DEP proposes new enforcement tool;

CBIA expresses concerns

(Sept. 12, 2006) New regulations that would allow the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and its enforcement staff to issue “traffic-ticket”-like fines, known as administrative civil penalties, for environmental violations discovered through inspections or reports submitted to DEP are being proposed by the agency.

The proposed regulations apply to a limited number of DEP regulatory programs and are being considered a “test case” that could lead to the DEP broadening the program in the future.

The DEP believes the new civil penalties program will provide a quick resolution to cases in which the violations, in its view, are obvious and that the regulated community will prefer to quickly resolve these matters by paying the fine.

And that, says the DEP, will reduce the resources that both DEP and the regulated community will need to dedicate to these cases.

Real impact of proposal

While CBIA strongly favors the DEP taking measures to streamline their operations and become more efficient, there is a high likelihood that the impact of the proposed regulations will actually add significantly to the drain on the DEP’s limited resources as it will result in more contested cases requiring a lengthy and resource-intensive administrative hearing process.

CBIA recently submitted comments to the DEP regarding the proposed regulations expressing concern that the overall impact of the proposed regulations will be to increase the cost of doing business for both the DEP and the businesses they regulate.

What’s more, CBIA believes the environment is better served by focusing resources on compliance assistance and expedited enforcement approaches (such as warning letters, notices of violations and consent orders) and continuing to reserve the use of unilateral orders and attorney general referrals for the most egregious situations in which there is a substantial disregard for environment compliance, or that result in actual harm or a high degree of risk of actual harm to human health or the environment.

Careful evaluation

CBIA also advised that if the DEP moves forward with the proposed regulations, it is essential that the DEP carefully and accurately measure the impact on DEP efficiency and discuss those results with stakeholders prior to moving forward with any expansion of the regulations to other DEP regulatory programs.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Eric Brown at 860-244-1900 or browne@cbia.com. n