"Federal environmental enforcement, as measured by Environmental Protection Agency civil cases closed against polluters, hit a two-decade low in 2022, per a report released last week by a national environmental group that blames budget cuts, staff shortages and the U.S. Senate’s failure to confirm key leaders.
The Environmental Integrity Project said the 72 civil enforcement cases closed in court during the fiscal year that ended in September under President Joe Biden’s administration was the “lowest number in at least 22 years.”
The Trump administration’s EPA closed an average of 94 cases per year while the Obama administration averaged 210 per year, the report says.
“The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency was expected to step up enforcement of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other environmental laws after the investigation and prosecution of polluters reached new lows under the Trump administration,” the group said in a statement. “It has yet to keep that promise, thanks to a refusal by Congress to reverse more than a decade of budget cuts or to confirm President Biden’s nominee to head EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.”"
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