Environment Prosecutions for July 2018
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2018 the government reported 35 new environment prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 12.9 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with environment-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (see Table 1).
When monthly 2018 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-19.5%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 41 percent from levels reported in 2013.
The decrease from the levels five years ago in environment prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of environment prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
Within the broad category of environment, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within environment are
Illegal Discharge of Toxic, Hazardous or Carcinogenic Waste
Wildlife Protection
Marine Resources
Environmental Crime
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in July 2018 was for "Environ-Environmental Crimes", accounting for 60 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Environ-Wildlife Protection" (40%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for environment prosecutions in July 2018 was Interior accounting for 43 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of environment referrals were: EPA (40% ), DHS (9%), Commerce (3%). See Figure 3.
Environment Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2018, 9 defendants in environment cases for these matters were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.
In the magistrate courts in July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 16 U.S.C Section 1372 involving "Marine Mammal Protection - Prohibitions". This was the lead charge for 22.2 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Environment Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2018, 26 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 2 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during July.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of environment matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2018.
Lead Charge Count Rank 42 USC 7413 - Air Pollution Prevention and Control - Fed strd 7 1 More 16 USC 3372 - Illegally Taken Fish & Wildlife - prohibited acts 6 2 More 42 USC 6928 - Hazardous Waste Management - Federal Enforcement 5 3 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 4 More 18 USC 545 - Smuggling goods into the United States 2 4 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 1 6 More 18 USC 2232 - Destruction/removal of property to prevent seizure 1 6 More 33 USC 1319 - Water Pollution - Enforcement 1 6 More 36 CFR 261.16m - Operating or placing a motor vehicle except where designated 1 6 More 42 USC 1320a-7 - Exclusion of certain individuals and entities from participation in Medicare and State health care programs 1 6 More 42 USC 7412 - Nat'l emission standards hazardous air pollutants 1 6 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Air Pollution Prevention and Control - Fed strd" (Title 42 U.S.C Section 7413) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Illegally Taken Fish & Wildlife - prohibited acts" under Title 16 U.S.C Section 3372.
Ranked 3rd was "Hazardous Waste Management - Federal Enforcement" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 6928.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2018 the Justice Department said the government brought 10.4 environment prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of environment prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
The District of Kansas — with 7 prosecutions — was the most active during July 2018.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd.
Central District of California (Los Angeles) is now ranking 3rd.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new environment crime cases of this type during July 2018 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Murguia, Carlos Kansas 7 1 More Houston, John A. Cal, S 3 2 More Anello, Michael M. Cal, S 2 3 More Christensen, Dana Lewis Montana 2 3 More McDade, Joe Billy Ill, C 1 5 More Zainey, Jay C. La, E 1 5 More Talwani, Indira Mass 1 5 More Jonker, Robert James Mich, W 1 5 More Jones, Robert N Car, E 1 5 More Kuntz, William Francis, II N. Y., E 1 5 More Bulsara, Sanket J. N. Y., E 1 5 More Dlott, Susan J. Ohio, S 1 5 More Goldberg, Mitchell S. Penn, E 1 5 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 13 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of environment filings. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Carlos Murguia in the District of Kansas ranked 1st with 7 defendants in environment cases.
Judge John A. Houston in the Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd with 3 defendants in environment cases.
Judges Michael M. Anello in the Southern District of California (San Diego) and Dana Lewis Christensen in the District of Montana ranked 3rd with 2 defendants in environment cases.
Report Generated: August 23, 2018
