Also, recovering the economic benefit for a violation serves as a deterrent to companies that may contemplate violating the law. Based on that policy, EPA believes in dealing harshly with violators when necessary, said Dr. Warren Layne, director of toxic inventory regulation for EPA's Region Six. This year, we just finished an agreement with a facility in Oklahoma for well over half a million in fines and penalties. Former DEQ Secretary Paul Templet said he had good results following EPA's recommended policies. There had been little enforcement in the state prior to that.
Records show that as fines went up, the state's pollution went down.
Under Roemer, regulated toxic emissions in the state fell by more than 50 percent from previous years. From 1988 to 1995, overall toxic emissions in Louisiana fell by more than 70 percent. When Templet took over DEQ in the late 1980s, he said, field agents told him that enforcement of environmental rules under Edwards had been so lax that when they wrote up violations at chemical plants, the workers laughed at them. Without fines as enforcement, Templet said, the system falls apart because industry cannot be expected to police itself. If there's no enforcement, those not playing by the rules get away scot-free, while those that do play by the rules are penalized for spending the money.