As reported in an April 20 Press Release by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises reached an agreement with the EPA and the United States Justice Department to pay a $1 million civil fine and mitigate stormwater runoff from hundreds of its construction sites, including 161 sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The case highlights the EPA’s increased enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., a builder of residential homes nationwide, has agreed today to pay a $1 million civil penalty to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations at 591 construction sites in 18 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Justice Department announced today. As part of the settlement, the company will also implement a company-wide stormwater compliance program designed to improve compliance with storm water run-off requirements at existing and future construction sites around the country. …
A portion of the settlement helps EPA efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay, North America’s largest and most biologically diverse estuary. The bay and its tidal tributaries are threatened by pollution from a variety of sources, and overburdened with nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment that can be carried by storm water. A total of 161 Hovnanian construction sites in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia fall within the bay watershed and are covered by this settlement. …
This settlement is the latest in a series of enforcement actions to address storm water violations from construction sites around the country. Similar consent decrees have been reached with multiple national and regional home building companies.
Along with the federal government, the District of Columbia, the states of Maryland and West Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia have joined the settlement. The District and each of the states will receive a portion of the $1 million penalty.
