American Bar Association Energy and Resources Committees

Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee

2010-2011 Committee Chair:

W. Bruce Pasfield, Alston & Bird LLP, Washington, DC

EPA Seeks Comment on Enforcement Priorities

On Monday, January 4, 2010 EPA announced its proposed enforcement priorities for fiscal years 2011-2013, 75 Fed Reg. 147 (2010). These priorities will play a major role in EPA's (and DOJ's) environmental enforcement efforts into the next Presidential term. Comment will be received on these proposed priorities until January 19.

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U.S. EPA and U.S. DOJ Presentations

EPA Enforcement Results for 2006 and Priorities for 2007-2010, Randolph L. Hill

Environmental Crimes Update – April 19, 2007, Kris Dighe

About Committee

The Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee monitor and communicate the trends and developments of interest to its members and their clients, focusing on practical issues arising in environmental civil and criminal enforcement. Current topics include the worker endangerment initiative by the United States Department of Justice, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and United States Environmental Protection Agency, the trend towards targeting individuals in environmental prosecutions, and emerging issues in sentencing and penalty assessment.

Coordinating Criminal Investigations During Emergency Response Actions

On April 8, 2003, EPA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that spells out how law enforcement agencies will coordinate with environmental agency representatives during emergency response actions.

We discussed this MOU during our Hot Topic teleconference on "Homeland Security and Environmental Enforcement" on January 28, 2004.

Memorandum of Understanding To Coordinate Criminal Investigation, Enforcement, and Environmental Response

Daubert and Deterrence - Admitting Scientific Evidence in Enforcement Cases

Like other environmental litigation, civil and criminal environmental enforcement actions often rely on complex technical and scientific testimony. The following two articles examine the application in environmental enforcement of Daubert's standard for the admission of scientific evidence. Lee Hamel, Mark Thornhill and Benjamin Clark submitted these materials for the Fall 2002 SEER Section meeting in Portland, Oregon.

Application of Daubert in Environmental Criminal and Civil Cases

Preparing to Successfully Challenge Expert Testimony in an Environmental Criminal Case Under the Clean Air Act (Knowing Endangerment, 42 USC § 7413 (c)(5)(A))

Peering into Lawyers' Files - Prosecutors' Use of the Crime or Fraud Exception

The crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege and work product rule is often used by prosecutors as a key tool to discover environmental criminal conduct. The crime-fraud exception is analyzed in the following article: Peering into Lawyers' Files - Prosecutors' Use of the Crime or Fraud Exception. The article was prepared by Mark Thornhill of Kansas City's Spencer Fane Britt & Brown LLP, Jane Barrett of Washington, D.C.'s Dyer Ellis & Joseph, Michael Levy of Washington, D.C.'s Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP, and David Krakoff of Washington, D.C.'s Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. The article was published in the materials presented at Fall Section Meeting in October, 2001.

Peering into Lawyers Files - Prosecutors' Use of the Crime or Fraud Exception