Washington State Department of Ecology

Compliance and Enforcement Data

The information below summarizes agency notices, orders and penalties. Penalty assessments are the initial amounts assessed before any appeals, negotiated settlements, Environmental and Land Use Hearings Office or Superior Court decisions where the total amount could be reduced. Significant year to year differences of the total penalty amounts for enforcement actions occur due to targeted inspection initiatives, new or enhanced permitting programs, or statutory changes. Yearly differences of initial penalty amounts may correspond with action spikes, a large single violation, or group of violations. For example: 2002 totals include $15,720,000 in penalties issued for the 1999 Olympic Pipe Line rupture and fire.

The program totals reflect only a portion of what programs’ expend on compliance and enforcement work. To find out more about Ecology programs, please visit the Ecology Program’s webpage. All totals are subject to changes or slight variances from program totals.

*These penalty amounts reflect the initial assessment amount before any appeals process or negotiations where the total amount may be reduced. 2002 totals include $15,720,000 in penalties issued for the 1999 Bellingham spill and fire. All totals are subject to change or slight variance.

Enforcement Totals by Program for 2004-2011
Program	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Air Quality	108	88	89	114	124	134	136	99
Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction	14	15	13	9	13	8	11	6
Industrial Section	35	20	20	22	17	7	20	15
Nuclear Waste	2		1	6	1		1
Shorelands and Environmental Assistance	14	5	1	8	6	4	9	3
Spill Prevention, Preparedness, and Response	90	69	91	109	151	122	67	70
Toxics Clean Up	54	54	56	70	108	153	79	118
Waste 2 Resources	18	74	60	33	20	13	11	80
Water Quality	86	106	139	142	129	114	119	143
Water Resources	11	13	18	8	2	32	16	13
*Total*	*432*	*444*	*488*	*521*	*571*	*587*	*469*	*547*