The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has made it easier for citizens to report environmental violations. It has established a website for reporting suspected environmental violations. With a few strokes on the keyboard, users can submit information about a suspected violation (such as the suspected violator’s name and location and a description of the incident) and can even do so anonymously. Information submitted through the reporting website is referred to enforcement personnel for further review.
The website invites the public to help EPA to “protect our nation’s environment by identifying and reporting environmental violations.” In fiscal year 2015, EPA enforcement cases resulted in $404 million in combined federal administrative, civil judicial penalties and criminal fines, and 129 years of incarceration for sentenced defendants.
