Will New EPA Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy Promote Fairness in Case Selection?

It is common when defending environmental crimes for the defense to wonder why the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal prosecution rather than subjecting it to the commonly used civil enforcement process. The EPA’s determination of what facts justify criminal treatment has traditionally been inconsistent and dependent on local decision-making by regional criminal investigation divisions that refer cases to local U.S. Attorney’s offices.