EPA Criminal Prosecutions Linked to County Wealth, Not Pollution Levels

Study finds federal environmental enforcement actions target wealthier communities, not the most polluted areas

Published on Feb. 24, 2026

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A new study co-authored by a Washington State University researcher has found that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's criminal prosecutions for environmental violations tend to occur in wealthier counties, rather than the most polluted areas. The analysis of EPA enforcement actions from 2011 to 2020 across U.S. counties revealed a strong correlation between criminal prosecutions and higher socioeconomic status, but no link to actual measures of air and water quality.

Why it matters

The findings raise questions about whether the EPA's toughest enforcement actions are truly aligned with the purpose of environmental laws to protect public health and the environment, or if other factors like community pressure and resources play a role in where the agency focuses its criminal prosecutions.

The details

The study examined 732 criminal prosecutions brought by the EPA in 432 of the 3,143 U.S. counties from 2011 to 2020. Researchers found that a county ranked in the 84th percentile of socioeconomic measures would have 24% more enforcement actions than a county at the median. This trend held true across both the Obama and Trump administrations. However, the researchers found no correlation between enforcement and actual measures of air and water quality, and counties with better land quality were more likely to see increased prosecutions.

  • The study analyzed EPA criminal prosecutions from 2011 to 2020.

The players

Erik Johnson

A professor in the Department of Sociology at Washington State University and a co-author of the study.

Pierce Greenberg

An assistant professor of sociology at Clemson University and the lead author of the paper.

Jennifer Schwartz

The James F. Short Distinguished Professor in the Department of Sociology at Washington State University and a co-author of the study.

Rylie Wartinger

A graduate student at Clemson University and a co-author of the study.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The federal agency responsible for enforcing environmental laws and regulations.

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What they’re saying

“You might reasonably expect the government to use its most consequential enforcement mechanism in the counties that are the most polluted, but it turns out they use it in the wealthier counties more. The more educated and wealthy the county is, the more likely the government is to enforce environmental regulations.”

— Erik Johnson, Professor, Department of Sociology, Washington State University (Mirage News)

“These geographic patterns in EPA criminal prosecutions aren't necessarily a result of an intentional or overt process. We're trying to identify the geographic patterning, and offer some explanations for why that might be. For example, counties that are farther away from a criminal enforcement office have fewer criminal prosecutions. So these organizational and institutional factors may be driving some of these trends.”

— Pierce Greenberg, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Clemson University (Mirage News)

What’s next

The researchers say the study does not make any claims about the overall prevalence of environmental crimes, given that violations are often underreported and rarely rise to the level of federal prosecution. They plan to further investigate the institutional and organizational factors that may be driving the observed patterns in EPA enforcement actions.

The takeaway

The disparities in EPA criminal prosecutions, which appear to target wealthier communities rather than the most polluted areas, raise questions about whether the agency's toughest enforcement actions are truly aligned with the purpose of environmental laws to protect public health and the environment across all communities.