Local Enforcement Agency Correspondence

Incorporating Referrals to Prosecutors within Enforcement Programs

Date: December 9, 2005

To: All Local Enforcement Agencies

This all LEA e-mail was sent on behalf of Howard Levenson, Deputy Director, Permitting and Enforcement Division, of the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB).

This note requests your feedback on draft guidance regarding referrals of violations and cases to prosecutors. We are developing this guidance in response to a need identified during recent prosecutor roundtable meetings with Cal/EPA legal counsel. Additionally, solid waste local enforcement agency representative, Bill Prinz, identified this information and process as valuable to include within enforcement program plans and discussed the suggested protocol with the members of the Enforcement Advisory Council (EAC) and the Solid Waste Policy Committee (SWPC) of the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health (CCDEH).

What Is This About?

In regional and state prosecutor roundtable meetings over the last year, many prosecutors in the state (District Attorneys, Circuit Prosecutors, and other Counsel) have expressed an increased interest in taking on environmental cases. However, many of the prosecutors do not always hear about potential cases from field staff. Further, with increased coordination and broader information, a prosecutor may find that the violator in one case could be linked to separate environmental violations in other media or similar violations in other jurisdictions. This information could lead to more effective enforcement in that a larger net is cast more widely to rein in polluters. In response to this need and to aid Cal/EPA and prosecutors in enhancing enforcement efforts, the CIWMB is seeking your feedback on this guidance document that could be added to the enforcement tools of LEAs and CIWMB staff involved in inspection and enforcement activities. Additional perspective (Adobe PDF, 553 KB) on Cal/EPA’s implementation of enforcement initiatives is available.

What Do I Need to Do?

Based on discussion with and concurrence by the SWPC and EAC, we are asking LEA programs to review the two attached documents and provide feedback by December 30, 2005, on these protocols, including whether this could fit into your CIWMB-approved Enforcement Program Plan (EPP). The first document is a draft protocol (Adobe PDF, 24 KB | MS Word, 43 KB) developed by the CIWMB for solid waste and tire enforcement. The second document is Environmental Offenses Case Referral Guidelines (Adobe PDF, 41 KB) and is from Cal/EPA. Once this guidance is finalized, in conjunction with the SWPC and EAC, we will ask each LEA program to review the protocols and determine if its program can establish business practices for referrals to prosecutors and/or a routine method that communicates appropriate cases to your local prosecutor.

Please be apprised that SWPC and EAC representatives have already agreed to attend and participate in the state and regional task force meetings with other agencies and prosecutors, and to communicate relevant information to appropriate LEA programs. Whenever possible, LEA programs should increase staff attendance at local strike force meetings to discuss cases across media. Some jurisdictions already participate in local enforcement task force meetings and we acknowledge those efforts.

Who Do I Give Feedback to on this Issue?

If you have comments, please contact Wendy Breckon at the CIWMB and your LEA roundtable representative, Bill Prinz, or a member of the CCDEH Solid Waste Policy Committee if you are with local government. Comments are due by December 30, 2005. At the CIWMB, Permitting and Enforcement and Special Waste Division management will be working to review these documents with their staff, collect feedback and assess whether to include steps in their day to day business practices that encourage referrals of potential cases to state or local prosecutors.

The next meeting of the CCDEH Solid Waste Policy Committee will be held January 4, 2006, in Sacramento Solid Waste Committee.

The Enforcement Advisory Council will meet late January 2006 in Sacramento.

Cal/EPA’s enforcement home page

Feel free to contact Sharon Anderson or Wendy Breckon, if you have any questions.

Howard Levenson, Deputy Director
Permitting and Enforcement Division
916-341-6311

Attachments

• Draft CIWMB Protocol for Enforcement Decision-Making: Adobe PDF, 24 KB | MS Word, 43 KB
• Environmental Offenses Case Referral Guidelines (Adobe PDF, 41 KB)