The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made enhancements to its regulatory enforcement actions in 2024. In its year-end report, the agency announced it had doled out record penalties and issued the first-ever arrest for a climate change-related crime.
In 2024, the EPA said it resolved over 1,850 civil cases, a 3.4% increase from 2023, and charged 121 criminal defendants, reflecting a 17.6% rise. These efforts reportedly reduced or eliminated over 225 million pounds of pollution, with a particular focus on aiding overburdened communities disproportionately affected by environmental harm.
Financial penalties in 2024 totaled $1.7 billion, more than doubling the amount from all of 2023 and marking the highest figure in seven years. These penalties included the largest fine ever issued under the Clean Air Act.
The EPA ordered automotive tech company Cummins Inc. to pay over $2 billion for using illegal software in Ram trucks to bypass emissions standards. The agency’s settlement with Cummins Inc. was reached in December 2023, but details were not released until January of this year.
Also in the EPA report was a mention of the agency’s first-ever arrest related to a climate change crime. In March, the agency detained a California man for smuggling hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas banned under a global climate treaty.
EPA officials expressed their intent to maintain robust enforcement under the incoming Trump administration. David Uhlmann, the EPA’s assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, said he hopes these efforts will not suffer under the new president, highlighting active civil and criminal investigations the agency is currently involved in that could bear fruit in 2025.
