Report - Maryland Department of the Environment

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Maryland Department of the Environment’s (MDE) thirteenth Enforcement and
Compliance Report for Fiscal Year 2009 (July 2008-June 2009) reports data from
MDE’s enforcement and compliance programs in the Air and Radiation
Management, Waste Management, and Water Management Administrations, and
the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Office of the Attorney General. This document
has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of §1-301(d) of the
Environment Article and is part of an ongoing commitment to continuous process
improvement.
Maintaining a steady and consistent baseline of enforcement is necessary to ensure
compliance with state laws, regulations, and permits that protect public health and
the environment. MDE is committed to taking timely actions for violations, and the
“MDEStat” management process monitors compliance and enforcement activities in
each Administration. MDE shares information with the public about enforcement
activities to maximize the deterrence value of each enforcement action.
During FY 2009, MDE provided regulatory oversight for 117,421 regulated entities.
The decrease from 257,744 in the FY 2008 report to 117,421 in this report is
primarily due to a more accurate counting of registered properties in the Lead
Poisoning Prevention Program that eliminated some double counting of sites. MDE
inspected 17% more sites in FY 2009 than it did in FY 2008 and performed very
similar numbers of inspections, audits, and spot checks. The number of
enforcement actions increased by 7% over FY 2008. The increase reflects primarily
enforcement actions related to drinking water and radiological health. Based on the
significant increase in enforcement in the previous year and the workload related to
the deployment of an electronic record-keeping system for water inspectors, it was
anticipated that maintaining the same level of inspection and enforcement activity
would be a challenge. Although there was a decline in the number of inspections
and compliance assistance activity due to inspectors' shift of focus to deployment of
the new electronic reporting system, the program was able to increase the number of
audits and enforcement actions taken.
This year, penalties collected from environmental violators totaled $6,516,601. The
increase of $2,546,326 from FY 2008 is largely due to a $4 million settlement in one
enforcement case.
MDE’s increased enforcement activity has created a much larger workload for the
attorneys assigned by the Office of the Attorney General to MDE. In calendar year
2007, MDE referred approximately 340 enforcement cases for legal action; in CY
2009, MDE referred 816 cases, an increase of 140%. Because legal staffing has not
kept pace, many of these cases are still awaiting action by MDE's attorneys; as of
January 1, 2010, 325 cases awaited assignment to, legal filings by, or active
attention from, MDE's legal staff.
Refer to MDE’s website (http://www.mde.state.md.us) for the latest information on
enforcement actions and other compliance activities.
MDE FY 2009 Annual Enforcement and Compliance Report 5