The number of pollution cases the Environmental Protection Agency referred for criminal prosecution hit a 30-year low last year, according to new government figures. Data from the Justice Department shows just 166 cases were referred for prosecution in the last fiscal year—the lowest number since 1988, when Ronald Reagan was president and 151 cases were referred. In a statement, the EPA insisted that it’s directing resources to “the most significant and impactful cases.” But Jeff Ruch, the executive director of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility advocacy group, which obtained the figures, said: “We’re reaching levels where the enforcement program is lacking a pulse.” EPA arrests have been on a downwards trajectory since Bill Clinton’s presidency—there were 592 criminal referrals in 1998. During his campaign, Donald Trump called for doing away with all but “little tidbits” of the federal environmental agency.
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