Rep. Barragán Proposes Clean Water Justice Act to Hold Polluters Accountable

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

10 December 2024

Contact: Kevin G. McGuire, 202-538-2386 (mobile)

[email protected]

WASHINGTON - Today, Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (CA-44) introduced the Clean Justice Water Act, a bill that would increase the Clean Water Act's minimum and maximum penalties for criminal violations where a polluter knowingly dumps illegal pollutants into a sewer system or publicly owned treatment works plant. The bill also indexes these criminal penalties to inflation going forward.

The Clean Water Act's criminal penalties have not been updated by Congress for over 35 years, which limits the ability of the federal government to hold the worst polluters accountable.

"For too long, corporations caught polluting the water of communities in my district and around the country have faced fines that are a small fraction of their annual profits," said Rep. Barragán. "In order to have true accountability and deter this behavior, we need to increase the penalties. The Clean Justice Water Act will update the tools the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Environmental Protection Agency have to hold these polluters accountable and protect our communities from harmful pollution in their water."

In November, the DOJ charged Phillips 66 with Clean Water Act violations because of their illegal discharging of hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater from its Carson oil refinery into the Los Angeles County sewer system, and a failure to report the violations to authorities. If convicted of all charges, Phillips 66 would face up to $2.4 million in fines. In 2023, Phillips 66 had an annual profit of $7 billion.

The Clean Water Justice Act would:

• Increase the minimum and maximum fines for a person who knowingly dumps pollution into a sewer system in violation of the Clean Water Act from

• A minimum of $5,000 per day of violation to $25,000 per day
  • A maximum of $50,000 per day of violation to $250,000 per day

• Increases the maximum fine for a repeat violation from $100,000 per day of violation to $500,000 per day.
• Indexes the above updated penalties to inflation going forward, based on the same approach agencies use to update civil penalties.

The Clean Water Justice Act is cosponsored by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

It is supported by Earthjustice and the National Wildlife Foundation.

A copy of the bill can be found here.

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Congressmember Nanette Barragán represents California's 44th District. She sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and serves as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC).