Environmental Crime

Scholars have defined environmental crime from various perspectives. For instance, from a legal perspective, environmental crime consists of harmful acts (or attempted acts) against the environment that violate statutorily defined laws. Philosophical views of environmental crime could include harms to the environment not covered by legislation, for instance, the destruction of wetlands for the sake of industry. Diverse in nature and scope, environmental crime includes acts that range from the illegal dumping of hazardous materials to the emission of unlawful amounts of air pollution. The multidimensional nature of environmental crime, which generally falls under the rubric of white-collar crime, creates special challenges for groups such as politicians, industry leaders, lobbyists, environmentalists, and researchers.

The study of environmental crime is multidisciplinary in nature, as biologists, criminologists, psychologists, economists, sociologists, and others have a clear stake in studying environmental crimes. Add to this group the growing number of environmental scientists, and it becomes apparent why our knowledge base in this area, although in its infancy, continuously expands. Input from these varied disciplines is necessary to comprehend the wide range of activities deemed environmental crime.

Although documented responses to harms against the environment date back to 1290 when England's King Edward I prohibited the burning of coal while Parliament was sitting, it is likely that civilizations before that time recognized the value of the environment. Formal regulation of the environment, however, existed in piecemeal fashion until the 1960s and 1970s when legislatures passed a notable number of laws and a federal agency in the United States was created to enforce the laws pertaining to environmental protection. In 1970, Congress enacted the Environmental Quality Improvement Act (EQIA), 42 U.S.C. § 4371 (2000), and President Richard Nixon, through executive order, created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Before this time, limited research and societal attention focused on the environment, and states imposed few sanctions with regard to harms against the environment.

With increased societal concern for environmental crime in the 1960s and 1970s came major legislation designed to prevent offenses against the environment. Legislatures passed several significant statutes related to the environment in the 1970s following the creation of the EPA. There are eight major federal statutes with which the government can invoke criminal penalties, including the EQIA; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; the Clean Water Act; the Clean Air Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

With the passage of legislation came the need to enforce these laws. Various federal agencies regulate aspects of the environment, although the EPA, EPA regional offices, and state environmental regulatory agencies primarily enforce environmental laws in the United States. Local law enforcement agencies could play a critical role in reducing environmental crime; however, these groups have limited impact primarily because they focus on public safety and other conventional crimes.

Enforcing environmental laws typically begins with administrative enforcement, through which the EPA requests compliance from those in violation of the law. Should the violator fail to comply with the request, it may begin the process for civil or criminal actions. Criminal enforcement, which requires the cases to be turned over to the Department of Justice for prosecution, is used as a last resort. In fact, few environmental offenses are prosecuted in criminal court.

...