Audit says environmental regulators slow to act
The state Comptroller’s Office review of the agency released this week said TDEC divisions “did not always initiate enforcement action against violators in a timely manner.”
And once the cases reached TDEC’s Office of General Counsel, the investigations can languish for years — far exceeding Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
“Timely and consistent enforcement can help prevent and reduce pollution and act as an incentive for violators to comply with Environmental Protection Agency or state requirements,” the auditors wrote.
The auditors’ review of 302 randomly selected cases, many involving clean-air violations, found TDEC officials waited as long as five months after issuing a notice before taking action.
The auditors recommended speeding up the process through a variety of measures, including allowing inspectors to issue field citations that allow violators to pay reduced penalties in exchange for prompt compliance.
TDEC officials generally agreed with the audit, though they said many violations are identified and corrected before formal enforcement actions begin.
“Our first hope would be to catch something in the field and correct it before you get to the formal enforcement process,” TDEC General Counsel Joe Sanders said.
Once cases begin that process, final disposition can be slowed by court appeals, ownership changes, bankruptcies and other delays, he said.
“It’s not surprising to me that you can have cases go several years,” Sanders said.
The agency already is working to expedite its efforts. The Division of Underground Storage Tanks, for example, eliminated a backlog of old cases last year and the agency is working on an integrated computer system to track enforcement actions of all divisions.