The Cost of Non-Compliance | Part 8: Analysis of the Database

Uriah Donaldson presented a technical paper at the 2023 IIAR Conference titled The Cost of Non-Compliance: An Objective Analysis of Federal EPA’s Enforcement at Ammonia Refrigeration Facilities. This blog series includes excerpts from his technical paper.

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Part 8: Analysis of the Database

At the time of this paper’s publication, the database includes more than 450 inspection reports: 254 CAFOs, 185 ESAs, and 14 EPACAs. It includes inspection reports from 46 of the 50 states and all ten regions. CAA Section 112(r) – 40 CFR §68 “RMP” was cited 346 times, EPCRA 94 times, CERCLA 75 times, and the CAA Section 112(r)(1) – General Duty Clause 31 times. (39)

Categorizing Citations by Regulatory Reference

While the EPA inspection reports typically do not assign individual penalty amounts to each citation, reports will usually detail which sections of a particular regulation were violated. The database tracks the number of times each section of the RMP regulation was cited, as well as the number of times the applicable sections of CERCLA and EPCRA were cited. This helps analyze which sections are cited more frequently than others. Below is a list of the number of times a section was cited, in order from highest to lowest:

Number of times cited	Regulatory Reference
124	Process Hazard Analysis
122	RAGAGEP
119	Mechanical Integrity
112	Operating Procedures
101	Failure to Submit RMP
98	Compliance Audits
94	Process Safety Information
74	Failure / Late Notification after NH3 Release to NRC and LEPC
73	Training
58	Hazard Assessment
44	Failure to timely Submit Tier II
37	MOC / PSSR
31	Failure to update Emergency Contact
29	Contractors
24	Emergency Planning and Response
23	Incident Investigation

Analysis of Penalties

There are numerous ways to analyze penalty amounts recorded in the database. Below is a summary of six penalty categories, with four data elements for each: (1) the total amount of all citation penalties in that category, (2) the average individual penalty amount for a single facility, (3) the median individual penalty amount for a single facility, and (4) the largest individual penalty amount for a single facility

Table 1: CAFOs citing CAA Section 112(r) – 40 CFR §68 RMP

Total Penalties Assessed	$12,132,184
Average Civil Penalty	$82,533
Median Civil Penalty	$58,000
Largest Civil Penalty	$356,010

Table 2: ESAs citing CAA Section 112(r) – 40 CFR §68 RMP

Total Penalties Assessed	$509,867.00
Average Civil Penalty	$2,771.02
Median Civil Penalty	$2,000.00
Largest Civil Penalty	$13,500.00

Table 3: Penalties associated with violating EPCRA

Total Penalties Assessed	$2,351,655.96
Average Civil Penalty	$29,395.70
Median Civil Penalty	$18,604.50
Largest Civil Penalty	$270,000.00

Table 4: Penalties associated with violating CERCLA

Total Penalties Assessed	$620,104.01
Average Civil Penalty	$14,764.38
Median Civil Penalty	$11,506.00
Largest Civil Penalty	$75,000.00

Table 5: CAFOs citing CAA Section 112(r)(1) General Duty Clause

Total Penalties Assessed	$1,721,419.04
Average Civil Penalty	$57,380.63
Median Civil Penalty	$40,200.00
Largest Civil Penalty	$179,146.00

Table 6: Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP)

Total Penalties Assessed	$3,815,072.10
Average Civil Penalty	$90,835.05
Median Civil Penalty	$54,272.00
Largest Civil Penalty	$425,000.00

(39) Many inspection reports cite multiple regulations; 

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The previous blogs in this series are available in the following links:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: A Historical Timeline of Major Events (1962-1978)
• Part 3: A Historical Timeline of Major Events (1980-1994)
• Part 4: How the EPA Calculates Civil Penalties – 1984 Policy & Policies for EPCRA and CERCLA
• Part 5: How the EPA Calculates Civil Penalties – Examples of Release Notification and Tier II
• Part 6: EPA’s Combined Enforcement Policy for CAA §112(r) and 40 CFR Part 68
• Part 7: EPA’s Jurisdiction