EPA Relaxes Some Enforcement in Response to Virus (1)

The EPA offered temporary relief to facilities affected by the coronavirus pandemic, saying on Thursday it won’t seek penalties for certain missed obligations.

The new guidance acknowledges that some entities can’t perform routine compliance monitoring, integrity testing, sampling, laboratory analysis, training, and reporting or certification activities.

Regulated facilities must still comply with regulations “where reasonably practicable” and must return to compliance as quickly as possible, the Environmental Protection Agency said. Facilities must also document the decisions they have made to prevent or mitigate noncompliance and show how their noncompliance was linked to the pandemic.

Broadly, the EPA won’t ask facilities ...