Next Generation Compliance delivers the benefits of environmental laws.

Today’s pollution challenges require a modern approach to compliance, taking advantage of new tools and approaches while strengthening vigorous enforcement of environmental laws. Next Generation Compliance is EPA’s integrated strategy to do that, designed to bring together the best thinking from inside and outside EPA. 

Next Generation Compliance Components

Next Generation Compliance consists of five interconnected components, each designed to improve the effectiveness of our compliance program:

• Design regulations and permits that are easier to implement, with a goal of improved compliance and environmental outcomes.
• Use and promote advanced emissions/pollutant detection technology so that regulated entities, the government, and the public can more easily see pollutant discharges, environmental conditions, and noncompliance.
• Shift toward electronic reporting to help make environmental reporting more accurate, complete, and efficient while helping EPA and co-regulators better manage information, improve effectiveness and transparency.
• Expand transparency by making information more accessible to the public.
• Develop and use innovative enforcement approaches (e.g., data analytics and targeting) to achieve more widespread compliance.

Additional Next Generation Compliance Resources:

• Memorandum on the Use of Next Generation Compliance in Civil Enforcement Settlements
• Next Generation Compliance: Strategic Plan 2014 - 2017
• Next Generation Compliance collaborative workshop series Exit
• NPDES Compendium of Next Generation Compliance Examples

Read more about Next Generation Compliance:

• Article from The Environmental Forum
• Article on Advanced Monitoring:  The Changing Paradigm of Air Pollution Monitoring  Exit
• Blog post on Next Generation Compliance
• Blog post on EPA's Advanced Monitoring Tech Demo Day