The EPA has collected roughly half as much in civil penalties for violations of environmental laws during President Donald Trump’s first year than it did under the past three presidents in the same time-frame, research being released Feb. 15 shows.
The assessment by the Environmental Integrity Project also found that Trump’s EPA settled roughly 44 percent fewer civil cases involving violations of environmental laws. Penalties collected totaled 49 percent of the average of the three previous presidents’ first year in office.
Eric Schaeffer, head of the Environmental Integrity Project and a former director of the EPA’s Office of Civil Enforcement, ...