EPA Wants Transparency On Water Quality
Administrator Lisa Jackson makes
comprehensive reports and data on water enforcement available for all 50
states.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made available comprehensive reports and data on water enforcement in all 50 states. This is part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s larger effort by to enhance transparency, promote the public’s right to know about water quality and provide information on EPA’s actions to protect water under the Clean Water Act, the agency stated in a recent memorandum.
Jackson has directed EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) to develop an action plan to enhance public transparency regarding clean water enforcement. In the memo, she also calls for stronger enforcement performance at federal and state levels and a transformation of EPA’s water quality and compliance information systems.
In keeping with this directive, EPA has posted detailed information on the current state of clean water compliance and enforcement in each state, and copies of the latest clean water enforcement and compliance performance reports for each state to the agency’s website. EPA also launched new web-based tools to help the public search, assess, and analyze the data the agency used to help prepare those reports.
The administrator’s memo directed the agency to take several actions, including:
More information on the state-by-state reports can be found here:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/state/srf/index.html
Information on EPA and state enforcement data can be found here:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/results/performance/cwa/index.html
For a copy of the administrator’s memorandum, click here.
Source: U.S. EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made available comprehensive reports and data on water enforcement in all 50 states. This is part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s larger effort by to enhance transparency, promote the public’s right to know about water quality and provide information on EPA’s actions to protect water under the Clean Water Act, the agency stated in a recent memorandum.
Jackson has directed EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) to develop an action plan to enhance public transparency regarding clean water enforcement. In the memo, she also calls for stronger enforcement performance at federal and state levels and a transformation of EPA’s water quality and compliance information systems.
In keeping with this directive, EPA has posted detailed information on the current state of clean water compliance and enforcement in each state, and copies of the latest clean water enforcement and compliance performance reports for each state to the agency’s website. EPA also launched new web-based tools to help the public search, assess, and analyze the data the agency used to help prepare those reports.
The administrator’s memo directed the agency to take several actions, including:
- Improve and enhance the
information available on the EPA website on compliance and enforcement
activities in each state, showing connections to local water quality where
possible;
- Provide
information in a user-friendly format form that is easily understood and
useable by the public;
- Raise the bar for
clean water enforcement performance and ensure enforcement is taken against
serious violations that threaten water quality; and
- Improve EPA’s enforcement performance in states where EPA directly implements the clean water program.
More information on the state-by-state reports can be found here:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/state/srf/index.html
Information on EPA and state enforcement data can be found here:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/results/performance/cwa/index.html
For a copy of the administrator’s memorandum, click here.
Source: U.S. EPA
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