Environmental audit privilege

Last updated

Environmental audit privilege, or environmental privilege, in United States environmental law, is an evidentiary privilege created under state statute. The privilege protects the results of companies' internal environmental compliance audits from disclosure at trial, or in pretrial discovery.

Contents

The environmental audit privilege is meant to incentivize companies to evaluate their own compliance with environmental regulations. [1] Proponents of such laws further argue that it is necessary to encourage such self-evaluations, because regulatory agencies lack the resources to police all the polluters in their jurisdiction. [2]

Environmental audit privilege statutes have been promoted by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, which circulates a model statute known as the "Uniform State Environmental Audit Privilege Act". [1] However, most state environmental privilege laws are non-uniform, and vary greatly in their scope, exceptions and effect. [3]

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been skeptical of state environmental audit privilege laws, and generally requires that states limit the privilege's effect so as not to interfere with federal investigations. [4] These concerns were heightened by the question of whether these laws would apply to state government agencies to which the EPA delegated its enforcement authority under federal law. [5] Accordingly, in the past, the EPA has used its statutory powers in the delegation of EPA enforcement authority to discourage states from adopting excessively powerful environmental audit privilege laws. [4]

Some states do not recognize environmental audit privilege, but do provide immunity from civil penalties for the results of internal compliance audits. These states include Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission</span> Government agency overseeing stock exchanges

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market manipulation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Environmental Protection Agency</span> U.S. federal government agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarbanes–Oxley Act</span> 2002 U.S. law regarding corporate accounting

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that mandates certain practices in financial record keeping and reporting for corporations.

In the United States government, independent agencies are agencies that exist outside the federal executive departments and the Executive Office of the President. In a narrower sense, the term refers only to those independent agencies that, while considered part of the executive branch, have regulatory or rulemaking authority and are insulated from presidential control, usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tribal sovereignty in the United States</span> Type of political status of Native Americans

Tribal sovereignty in the United States is the concept of the inherent authority of Indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States.

An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is a judge and trier of fact who both presides over trials and adjudicates claims or disputes involving administrative law. ALJs can administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evidence, and make factual and legal determinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truth in Lending Act</span> US federal law (1968)

The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) of 1968 is a United States federal law designed to promote the informed use of consumer credit, by requiring disclosures about its terms and cost to standardize the manner in which costs associated with borrowing are calculated and disclosed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act</span> US federal law governing pesticide regulation

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is a United States federal law that set up the basic U.S. system of pesticide regulation to protect applicators, consumers, and the environment. It is administered and regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the appropriate environmental agencies of the respective states. FIFRA has undergone several important amendments since its inception. A significant revision in 1972 by the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act (FEPCA) and several others have expanded EPA's present authority to oversee the sales and use of pesticides with emphasis on the preservation of human health and protection of the environment by "(1) strengthening the registration process by shifting the burden of proof to the chemical manufacturer, (2) enforcing compliance against banned and unregistered products, and (3) promulgating the regulatory framework missing from the original law".

An unfunded mandate is a statute or regulation that requires any entity to perform certain actions, with no money provided for fulfilling the requirements. This can be imposed on state or local government, as well as private individuals or organizations. The key distinction is that the statute or regulation is not accompanied by funding to fulfill the requirement

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States environmental law</span> US environmental policy

United States environmental law concerns legal standards to protect human health and improve the natural environment of the United States. While subject to criticism at home and abroad on issues of protection, enforcement, and over-regulation, the country remains an important source of environmental legal expertise and experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safe Drinking Water Act</span> Principal federal law in the United States intended to ensure safe drinking water for the public

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the principal federal law in the United States intended to ensure safe drinking water for the public. Pursuant to the act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set standards for drinking water quality and oversee all states, localities, and water suppliers that implement the standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental crime</span> Illegal act which directly harms the environment

Environmental crime is an illegal act which directly harms the environment. These illegal activities involve the environment, wildlife, biodiversity and natural resources. International bodies such as, G7, Interpol, European Union, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, have recognised the following environmental crimes:

Right to know is a human right enshrined in law in several countries. UNESCO defines it as the right for people to "participate in an informed way in decisions that affect them, while also holding governments and others accountable". It pursues universal access to information as essential foundation of inclusive knowledge societies. It is often defined in the context of the right for people to know about their potential exposure to environmental conditions or substances that may cause illness or injury, but it can also refer more generally to freedom of information or informed consent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clean Air Act (United States)</span> 1963 United States federal law to control air pollution

The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance</span> Law enforcement arm of the United States Environmental Protection Agency

The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) is the law enforcement arm of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is made up of attorneys, special agents, scientists and other employees.

American Electric Power Company v. Connecticut, 564 U.S. 410 (2011), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court, in an 8–0 decision, held that corporations cannot be sued for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) under federal common law, primarily because the Clean Air Act (CAA) delegates the management of carbon dioxide and other GHG emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Brought to court in July 2004 in the Southern District of New York, this was the first global warming case based on a public nuisance claim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whistleblower protection in the United States</span>

A whistleblower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is either private or public. The Whistleblower Protection Act was made into federal law in the United States in 1989.

There are benefits to leaving environmental regulation both to the federal government to the states.For example, wildlife conservation is much more of a concern for Alaska than for New York. New York, however, has much bigger air and light pollution issues than Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pesticide regulation in the United States</span>

Pesticide regulation in the United States is primarily a responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In America, it was not till the 1950s that pesticides were regulated in terms of their safety. The Pesticides Control Amendment (PCA) of 1954 was the first time Congress passed guidance regarding the establishment of safe limits for pesticide residues on food. It authorized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban pesticides they determined to be unsafe if they were sprayed directly on food. The Food Additives Amendment, which included the Delaney Clause, prohibited the pesticide residues from any carcinogenic pesticides in processed food. In 1959, pesticides were required to be registered.

Water in Arkansas is an important issue encompassing the conservation, protection, management, distribution and use of the water resource in the state. Arkansas contains a mixture of groundwater and surface water, with a variety of state and federal agencies responsible for the regulation of the water resource. In accordance with agency rules, state, and federal law, the state's water treatment facilities utilize engineering, chemistry, science and technology to treat raw water from the environment to potable water standards and distribute it through water mains to homes, farms, business and industrial customers. Following use, wastewater is collected in collection and conveyance systems, decentralized sewer systems or septic tanks and treated in accordance with regulations at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) before being discharged to the environment.

References

  1. 1 2 American Legislative Exchange Council. "Uniform State Environmental Audit Privilege Act" . Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  2. Robin Morris Collin (2008). Battleground: Environment. p. 183. ISBN   0313082405.
  3. James B. Witkin (1999). Environmental aspects of real estate transactions: from brownfields to green buildings. American Bar Association.
  4. 1 2 American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education (1998). Environmental and Toxic Tort Matters. p. 227.
  5. Christina Austin (1996). "State Environmental Audit Privilege Laws: Can EPA Still Access Environmental Audits in Federal Court?". Environmental Law. 26 (4): 1241–1261. JSTOR   43267549.
  6. "State Audit Privilege and Immunity Laws & Self-Disclosure Laws and Policies". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 2017-11-23.