Environmental criminal enforcement and environmental justice in the United States

Environmental crimes involving significant harm or culpable conduct require the application of criminal enforcement tools to punish offenders and deter future offenses. Arguably, the chronic and persistent pollution from stationary sources that poisons environmental justice communities throughout the United States should be seen more often as a criminal enforcement issue, as they can involve deliberate and knowing violations, but these cases are generally treated as compliance issues. In this chapter, we discuss environmental justice as a regulatory problem in the United States, history of federal criminal enforcement of the environment, and explore different practical and statutory avenues for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice to reduce toxic harms that plague environmental justice communities under the U.S. Clean Air Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.