EPA Issues "Compliance First" Memorandum, Shifting Enforcement Approach

On December 5, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) issued a memorandum that directs all EPA staff responsible for civil judicial and administrative enforcement activities to prioritize a "compliance first" approach to enforcement.

The memorandum criticizes previous enforcement approaches which pursued findings of violation or orders that prolonged negotiations and delayed actual compliance. Going forward, however, the EPA's primary focus in all inspection, investigation, and enforcement activities is "achieving and ensuring timely compliance." The memorandum outlines six key factors that will guide EPA staff in their compliance-first operating framework:

1. Compliance Assistance Toolkit. EPA will prioritize deployment of its "compliance assistance tools," including proactive outreach, technical assistance, and training. EPA will also promote voluntary audits to encourage regulated entities to proactively identify and correct compliance issues.
2. State Partner Coordination. EPA will demonstrate "proper deference and support" to state and local leads who have primary jurisdiction over environmental programs, ensuring consistency in compliance determinations and in enforcement of federal environmental law.
3. Open Communication. EPA will maintain transparent communication with states, tribes, and regulated entities in order to avoid duplicative enforcement activities and unnecessary contradictions. EPA will also operate a "no surprises" framework by maintaining open communication with regulated entities throughout the inspection and enforcement process.
4. Finding of Violation. Findings of violation must be "clear and unambiguous, well-tailored, and based on the 'best reading' of the relevant statute and regulation," which will expedite compliance and reduce time and expense in litigating interpretations that seek to broaden statutory or regulatory interpretations beyond plain meaning. If a regulated entity raises concerns regarding EPA's application of a statute or regulation to its specific case, "such questions must be elevated immediately for further analysis."
5. Compliance Requirements and Injunctive Relief. When formal enforcement is necessary, the primary focus of the strategic negotiations and litigation must be achieving timely compliance in the most efficient and economic means possible. In particular, the memorandum notes that injunctive relief provisions "shall be based on the best, most defensible interpretation of the law," and rescinds previous guidance on expansive injunctive relief remedies. The memorandum also mandates a pause on the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in settlements.
6. Reasoned Decision Making. When making decisions on noncompliance determinations and the appropriate means for achieving compliance, EPA must apply the "LEAPS" factors, using Law, Evidence, Analysis, Programmatic Impacts, and Stakeholder Impacts to "ensure sound and responsive decisions."

The memorandum is effective immediately and applies to all ongoing and future civil and administrative enforcement matters. Notably, the memorandum states that it is not legally binding but is rather "intended to improve the internal management of EPA."