Environmental Crimes Blog

American Bar Association Survey

The ABA Journal is surveying lawyers about the job market and the current state of the economy. We'd appreciate it if you could let readers know about our survey with a mention on your blog. Here is the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9Dhw2g7bX_2bxfq4mW8eB1Cg_3d_3d

 

Survey results will be published in the January ABA Journal. If you post a note about our survey on your blog and send us the link, we'll be sure you're among the first to know when we're ready to post the results. Answers will be kept confidential and used only in combination with all other responses received. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Sincerely,

 

Stephanie Francis Ward
Legal Affairs Writer
ABA Journal

What does Obama Do for Enforcement?

What is the perspective of a Barack Obama administration on enforcement? 

 

Pre-election, Michael Gerrard, a partner at Arnold & Porter authored an article entitled "Politics and the Environment" in which he did an outstanding job of describing and comparing where John McCain and Barack Obama stand on environmental, energy, and resource issues.  That article was prepared without an evaluation of whether their particular positions have merit.  The article can be found at http://www.abanet.org/environ/pubs/nre/fall08/obama_mccain.html. 

 

Now that the election is over, how will the landscape change with an Obama administration?  Will the USEPA and the DOJ’s enforcement policies change?  The answer, of course, is both yes and no.  The change in administrations, however, will bring new priorities and initiatives to both civil and criminal enforcement.   

 

The anticipated changes at the upper echelons of government do not always translate into shifts in on-going enforcement initiatives.  The power to choose and pursue environmental enforcement rests largely with career staff and attorneys at the USEPA and DOJ.  The risk of public outcry curtails efforts to intervene in environmental enforcement actions by political appointees. 

 

Congressional efforts may also influence enforcement policies in the Obama administration.  The congressional control is now held by the Democrats.  Congress has directly intervened into the USEPA's enforcement decisions by mandating the hiring of additional enforcement officers and rejecting efforts to cut enforcement budgets (the USEPA is woefully below the statutory mandated levels of criminal investigators).  Additionally, with the recent GAO report on the accomplishments reported by the USEPA, there may be a stepped-up initiative to collect on assessed fines and penalties.  There are also five environmental cases before the US Supreme Court.

 

While there will be consistency with past environmental enforcement policies at the ground level, do not be surprised if you see an upswing in enforcement cases over the next four years. 

 

More later.

 

As always, feel free to contact me by e-mail with any questions at walter.james@jamespllc.com.

 

WDJiii