Making the Best of a Bad Situation:An EPA Penalty Facilitates Grassroots Efforts to Monitor Watershed

摘要

In settlements of environmental enforcement cases, the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) requires the alleged violators to achieve and maintaincompliance with Federal environmental laws and regulations, and to pay a civilpenalty. To further EPA's goals to protect and enhance public health and theenvironment, in certain instances environmentally beneficial projects, orSupplemental Environmental Projects (SEP), may be part of a settlement.In October 2000, an EPA approved SEP allowed the City of Ventura to contractwith Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper to develop and implement a twelve-monthwater quality monitoring program in the Ventura River Watershed. The projectsuccessfully demonstrates how an EPA violation, which was publicly perceivedas damaging to the environment of the watershed, became an opportunity for theCity of Ventura to assist an environmentally positive grassroots effort with strongpublic outreach and support.