The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) has posted an April 17, 2024, memorandum regarding “Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy” from David M. Uhlmann, OECA Assistant Administrator. The Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy sets forth requirements to ensure that EPA’s enforcement program maintains and strengthens the strategic partnership between civil and criminal enforcement. According to the Policy, to promote...
Archives
July 25, 2023
Uhlmann Confirmed as EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
On July 20, 2023, the Senate voted 53 to 46 to confirm David Uhlmann to be Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As reported in our September 17, 2021, memorandum, Uhlmann was the Director of the Environmental Policy and Law Program at the University of Michigan Law School. Prior to academia, Uhlmann spent 17 years as a federal prosecutor, including seven years with the...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 2, 2023, that the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) will hold two public listening sessions to receive individual input related to concerns about potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). According to EPA, it will review and consider the input received in drafting a “CERCLA per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)...
February 2, 2021
EPA Announces the Issuance of a Revised Advisory on Disinfectants Making False and Misleading Claims against COVID-19
In January 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) announced that it issued a revised compliance advisory (Advisory) on products claiming to kill SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. EPA first issued this guidance on June 1, 2020, and it is discussed in our blog here. The Advisory has been revised significantly, reflecting new developments and experience since the Advisory was...
November 2, 2020
EPA Announces the Issuance of an Advisory on UV Lights That Claim to Kill or Be Effective against Viruses and Bacteria
On October 30, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) announced that it issued a Compliance Advisory on ultraviolet (UV) lights claiming to kill or be effective against viruses and bacteria. EPA states that the Advisory was issued to provide an explanation to the UV light industry that UV lights are regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as pesticide devices...
June 2, 2020
EPA Announces the Issuance of an Advisory on Disinfectants Making False and Misleading Claims against COVID-19
On June 1, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) announced that it issued a compliance advisory on products claiming to kill SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. EPA states that the advisory was issued because it has received tips and complaints concerning potentially false or misleading claims, including efficacy claims, associated with pesticides and devices. EPA says it is actively...