Reassess sue-and-settle cases and adopt a new settlement policy

Research notes

• Negative search (2026-08-27): the EPA Federal Register notices we keep and search carry nine proposed consent decrees and settlement agreements published in the window under Clean Air Act §113(g) and Clean Water Act equivalents, and no policy notice; the Federal Register has no EPA rule or notice establishing a settlement review policy; EPA’s Office of General Counsel page on proposed consent decrees still names only the March 18, 2022 memorandum.
• The March 2025 enforcement memorandum (#1104) reaches enforcement actions against regulated parties, not settlements of citizen suits against the agency, which is what “sue and settle” means.
• EPA’s full regulatory agenda, read 2026-09-01. The full EPA Unified Agenda was read on reginfo.gov (214 entries across the active, long-term and completed stages), because the Federal Register prints only the entries that need a Regulatory Flexibility analysis and the 2026-08-27 negative search was taken from that abbreviated version. Nearest entry: RIN 2015-AA04, Prior Notice of Citizen Suits (EPA/Office of General Counsel, Proposed Rule Stage, 40 CFR 135.2 and 135.11 among others), NPRM published 2026-02-24 at 91 FR 8810 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/02/24/2026-03646/prior-notice-of-citizen-suits), final rule timetabled for 07/2026: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202510&RIN=2015-AA04. It is in the ask’s subject area — citizen suits are what “sue and settle” settles — but it only provides for electronic service on EPA of Notices of Intent to sue. It says nothing about reviewing, noticing or opening settlements to the public, so it is an entry in the ask’s subject area that does not name its object — a near miss — and the Status is unchanged. No settlement-policy RIN appears anywhere on the agenda.