EPA Discontinuing COVID-19 Related Enforcement Discretion Policy
Tue Jul 7th, On Environmental Law, by Anna Viele
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to end its temporary policy that allowed for enforcement discretion in the enforcement of some types of violations in the context of COVID-19. On June 29, 2020, EPA gave notice that this policy will be terminated as of August 31, 2020, or possibly earlier. If the policy is terminated earlier than August 31, 2020, then seven days advance notice will be given before official termination of the policy.
The policy, which originally went into effect on March 26, 2020, outlined EPA’s intention to allow for some flexibility to the regulated community, which was struggling at the time to deal with the impacts of the pandemic. After August 31, EPA will no longer consider its COVID-19 policy and instead apply discretion on a case by case basis.