Environmental Law Reporter: The Future of Environmental Criminal Enforcement

This article, published in the Environmental Law Reporter, is a transcript of a June 2021 panel discussion, “Lessons from the Past for the Future of Environmental Criminal Enforcement,” that Steve moderated for the Environmental Law Institute. Participants included Deborah Harris (Section Chief of Environmental Crimes at DOJ), Nadira Clarke (Partner at Hogan Lovells and former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Trial Attorney with Environmental Crimes at DOJ), and Stacey Mitchell (Partner at Akin Gump and former Section Chief of Environmental Crimes at DOJ). The panelists discussed how the ECS has shifted its enforcement priorities as the nature and scope of environmental crimes have evolved from the early 1980’s, when the Department of Justice (DOJ) established the Environmental Crimes Section (ECS), to the present.