Law Commons^™

Making A Good Idea Even Better: Rethinking The Limits On Supplemental Environmental Projects, Kenneth Kristl

Kenneth T Kristl

Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) allow a defendant in an enforcement action under federal environmental laws to reduce its civil penalty by agreeing to undertake an environmentally beneficial project it would not otherwise be required to do. Properly structured, SEPs benefit the enforcement plaintiff, the defendant, and the environment, and federal policy encourages the use of SEPs. A first of its kind examination of SEP utilization rates in federal enforcement actions finds that—despite active encouragement within and by EPA—SEPs are only used in about 13% of federal enforcement cases. After examining the development of federal policy concerning SEPs, likely explanations for …