Source: http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title5/12menv.htm
Timestamp: 2014-11-23 20:27:09
Document Index: 629661154

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1251', '§ 1311', '§ 7401', '§ 6901', '§ 9601', '§ 300', '§ 2601', '§ 135', '§ 4401', '§ 1401', '§ 4901', '§ 2011', '§ 7133', '§ 791', '§ 421', '§ 441', '§ 1002', '§ 1501', '§ 1334', '§ 2701']

USAM 5-12.000 Environmental Enforcement Section
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5-12.001
5-12.002
5-12.100
Area of ResponsibilityStatutes Administered
5-12.110
5-12.111
Cases Brought on Behalf of the United States
5-12.120
Overlapping Section Case Responsibility 5-12.121
Responsibility for Cases With New Issues and/or Altered Character
5-12.200
5-12.300
Supervision and Handling of Environmental Enforcement Section CasesRequests for Instructions
5-12.302
Transmittal of Papers to Environmental Enforcement Section and Client Agencies
5-12.311
5-12.321
Notification to Environmental Enforcement Section of Intention to File Actions
5-12.340
Cooperation and Coordination with Environmental Protection Agency
5-12.500 District Court Procedures Generally
5-12.520
Investigation and Administrative Processing of Violations
Responsibility for Detecting and Investigating Violations 5-12.522
Transmittal of Reports of Unauthorized Activities
5-12.523
5-12.524
5-12.530
Litigation Procedures; Draft Complaints
5-12.531
Lis Pendens and the Recording of Judgments
5-12.532
5-12.533
5-12.600
5-12.611
Transmittal of Settlement Offers
5-12.612
Solicitations of Agency Views
5-12.613
Settlement Policy in Suits Brought on Behalf of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
5-12.620
Consent Decrees; Public Notice Policy 5-12.001
The Environmental Enforcement Section was created on September 10, 1980, by Environment and Natural Resources Division Directive No. 17-80.
The Environmental Enforcement Section was organized in order to provide a specialized legal staff capable of carrying out the effective civil judicial enforcement of laws relating to protection of the environment.
Federal Water Pollution Control Act or Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. (except for in rem actions against vessels, which are supervised by the Torts Branch (Admiralty and Shipping) of the Civil Division and except for wetlands cases under 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1344 that are supervised by the Environmental Defense Section); Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq.; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq. (also known as the Solid Waste Disposal Act); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund), 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq.; Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. § 300f et seq.; Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2601 < i>et seq.; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. § 135(d) et seq.; River and Harbor Act, 33 U.S.C. § 4401 et seq., except for in rem actions against vessels and wetlands cases. See Federal Water Pollution Control Act; Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq.; Noise Control Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4901 et seq.; The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq., insofar as it relates to the civil prosecution of violations committed by a company in matters involving the licensing and operation of nuclear power plants and affecting the environment; Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 (Pub.L. No. 95-620), National Energy Conservation Policy Act (Pub.L. 95-619), and Titles I and V of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (Pub.L. No. 95-617); Uranium Mill Trailings Radiation Contr ol Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7133 et seq.; Section 2 of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974, 15 U.S.C. § 791 et seq.; The Act of June 23, 1910 (33 U.S.C. § 421 et seq.); The Act of June 29, 1888 (33 U.S.C. § 441 et seq.); Sections 3, 6, and 9 of the Act of August 30, 1961 (33 U.S.C. §§ 1002, 1005, 1008); Sections 15 and 18 of the Deepwater Port Act of 1971 (33 U.S.C. § 1501 et seq.), insofar as a violation of the Act or the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto results in environmental pollution; Section 5(a)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of August 7, 1953 (43 U.S.C. § 1334(a)(2)), where the violation of a rule or regulation results in environmental pollution. The Oil Pollution Control Act of 1990, 33 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.
[cited in USAM 5-1.310; USAM 5-12.110; USAM 5-12.111; USAM 5-12.120; USAM 5-12.302; USAM 5-12.320; USAM 5-12.522; USAM 5-12.523; USAM 5-12.600]
The Environmental Enforcement Section prosecutes, supports, and coordinates the prosecution of all civil cases, matters, and proceedings arising under the statutes identified in USAM 5-12.100 or initiated under federal common law for environmental protection.
The Environmental Enforcement Section has Departmental responsibility for civil matters initiated on behalf of the United States to secure the control and abatement for sources of pollution or to protect the natural environment, to the extent that such cases may arise under the statutes identified in USAM 5-12.100 or under the federal common law. As a matter of policy and practice, civil prosecutions are initiated at the request of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army, and other government officials having statutory responsibility for the enforcement of laws designed to protect the public health, welfare, and the environment. Section 12 of the statute that authorized the Department's 1980 budget authorized the Attorney General with the concurrence of any agency or department with primary enforcement responsibility for an environmental or natural resource law to investigate any violation, and bring such actions as are necessary to enforce such laws. Except for cases initially subject to treatment as direct referrals, see USAM 5-1.310, the Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division must review and approve in advance the following actions in cases referred by or brought on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency and other Federal client agencies under the statutes identified in USAM 5-1.320, et seq.:
File or amend a complaint or counterclaim; File a claim or otherwise initiate process or file a counterclaim in a bankruptcy or probate matter; Raise issues involving statutes administered by the EPA or other Federal agencies; Compromise, close or dismiss a case; or Modify or enforce a consent decree or judgment. When apparent violations of the statutes identified in USAM 5-1.320 et seq. are brought to the attention of the Department of Justice by persons or agencies other than those with statutory enforcement responsibilities, the Department either forwards those reports to appropriate executive branch enforcement officials for evaluation and possible referral for legal proceedings or, in criminal cases, may itself undertake the necessary investigation and prosecution. The practice of forwarding reports of suspected violations to appropriate agencies has several potential benefits: (1) it allows the agencies to bring to bear their technical expertise to determine whether violations actually have occurred; (2) it allows the agencies to settle cases administratively in certain circumstances; and (3) it allows the agencies to apply technical and investigative resources in order to develop those cases which do have merit.
[cited in USAM 3-8.130
Overlapping Section Case Responsibility Although the Environmental Enforcement Section has the primary responsibility for actions involving the statutes identified in USAM 5-12.100 occasionally cases occur which involve those statutes along with statutes for which another section of the Department generally is responsible. In each such case, the chiefs of the respective sections will designate the section which will assume the primary responsibility. The designated section will coordinate with any other concerned section, will furnish copies of all pertinent pleadings and memoranda to that section, and will notify the United States Attorney of the names and telephone numbers of attorneys in the other sections who may be contacted for information in their areas of expertise.