"To suggest otherwise undermines our enforcement efforts and fails to acknowledge the good work performed by EPA enforcement staff every year.”On its own website, however, EPA emphasizes the importance of conducting regular inspections. “You have to have inspections and evaluations in order to support civil enforcement,” he said. Wheeler said the EPA had opened more criminal enforcement cases during 2018 than the year before, reversing a downward trajectory. Konkus said the notion that the EPA under President Trump is going easy on polluters isn’t accurate. “Not only are the Trump EPA’s enforcement numbers at historic lows, they are on track to get worse."

Source: Washington Post February 08, 2019 20:50 UTC