Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources

Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee

2009-2010 Committee Chair:

Tracy D. Hester, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, Houston, TX

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

Message from the Chair

Welcome to the Web page for the Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee. My name is Tracy Hester, and I'm the current Committee Chair. The Committee focuses on the critical issues that face practitioners who deal with civil and criminal environmental enforcement.

The Committe offers an unparalleled opportunity to learn about developing issues and initiatives in environmental enforcement, meet the top environmental enforcers and defense council, participate in debates on the direction and methods of environmental enforcement, and author materials for Committee newsletters and publications on key enforcement issues. We will also sponsor QuickTeleconferences on emerging hot topics or important developments that might affect your practice.

The first step, of course, is to get involved and join the Committee's activities. We welcome everyone who would like to become involved in the Committee's activities, and we especially would invite anyone who would like to write an article for the Committee newsletter, assist in The Year in Review, participate in a program, help design public service prospects or provide materials for the Web page. If you'd like to join any of these efforts, please call either me of any of our Vice Chairs.

Welcome again to the Committee!

Tracy Hester

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