The Associated Press (AP) published a story today noting the decline in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) criminal enforcement of polluters. According to the article, "The number of the Environmental Protection Agency's criminal investigators has dropped this year to 174, below the 200-agent minimum required by Congress, even as the EPA's overall criminal enforcement budget rose nearly 25 percent over three years to $48 million, according to EPA records." Civil settlements, however, which require spending on pollution controls, are increasing. The data cited in the article are from an Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) report issued in May. EIP's report looks at 10 years of EPA enforcement data which show that criminal fines were down 38 percent during the fiscal years 2002-2006 compared to 1996-2000. Criminal investigations were down 23 percent over the same period and reached an all time low in FY 2006 of 305. An EPA official quoted in the AP story said the EPA's focus was on more "high-impact" polluters and that the reductions in the number of investigators stemmed from retirements and transfers. Could there be another reason? According to the AP, "The EPA acknowledged that criminal investigators sometimes are pulled off cases to check routes and guard EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson when he travels, although an eight-person team separate from the criminal division is dedicated to his protective detail." This started after September 11, 2001. At least the polluters aren't afraid.