Supplemental Environmental Projects: A Bargain for the Environment

Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) have been used increasingly by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in settlement decrees. SEPs, in general, consist of installing pollution prevention equipment or implementing pollution prevention programs, thereby achieving environmental benefit in excess of that which could be realized through injunctive relief. In return for performing the SEP, the EPA correspondingly decreases the penalty the violator must pay. This article examines the history and use of SEPs and advocates the inclusion of SEPs in settlement decrees is well within the EPA\u27s statutory authority under the various statutes for whose enforcement the EPA is responsible