[CPEO-MEF] Cleanup Fines

[Pauline Simon <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Reportedly, Senator Stevens (R-Alaska) inserted Section 8149 (requiring
the Defense Department to obtain Congressional authorization before
paying any environmental fines) because of a Clean Air Act dispute at
Fort Wainwright, Alaska. However, he has apparently been interested in
the issue for some time. About three years ago he asked the General
Accounting Office to review the frequency and size of environmental
penalties assessed by U.S. EPA in support of cleanup programs.

The report, the official abstract of which I have pasted below, did not
come up with any earth-shattering conclusions. Nor did it attempt to
tabulate state-imposed penalties. Please note, however, that - someone
correct me if I've got this wrong - that the RCRA penalties studied by
GAO would be subject to Section 8149, but that the CERCLA penalties, as
stipulated in Interagency Agreements, already require Congressional
authorization.


"RCED-97-42, Feb. 28, 1997 (22 pages). Federal Facilities: EPA's
Penalties for Hazardous Waste Violations. 

>From November 1989 through October 1996, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) assessed penalties in 61 cases totaling $16.4 million
against federal agencies for hazardous waste violations. Penalties were
assessed against the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and
the Interior and the U.S. Coast Guard. Forty-one cases involving
penalties of $8.2 million were settled for $8.4 million, including the
value of supplemental environmental projects. Agencies made direct cash
payments of $2.4 million and agreed to perform supplemental
environmental projects costing about $6 million. Twenty cases with
assessed penalties of $8.2 million are still being negotiated. GAO
reviewed three settled cases that involved penalties of $6 million
against the Departments of Defense and Energy, which represented more
than a third of the value of all the assessed penalties. After
negotiations--which lasted from seven to 20 months--were finalized, the
cases were settled for $3.7 million. EPA and the Department of Defense
and Energy spent $364,000 in salaries, travel expenses, and other costs
to negotiate these three settlements."  

One can downloand the entire report from 
http://www.gao.gov/AIndexFY97/abstracts/rc97042.htm

Or one can order a free hardcopy of any GAO report from GAO at 
202/512-6000. I don't know whether copies of this report are still
available.
-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org



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