Compliance Services Authority

US Environmental Compliance Requirements

US environmental compliance encompasses the regulatory obligations that businesses, government entities, and other organizations must satisfy under federal and state environmental law. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers the primary federal framework, which spans air quality, water discharge, hazardous waste management, chemical reporting, and site remediation. Failure to comply can trigger civil penalties exceeding $70,117 per day per violation under statutes such as the Clean Air Act (EPA Civil Penalty Policy), making environmental compliance one of the highest-stakes regulatory domains in the US. Understanding the scope, mechanism, and decision boundaries of these requirements is essential for any organization with physical operations, discharge points, or chemical inventories.

Definition and Scope

Environmental compliance refers to conformity with environmental laws, regulations, standards, and permit conditions that govern an organization's interactions with air, water, land, and living organisms. The EPA defines environmental compliance as meeting the requirements of environmental statutes, regulations, and permit conditions at a point in time (EPA Compliance).

The federal framework organizes obligations across six primary statutory domains:

  1. Air quality — Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. §7401 et seq., regulating criteria pollutants, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), and greenhouse gas reporting.
  2. Water discharges — Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq., governing point-source discharges through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
  3. Drinking water — Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), 42 U.S.C. §300f et seq., covering public water system standards.
  4. Hazardous waste — Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. §6901 et seq., regulating generation, transport, treatment, storage, and disposal.
  5. Chemical reporting — Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), 42 U.S.C. §11001 et seq., requiring Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting.
  6. Site cleanup — Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §9601 et seq., governing remediation of contaminated sites.

State environmental agencies frequently administer federally delegated programs under their own authorization, adding a second compliance layer. For organizations operating across multiple jurisdictions, state-level compliance considerations determine which obligations run parallel to — or exceed — federal minimums.

How It Works

Environmental compliance operates through a permit-centered model combined with self-reporting obligations and periodic inspection.

Phase 1 — Applicability Determination
The first step is identifying which statutes, regulations, and permit thresholds apply to the specific operation. Applicability depends on factors including industry sector (Standard Industrial Classification code), process inputs, emission rates, discharge volumes, and waste generation quantities. A facility generating more than 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste per calendar month, for example, is classified as a Large Quantity Generator (LQG) under RCRA (40 CFR Part 262) and faces more stringent accumulation time limits and manifest requirements than a Small Quantity Generator.

Phase 2 — Permit Acquisition and Conditions
Regulated activities typically require operating permits specifying emission limits, discharge concentrations, monitoring schedules, and recordkeeping protocols. NPDES permits, issued by the EPA or authorized state agencies, set numeric effluent limits for each discharge point.

Phase 3 — Monitoring and Recordkeeping
Permits mandate continuous or periodic monitoring. Under the CAA Title V program, major sources must maintain compliance certification records and submit annual compliance certifications to the EPA (40 CFR Part 70).

Phase 4 — Reporting
Facilities submit discharge monitoring reports (DMRs) electronically via EPA's NetDMR system and file TRI reports by July 1 each year for qualifying chemicals exceeding threshold quantities. CERCLA Section 103 imposes immediate notification requirements for releases above reportable quantities.

Phase 5 — Inspection and Enforcement
The EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) conducts facility inspections, reviews self-reported data, and initiates enforcement actions for violations. Enforcement outcomes range from notices of violation to administrative compliance orders, civil judicial actions, and criminal prosecution. Integrating compliance monitoring and auditing practices into operational planning reduces exposure at this phase.

Common Scenarios

Manufacturing operations with stacks and process vents must determine whether emissions trigger New Source Review (NSR) permitting under the CAA before modifying equipment. A modification increasing particulate matter emissions above Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) thresholds — 25 tons per year for most regulated pollutants — requires a PSD permit prior to construction.

Construction sites disturbing 1 acre or more of land must obtain NPDES stormwater coverage through a Construction General Permit (CGP) and implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) (EPA CGP).

Agricultural operations above defined animal unit thresholds are regulated as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) under the CWA and must apply for NPDES permits if they discharge or propose to discharge.

Chemical distributors and manufacturers meeting TRI reporting thresholds for any of the 770+ listed chemicals must submit annual Form R or Form A reports to the EPA's TRI database.

Decision Boundaries

The distinction between major source and area source status under the CAA determines which set of Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards applies. Major sources emit 10 tons per year or more of a single HAP, or 25 tons per year or more of combined HAPs (42 U.S.C. §7412).

Under RCRA, the generator tier structure creates three distinct compliance tracks: Very Small Quantity Generators (VSQGs, ≤100 kg/month), Small Quantity Generators (SQGs, 100–1,000 kg/month), and Large Quantity Generators (LQGs, >1,000 kg/month). Each tier carries different accumulation time limits, storage requirements, and training obligations.

For site remediation under CERCLA, the boundary between a Preliminary Assessment and a full Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) is determined by Hazard Ranking System (HRS) scores. A site scoring 28.50 or higher qualifies for the National Priorities List (NPL), triggering the full remediation process.

A structured compliance risk assessment maps which regulatory thresholds an organization approaches, enabling proactive permit applications and operational adjustments before violations occur. Threshold proximity — not just threshold exceedance — is the operative decision boundary for compliance planning purposes.

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