Opinion ID: 775763
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Scienter Required by the Clean Air Act

Text: 23 Weintraub argues that the phrase knowingly violates in § 7413(c)(1) requires specific knowledge of the facts that meet the threshold requirements of the work-practice standard: the friability of the asbestos and the minimum quantities that are required to trigger the standard. We conclude that such detailed knowledge need not be shown. 24 To determine what Congress meant when it used the phrase knowingly violates, we begin with the text of the statute. See Disabled in Action v. Hammons, 202 F.3d 110, 119 (2d Cir. 2000). The phrase is commonly used in criminal provisions, but many courts have found it and similar formulations ambiguous. See, e.g., United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc., 513 U.S. 64 (1994); Liparota v. United States, 471 U.S. 419 (1985); United States v. Int'l Minerals & Chems. Corp., 402 U.S. 558 (1971); United States v. Bronx Reptiles, Inc., 217 F.3d 82 (2d Cir. 2000); United States v. Figueroa, 165 F.3d 111 (2d Cir. 1998); United States v. Ahmad, 101 F.3d 386 (5th Cir. 1996). See generally Wayne R. LaFave & Austin W. Scott, Criminal Law § 3.4(b), at 214 (2d ed. 1986). It may plausibly be read to require either knowledge that the conduct in question violated the law or knowledge of the facts and circumstances that amount to a violation, without specific knowledge of the law. 25 On its face, the phrase appears to suggest that the government must prove that the defendant knew that he was violating the law. This reading is precluded, however, by the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Int'l Minerals & Chems. Corp., in which the Supreme Court held that the phrase knowingly violates did not require knowledge that the defendant's conduct was unlawful. The Court found no evidence of congressional intent to abrogate the bedrock common law principle that ignorance of the law is not a defense. See Int'l Minerals, 402 U.S. at 562-63. We have reached a similar conclusion with respect to the similarly worded criminal provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. § 1319(c)(2)(A) (knowingly violates), and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. § 6928(d) (in knowing violation). See United States v. Hopkins, 53 F.3d 533, 537-38 (2d Cir. 1995) (construing the CWA); United States v. Laughlin, 10 F.3d 961, 965- 66 (2d Cir. 1993) (construing RCRA). The only other circuit court to have construed knowingly violates in the CAA, notably also in a case involving the asbestos work-practice standard, applied International Minerals to conclude that the Act does not demand knowledge that one's conduct is illegal. See United States v. Buckley, 934 F.2d 84, 88 (6th Cir. 1991). 26 Instead, we hold that the phrase knowingly violates requires knowledge of facts and attendant circumstances that comprise a violation of the statute, not specific knowledge that one's conduct is illegal. Courts have applied a canon of statutory interpretation to read criminal statutes that are silent or ambiguous as to the required standard of mens rea, to demand knowledge of enough facts to distinguish conduct that is likely culpable from conduct that is entirely innocent. See Carter v. United States, 530 U.S. 255, 269 (2000) (The presumption in favor of scienter requires a court to read into a statute only that mens rea which is necessary to separate wrongful conduct from `otherwise innocent conduct.') (quoting X-Citement Video, 513 U.S. at 72); Liparota, 471 U.S. at 426 (reading statute to avoid criminaliz[ing] a broad range of apparently innocent conduct); United States v. Sanders, 211 F.3d 711, 723 (2d Cir.) ([I]t has become clear that knowledge may suffice for criminal culpability if `extensive enough to attribute to the knower a `guilty mind,' or knowledge that he or she is performing a wrongful act.') (quoting Figueroa, 165 F.3d at 115-16), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1015 (2000); cf. Hanousek v. United States, 528 U.S. 1102, 120 S. Ct. 860, 861 (2000) (Thomas and O'Connor, JJ., dissenting from denial of certiorari) (stating that we should be hesitant to expose countless numbers of construction workers and contractors to heightened criminal liability for using ordinary devices to engage in normal industrial operations). [S]cienter requirements should be presumed to [require no more knowledge than necessary to put a defendant] on notice that he is committing a non-innocent act. Figueroa, 165 F.3d at 117; id. at 118 (requiring sufficient knowledge to recognize that they have done something culpable). 27 We emphasize that knowledge of wrongdoing and knowledge of illegality are different things. 3 The former requires knowledge only of facts that in a reasonable person would create an expectation that his conduct was likely subject to strict regulation. Determining the extent of the mens rea required by a statute thus involves a commonsense evaluation of the nature of the particular device or substance Congress has subjected to regulation and the expectations that individuals may legitimately have in dealing with the regulated items. Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600, 619 (1994). The touchstone is the defendant's settled expectations about the regulated conduct. 4 X-Citement Video, 513 U.S. at 71; United States v. LaPorta, 46 F.3d 152, 158 (2d Cir. 1994), rev'd on other grounds, Sicurella v. United States, 157 F.3d 177 (2d Cir. 1998). 28 Our understanding of the appropriate mens-rea standard is informed by two Supreme Court decisions applying the scienter requirement of one statute to two different sets of facts. Compare United States v. Freed, 401 U.S. 601 (1971), with Staples, 511 U.S. 600. The National Firearms Act proscribes, inter alia, receiv[ing] or possess[ing] a firearm which is not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d). In 1971, the Freed Court held that hand grenades, which are included in the definition of firearms, were obviously dangerous, closely regulated weapons that justified an inference of notice of wrongdoing: one would hardly be surprised to learn that possession of hand grenades is not an innocent act. Freed, 401 U.S. at 609. The Court concluded that the defendant could be convicted without proof that he knew the grenades were unregistered. Knowingly possessing the grenades was sufficient to distinguish the defendant's conduct from an innocent act. See id. 29 Twenty-three years later, in Staples, the Court applied the same analysis to the possession of a machine gun, but reached a nearly opposite result based on the different expectations of regulation associated with guns. The Court found that the long history of substantially unregulated possession of guns in the United States meant that a possessor would not reasonably expect that possession to be closely regulated. The Court consequently decided that the government was obligated to prove that the defendant knew that his gun was, in fact, capable of being fired automatically and thus was a machine gun, unregistered possession of which violated the Act. Simple knowledge that it was a gun was inadequate to create an expectation that its possession could be criminal. See Staples, 511 U.S. at 610-12. Knowledge that the weapon was automatic was necessary to distinguish between regulated and traditionally unregulated weapons and hence between likely culpable and likely innocent conduct. Although, like grenades, guns are dangerous, because the latter have historically been unregulated or lightly regulated, a defendant who knew only that he possessed a gun would not reasonably expect regulation. 30 In the instant case, Weintraub challenges his conviction on four counts, both substantively and as objects of the charged conspiracy: Count Two, causing a renovation of a building containing RACM without notifying EPA, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(B) and 40 C.F.R. § 61.145(b); Count Three, causing wrecking and dismantling that broke up the asbestos containing materials, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(1) and 40 C.F.R. § 61.145(c)(1); Count Six, causing asbestos containing materials to be placed in containers that were not leak-tight and did not possess the required warning labels, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 7413(e)(1) and 40 C.F.R. § 61.150(a)(1); and Count Seven, dispos[ing] and caus[ing] to be disposed asbestos containing materials at one [or] more sites that could not legally accept asbestos for disposal, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(1) and 40 C.F.R. § 61.150(b). 31 But for the presence of asbestos, each count describes conduct that is basically innocuous and largely unregulated. As a general matter, one who renovates or demolishes a building does not have to notify EPA or comply with federal regulations when handling or disposing of supplies or waste materials. Under normal circumstances, one would not expect regulation of such innocent activities. It is the presence of asbestos that distinguishes such activity from that which a reasonable person would expect to be prohibited or heavily regulated. Asbestos is thus the crucial element separating legal innocence from wrongful conduct. X-Citement Video, 513 U.S. at 73. 32 Weintraub contends that the category of asbestos is analogous to the category of guns at issue in Staples and that therefore the government must demonstrate knowledge that the asbestos was RACM, as it had to demonstrate knowledge that the weapon was automatic in Staples. We disagree. Unlike the generic category of guns in Staples, the category of asbestos is easily sufficient to trigger an expectation of regulation in a reasonable person and to distinguish in his or her mind innocent from wrongful conduct. In Staples, the Supreme Court emphasized the long-standing tradition of substantially unregulated possession of firearms in this country as countering the inference that a possessor of a firearm should reasonably anticipate regulation. One would need to know that the weapon could fire automatically before one would suspect his possession to be wrongful. See Staples, 511 U.S. at 619. Likewise, in X-Citement Video, which involved a prosecution for trafficking in child pornography, the Court found that, because the First Amendment protects possession and distribution of pornography generally, one would not anticipate criminal liability for the distribution of what one knew only to be pornography. Rather, the Court concluded, one would need to know additionally that the pornography involved depictions of children to expect that its distribution would invite prosecution. See X-Citement Video, 513 U.S. at 72-73. 33 In contrast, a reasonable person's settled expectations about asbestos are quite different. As a general matter, asbestos is strictly regulated at the local, state, and federal levels and no reasonable person - let alone a sophisticated real estate developer like Weintraub - could be unaware that asbestos in almost all of its applications is closely regulated. 5 Beginning in the middle of the twentieth century, asbestos's grave public health implications became evident, and over the succeeding decades public control of asbestos has become pervasive. At the federal level, handling of asbestos is covered by a variety of regulatory schemes of which the air-pollution control regulations involved in this case are only a part. See 15 U.S.C. § 2641 (Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), governing removal of asbestos from schools); 30 C.F.R. § 71.702 (Mine Safety and Health Administration standard regulating mineworkers' exposure to asbestos dust); 40 C.F.R. § 763.80 (EPA regulations implementing AHERA); 40 C.F.R. § 763.120 (EPA workplace safety rules regulating asbestos in state and local public buildings); 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1001 (Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules regulating occupational exposure to asbestos in a variety of industries); 29 C.F.R. § 1926.1101 (same, for the construction industry). State regulation of asbestos is also pervasive, and this is so both in Connecticut, where the building at 152 Temple Street in New Haven is located, and in New York, Weintraub's home state and the state of incorporation of the Corporate Defendants. See, e.g., Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 19a-332b (agency notification of asbestos abatement activities); Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 20-435 (licensing of abatement contractors); Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 21a-337 (labeling of products containing asbestos); Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 22a-252 (disposal of asbestos); Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19a-332a-1 (standards for asbestos abatement); N.Y. Lab. Law § 241 (demolition involving asbestos); N.Y. Lab. Law § 902 (licensing of asbestos contractors); N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 6, § 221.2 (spraying of asbestos surface coatings prohibited); N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 6, § 360-2.17(p) (restrictions on landfill disposal of asbestos); N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 8, § 155.5 (testing for asbestos prior to school renovation); N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 10, § 22.5 (reporting of asbestos-related lung disease); N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 10, § 73.1 (accreditation of asbestos safety training providers); N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 12, § 56-2.1 (licensing of asbestos contractors); N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 12, § 56-12.1 (asbestos handling and removal requirements). The use and handling of asbestos is also regulated at the municipal level, as is true in New Haven. See New Haven, Conn., Code § 16-60 (prohibiting use of sprayed asbestos in residential buildings and requiring and regulating its removal); see also, e.g., N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 16-117.1 (Transport, storage and disposal of waste containing asbestos); N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 24-146.1 (Asbestos work). 34 Apart from the landscape of public regulation of asbestos at the federal, state, and local levels, we note that it has been the subject of judicial regulation through a torrent of tort litigation over the last 25 years. High profile awards, settlements, and bankruptcies have resulted from the filing of thousands of lawsuits by sufferers of asbestos-related ailments. See generally Lester Brickman, The Asbestos Litigation Crisis: Is There a Need for an Administrative Alternative?, 131 Cardozo L. Rev. 1819 (1992); Christopher F. Edley, Jr., & Paul C. Weiler, Asbestos: A Multi-Billion-Dollar Crisis, 30 Harv. J. on Legis. 383 (1993). 35 Many of the state and local regulations cited above apply to asbestos below the thresholds in the federal work-practice standard. For example, Connecticut regulates asbestos removal without regard to whether the asbestos is friable and does so for quantities as small as three linear or square feet of asbestos-containing material, a threshold considerably below that which defines RACM. See Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19a-332-5; Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19a-332-1(e). Similarly, the New Haven regulations do not establish threshold asbestos quantities for regulation. See New Haven, Conn., Code § 16-61(b) (defining asbestos emergency as involving any amount of sprayed-on asbestos on the interior walls of a dwelling). In sum, no reasonable person at this late date could claim to be unaware that asbestos is severely regulated and that its handling is fraught with legal risk. A reasonable person thus could not hold settled expectations that handling of asbestos is innocent, substantially unregulated conduct, whether or not in quantities sufficient to trigger the CAA thresholds. 36 The foregoing considerations lead us to conclude that, in a criminal prosecution under § 7413 for a violation of the asbestos work- practice standard, the government need only prove that the defendant knew that the substance involved in the alleged violations was asbestos; it need not establish the defendant's knowledge that the conduct proscribed by the statute involved the kind and quantity of asbestos sufficient to trigger the asbestos work-practice standard. The government need not prove, for instance, that the defendant knew that polarized light microscopy would show that materials in the building contained more than one percent asbestos or that the material when crushed by hand pressure would form dust. 37 Under this standard, one who, in good faith, did not know that the building he was demolishing contained asbestos could not be convicted of knowingly violat[ing] the work-practice standard, even if the demolition in fact involved more than the threshold quantities of RACM. Only knowledge that the renovation or demolition involves asbestos can result in criminal liability, because no one can reasonably claim surprise that asbestos is regulated and that some form of liability is possible for violating those regulations. 38 Our holding that the scienter component of a criminal violation of the asbestos work-practice standard is satisfied by knowledge of the presence of asbestos and not the particular type of asbestos to which the standard applies is limited to such violations. The application of the scienter requirement to criminal violations involving other hazardous air pollutants or violations of other provisions of the CAA must await future cases.