As part of the Biden Administration's overall strategy of enhancing environmental justice, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) jointly announced last week the return (with modifications)...more
On November 29, 2021, we posted that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had recently reinstated the Yates memo, a 2015 enforcement policy memorandum that had been rescinded by the Trump Administration. The Yates memo...more
Criminal enforcement of environmental laws is a rarity, despite relatively light evidentiary intent standards. Blatant and unquestionably deliberate violations—the "secret pipe" type—are usually the only ones we see...more
Federal courts often rely on “Chevron deference” in upholding regulations issued pursuant to vague congressional authorization. This doctrine dictates that where the statutory language is unclear, a court will defer to a...more
EPA has proposed to end its funding of Superfund enforcement activities by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). In its proposed budget for FY 2018, EPA has cut the nearly $26MM...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals revived a contribution action under CERCLA, and in the course of ruling, it addressed three issues of first impression in the Circuit regarding contribution litigation under CERCLA. Asarco,...more
A U.S. District Court in Arizona has ruled that DOJ’s narrow interpretation of the requirements for a criminal misdemeanor under the Endangered Species Act went beyond unreviewable prosecutorial discretion, and its policy was...more
The Department of Justice announced on December 17, 2015, that it would intensify enforcement of environmental and safety laws by adding in environmental criminal counts to worker safety prosecutions. The worker safety issues...more
The United States and BP lodged their proposed settlement of the remaining claims by the US in connection with the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill with the US District Court today. Comments to the Justice Department are...more
10/6/2015
/ BP ,
Clean Water Act ,
Consent Decrees ,
Deepwater Horizon ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Gulf Oil Spill ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Spills ,
Petroleum ,
Petroleum Refining ,
Pipelines ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Shell Oil ,
Transocean
The US Department of Justice has issued a memorandum to all of its prosecuting Divisions, directing changes to the principles applied by DOJ in prosecuting civilly or criminally individuals who engage in corporate misconduct....more
9/17/2015
/ Banking Sector ,
Bird Fatalities ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deepwater Horizon ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Duke Energy ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Crimes ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Willful Misconduct