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Research Literature

EPA, together with our state and tribal partners, assures compliance with the nation’s environmental laws and encourages firms and individuals to strive to exceed regulatory requirements. Government’s interest in the outcomes of compliance efforts is shared by industry, environmental groups, academia, non-governmental organizations, and the public. Success in these efforts is facilitated by the dissemination and consideration of behavioral and compliance research results.

This page provides reports on, and studies of, compliance, deterrence, recidivism, and related topics.

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Compliance Literature Search Results

Literature search results summarizing hundreds of compliance-related books and articles addressing:

Compliance Literature Search Results - Citations to Over Two Hundred Compliance-Related Articles From 1999-2007 (PDF) (EPA-300B07001) (96 pp, 1,009.10K)

Compliance Information Project Literature Summaries (PDF) (EPA-300-R-99-002) (86 pp, 1.07M)

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Compliance Assistance Outcome Measurement

Compliance assistance:

Measuring Compliance Assistance Outcomes – State of Science and Practice White Paper (PDF) (94 pp, 638.4K)

Guide for Measuring Compliance Assistance Outcomes (PDF) EPA 300-B-07-002 (170 pp, 922K)

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Understanding and Measuring Specific and General Deterrence

Deterrence influences regulated entities to respond to government monitoring and enforcement due to a fear of negative consequences. Deterrence also reminds entities of their regulatory obligations and reassures them of a level playing field.

Monitoring, Enforcement & Environmental Compliance: Understanding Specific & General Deterrence (PDF) (47 pp, 509.15K)

Additional topics for understanding specific and general deterrence:

Monitoring, Enforcement & Environmental Compliance: Understanding Specific & General Deterrence - Metrics and Model Calibration (PDF) (24 pp, 282.72K)

  • Description:  The report presents simplified frameworks (models) for quantitative database analysis of the specific and general deterrent impacts of environmental monitoring and enforcement.
  • Author: Prepared July 2008 by Prof. Jay P. Shimshack of Tufts University under contract to EPA (EP08H001163) with consultation from Prof. Wayne Gray of Clark University. 

Monitoring, Enforcement & Environmental Compliance: Understanding Specific & General Deterrence - A Multiple Sector Analysis (PDF) (60 pp, 809.97K)

  • Description: The report applies the models in the Metrics and Model Calibration report to several industrial sectors to generate preliminary model results supporting further model calibration.
  • Author: Prepared October 2008 by Prof. Jay P. Shimshack of Tufts University under contract to EPA (EP08H001163) with consultation from Prof. Wayne Gray of Clark University. 

Monitoring, Enforcement & Environmental Compliance:  Understanding Specific & General Deterrence – A User’s Guide (PDF) (18 pp, 73.34K)

  • Description: The report is a technical guide to measuring the specific and general deterrent impacts of environmental monitoring and enforcement using the models and statistical methods described in the Metrics and Model Calibration report.  It describes the steps necessary to run the models, from data extraction, preparation and sequencing to the subsequent quantitative statistical analysis. 
  • Author: Prepared January 2009 by Prof. Wayne Gray of Clark University and Prof. Jay P. Shimshack of Tulane University under contract to EPA (EP08H001163). 

Monitoring, Enforcement & Environmental Compliance:  Understanding Specific & General Deterrence - Comparative Analysis of Monitoring and Enforcement Impact Measures (PDF) (40 pp, 370.59K)

  • Description: The report quantitatively characterizes noncompliance and assesses the deterrence impacts of enforcement for major industrial organic and inorganic chemical facilities’ water pollution performance to facilitate cross-measure comparisons of the relative accuracy and utility of four metrics:
    1. statistically valid noncompliance rates
    2. noncompliance indexes
    3. regulated discharge measures
    4. noncompliance duration measures.
    The metrics are then used to characterize environmental performance and noncompliance in three contexts:
    1. at a single point in time
    2. over an 8-year time horizon
    3. for determining the deterrent effects of enforcement activities
  • Author: Prepared June 2009 by Prof. Jay P. Shimshack of Tufts University under contract to EPA (EP08H002471)

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Compliance and Recidivism Rate Measures

Approaches for developing compliance and recidivism rate measures:

Expanding the Use of Outcome Measurement for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance – Report to OMB (PDF) (52 pp, 365K)

Reevaluation of the Use of Recidivism Rate Measures for EPA’s Civil Enforcement Program – Report to OMB (PDF) (49 pp, 390K)

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Compliance Indexing Project

Guidance on how to construct and use compliance indexes:

Compliance Indexing Project (PDF) (77 pp, 596K)

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For access to other compliance and enforcement publications by topic, please review our publications. For legal documents please review our policy and guidance.

Promoting good environmental behavior and compliance is at the heart of EPA’s mission, and is a key element of the 2006-2011 EPA Strategic Plan in Goal 5: Compliance and Environmental Stewardship (PDF) (184 pp, 9.8M).

 


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