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Under the Trump administration, the EPA reduced federal penalties against polluters

Under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency significantly lowered its activity to monitor and enforce regulation against industry polluters, falling to its lowest levels in a decade.The analysis of 2017 enforcement activity shows the EPA opened 115 environmental crime cases over the 2017 fiscal year, compared to the nearly 400 cases opened in 2009 under the Obama administration. The EPA also missed its 2017 target of 14,000 federal inspections and investigations, instead conducting only 11,800. The EPA collected a total of $2.98 million in fines, and issued nearly $1.6 billion, in federal and civil penalties in 2017; the agency collected $14 million in 2016, and issued $5.9 billion.

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Pacific Standard
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