Happy Thursday! It is almost the end of the week and time to celebrate the end of 2023!
Did anyone see
The Houston Chronicle’s Business Section on December 19, 2023, they reprinted
an article from the Associated Press titled, “EPA enforcement is on the
upswing. White House says”? In the
article, it speaks about how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after
years of budget cuts has begun to increase the number of on-site inspections on
industrial sites in an effort to help local communities and the environment. In 2023, the EPA has begun almost 200
criminal inquiries, and has made agreements for over 1800 civil cases in an
effort to protect the low-income communities around industrial areas. The EPA has helped clean up the air from
pollutants from these industrial areas by 1.84 billion pounds, and punished and
were compensated by the culprits in the tune of $704 million. In spite of years of reducing its workforce,
they have been on a hiring spree and still has plans on adding another 300 enforcement
positions. David Uhlmann, EPA’s Assistant
Administrator for Enforcement was confirmed this year as the Chief Enforcement
Officer, and he is building the department back up to bring those who violate
the law to justice. The Enforcement
Chief has set goals for his department to help fight climate change and attain environmental
justice for all, and he isn’t trying force any companies to close. If you would like to read more of Associated Press’ article, please click
the link: After years of decline, the Biden administration says environmental enforcement is on the upswing | AP News.
If you would
like help in looking into how to clean up your emissions and pollutants,
contact us via the email in the blog and check out our ESC's website!
We hope you have a wonderful evening and a great week!
**Disclaimer: You may be charged a fee to read the Associated
Press’ article. **