THEME 4:    DEVELOPING AUTHORITIES AND LEGAL ENFORCEMENT CAPABILITIES TO RESPOND TO VIOLATIONS

Reporter: Ann E. DeLong

1    Goals

An exploration of different authorities and approaches to legal enforcement within different legal settings and what is necessary to employ and develop those authorities effectively.

2    Speakers

V. O'Meara: Developing Authorities and Legal Enforcement Capabilities

S. Fülöp: The Public Prosecutor's Office of Hungary and its Development

L. Paddock: Developing Effective Enforcement Programs at the State Level

M. Pütz: System to Supervise Environmental Duties and to Pursue Infringements Taking Clean Air Management as an Example

P. Dordregter: Environmental Enforcement by Municipalities in the Netherlands

Moderator: Mr. L. Krämer, EEC

3    Presentations

Vicki O'Meara, Assistant Attorney General Designate, Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division. (USA)

Ms. O'Meara emphasized the importance of having both strong laws and an effective enforcement system in order to achieve compliance, deter violators and address environmental damage. The authorities of the different U.S. environmental statutes and a range of enforcement tools, including administrative, civil judicial and criminal sanctions, are used to achieve compliance. Civil judicial authorities are used to sue for damages and to provide injunctive relief. Penalties are calculated based on the seriousness of the violation, the length of the violation, the economic benefit received by the company and other factors. In the last ten years, criminal sanctions have begun to be used for environmental crimes in the US. Both individuals and corporations can be prosecuted for environmental crimes when actual knowledge, inferred knowledge or willful blindness can be established. The Responsible Corporate Doctrine allows Chief Executive Officers to be prosecuted for crimes committed by others within their company, however, this is an area of heavy debate within the US.

 

Sandor Fülöp, Environmental Public Prosecutor, Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. (Hungary)

Mr. Fülöp described the current legal authorities for the environment available in Hungary. Civil judicial and criminal authorities did not exist and the current administrative authorities are contradictory. Penalties calculated under the current schedule are too low to have a deterrent effect. An environmental public prosecutor was appointed and civil and criminal law policies were authorized against polluters. An initial water pollution survey was performed to assess the appropriateness of violations for civil or criminal prosecution.

 

Lee Paddock, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General. (USA)

Mr. Paddock offered suggestions for addressing environmental violations within the constraints of limited resources. Expanding the range of enforcement responses available to governments, emphasizing deterrence, focusing on coordination among federal, regional and local levels of government, using enforcement revenue to fund enforcement programs, promoting voluntary compliance and increasing the number of regulators responsible for enforcement are six suggestions he offered as low-cost ways to enhance an existing enforcement program for greater environmental results.

 

Dr. M. Pütz, Ministerium fur Umwelt, Raumordnung und Landwirtschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen. (Germany)

Professor Putz discussed the Federal Emission Control Act which is designed to protect humans, plants, animals and waters from environmental harm. The Act contains requirements for industries, allows authorities to enter, inspect, sample and review records, permits the government to close down or dismantle an operation and provides for punishment of willful or negligent acts, including administrative penalties of up to 100,000 DM.

 

P. Ph. Dordregter, Director, Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeenteen. (Netherlands)

Mr. Dordregter emphasized the important role municipalities play in the enforcement of state and local environmental ordinances in the Netherlands.

He cited several important reasons to involve the municipalities in environmental enforcement efforts including that environmental violations have a greater impact of the municipalities in which they occur, it is more practical to enforce at a local level, and that the municipality can play an important role in coordinating the enforcement efforts of other levels of government. Mr. Dordregter also pointed out the need to integrate environmental concerns with town planning and zoning plans. Municipalities may have more leeway to be flexible and innovative in their enforcement responses.

4    Open Discussion

Several participants raised questions about the expense, both in terms of time and resources, that environmental lawsuits require. Ms. O'Meara responded that most environmental lawsuits in the United States are settled outside of the courts, through mediation, negotiation and arbitration. This discussion continued with particular reference to the United States' hazardous waste law, also known as Superfund.

 

Further detail was requested of Mr. Dordregter and Mr. Paddock concerning the role of municipalities and States in enforcement actions. Several ideas for cooperative efforts, including addressing enforcement issues on a regional level and using particularly good municipal programs as examples for other municipalities were suggested.

 

A discussion ensued about the most effective type of enforcement authorities for environmental violations and all of the panelists agreed that an integrated approach utilizing civil, criminal and administrative actions is the most effective, with an emphasis on administrative actions due to their increased speed and lower costs.

 

NGO's requested that they be included more in the process.

5    Conclusions

Both strong environmental laws and a strong enforcement program are necessary to achieve compliance and environmental benefits.

Having a range of authorities (administrative, civil judicial and criminal) available is necessary to address the range of environmental violations.

Penalties and sanctions must be commensurate with the violation but also must be strong enough to have a deterrent effect. The importance of administrative sanctions was emphasized.

Promoting voluntary compliance helps industry comply with the law and reduces the amount of resources the government must spend on enforcement.

All levels of government, federal, regional and local must cooperate to effectively enforce against the regulated community and to avoid duplication of effort.