Supplemental environmental project
In United States environmental law, Supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) are environmental programs which are given to companies jointly by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) as alternatives to punishments for violating environmental laws.[1] Given at the choice of the violator, they are intended to balance the damage to the environment companies cause with growth to the environment. The companies pay for the projects themselves, but are optional to partially clear fines.[2] SEPs were officially created in February 1991, and were later revised in May 1995, May 1998, and most recently in 2015.[3]
SEPs were banned by the DOJ during the second administration of Donald Trump,[1] following an SEP which violated the Miscellaneous Receipts Act and the Antideficiency Act, which were enacted in 1849 and 1870, respectively.[4]
Examples
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- In 2005, following the settlement of the Graniteville train crash, a $100,000 SEP was created to plant vegetation nearby the site of the crash.[5]
- In 2024, the settlement of the Curtis Bay Incinerator case included a $750,000 SEP.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "[Rollback] DOJ Prohibited Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) – Environmental and Energy Law Program". eelp.law.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ US EPA, OECA (2013-05-03). "Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs)". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ US EPA, OECA (2015-03-16). "2015 Update to the 1998 U.S. EPA Supplemental Environmental Projects Policy". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ Alvarez, Daniel; Perls, Hannah; Monast, Jonas (May 2024). "Cleaning the Air On Supplemental Environmental Programs" (PDF). Environmental Law Institute. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ "03/08/2010: Railroad Company to Pay $4 Million Penalty for 2005 Chlorine Spill in Graniteville, SC". yosemite.epa.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ "Attorney General Anthony Brown Announces Guilty Plea and Sentencing of Curtis Bay Energy, LP – Owner of Largest Medical Waste Incinerator in the United States". 17 October 2023. Retrieved 2025-07-31.