Since 2010, the U.S.'s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required mandatory reporting of regulated pollutants for companies in 41 industries, meting out up to $32,500 in penalties against the EPA's Clean Air Act transparency requirements per day, excluding further criminal penalties.

Among recent EPA actions is a total of $6.8 million in fines levied against fuel transportation companies for failure to comply with a federal mandate to blend a percentage of biofuel into their gas and diesel.

By 2010, all 27 members of the European Union (EU) council had written a directive into their national laws that makes companies financially responsible for repairing damage they caused to protected species, natural habitats, water, and soil. The ACE report says the laws demand that while the law establishes a Superfund-like “polluter pays” standard, it not apply joint and several-liability, and require companies to clean up any imminent environmental damage.

Several policies can be applied to ease the uncertainty of this regulatory landscape, including traditional Directors and Officers (D&O) coverage. However, these must usually be in place prior to a merger's closing in order to be viable; to this end, D&O “tail” coverage can be purchased as far as six years after a transaction closes, with an optional additional layer for subsequent directors and officers hired after the deal's close or for executives of the target company that then go on to work for the acquiring entity.

Other coverage lines include Environmental Impairment Liability Insurance, which absorbs financial costs associated with cleaning up accidental spills or pollutant leaks, and Premises Pollution Liability (PPL) for first-party liabilities for on-site and off-site environmental cleaning and remediation as well as third-party liabilities from lawsuits brought by others for bodily injury, property damage or environmental cleanup.