Related Practices & Jurisdictions The EPA recently indicated that it will ramp up its activity with respect to environmental justice enforcement initiatives using pre-pandemic tools such as on-site facility inspections. The EPA’s focus on environmental justice reverse some Trump-era policies that limited the focus of EPA action on environmental justice, […]
Environmental
Through new Texas A&M legal clinic, students explore implications of environmental law
Growing up in southeast Ohio, Haley Varnadoe always felt a pull to the legal field. Her hometown of Marietta felt the impact of chemical contamination documented in “Dark Waters,” the 2019 film portraying the lives of residents who contracted deadly illnesses from a nearby DuPont manufacturing facility. “I was interested […]
Environmental Justice 101: Leveling the Playing Field in the Permitting Process
March 2, 2022 The concept of “environmental justice” (or “EJ” among environmental practitioners) is not new. It developed in response to the inordinate number of industrial facilities and contaminated sites located near underrepresented or overburdened communities, which adversely and disproportionately affected the health and well-being of those communities. With […]
Enforcement of Environmental Crimes Increase Signaled by DOJ
Related Practices & Jurisdictions Thursday, January 6, 2022 At a recent conference, the newly confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), Todd Kim, delivered remarks strongly signaling an increased focus on prosecuting companies and individuals for environmental crimes, and placing a priority on all other enforcement. The remarks also emphasized two top Biden […]
DOJ Environmental Criminal Enforcement is Back
Thursday, December 16, 2021 This week, two senior U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resource Division (ENRD) officials used their remarks to the American Bar Association’s annual National Environmental Enforcement Conference to convey a clear message: environmental enforcement, and in particular criminal enforcement, is back. Companies and individuals […]