Washington, DC – Environmental law enforcement fell sharply in the first year of the second Trump Administration, with the number of civil lawsuits filed against polluters, administrative penalties, and settlements all declining significantly compared to previous administrations, according to a new report from the Environmental Integrity Project.
The number of lawsuits filed against polluters for environmental violations fell to an historic low, with only 16 actions filed in civil court by the U.S. Justice Department on behalf of EPA in the year since Inauguration Day. That number was 76 percent lower than in the Biden Administration’s first year, 81 percent lower than in the same period in the first Trump Administration, and 87 percent lower than in the first year of President Obama’s second term.
“Our nation’s landmark environmental laws are meaningless when EPA does not enforce the rules,” said Jen Duggan, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project. “The Trump Administration has imposed a series of policies, including abandoning enforcement of serious violations, cutting EPA staff, weakening regulations, and exempting polluting industries, that benefit fossil fuel companies over the health and wellbeing of the American people.”
Settlements of civil lawsuits against polluters has likewise fallen sharply. Federal court records show they declined from 186 during the first year of President Obama’s second term in 2013; to 115 during the first year of the first Trump Administration in 2017; to 112 under the first year of the Biden Administration in 2021; to 40 under Trump in 2025.
This is evidence that very few cases are moving forward through the traditional federal environmental enforcement pipeline. The data suggests that EPA and the Department of Justice have all but abandoned pursuing complex, high-impact cases involving serious violations that threaten public health and the environment, according to EIP’s report.
Administrative penalties by EPA against polluters are also down. Through September of Trump’s current term, only about $41 million in penalties were imposed on violators (the most recent available reliable numbers). This was less than the $49 million during the same period in Biden’s first year, $46 million during the first eight months of Trump’s first term, and $56 million during a similar period under President Obama in 2013 (using inflation-adjusted numbers.)
These declining numbers are not happening in a vacuum, but have been accompanied by a series of Trump Administration policy directives that have benefitted polluting industries, according to EIP’s report. These include new internal EPA pre-approval requirements for enforcement actions that might affect energy production and heightened standards for finding violations.
The Trump Administration is also trying to accelerate the approval of environmental permits for fossil fuel projects under the guise of a fake “energy emergency.” And the administration is sidelining scientific expertise at EPA and preventing public access to critical pollution and public health information through the cancellation of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program and the removal of an environmental justice database called EJScreen.
The need for stronger environmental law enforcement is clear. As of the end of January, there were almost 700 industrial plants and other facilities across the U.S. that EPA lists as having “high priority violations” of air pollution laws dating back almost three years. But only 12 percent of these facilities received any kind of enforcement action over the last year, according to EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database.
There were also more than 3,000 facilities that EPA listed as being in “significant noncompliance” with the Clean Water Act dating back at least three years. But only 2 percent of these facilities had any kind of enforcement action in the last year. This suggests that many polluting companies and facilities known for having the most serious violations are not being held accountable, which threatens the environment and public health.
Background:
The federal government can respond to illegal pollution in a number of ways, including through EPA administrative actions instead of lawsuits filed against violators.
The total number of administrative cases settled between President Trump’s second inauguration and the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30, 2025, increased compared to the same period for the Biden Administration and prior Trump Administrations. This increase was driven primarily by enforcement of two statutory provisions related to the drafting of industrial risk-management plans and standards for drinking water systems, which accounted for nearly 40 percent of all administrative cases settled so far by the Trump Administration.
Administrative settlements under the second Trump Administration declined under other programs, however. For example, the current administration resolved fewer cases involving violations of toxic site cleanup laws. It also settled fewer cases that concern emergency planning and public reporting of toxic releases compared to previous administrations. In addition, there has not been an increase in administrative cases that involve violations of pollution limits or permit requirements at industrial operations that release illegal pollution. In other words, the Trump administration has not increased administrative enforcement efforts to address the dramatic drop in civil judicial prosecutions.
For a copy of the report, click here.
Media contact:
Tom Pelton, Environmental Integrity Project, (443) 510-2574 or tpelton@environmentalintegrity.org
The Environmental Integrity Project is America’s environmental watchdog. We hold polluters and governments accountable to protect public health and the environment.