We are here to help, not punish. We want to work with you to return to compliance. Rather than use heavy-handed compliance enforcement, we resolve the majority of violations through informal actions.

Informal actions may include:

• Notice of Opportunity to Correct Deficiencies (NOC) — Addresses an alleged non-significant violation of an environmental law
• Notice of Violation (NOV) — Addresses an alleged significant violation of an environmental law

Both notices describe the facts known to us at the time of issuance and cite the requirement that we believe the party has violated.

If informal enforcement has not achieved or cannot achieve the desired results, we may use a variety of escalated or formal enforcement tools. We only use them when the Responsible Party is unwilling or unable to resolve a violation in a timely manner.

Formal enforcement actions may include:

• Consent Order — A bilateral administrative order issued with the complete written agreement of the responsible party and ADEQ.
• Compliance/Abatement Order — An administrative order issued unilaterally by ADEQ without input from the responsible party. 
• Civil Referral — Referrals can be made to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) requesting that an Assistant Attorney General (AAG) be assigned to the case. This is done for the following types of cases:
  • Permanent Injunction — Filed with a civil complaint.
  • Preliminary Injunction — Filed with a civil complaint.
  • Consent Judgements — Negotiated court settlement of a civil complaint.
• Criminal Referral — ADEQ may refer potential criminal acts to the AGO or the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for review. Referrals to the AGO must be accompanied by a recommendation for a permanent injunction/civil penalty in accordance with the procedures described above (unless there is no underlying civil violation). The following acts potentially constitute a crime:
  • Performance of a prohibited act with criminal negligence
  • Knowing performance of a prohibited act
  • Reckless performance of a prohibited act
  • Knowing or reckless manifestation of an extreme indifference for human life in performance of a prohibited act
  • Fraud against ADEQ 
• License Suspension or Revocation — A suspension or revocation of a Certified Operator’s license due to non-compliance or a violation of the license | Visit Operator Certification Page >

Compliance & Enforcement Documents | View >