Ryan Bahr

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B.S., Civil Engineering, 1996, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ryan is a senior environmental engineer and Clean Water Act enforcement leader with nearly 30 years of federal regulatory experience. Ryan has participated in, led, and overseen more than 250 administrative and judicial water enforcement actions requiring over $8 billion in wastewater and stormwater infrastructure investments and eliminating more than 550 billion gallons of unlawful discharges. Ryan also has extensive experience evaluating engineering feasibility, compliance schedules, injunctive relief, and supporting compliance inspections in complex CSO, SSO, MS4, CAFO, drinking water, wetlands, and industrial discharge matters. Ryan is adept at translating complex technical and regulatory issues into clear, defensible strategies that support environmental protection and practical implementation.  

  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5; 1996-2025

• Participated in, led, and oversaw more than 250 administrative and judicial enforcement actions, including negotiated settlements and case resolutions resulting in over $8 billion in wastewater and stormwater infrastructure improvements, elimination of more than 550 billion gallons of untreated or partially treated discharges, and reduction of approximately 1.8 million pounds of pollutants.
• 29 years of experience as a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 5) environmental engineer and program manager, with work grounded in regulatory requirements, engineering analysis, and enforcement program implementation.
• Extensive experience with Clean Water Act (CWA) NPDES compliance and enforcement across major sectors, including municipalities, industrial facilities, MS4s, CSOs/SSOs, CAFOs, mining, stormwater, construction, pretreatment programs, and vessels.
• Evaluated engineering reports, hydraulic models, treatment plant upgrades, and long-term control plans to assess feasibility, environmental benefit, and compliance with the Clean Water Act, permit conditions, and water quality standards.
• Oversaw inspections and enforcement activities in direct implementation areas, including tribal lands.
• Developed and negotiated injunctive relief and compliance schedules in contested enforcement matters, supporting durable environmental outcomes and defensible remedies. Provided technical leadership to enforcement staff on remedies, penalty development, and compliance milestones.
• Reviewed more than 1,000 inspection reports and associated compliance and enforcement documentation.
• Supported improvements to environmental compliance and enforcement programs through focused process enhancements and implementation solutions.
• Worked across multiple State Review Framework cycles addressing recurring compliance and reporting issues in several states, supporting development of corrective actions and participating in training and follow-up engagements to improve implementation.
• Collaborated with state agencies to resolve data integrity and classification issues, improving enforcement data quality and regulatory transparency.
• Communicated complex regulatory and technical issues to municipalities, industry representatives, state agencies, environmental stakeholders, and legal counsel.
• Contributed to efficiency improvements that reduced enforcement order negotiation time by 50% and inspection report issuance time by 69%.
• Key contributor to the design and implementation of information management systems supporting case tracking, document control, and performance reporting, including development of Excel-based tools and coordination with IT teams on system components (SharePoint, Power Automate, SQL, Access).
•  Key contributor to the original drinking water enforcement data system supporting identification and prioritization of compliance issues (developed using SQL, Access, and Excel), supporting national implementation.
• Oversaw State Review Framework implementation, including recommendations, state coordination, and issue resolution.
• Utilized SDWIS and Drinking Water Watch systems to support federal enforcement and compliance activities.

 Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act Regulatory and Enforcement Support

• Development and implementation of Clean Water Act (CWA) NPDES inspection and enforcement programs.
• Evaluation of compliance strategies for consistency with federal and state regulatory requirements and support for defensible enforcement outcomes.
• State and multi-jurisdictional coordination with environmental regulatory agencies.
• Support for enforcement negotiations, including injunctive relief and compliance schedules, supporting technically sound and defensible outcomes.
• Technical communication of regulatory and engineering issues to municipalities, industry, counsel, and stakeholders.
• Interpretation support and guidance on inspection findings and compliance risk factors.

Technical & Infrastructure Evaluation

• Technical review of engineering reports, hydraulic models, treatment plant upgrades, and long-term control plans.
• Independent review of inspection findings and enforcement documentation. 
• Evaluation and improvement of compliance monitoring, inspection, and enforcement processes.
• Support for State Review Framework assessments, including evaluation, development of recommendations and implementation tracking.

 Enforcement & Case Support

• Support for enforcement negotiations, including injunctive relief and compliance schedules, supporting technically sound and defensible outcomes.
• Technical communication of regulatory and engineering issues to municipalities, industry, counsel, and stakeholders.
• Regulatory interpretation support and analytical guidance on inspection findings and compliance risk factors.

Data Systems & Program Analytics

• Design and support of information management systems for case tracking, document control, and performance reporting, including development of Excel-based tools and coordination with technical teams (SharePoint, Power Automate, SQL, Access).
• Identification and correction of data integrity and classification issues to improve regulatory transparency and reporting accuracy.