Lax Enforcement Threatening Vermont’s Environment: CLF Report Details Weak Punishments for Polluters, Poor Accountability, and Little Transparency

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Anthony N. L. Iarrapino, Staff Attorney
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Montpelier, VT (December 12, 2007) Vermont ’s legacy as an environmental champion is being seriously threatened by weak enforcement of the state’s environmental laws, concluded a report released today by the Conservation Law Foundation’s Vermont Advocacy Center.

“Those who pollute our environment should be held accountable for the damage they have caused, and penalized in a way that sends a strong warning to others who would disrespect our environmental laws” said Chris Kilian, CLF’s Vermont Advocacy Center Director. “It is fundamentally wrong for our state agencies to let polluters off the hook with weak penalties and uncollected fines.”

In the first-of-its-kind survey, CLF analyzed eleven years of state data and found the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) is failing to respond in a timely way to complaints, inadequately punishing polluters, and shutting concerned residents out of the process. According to CLF’s study:

* Almost 2,000 citizen complaints were left unresolved with no report on their status.
* Only 4% of all complaints result in enforcement actions involving fines.
* Only 18% of confirmed violations result in formal enforcement actions with the possibility of a fine.
* 57% of environmental fines issued pursuant to Administrative Orders were uncollected, costing the state thousands of dollars a year.

The report also urges the Legislature to hold ANR accountable for its mismanagement by passing a series of recommended reforms including denial of permits to polluters who fail to pay their fines and increasing opportunities for public participation. The report’s other major recommendations include:

* Prioritization of the issuance of civil fines: The Legislature should make it clear to ANR that Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP) – environmental projects agreed to, often in lieu of fines – should only be issued after appropriate civil fines have been levied.
* Create opportunities for public enforcement when ANR fails to act on polluters: Vermont should join the ranks of 16 other states that allow some form of public enforcement in state court if state officials fail to act on polluters in their neighborhood.
* Increase public participation in decision-making: The Legislature should open the doors of the enforcement process to the public at large by instituting a Notice and Comment Period for both Assurances of Discontinuance (AODs) and Supplemental Environmental Projects.
* Increase Transparency by Expanding Public Records of Enforcement Actions: Residents living near polluters should be able to quickly and easily find information about compliance with environmental law through a new public database. Attorney General opinions on AODs should also be made available to the public pursuant to the Public Records Act.

For more information, and to download the report, click here.

The Conservation Law Foundation works to solve the environmental problems that threaten the people, natural resources and communities of New England . CLF’s advocates use law, economics and science to design and implement strategies that conserve natural resources, protect public health, and promote vital communities in our region. Founded in 1966, CLF is a nonprofit, member-supported organization. It has offices in Boston, Massachusetts ; Concord, NH; Providence, RI; Montpelier, VT; and Brunswick, ME .