Brazilian
Officials Study Effective Enforcement Techniques: Balkans
Are Next for INECE Principles of Environmental Enforcement
Training Course
Around the
world, environmental enforcement is gaining more and more
attention as the public, governments, and industry take
action to prevent and reduce the health and environmental
consequences of pollution. Governments are increasingly
recognizing that effective enforcement to compel and encourage
compliance with these requirements is essential to the
success of environmental programs.
Brazilian judges, prosecutors, and environmental officials
participated in an INECE Principles of Environmental
Enforcement training course held in Brasilia, Brazil,
from 17-20 December 2003. The course was conducted by
a team representing the US Environmental Protection
Agency (US EPA), Law for a
Green Planet Institute (a Brazilian Non-governmental
Organization), The
World Bank Institute, the US State Department, and
the International Network for Environmental Compliance
and Enforcement (INECE).
The "Principles of Environmental Enforcement"
training course presents basic principles of environmental
enforcement that have contributed to successful environmental
management in the United States, the Netherlands, and
other countries during the past twenty years. The exercises,
role-playing games, and case-study materials that comprise
the course were developed in 1992 by the US EPA in cooperation
with Poland's Environment Ministry and the Dutch Ministry
to assist policymakers in any international or domestic
setting to develop the institutional capacity for designing
and implementing effective programs for compliance with
environmental requirements.
The participants in Brazil represented a wide range
of institutions and states including: IBAMA (Brazil's
federal environmental agency), state and federal environmental
police, federal judges, military lawyers, the National
Association of Municipalities and Environment (ANAMMA),
the Secretary of Planning and Coordination (SEPLAN),
and public prosecutors from the Public Ministry from
Rio Grande do Sul, Pará, Rio Grande do Norte,
Pernambuco, Piaui, Goias, Uniao, and others.
The course in Brazil adds to longstanding efforts to
work with different levels of the Brazilian government
to build their capacity and interest in enforcing their
domestic laws. It is a direct outgrowth of EPA's and
INECE's participation in two conferences in June 2003
to raise awareness of the importance of enforcement
in good environmental governance.
In conjunction with the course, EPA also helped conduct
a 2-day workshop on environmental compliance and enforcement
indicators sponsored by the World Bank Institute, Law
for a Green Planet Institute, and INECE. The indicator
workshop resulted in the commitment from the Brazilian
government authorities and other leaders to develop
a set of environmental compliance and enforcement indicators
for Brazil.
Principles courses are conducted throughout the year,
with the next one scheduled to take place in Serbia
and Montenegro in conjunction with the Regional Environmental
Center for Central and Eastern Europe from 3-5 February
2004.
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Principles
of Environmental Enforcement Training Courses
Principles training courses help government
officials to augment their environmental enforcement
and compliance efforts, which in turn helps achieve
the following goals: protecting environmental
quality and public health; building and strengthening
the credibility of environmental requirements;
ensuring fairness under the law; and reducing
costs and liability.
Protecting environmental quality and public
health. Compliance is essential to achieving
the goals of protecting public health and environmental
quality envisioned by environmental laws. Public
health and the environment will be protected only
if environmental requirements get results.
Building and strengthening the credibility
of environmental requirements. To get results,
environmental requirements and the government
agencies that implement them must be taken seriously.
Credibility encourages compliance by facilities
that would be unlikely to comply if environmental
requirements and institutions are perceived as
weak.
Ensuring fairness under the law. Without
enforcement, facilities that violate environmental
requirements will benefit compared to facilities
that voluntarily choose to comply. A consistent
and effective enforcement program helps ensure
that companies affected by environmental requirements
are treated fairly.
Reducing costs and liability. Though compliance
is often costly in the short-term, it can have
significant long-term economic benefits such as
lower liability and fewer clean-up costs. A strong
enforcement program may also encourage facilities
to comply by preventing pollution and minimizing
or recycling waste, rather than installing expensive
pollution control and monitoring equipment.
More information on the Principles of Environmental
Enforcement may be found at: http://www.inece.org/enforcementprinciples.html.
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