The Environmental Crimes Section (“ECS”) of the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Environment and Natural Resources Division (“NRD”) issued revisions to its Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy which was issued in 1991...more
On February 22, the U.S. Attorneys’ Office issued a new, voluntary self-disclosure policy encouraging companies to reveal potentially criminal conduct for environmental crimes. For qualifying self-disclosures, the policy can...more
The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a September 12th news release stating that DiAne Gordan (“Gordon”) had been sentenced to 36 months in prison for allegedly fabricating discharge monitoring reports...more
On March 3, 2022, at the 37th Annual American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section National Institute on White Collar Crime in San Francisco, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland emphasized that “the prosecution of...more
On 15 December 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new EU Directive1 aimed at tightening compliance with EU environmental laws through the introduction of new criminal offences, increased sanctions and...more
As companies continue to focus on improving their ESG credentials, they are constantly assessing their environmental management systems and compliance programs for potential areas of ESG-related risk. The reason is...more
The Biden Administration has a number of enforcement priorities. While not listed as a primary objective, the Justice Department and the EPA can be expected to increase criminal enforcement of environmental laws....more
A trilogy of recent federal and state enforcement actions show just how far agencies will go to enforce environmental regulations. Now may be a good time for a compliance audit....more
Before there was the BP oil well blow out in the gulf, the greatest US environmental disaster was the Exxon Valdez, which ran aground on a reef in Prince William Sound in southern Alaska, some 27 years ago on this date....more