Former Officials See Conflicts Between DOJ’s ‘Mitigation’ Defense, SEP Ban

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) support for “mitigation projects” to offset pollution as part of legal settlements is inherently inconsistent with its hard-line prohibition on the use of “supplemental environmental projects” (SEPs) to offset penalties in such pacts, several environmental attorneys say. “It is not at all clear whether the policies put out by this administration apply to SEPs, mitigation, or both (or whether it depends),” says Seema Kakade, a former long-time EPA enforcement official who now runs the University...