On March 12, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) issued a memorandum titled “Implementing National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives Consistently with Executive Orders and Agency Priorities.” This memorandum outlines significant shifts in enforcement and compliance strategies, particularly affecting the energy sector, and applies to civil and criminal enforcement actions.
Effective immediately, the EPA may not take any enforcement action that would shut down any stage of energy production — “from exploration to distribution” — or power generation unless there is an imminent and substantial threat to human health or an explicit statutory or regulatory requirement. Any proposed enforcement action that could unduly burden or significantly disrupt energy production or power generation must receive approval from the assistant administrator for OECA or designee.
This memorandum also shifts enforcement priorities for industries within the energy sector. For active coal-fired power plants, the EPA’s enforcement concerning coal ash will concentrate on imminent threats to human health, moving away from previous focuses on current performance standards and monitoring requirements. Any enforcement action that would unduly burden or significantly disrupt power generation will require the advance approval from the assistant administrator for OECA or designee.
The EPA will no longer prioritize enforcement related to methane emissions from oil and gas facilities. Any orders, settlements or other resolution of Clean Air Act violations that have already been issued for oil and gas facilities will require additional concurrence from the assistant administrator for OECA or designee.
The enforcement strategies announced in the memorandum signify a major shift in enforcement and compliance strategies, which are intended to promote the development and use of the United States’ energy and natural resources and spur energy sector growth. The EPA’s potential withdrawal from the energy sector enforcement space is likely to be met by an increase in citizen or state enforcement actions. Therefore, considerable uncertainty remains as to whether and to what extent this shift in the EPA’s enforcement strategy will have the intended effect of reducing enforcement burdens and increasing operational flexibility for the energy sector.
For questions about the EPA’s enforcement strategies and the implications on your company’s operations generally, contact the authors, your McGuireWoods contact or a member of the firm’s Environmental Enforcement & Regulatory Counseling team.