (before suspension)
963 months (80 years)
610 months (51 years)
Ordered (after suspension, before parole)
Median and Average Penalties
This section of. the report attempts to look beyond the aggregate figures to see what the typical penalties
were for each program. Average and median penalty figures represent different aspects of the program
The average penalty is the total dollars divided by the number of penalty cases in a given program. While
an average is useful in seeing overall program accomplishments, it may give a misleading picture if the
penalties within that program went to extremes. One high-penalty case and a large number of low-penalty
cases could produce a mid-level average, even though no cases had a mid-level penalty.
The median is useful to gain a different perspective on a program without the heavy influence of a few
extremely large or small penalties. The median penalty represents the middle number in the seriei of all
penalties for a given program arranged in order of size. That is, there were as many penalties below the
median as above it.
Medians - Figure 5 shows trends in medians over several years for the largest EPA penalty programs during
that period. Among the programs with five years or less of penalty history, only RCRA judicial cases are
shown. In the Mobile Source Air and TSCA programs, the data reflect several different penalty authorities,
including some that lead to higher-dollar penalties. However, most of the cases in both these programs are in
lower-dollar categories, which results in low median penalties.
Medians increased for both administrative and judicial cases in the RCRA program and remained the same for
judicial cases in the Water and Stationary Source Air programs. The median for administrative cases in the
Mobile Air program remained at the same level as FY 1990. Decreases were seen in the median penalties in
administrative cases in both the TSCA and FIFRA programs in FY 1991.
In the foregoing discussion of change in medians, there is no mention of TSCA judicial cases or Stationary
Source Air administrative cases, because there were too few cases in FY 1990 or 1991 or both years to make
these categories suitable for such analysis.
* Clean Water Agfa The median judicial penalty rose from its FY 1990 level of $63,000 to a record high
of $100,000 in FY 1991. The median administrative penalty also rose to a new high of $12,000 from $10,650 in
FY 1990.
* Safe Prinking Water Acfc The median judicial penalty remained at $8,500, the same level as in FY
1990. (This reflects FY 1991 medians of $14,000 for four UIC cases and $11,250 for two PWSS cases.) The
median administrative penalty remained at $4,000 in FY 1991, the same as in FY 1990. (The subprogram
medians in FY 1991 were $6,000 for 140 UIC cases and $4,000 for 14 PWSS cases.)*
This does not include the $220,000 Lead Control Contamination Act penalty.
11
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• Wetlands Protection: In this fourth year of administrative penalty cases concluded by the program,
the median dropped to $5,000, compared to the FY 1990 level of $11,000. The median judicial penalty was
$42,500, an $5,000 increase from $5,000 in FY 1990. (This is the fourth year Wetlands penalties have been
presented separately in this report. They were included as part of Clean Water Act data in penalty reports
prior to FY 1988.)
• Marine and Estuarine Protection: This program is in its second year for cases concluded and
median administrative penalty from $19,594 in FY 1990 to $66X50 FY 1991.
• Stationary Source Air: The median judicial penalty rose slightly from $48,000 in FY 1990 to $48,250
in FY 1991. "The record was set in FY 1987 with a median of $65,750.
• Mobile Source Air; The median judicial penalty was $4,900, reflecting only three cases. This is a
slight increase from the FY 1990 level of $4,000 for three cases. The median administrative penalty remained
at 1,200 in FY 1991, the same level as FY 1990.
• RCRA: The median judicial penalty of $157,942 was the highest to date in this program. The median
administrative penalty continued rising for the eighth year in a row, also attaining a new record of $21,475.
• EPCRA § 302-312: In the third year of concluded cases, this program surpassed its first two years
median's with a penalty of $40,500 compared to $20,600 in FY 1990.
• CERCLA § 103: In the third year of concluded cases, this program's median penalty decreased frpm the
FY 1990 level of $25,000 to $13,900 in FY 1991.
• Toxics Release Inventory In this third year of concluded cases, this program's median penalty also
decreased slightly from $13,000 in FY 1990 to $12,750 in FY 1991.
• TSCA: The median administrative penalty attained a record high of $12,500, rising from $8,000 in FY
1990. Prior to FY 1986, TSCA medians were not calculated on a program-wide baas.
• F1FRA: The median penalty rose from $1,056 in FY 1990 to $1,920 in FY 1991, setting a new record for
FIFRA medians.
Averages - Average civil judicial or administrative penalties increased in seven programs in FY 1991 as
compared with twelve in FY 1990. Declines were evident in five programs. However, it should be noted that
averages may be influenced by a few large cases. A year with one or two extremely large cases may have a
much higher average penalty than a year without any, even though the latter may have had larger
penalties in most enforcement cases.
Averages rose to record highs in the Clean Water Act in both judicial and administrative cases. For judicial
cases only, averages rose to new highs in the Stationary Source Air and RCRA programs. For administrative
cases, increases in the averages were seen in the Safe Drinking Water Act program. Wetlands program, RCRA,
TRI and FIFRA programs.
Lower average penalties were reported in the SDWA and Wetlands programs in judicial cases and in
administrative cases in the Mobile Air, EPCRA and CERCLA §103 programs.
• Clean Water Acfc The average judicial penalty rose to a record high of $405,258. In the fourth year of
administrative penalties, the average attained a record of $23,937.
12
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• Safe Drinking Water Act The average judicial penalty dropped to $21,152 compared to a high of
$37,557 in FY 1990. However, the average administrative penalty rose to $9,566 in FY 1991.
• Wetlands Protection: The average judicial penalty dropped to $21,563, compared to $49,114 in FY
1990. In the fourth year of administrative penalties, the average rose in FY 1991 to a record high of $22,113..
• Marine and Estuarine Protection: In the third year of administrative penalties, the average rose
to a record high of $66,050 in FY 1991 with five cases concluded.
• Stationary Source Aic The average judicial penalty rose from $100,615 in FY 1990 to $112,217 in FY
1991.
• Mobile Source Air: The average administrative penalty rose for the first time in two years, from
$8,962 in FY 1990 to $11,121 in FY 1991. The average judicial penalty dropped sharply from $335,667 in FY
1990, to $3,267 in FY 1991 based on only three cases.
• RCRA: The average judicial penalty increased from the FY 1990 average of $325,333, to $527,245 setting
a record. The average administrative penalty rose substantially to $37,129, compared to $25,339 in FY 1990
(this excludes one very large penalty of $3,375,000 from the average).
• EPCRA § 302-312: In this third year of concluded cases, the average penalty dropped from $4(^627 to
$29,709.
• CERCLA 6 103: In this third year of concluded cases, the average penalty dropped sharply from
$31,400 to $8,550.
• Toxics Release Inventory In this third year of concluded cases, the average penalty rose from
$15,626 to $20,464.
• TSCA: The average administrative penalty decreased slightly to $33367 compared to $34,311 in FY
1990. (Averages were not calculated on a TSCA program-wide basis before FY 1986.)
• F1FRA: The average penalty rose to a new high of $3,350. For the FIFRA program, this is an increase
over the FY 1990 average of $2,555.
Percentage of Cases Concluded with a Penalty
A high percentage of cases were concluded with a penalty in all programs except one (UIO. Excluding this one
program from the calculation, 84 percent of all FY 1991 cases were concluded with a penalty, a decrease from
the FY 1990 level of 93%r (See Table 4 for each program's percentage with penalty.)
Range of Penalty Amounts
This section examines how EPA's penalties in FY 1991 ranked along the scale from low dollars to high dollars.
The penalty cases are sorted into eight ranges from no-penalty cases ("zero dollars") to cases of $1 million or
more.
Figure 6 shows the penalty distribution of all FY 1991 cases.
This does not include the $220/100 Lead Control Contamination Act penalty.
13
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PROGRAM MEDIANS BY FISCAL YEAR
Judicial Penalties
Clean Water Ad Air-Stationary
I I C I I I I I I I I I I
7576 77787980 8182 838485868788 899091
Fiscal Year
PROGRAM MEDIANS BY FISCAL YEAR
Administrative Penalties
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
no*
Air-Mobile
0 *==9=
/
80 81 62 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91
Fiscal Yew
PROGRAM MEDIANS BY FISCAL YEAR
Judicial Penalties
PROGRAM MEDIANS BY FISCAL YEAR "
Administrative Penalties
— ISO* -OFIFRA
80 81 82 83 84 85 86 9/ 88 89 90
Fiscal Year
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FIGURE 6
PENALTY DISTRIBUTION - ALL PROGRAMS
FY 1991
N
u
600 T
m
b
500 -¦
e
r
400 -¦
O
300 ¦
f
200 ¦
C
a
100 -
s
e
s
0 -¦
-4-
4-
ZEROS <$5,000 <$10,000 <$25,000 <$50,000 <$100,000 <$1MILL
Ranges
>=$1
MILL
PENALTY DISTRIBUTION - FY 1991
Minus Mobile and FIFRA Administrative
ZEROS <$5,000 <$10,000 <$25,000 <$50,000 <$100,000 <$1 MILL >=$1
MILL
Ranges
15
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