In March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a temporary policy that allowed for discretion in their enforcement of environmental laws and regulations during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  That short-term plan is set to terminate on August 31, 2020.   At the time the memo was issued, EPA stated that worker shortages, travel restriction, shipping delays, and social distancing may affect a facility’s ability to complete routine compliance monitoring, integrity testing, sampling, lab analysis, training and reporting. The agency concluded that, if compliance were not reasonably practical, they would not seek penalties for the violations.  In that memo, the timeline to which this policy would apply was left open-ended.  In June, the agency revised the memo and included a termination date of August 31, 2020. The EPA did allow that their inspectors can still exercise discretion on a case-by-case basis.  “The regulated community was given a window to focus their time, money, and energy on dealing with the pandemic,” said Cindy Madrick, Cornerstone’s Vice President of Business Development.  “That window is closing.  If an operator continues to be challenged with addressing compliance activities, Cornerstone can help.”  Many state-level environmental agencies followed EPA’s lead and also allowed regulated entities to request relaxed enforcement rules.  They were flooded with requests for extensions to reporting deadlines, suspension of sampling requirements, permission to use technicians with expired certificates, etc.  Please check with your state to verify the termination date of their discretionary policy or contact Cornerstone for support.  “Cornerstone is available to assist,” said Madrick.  “Please call us to discuss your particular situation and how to ensure compliance going forward.”  Contact Cornerstone today at info@corner-enviro.com or (317) 733-2637.   
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