Enforcement against polluters in the United States plunged in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, a far bigger drop than in the same period of his first term, according to a new report from a watchdog group.

By analyzing a range of federal court and administrative data, the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project found that civil lawsuits filed by the US Department of Justice in cases referred by the Environmental Protection Agency dropped to just 16 in the first 12 months after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. That is 76 percent less than in the first year of the Biden administration.

Trump’s first administration filed 86 such cases in its first year, which was in turn a drop from the Obama administration’s 127 four years earlier.

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Origianl Creator:
Kiley Price, Marianne Lavelle, Inside Climate News

Original Link: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/02/under-trump-epas-enforcement-of-environmental-laws-collapses-report-finds/
Originally Posted: Sat, 07 Feb 2026 12:00:35 +0000