Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Annual Results for FY 2025: Compliance Assurance
A robust compliance assurance program is critical to protecting human health and the environment. By taking a compliance first approach, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) helps companies and communities understand their obligations under our environmental laws and regulations and ensures that environmental protection coincides with American re-industrialization, economic growth, and prosperity. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 EPA collaborated closely with our state and Tribal partners and prioritized securing environmental compliance in the most efficient, most economical, and swiftest means possible, while ensuring that our actions align with the clearest, most defensible interpretations of our statutory and regulatory mandates.
Assisting the regulated community to ensure compliance
EPA’s compliance-first approach depends on open communication, including helping regulated entities achieve and maintain compliance through assistance and outreach.
In FY 2025, EPA’s Compliance Advisors for Sustainable Water Systems program provided customized, multidisciplinary technical assistance to 125 drinking water and 59 wastewater treatment systems at no cost to those systems.
This program, which is extremely popular with our state and Tribal partners, receives higher demand every year and has supported 446 systems since the program began in 2020 (having served 336 drinking water systems and 110 wastewater systems). EPA also provided outreach to systems through our What to Expect During a Public Water System Inspection to address frequently asked questions and inform owners and operators what they can expect before, during, and after an EPA inspection, allowing them to better prepare and increasing their understanding of the law.
EPA also provided compliance assistance to the regulated community through hybrid (in-person, video, and recorded) webinars to share best practices with large audiences cost-effectively and efficiently. For example, Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System technical assistance webinars provided practical information to address noncompliance at small wastewater treatment plants. In FY 2025, EPA held six webinars with an average of 650 attendees per webinar. Additionally, EPA provided training for 110 drinking water operators in West Virginia on Lead and Copper Rule requirements. These activities helped build capacity among plant operators, technical assistance providers, and compliance staff from states, Tribes, and EPA.
To further facilitate compliance in FY 2025, EPA issued multiple Compliance Advisories and Enforcement Alerts that explain legal requirements on important topics such as lead-based paint. EPA provided similar compliance assistance to help businesses, local governments, and federal facilities understand their regulatory obligations.
Protecting American water systems from foreign threats and cyber-attacks while saving taxpayer dollars
In FY 2025, the compliance assurance program took great strides to secure the homeland from the threat of foreign actors and to protect drinking water systems from cyber-attacks. EPA federal inspectors provided technical assistance to drinking water systems at risk from cyber-security attacks, changing prior agency practice of using costly contractors. In FY 2025, inspectors performed 179 drinking water inspections that included cybersecurity risk assessments.
Encouraging voluntary disclosures to efficiently address noncompliance
To address noncompliance efficiently, EPA encourages regulated entities, including new owners, to voluntarily discover, promptly disclose, expeditiously correct, and proactively prevent recurrence of environmental problems. In FY 2025, EPA received and processed 538 voluntary self-disclosures or new owner audit agreements covering violations at 957 facilities.
Sustaining the national inspector and compliance programs to ensure certainty and clarity
Compliance monitoring activities, including inspections, record reviews, and information requests, are vital to ensuring that Americans receive the benefits of our environmental laws and regulations.
In FY 2025, EPA conducted over 14,000 compliance monitoring activities, surpassing the totals of many previous years, and timely issued 85% of inspection reports.
With state assistance to ensure a consistent framework, the timely submission of reports provides certainty and clarity to regulated entities regarding their compliance obligations. Additionally, EPA conducted 20 reviews of state programs under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act.
EPA ensures a consistent approach to federal inspector credentialing by requiring all who are issued federal credentials to meet rigorous standards. In FY 2025, 416 federal and non-federal inspectors (including from states and Tribes) were issued new EPA credentials or had their credentials renewed, ensuring they understand the latest legal and health and safety requirements. The total number of federal and non-federal EPA-credentialed inspectors in FY 2025 was over 1,600.
Training today for a better tomorrow
EPA provides training facilitated by the statutorily established National Enforcement Training Institute to ensure EPA, state, and Tribal employees understand current legal requirements. In FY 2025, the enforcement and compliance assurance program provided 321 trainings to over 17,000 EPA staff and external professionals, including over 100 trainings on EPA data systems and tools with over 6,300 attendees. EPA also delivered new legal training on Artificial Intelligence and provided continuing education for EPA, state, and Tribal inspectors across a range of statutes. These events strengthen both EPA’s and external partners’ workforces.
Supporting states, Tribes, industry, and the public in achieving compliance through cost-effective access to data
In FY 2025, EPA accelerated modernization of the national enforcement and compliance assurance data system that EPA operates on behalf of states, Tribes, and regulated entities. The first phase of modernization is anticipated to be completed a full two years ahead of the prior administration’s schedule. This modernization will better address our partners’ needs and achieve operational cost savings.
EPA's public Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) IT system, which includes features frequently used by states, Tribes, and regulated entities, had over 650,000 users engaging in over 1.5 million sessions in FY 2025. ECHO allows users to access data in user-friendly, searchable platforms and makes it easier to monitor compliance across facilities.