Environmental Crimes Blog

More Enforcement from the Feds on the Horizon?

On Monday, July 6, 2009, Inside EPA reported that the USEPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, in a July 2, 2009, memorandum sent to Office of Enforcement & Compliance Assurance Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles, wrote that water in the United States was not meeting public health and environmental goals, and that the USEPA’s data shows “the level of significant non-compliance with permitting requirements is unacceptably high and the level of enforcement activity is unacceptably low.”

 

Is the USEPA laying the groundwork for rescinding some states’ delegated authority to enforce the law under the CWA?  Is it happening as well under the CAA?  It is happening.  Under the CWA, one needs look no further than this weekend’s New York Times . . . http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13water.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1252843427-CkpNQ1/vfvMs1aBgkw9Ks  Under the CAA, the Dallas Morning News was reporting last week that the USEPA was stepping up its enforcement and oversight of air permits in Texas.  http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-enforcement_10bus.ART0.State.Edition2.4bbb09f.html

 

It is a harbinger of things to come . . ..  And that only means one thing.  More enforcement on the civil and criminal side.

 

More later.

 

As always, feel free to contact me via e-mail at walter.james@jamespllc.com.

WDJiii

A Name and a Face Behind Enforcement – Meet the Regulators

You have probably never heard of him.  Walter Benjamin Fisherow.  He is one of the career lawyers at the USDOJ in the Environmental Enforcement Section and there is an article on him in today’s Washington Post.  Mr. Fisherow is the Deputy Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section at the USDOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and has been with the USDOJ since 1987.

 

In those twenty-two years, Mr. Fisherow has been involved in numerous enforcement matters, primarily in the CAA arena.  An excerpt from the article:

 

It was in 1999 that Fisherow first assembled a team of DOJ attorneys that launched a series of actions against utility companies whose coal-fired power plants emitted massive quantities of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air. The emissions were of concern, as they can cause asthma and other health effects, particularly in children and the elderly, and contribute to acid rain and smog that pollute skies and damage forests.

 

His leadership has resulted in 16 settlements with electric utilities, the installation of more than $11 billion worth of air pollution control equipment and a drastic reduction in harmful air pollutants each year, an ongoing effort.       

 

You can read the full Washington Post article about Mr. Fisherow at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/08/AR2009090800685.html.

More later.

 

As always, feel free to contact me via e-mail at walter.james@jamespllc.com.

WDJiii