Environmental Enforcement

This casebook is now availabe in paperback. To view the 2012 update supplement, click here.

Environmental Enforcement is the first casebook devoted exclusively to environmental enforcement issues. Perfect for a specialized course or seminar, or as a supplement to existing survey courses, the book provides in-depth coverage of this emerging and dynamic field. Although literally thousands of attorneys in government, private practice, and public interest organizations are involved in environmental enforcement in all or nearly all of their practice, this subject too often receives only cursory treatment in traditional texts. This book introduces future lawyers to the full range of legal issues and practical challenges they will face when handling environmental enforcement cases.

The book begins with an examination of the theories underlying the various models of environmental enforcement and the appropriate roles of the federal and state governments in enforcement. It then contains chapters on government investigative authorities and administrative, civil, criminal, and citizen enforcement. There also is a lengthy chapter devoted to the specialized issues arising in Superfund enforcement. The book then examines the burgeoning area of compliance incentives and assistance programs, and also discusses alternative enforcement strategies, such as permit bars, public spotlighting techniques, and common law theories. Problem exercises appear throughout the book.