EPA Enforcement (ECHO)
Federal environmental enforcement on a facility — Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, RCRA hazardous waste, drinking water. Quarters in non-compliance, formal action count, total penalty dollars.
Why this exists
For industrials, manufacturing, energy, ag, or any deal where the operating footprint includes regulated facilities, EPA enforcement history is part of due diligence. ECHO surfaces five years of compliance summary in one read — quarters in non-compliance, count of formal actions, total penalty dollars. The headline number on the deal memo's environmental risk slide.
Frequently asked questions
What is EPA Enforcement (ECHO)?
ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance History Online) is EPA's public database of federal environmental enforcement records. This tool searches by facility name and returns the 25 most recent matching facilities with five-year compliance summaries — quarters in non-compliance under Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, RCRA, and SDWA, plus formal action count and total penalties paid.
Where does ECHO get its data?
Aggregated from EPA's permit-and-inspection systems (NPDES for water, ICIS-Air for air, RCRAInfo for hazardous waste, SDWIS for drinking water). EPA refreshes the public extracts weekly. State-level enforcement data is included where states share with EPA.
Who needs this?
Industrials, manufacturing, energy, agribusiness, and chemicals diligence. EPA penalty history surfaces operating-risk patterns the deal memo's environmental risk slide must address. Pair with OSHA Inspections for the workplace-safety side and Federal Court Cases for the litigation side.