NCJ Number
112722
Editor(s)
I Eriksson
Date Published
1988
Length
120 pages
Annotation
This anthology on environmental crime elucidates the practical implementation of policy levers and sanctions available for securing compliance with the Environmental Protection Act.
Abstract
The main reference is on community reactions to environmental crime, preconditions of environmental criminality, and social control of noncriminal behavior that is nonetheless detrimental to the environment. While there is no lack of policy levers and sanctions to deter such offenses, sparing use has hitherto been made of administrative controls and other responses. The number of reported offenses is relatively low; judicial decisions have grown rapidly, but remain relatively low in number; and environmental protection charges are rarely imposed. Additional barriers to implementing sanctions for environmental offenses include vague or inexact demands concerning the environmental behavior of industrial enterprises, difficulties in discovering abuses and infractions, technical difficulties and lack of resources for control, abuses ranging from excessive omissions to nonexistent controls, and the difficulty in determining formal liability for violations. Additional problems include uncertainty due to both the content and diversity of environmental legislation. It is noted that penal liability is needed and should have a deterrent effect, but that this deterrent effect may fail to materialize because of system shortcomings, lenient penalties, and the small risk of detection. (Author abstract modified)