Wielding the green stick

Criminal enforcement at the EPA under the Bush and Obama administrations

Bibliographic Data

ID5110102
AuthorsJoshua Ozymy (0000-0003-1280-3073, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, corresponding author), Melissa L Jarrell (Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi), Melissa Jarrell
Year2015
Volume24
Issue1
Pages38-56
Publication date2015-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-4016 • E-ISSN: 1743-8934
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09644016.2014.921453
OpenAlexW1974522750
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited23

The criminal prosecution of environmental offenders by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is one of the agency's most politicised yet poorly understood responsibilities. Through content analysis of the Agency's criminal prosecutions in 2001–2011, we undertook analysis of nearly 1000 cases to understand better whether and how the outcomes of the criminal enforcement division change under presidential administrations. Using a principal-agent framework, our results suggest presidents do matter for enforcement outcomes. Yet, the more interesting conclusion is that these outcomes are not extremely divergent, suggesting that the Agency is able to navigate the often conflicting dictates of various political principals, under similar budgetary constraints, and in step with an Agency culture that values strong enforcement. Moreover, we find that such enforcement efforts are substantively valuable, as many of these cases involve serious and willful violations of law that result in significant harm to humans and the environment.Keywords: criminal enforcementEPAenvironmental crimeprincipal-agent Notes1. Footage of the speech can be located at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = ze3GB_b7Nuo [Accessed 8 January 2014].2. One example of a high-profile assessment of EPA's enforcement efforts in regards to their 'damaging and unfair practices against States and businesses' is a 2006 hearing by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works chaired by Inhofe, entitled 'EPA Regional Inconsistencies'. The report can be located at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-109shrg47633/pdf/CHRG-109shrg47633.pdf [Accessed 8 January 2014].3. Figures on the number of criminal investigators and budgetary resources allocated exclusively to environmental crime-related activity vary widely by source. These numbers were obtained by contacting the Office of Criminal Enforcement and obtaining data on the number of 1811s or those employees listed as special agents who are directly engaged in the investigation of environmental crimes and resources allocated to environmental crimes-related activities (OCEFT Citation2012). The number of 1811s varies from 217 (2003) to 168 (2007) and a nominal budget of $35 million (2001) to $52.5 million (2010).4. Located at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/compliance/criminal_prosecution/ [Accessed 8 January 2014].5. The 2010 case against Southern Union resulted in an $18 million fine. A fine was assessed at trial, affirmed by the appellate court, and listed as such in the data set. A recent Supreme Court case in 2012 remanded the case back to the appellate court. The likelihood is that the appellate court will amend the fine, but this has yet to occur. We include it as stated in the prosecution summary to stay consistent with our treatment of other cases and because the fine was assessed at trial.6. Incarceration times are listed in months, but some defendants were sentenced to less than one month or a sentence of various months plus a day. In these cases, we convert the sentence to months by dividing the time given in non-months by 30. For example, if a defendant was sentenced to 40 days incarceration, we list this as 1.3 months of 40/30.7. All community service obligations in the data set are assessed to individuals, except in the 2001 case of Rehrig International and its environmental compliance manager, Gregory Dant, where the company was sentenced to 400 hours of community service

Business · Economics · Enforcement · Law and economics · Political science · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Public Administration · Regulation and Compliance Studies · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

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