Washington • Civil penalties for polluters under the Trump administration plummeted during the past fiscal year to the lowest average level since 1994, according to a new analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data.
In the two decades before President Donald Trump took office, EPA civil fines averaged more than $500 million a year, when adjusted for inflation. Last year’s $72 million in fines was 85 percent below that amount, according to the agency’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online database.
Cynthia Giles, who headed EPA's enforcement office in the Obama administration and conducted the analysis, said the inflation-adjusted figures represent the lowest since the agency's enforcement office was established.