EPA Effectiveness at Reducing the Duration of Plant-Level Noncompliance,

This paper looks at the effectiveness of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in reducing the time that manufacturing plants spend in a state of noncompliance. Plants that are found in violation of EPA standards may remain in violation for a number of time periods. The EPAʹs policy of making a timely and appropriate response to noncompliance implies returning violators to compliance as quickly as possible. The effectiveness of the timely and appropriate response policy is tested by estimating parametric survival models for the pulp and paper industry. The results indicate that the EPA is effective at reducing the time plants spend violating standards. A 10% increase in EPA monitoring activity leads to a 0.6–4.2% reduction in violation time. The same increase in enforcement activity results in a 4–4.7% reduction in violation time.