ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES
I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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565
A. Criminal Versus Civil Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
B. Criminal Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
C. Interaction with Other Criminal Violations . . . . . 568
II. GENERAL ISSUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
A. Overview of the Elements of an Environmental Criminal
Violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
B. Liability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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569
1. Individual Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
2. Corporate Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
C. Common Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
1. Constitutional and Procedural Defenses . . . . . . 571
2. Other Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
D. Voluntary Compliance and Sentencing . . . . . . . . . . 576
E. Sentencing Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
III. CLEAN AIR ACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580
A. Purpose & Scope 580
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B. Violations of CAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
1. Substantive Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
a. Implementation Plans for National Ambient Air
Quality Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
b. Other CAA Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
i. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants (“NESHAP”). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
ii. New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) 583
iii. Sulfur Dioxide Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
iv. Stratospheric Ozone Protection 584
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2. Statement and Filing-related Violations . . . . . . . . . . . .
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584
3. Endangerment Violations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
C. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
IV. CLEAN WATER ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
A. Purpose & Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
B. Elements of a CWA Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
1. Violation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
a. Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
i. Person 588
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ii. Pollutants 588
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iii. Point Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
iv. Navigable Waters 590
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v. Discharge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
b. Criminal Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
i. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (“NPDES”) Permit Program . . . . . . . 592
ii. Monitoring, Reporting, and Regulatory
Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
iii. Discharge of Oil and Hazardous Substances . . 593
2. Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
a. Negligence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
b. Knowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
c. Knowing Endangerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
C. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
D. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
V. SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
A. Purpose & Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
B. Elements of SDWA Offenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
1. Enforcement of Ban on Tampering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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2. Underground Injection of Contaminants 601
VI. COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND
LIABILITY ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
A. Purpose & Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
B. CERCLA Offenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
C. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
D. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
VII. RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
A. Purpose & Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
B. Elements of an RCRA Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
1. Violation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
2. Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
a. Knowing Violation 609
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b. Knowing Endangerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
C. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
D. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
VIII. TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
A. Purpose & Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
B. Elements of a TSCA Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
1. Violation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
2. Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
C. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
D. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
IX. THE FEDERAL INSECTICIDE, FUNGICIDE, AND RODENTICIDE ACT . . 616
A. Purpose & Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
564 AMERICAN CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 62:563
B. Elements of a FIFRA Offense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
1. Violation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
2. Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
C. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
D. Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
I. INTRODUCTION
The criminal environmental enforcement regime is multi-faceted and complex.
This regime involves: the overlapping authority of federal, state, and local agen-
cies; penalties ranging from fines to prison sentences; civil and criminal liability
for both individuals and the corporations that employ them; and a wide array of
statutes under which enforcement can be brought.
1
These statutes structure the
enforcement regime according to pollution type, with separate rules governing air,
water, solid waste, and other types of pollution.
2
See generally Laws and Executive Orders, U.S. EPA, https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-
executive-orders (last visited Oct. 1, 2022); David M. Bearden, Claudia Copeland, Linda Luther, James E.
McCarthy, Mary Tiemann, Robert Esworthy & Jerry H. Yen, Environmental Laws: Summaries of Major Statutes
Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, CONGR. RSCH. SERV. (2013), https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/
RL30798.pdf (providing an overview of statutes for each pollutant).
Although the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) under the Trump
administration pursued the lowest number of environmental prosecutions since the
mid-1990s,
3
Fewer Criminal Prosecution of Environmental Crimes Under Trump, TRAC REPS. (Oct. 29, 2019), https://
trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/581/.
the Biden administration expressed a desire to take a more aggressive
approach to environmental justice.
4
See Environmental Justice, WHITE HOUSE, https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/ (last visited
Sept. 26, 2024) (detailing initiatives by the Biden Administration to promote environmental justice).
In 2021, President Biden established the
Office of Environmental Justice within the Department of Justice (“DOJ”),
5
and in
2022 his administration successfully championed the largest federal investment to
reduce the effects of climate change.
6
Jim Tankersley, Biden Signs Climate Health Bill Into Law as Other Economic Goals Remain, N.Y. TIMES
(Aug. 16, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/us/politics/biden-climate-health-bill.html.
The DOJ has also indicated a policy prefer-
ence in favor of environmental prosecutions, especially those affecting disadvan-
taged communities.
7
Memorandum from Vanita Gupta, Associate Att’y Gen., to Heads of Dep’t Components, U.S. Atty’s,
Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy (May 5, 2022), https://www.justice.gov/asg/page/
file/1499286/download (setting forth principles and actions implemented by DOJ to promote environmental
justice).
Given these changes, regulated industries—and the attorneys
that represent them—must stay current with developments in environmental laws
1. See generally Joshua Ozymy & Melissa L. Jarrell, Comment, EPA’s Criminal Prosecution and Punishment
of Environmental Crimes, 50 ENV’T L. REP. 10452, 10452–53 (2020) (providing an overview of the criminal
enforcement process); David M. Uhlmann, Environmental Crime Comes of Age: The Evolution of Criminal
Enforcement in the Environmental Regulatory Scheme, 2009 UTAH L. REV. 1223, 1224–26 (2009) (giving
general background on statutes criminalizing environmental crimes).
2.
3.
4.
5. See id.; see also Exec. Order No. 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, 86 Fed. Reg.
7619 (Jan. 27, 2021).
6.
7.
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