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EPA's civil enforcement program
helps protect the environment and human health by assuring compliance
with federal environmental laws. Civil enforcement encompasses the
investigations and cases brought to address the most significant violations,
and includes EPA administrative actions and judicial cases referred
to the Department of Justice. EPA works closely with states (e.g.,
in joint development of cases) as well as with tribes and other federal
agencies in implementing the enforcement programs. The Agency emphasizes
those actions that reduce the most significant risks to human health
or the environment, and consults extensively with states and other
stakeholders in determining risk-based priorities. For over two decades,
EPA's Statutory and Regulatory Enforcement
Programs has made a measurable contribution to reducing the amount
of pollution that goes into the air we breathe or the water we drink,
and by encouraging safer handling of hazardous waste and toxic materials. |
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Along with civil enforcement, EPA's enforcement programs
also specialize in Compliance Assistance,
which helps industry prevent violations before they occur; Criminal
Enforcement, which prosecutes those intentional or deliberate acts
of noncompliance; Federal Facilities Enforcement,
which has responsibility for ensuring that federal facilities prevent,
control, and abate environmental pollution; Cleanup
Enforcement, including Superfund, is responsible for enforcing remediation
or cleanups at contaminated sites; and International
Enforcement, which helps build enforcement and compliance capacities
in other countries and works to fulfill the United States' commitments
under international treaties and agreements.
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