ENVIRONMENT : Agencies That Police Air, Sea May Issue ‘Tickets’ to Polluters

The federal government’s environmental sentries have a new request for polluters: license and registration, please.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency, taking a hint from the highway patrol, want to start issuing tickets. As the federal government’s chief watchdogs of air and sea purity, the agencies are charged with punishing oil spillers and waste dumpers. Officials say “pulling over” environmental lawbreakers and imposing on-the-spot fines will cut paperwork and protect the planet.

The Coast Guard is testing the waters with a “notice of violation” initiative at three ports around the country, including Long Beach.

When Coast Guard officers arrive on the scene of an oil spill, they assess the size of the accident and write the tickets--but unlike their radar gun-wielding counterparts, they do not have to lie in wait for lawbreakers. Ocean-going vessels are required to call the Coast Guard whenever they spill hazardous substances.

Although major environmental catastrophes such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill make headlines, more than 90% of the oil accidents the Coast Guard deals with involve fewer than 100 gallons, Lt. Cmdr. Rick Gaudiosi said.

Violators may pay the penalty, which can range from $50 to $1,000, within 30 days or appeal for a federal hearing. Tickets can only be issued for spills of less than 100 gallons, which are typically caused by small leaks or piping problems.

Under existing policy, lawbreakers wait months for the Coast Guard to assess the amount of a fine and process the paperwork required to issue a penalty. Ticketing eliminates much of the red tape and puts more authority in the hands of individual Coast Guard officers, agency officials said.

“This is a lot more open than the old way when people never knew what they were getting,” said Petty Officer Randy Young, who recently issued a $250 ticket to a commercial vessel that had spilled nine gallons of fuel.

“It’s a really reasonable thing to pay for a spill.”

Young, whose office has issued about 40 citations since March, patrols off Long Beach. The other ports in the pilot program are Charleston, S.C., and Galveston, Tex. The Coast Guard will evaluate the six-month program and consider making it permanent policy later this summer.

Public response has been overwhelmingly positive so far, Gaudiosi said. Although no one is happy to pay fines, “they like the instant gratification” of on-the-spot tickets, he said.

At the EPA, officials also are discussing giving agency field inspectors the authority to issue on-site citations for minor violations of the Clean Air Act and impose fines of up to $5,000 per day. Agency officials have not defined a “minor” violation, but they expect most citations will involve improper record-keeping and other paperwork-related offenses.

The agency is pleased with its ability to punish big-time lawbreakers, winning 98% of its legal cases, spokeswoman Wendy Butler said. But issuing tickets would allow the agency to streamline its pursuit of small-time violators.

“We’re trying to plug the holes,” Butler said. “It might not be that individual violations have a tremendous environmental impact, but the cumulative effect of a lot of small violations” is significant, she said.

If the program is successful, the agency is likely to consider extending ticket authority to field officers who would be able to dock polluters for breaking clean water and conservation laws as well, officials said.

The agency also is considering monetary rewards to citizens who report violations of the Clean Air Act that result in fines or criminal convictions. EPA officials would pay up to $10,000 to anyone who tips off the agency. Informants would be required to provide highly detailed accounts of a violation.

The whistle-blowers approach could save the EPA money, said one official, noting that federal agencies are operating under increasingly tight financial constraints.

“We can’t do all the enforcement ourselves,” he said.