Criminal prosecutions against companies violating environmental laws continued to decline last year, with EPA referrals to the Department of Justice dropping to their lowest levels in more than three decades.
EPA referred just 152 criminal cases to DOJ last fiscal year — a third lower than the prior year, when the number had reached a new floor during the Trump administration, according to data obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
“It has been steadily worsening and bottoming out under Trump,” said Jeff Ruch, a director at PEER. “This seems to indicate we may not have reached bottom.”
