Backing EPA's SEP Policy, DOJ Seeks To Ease Fears Over Settlement Bar

The Justice Department (DOJ) is seeking to ease fears that Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recent memo barring third-parties from receiving monetary payments in legal settlements will undercut EPA's popular supplemental environmental projects (SEPs), saying that projects that comply with EPA policy, which already prohibits third-party payments, will not be affected by Sessions' memo. EPA's SEP policy “makes clear that SEPs are projects to be implemented by a defendant, and not payments to a third party. Assuming a SEP comports with...