The Department
of Justice
( DOJ )
will no longer allow
polluting companies
to reduce their fines
by paying for an
environmental
project.
This procedure
has been popular
with both industry
and government
agencies.
But not with me.
A polluting company
should be fined.
Allowing a polluting company
to "repent", by sponsoring
an environmental project(s) ,
allows them to virtue signal,
and clean up their image.
Let them pay their fine in full,
and use additional money
for environmental projects.
Special Environmental
Projects ( SEPs )
have been used
since the 1990s.
SEPs credit 80%
of what a company
spends on a project
as a discount
on whatever
civil fines
have been imposed
by the government.
Companies typically
agree to projects
that correspond with
parts of the environment
they polluted, such as air
or water.
They allow businesses
to reduce or eliminate
their civil penalties.
The environmental projects
could be cleaning streams,
or replacing old gas-guzzling
school busses.
But a DOJ memo said
the program violates the
Miscellaneous Receipts Act,
which requires money to
go to the U.S. Treasury.
The DOJ argued that SEPs
could only legally be allowed
if authorized by Congress.
The agency said the
special projects have been
“controversial for decades”
and suspended their use
“both in light of their
inconsistency with law
and their departure from
sound enforcement practices.”
“Everybody
likes these
for a reason,”
said Cynthia Giles,
who served as the
assistant administrator
of EPA’s Office
of Enforcement
during the Obama
administration,
adding that industry
often asked her
to offer more SEPs.
“Communities like them
because they are the people
who have been harmed
-- this is their way to get redress.
Companies like them -- yes,
because it helps them
improve their public image
but because it gives them
a chance to give something back,"
she said.
And government likes them
because they help to resolve
these cases in a way
that benefits everyone.”