Civil penalty policy

U.S. EPA uses the guidelines in the Civil Penalty Policy for assessing penalty amounts and uses the Final U.S. EPA Supplemental Environmental Projects Policy to allow for flexibility in assessing penalties. Enforcement of RCRA at federal facilities is now similar to enforcement at TSDFs, as a result of the Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992. 

Penalties associated with the TSCA can be very steep. Civil penalties of up to 25,000 per day can be issued, and criminal prosecution may also be pursued. The greater the damage to the environment, the greater the fines, which increase accordingly. The TSCA Civil Penalty Policy has been created to determine appropriate penalties for each violation. Proposed penalties have been as high as 17 million. 

The EPA issued a Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Penalty Policy (PCB Penalty Policy) that follows the basic format and approach of the TSCA Civil Penalty Policy, which the EPA published in 1980. The PCB Penalty Policy categorizes all violations according to their nature, extent, and circumstances in order to determine a gravity based penalty. Then the gravity based penalty is adjusted upwards for factors such as prior history of violations, and downwards for factors such as cooperation with EPA and prompt self-reporting. 

Administrative procedures include policies and procedures employee training appointing a privacy officer procedure for handling requests for consumer information from the government, and procedure for handling complaints and violations of HIPAA. A consent obtained by one provider is not valid as to any other provider. Civil penalties can be assessed at 100 per violation, with a cap at 25,000. 

EPA, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Penalty Policy (Apr. 9, 1990) [hereinafter PCB Penalty Policy] available through http //cfpub.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/civil/ tsca/. See Chapter 14, Penalties and Enforcement. 

A matrix in the PCB Penalty Policy supplies the gravity based penalties for each combination of nature, circumstances, and extent. However, the penalties applicable to violations that occurred in 2006, 2007, and 2008 must be increased by a factor of 1.3, and the penalties applicable to 2009 violations that occurred after January 12, 2009 must be increased by a factor of 1.5. These increased penalties are required by the Civil Penalties Inflation... 

In the environmental field, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established its Incentives for Self-Policing Discovery, Disclosure, Correction and Prevention of Violations (Audit Policy). It permits complete mitigation of civil penalties if the violator complies with aU of its requirements, one of which is discovery of the violation through either an audit or application of a compliance management system. 

The EPA established policies and procedures for calculating the amount of civil penalties for TSCA violations. It maintains a series of Enforcement Response Poficies (ERPs) covering each of the sections of the TSCA statute and describing in great detail how the EPA used a multitude of factors to determine the severity of each type of violation and what the appropriate monetary penalty should be. 

Memorandum from Jesse Baskerville, Director, Toxics and Pesticides Enforcement Division, Office of Regulatory Enforcement. EPA. Revision of the AHERA Enforcement Response Policy Civil Penalties for Failure to Conduct Reinspections (Aug. 4,1998) EPA, Toxics and Pesticides Enforcement Division. Office of Regulatory Enforcement, Enforcement Response... 

Fed. Reg. 59770 (Sept. 10, 1980) GuideHnes for the Assessment of Civil Penalties under Section 16 of the Toxic Substances Control Act PCB Penalty Policy 45 FR 59770 1980 Penalty Policy 9-10-80... 

EPA, Office of Enforcement and Comphance Assurance, Office of Civil Enforcement, Waste and Chemical Enforcement Division, Section 1018—Disclosure Rule Enforcement Response and Penalty Policy (Dec. 2007) Lead Disclosure ERP12-07... 

Contains a statement of FRA policy concerning enforcement of safety laws. The FRA can inqx)se civil penalties. The amount of the penalty is indicated in each section of the federal regulations. The Safety Appliance, Boiler Inspection, Signal Inspection, Accident Report, and Hours of Service Acts also allow for collection of civil penalties. The RSIA 1988 increased the amount of the fines. A 1983 amendment made railroads strictly liable for any penalties, irrespective of whether they were aware of the violation "It shall be unlawful... 

EPA policy concerning relaxed enforcement of prohibitions on storage of mixed waste does not extend to Executive Branch federal facilities, including DOE facilities. In 1992, Congress amended Section 6001 of RCRA (1976) through the Federal Facility Compliance Act (FFCA, 1992) to clarify that federal facilities are subject to administrative orders and civil and administrative penalties and... 

U.S. regulatory ramifications for non-compliance include invoking the application integrity policy (for fraud), serious inspection observations, a warning letter, import alerts, withheld research and/or product approvals, cancellation of government contracts, product recalls, seizure, consent decree of permanent injunction, civil money penalties, suspension or revocation of licenses, and prosecution (including indictments and temporary or permanent debarment, if found guilty). ... 

EPA s pohcy in assessing penalties for violation of TSCA 8 reporting is set forth in EPA, Toxic and Pesticides Enforcement Division, Office of Regulatory Enforcement, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Amended TSCA Enforcement Response Policy, 5 (revised Mar. 31, 1999) [hereinafter Reporting Rule ERP], available through http //cfpub.epa. gov/compliance/resources/policies/civil/tsca/... 

In a 1987 rulemaking, EPA promulgated its so-called PCB Spill Cleanup Policy. The Pohcy applies to spills of PCBs at concentrations greater than or equal to 50 ppm that occurred after May 4, 1987. The PCB Spill Cleanup Policy is driven by the release of PCBs at greater than or equal to 50 ppm, without regard to the concentration of PCBs in the contaminated media. As noted above, an incentive to remediate a spill or release of PCBs, and to initiate a cleanup under the PCB Spill Cleanup Poficy, is provided by the fact that such spill or release is unauthorized disposal subjecting a party to civil and perhaps criminal penalties. As stated by EPA ... 

The types of imminent discovery that preclude application of the Audit PoKcy are an EPA civil investigation that has already begun, a third-party formal or informal complaint or notice of intent to sue, a whistleblower report, or any other event that makes governmental discovery imminent If the company does not know about a civil investigation that has already begim, the EPA may still mitigate penalties under the Audit Policy. 

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