New European Enforcement Initiative Takes Aim at Major Seaports: First Round of Inspections Reveal Illegal Hazardous Waste Shipments
A new enforcement initiative in Europe designed to improve the enforcement of waste shipment regulations in large seaports detected several illegal shipment during its first series of inspections in September and December 2003.

The Enforcement of Waste Shipment Regulations in Large Seaports Project (the Seaport Project) focuses on waste shipment regulations contained in the Basel Convention and European Union Regulation 259/93 (http://europe.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/shipments).

The project is being run by a unit of the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law network (IMPEL), the IMPEL-Transfrontier Shipments of Waste (IMPEL-TFS) network, which links European enforcement authorities overseeing Transfrontier Shipments of Waste. IMPEL-TFS was established in 1992 to harmonize the enforcement efforts regarding waste shipments into, out of, and through the European Union. It is important to note that the project is not sponsored by IMPEL, but is being carried out under its auspices. The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, in the Netherlands, is the sponsor and project manager.

Belgium, Germany, Latvia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and The Netherlands are participating in the Seaport Project, which has so far inspected ports in Hamburg, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Riga.

Most inspections looked for exports of hazardous and other wastes to non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. So far, regulators have uncovered 20 illegal waste cases and 18 infractions, including:

	illegal export of motor scrap from Rotterdam via the Port of Antwerp to Israel;
	illegal export of refrigerators containing CFC's from Rotterdam to Cameron;
	illegal export of activated glass waste from the United Kingdom to Pakistan; and
	storage of cable scrap with bitumen in Antwerp, declared as aluminum scrap, for export to the Far East.

One of the main purposes of international waste shipment regulations is to prevent shipments of environmentally harmful waste to countries that do not have the capacity to dispose of them without threatening the environment and public health. If enforcement in one port increases, illegal activities often moves to other ports in other countries.

Harmonized regulations and enforcement activities throughout a region can prevent this phenomenon, known as "port shopping." The Seaport Project seeks to create a network of contacts for enforcement activities in order to facilitate cooperation between national and international authorities and establish agreements to exchange enforcement information.

At the first IMPEL-TFS conference held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in June 2003 the participating countries agreed on the following joined actions:

	every country carries out at least 3 inspections;
	all countries focus the inspections on the export of waste to non-OECD countries, Latvia and Poland;
	all countries agree to pay special attention to declared green listed wastes; and
	inspections will be held from September 2003 to March 2004.

The Seaport Project will be evaluated at the second project conference in April 2004. The second Seaport Project will start in September 2004.

By: Nancy Isarin, Project Manager, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, Inspectorate, The Netherlands, nancy.isarin@minvrom.nl. More information on the project is available at: http://www2.minvrom.nl/docs/internationaal/Info_IMPEL_TFS_project_eng.pdf.

Australian Court Punishes Golf Course for Negligent Release of Pesticide
An Australian court found a golf course superintendent and his employer negligent and ordered the employer to pay fines and clean-up costs totaling more than US$600,000 for the accidental release of a highly toxic pesticide that killed 4.16 tonnes of fish, ducks, and geese in a nearby lagoon.

The New South Wales Land and Environment Court sentenced the golf course superintendent, who plead guilty, to 250 hours of community service on 20 June 2003. On 30 September 2003 the court fined the Warringah Golf Club, Ltd., who plead not guilty, US$192,500 and ordered them to pay legal costs of $146,000 and clean-up and investigation costs of approximately US$43,000. The court also ordered the Golf Club to undertake environmental improvement works worth approximately US$231,000 and to publish a notice about its offense in its members newsletter

Upon discovery of the massive fish kill in the Manly Lagoon in February 2001, the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) launched one of its largest investigations. The investigation revealed that a pesticide known as Gusathion, with the active ingredient azinphos-ethyl, escaped from the Warringah Golf Course. Approximately 7 grams, or one teaspoon, of azinphos-ethyl in an Olympic swimming pool is sufficient to kill aquatic life in a matter of hours.

The superintendent had been using the pesticide in loaded tanks mounted on a tractor sprayer to eradicate a pest weevil. The tractor broke down and during repairs the pesticide leaked into a storm water drain. The EPA charged the superintendent with negligently causing the pesticide to escape in a manner which harmed the environment. The EPA charged the Golf Club with negligently contributing to the conditions that gave rise to the superintendent's offense. This did not mean that the club caused the superintendent's offense. Rather, it meant that the club, through its own acts and omissions, created conditions which contributed to his offense. The Court agreed with the prosecutor that the ruling will send a powerful message to sporting club operators, and in particular, golf clubs that mismanage or abandon their environmental responsibility.

Since these incidents, the EPA, in association with the Australian Golf Course Superintendents Association, released a handbook called Improving the Environmental Management of New South Wales Golf Courses. Copies of these can be obtained by contacting the AGCSA by email at info@agcsa.com.au. The full text of the Court decisions, EPA v. Coggins, EPA v. Warringah Golf Club, and EPA v. Warringah Golf Club Ltd can be found on the Land and Environment Court's homepage at http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/caselaw/caselaw.nsf/pages/lec.

By: Christopher McElwain, Legal Services Branch, New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation, mcelwainc@epa.nsw.gov.au.

US Fines Cargo Airline $6 Million for Illegal Hazardous Waste Transport
Emery Worldwide Airlines pled guilty to charges of violating US hazardous materials transportation laws and has agreed to pay a $6 million fine, the United States Department of Justice said in September 2003.

US laws and regulations require that pilots are informed when their aircraft are transporting hazardous materials, which include pressurized gasses, flammable liquids, and explosives. On many occasions in 1998 and 1999, Emery intentionally ignored this requirement when transporting hazardous materials on aircraft flying out of its hub at Dayton International Airport in Ohio, the Justice Department said.

As part of its plea, Emery has agreed to prepare and implement a comprehensive compliance plan to ensure this does not happen again, the Justice Department said. In a related move, the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department introduced the Hazardous Materials Transportation Initiative in September 2003 to address the illegal transportation of hazardous materials by air, rail, land, and sea. By law, shippers must label and document the transportation of flammable liquids, pressurized gases, explosives, poisons, radioactive materials, and corrosive materials. Choosing to ignore the required precautions is a felony.

The Justice Department announced its commitment to the criminal enforcement of U.S. hazardous materials law and said the new enforcement initiative will utilize its substantial experience prosecuting cases in this field. The initiative addresses not only the environmental dangers of the illegal transportation of hazardous wastes but also the risks to homeland security, the Justice Department said. The Justice Department also announced key hazardous materials transportation cases that ENRD, together with United States Attorneys' Offices, have successfully resolved, including:

	United States v. Olympic Pipeline: The Equilon Pipeline Company and the Olympic Pipe Line Company agreed to pay $21 million to resolve criminal charges stemming from a pipe rupture that killed three individuals.
	United States v. AMR Corp.: American Airlines' parent corporation pleaded guilty to illegal hazardous waste storage and paid $8 million in fines and restitution. The airline admitted loading flammable, corrosive, and poisonous materials onto planes in violation of hazardous materials transportation regulations for over three years.
	United State v. Sabretech: Sabretech, Inc. provided services to the ValuJet airline and illegally introduced used oxygen canisters onto Flight 592 on 11 May 1996. This caused the plane to crash into the Florida Everglades, resulting in the death of all 110 people on board.

Environmental Enforcement Across Borders: Is the US-Mexico Border an Extreme Case?
Borders can be effective shields against environmental liability. This is certainly the case along the United States-Mexico border, a border across which pass enormous amounts of hazardous waste and materials, and within sight of which are located large and growing populations and a large part of Mexico's most profitable export industry.

Even a cursory investigation shows the nature if not the extent of the problem: an abandoned smelter piled high with slag, disposal of solvents that enter the shared groundwater, truckloads of hazardous waste being shipped to the US for disposal that are found abandoned in an urban warehouse, dangerous wastes being shipped to Mexico for "recycling" that instead end up on the ground.

Stories like these play themselves out with regularity along the US-Mexico border. The common thread is the use of the border as a shield to avoid responsibility. The parties responsible for environmental damage and violations of law in one country make sure that they and their assets are across the border in another country, thereby evading liability. How can this be overcome?

The US-Mexico border presents extreme versions of border issues often not present elsewhere.

Specifically, the US-Mexico border divides two countries with: 1) enormous disparities in per capita income; 2) extremely uneven development at the border; 3) huge amounts of cross-border traffic in hazardous wastes and materials; 4) chronic disparities in the resources available to government agencies; 5) a history of distrust; 6) a language barrier; 7) very different legal traditions; and 8) the chronic distraction of drug enforcement and now, security concerns.

The environmental agencies of the US and Mexico have been trying to overcome these obstacles and have developed some promising strategies, including:

As these efforts begin to address the cross-border problems, they should encourage others with similar border issues to set up similar strategies. Indeed, some of the lessons being learned on the US-Mexico border might even have direct application to the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.

If these problems can be overcome across the US-Mexico border, they ought to be solvable across borders with fewer obstacles. As negotiations to create a free trade agreement among the national economies in the Western Hemisphere proceeds, and trade increases among all of these countries, then some of the lessons learned on the US-Mexico border might even have direct application.

By: John D. Rothman, Senior Attorney, Office of Regional Counsel, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Pacific Southwest Region (San Francisco), rothman.john@epa.gov.

See full article at http://inece.org/newsletter/9/rothman.pdf.

Major Seizures Underline Wildlife Law Enforcement Challenges
Four major seizures of wildlife and wildlife products by Australian Customs provided a timely and appropriate backdrop to the 16th Australasian Wildlife Law Enforcement Conference in Brisbane, Australia, in October 2003.

In the weeks leading up to the conference, Australian Customs seized some 160 kilograms (353 pounds) of illegal wildlife products that were bound for the traditional medicine market in Sydney in early September. Further investigations uncovered endangered tiger, snake, and rhinoceros parts.

Customs also arrested a Swedish tourist trying to smuggle eight snakes in his trousers. The tourist was caught in Sydney after he had allegedly stashed four baby king cobras (all dead on arrival) and four baby emerald tree boas in his pants to avoid detection.

A Sydney student was charged with attempting to traffic 47 native reptiles in illegal air freight cargo bound for the Czech Republic. And a British national was arrested in Perth for attempting to export more than 200 reptiles, amphibians and insects.

At the conference, law enforcement agencies including customs, quarantine and federal police, and other government departments responsible for wildlife conservation and resource management were represented as were NGOs, the scientific community, and international delegates from Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Conference participants discussed wildlife smuggling, compliance and enforcement of national legislation, international requirements and challenges, and other issues facing their respective countries. Throughout the conference, participants emphasized the need for greater information and resource sharing via mechanisms such as the Interpol Eco-message.

Participants also discussed the growing problem of the Internet and other technologies that are widening markets for illegal wildlife trading.

By: Rebecca Brand, Campaigner, Asia/Pacific Office, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). For furth information, visit IFAW's Web site and the Web site of the CITES Secretariat.

Bangladesh Builds Capacity to Monitor and Enforce Pollution Control Laws
The Bangladesh Department of the Environment has made significant progress towards strengthening its capacity to monitor and enforce the environmental protection and pollution controls laws it is mandated to enforce.

For the past four years, the Canadian International Development Agency-sponsored Bangladesh Environmental Management Project has assisted the Department of the Environment in delivering intensive training on inspections, investigations, the exercise of administrative and criminal enforcement powers and court procedures.

In 2002, judges were appointed to the Environment Court and Environment Appeal Court and special magistrates appointed to try civil and criminal cases under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995 and other specified environmental laws. Numerous cases have been successfully prosecuted before special Mobile Courts and charges are pending in the Environment Court.

Amendments to the ECA and the Environment Court Act, 2000 clarified enforcement powers and jurisdiction over environmental proceedings. An Enforcement Policy Directive clarifies enforcement powers and procedures and specifies criteria for enforcement responses. A detailed Enforcement Procedures Manual, due for completion in 2004, will facilitate more effective, timely enforcement action and enable more nationally consistent enforcement responses.

Among the more successful compliance initiatives by the Department of the Environment, has been the strategy to enforce the ban on manufacture and use of polythene shopping bags. Targeted enforcement actions coupled with an intensive publicity program promoting use of more environmentally friendly paper, cloth and jute bags have resulted in widespread compliance.

Department of the Environment enforcement efforts have been aided by the publication and wide distribution by Bangladesh Environmental Management Project of two reference texts. A Compilation of Environmental Laws of Bangladesh administered by the Department of the Environment, provides the first comprehensive compilation of pollution control laws, rules and implementing directives. Proceedings of the Training Program on Investigation and Prosecution of Environmental Offenses, documents laws and procedures for the investigation and prosecution of environmental offenses.

For more information on these initiatives, contact the Department of the Environment at info@doe-bd.org or http://www.doe-bd.org.

By: Linda F. Duncan, Law & Enforcement Advisor, Bangladesh Environmental Management Project, lfdunca@attglobal.net.

UNEP Developing Manual to Facilitate Guidelines on Compliance with and Enforcement of MEAs

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is developing a manual to assist countries in implementing and enforcing multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). The manual is innovative both for its substance and for the process by which UNEP is developing and refining the manual.

The draft Manual on Compliance with and Enforcement of Multilateral Agreements is based on UNEP's Guidelines on Compliance with and Enforcement of MEAs, which was released in 2002. The Guidelines grew out of a decade-long process and incorporated comments from more than seventy governments, as well as MEA secretariats and groups of advisory experts.

Both publications seek to assist governments, MEA secretariats, international, regional, and sub-regional organizations, national enforcement agencies, NGOs, the private sector, and other stakeholders in enhancing implementation of MEAs. The Manual will serve as a "user's manual" to complement the "tool box" of approaches for enhancing compliance with MEAs and strengthening the enforcement of laws implementing those agreements provided in the Guidelines.

The draft Manual is divided into two sections, one on compliance and one on enforcement, as well as a series of appendices that include additional information. The section on compliance addresses tools for preparing for negotiations of MEAs, effective participation in the negotiations, enhancing opportunities for compliance and enforcement through negotiations, reviews of MEA effectiveness, compliance mechanisms, technology transfer, international cooperation, and some matters that overlap with the enforcement section. This section focuses on the international domain: negotiating, implementing, and enforcing commitments at the international level.

In contrast, the section on enforcement emphasizes national-level tools. This includes the development of national laws and regulations that are conducive to implementation and enforcement, effective national institutional frameworks (including coordination and training), education, public participation, and international cooperation.

UNEP is hosting regional workshops to collect feedback on the draft Manual, as well as facilitate a dialogue on implementing MEAs and building capacity of governments and other stakeholders. Thus far, regional workshops have been held for the Asia Pacific region, the English-speaking Caribbean, and South East Europe. Forthcoming workshops will be held for: Anglophone Africa (March 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya), Eastern Europe Caucasus and Central Asia (March 2004 in Kiev, Ukraine), Francophone Africa (Autumn 2004), and Latin America (Autumn 2004).

The Guidelines on Compliance with and Enforcement of MEAs are available through UNEP's Web site at http://www.unep.org/depi/compliance-and-enforcement/Guidelines%20on%20Compliance%20and%20Enforcement.doc. For further information on the draft Manual or the regional workshops, please contact Carl.Bruch@unep.org, Amy.Hindman@unep.org, or Elizabeth.Mrema@unep.org.

By: Carl Bruch, Legal Officer, Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, United Nations Environment Programme, Carl.Bruch@unep.org.