Debarment

Debarment in the United States

Debarment in Environmental Law

A procedure developed to prevent chronic violators of the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act from obtaining federal contracts. Also called listing, debarment can be either mandatory, in the case of a criminal conviction against a business or a person supervising a business, or discretionary, if the violation is civil rather than criminal.

Once violations of the Clean Air Act or Clean Water Act have been established through a court judgment or administrative action, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may, at its discretion, begin the procedure to debar the facility from government contracts. First the EPA submits a recommendation for listing to the listing officer. Then the owner, operator, or supervisor of the facility is notified of the proceeding. Unless the facility requests a hearing before a case examiner, it is debarred when its name is published in the Federal Register on the List of Violating Facilities. A debarred facility may not hold government contracts.

In cases of discretionary debarment, removal from the list is automatic, ordinarily after a year. In mandatory debarments, however, the facility remains on the list until it is formally removed. Before removal can take place, the listing officer must be notified by the assistant administrator of the EPA that the problems have been corrected. Alternatively, the case examiner or administrator may file a decision to remove.
Based on “Environment and the Law. A Dictionary”.


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