EPA’s independent federal watchdog found the agency’s process for inspecting large hazardous waste generators was inconsistent, leaving one-fifth of sites without oversight during a five-year period.
The Office of Inspector General released a report Wednesday that revealed EPA and authorized states inspected only 5,499 of 6,827— or 81 percent — large quantity generators between 2020 and 2024. Officials found violations at 4,661 of the sites inspected.
“Understanding the trends and variabilities in inspections and enforcement behaviors can help the EPA identify areas of concern and determine the effectiveness of its enforcement strategies,” the report says.
The OIG report also identified “wide variability” between enforcement actions taken by federal, state or regional inspecting agencies, and EPA penalties were, on average, priced thousands of dollars higher than state penalties.
