Memo: Strengthening Enforcement in Communities with Environmental Justice Concerns

June 2021 Memo from Lawrence Starfield, EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance.

Introduction:

In his message to employees on Wednesday, April 7, 2021, the Administrator directed all EPA offices to “strengthen enforcement of violations of cornerstone environmental statutes” in communities overburdened by pollution. This memorandum sets out steps to advance these environmental justice (EJ) goals via the criminal enforcement work performed by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance’s (OECA’s) Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training (OCEFT) and the Regional Criminal Enforcement Counsels (RCECs), with technical assistance from their colleagues in other EPA offices.

The criminal enforcement program can further environmental justice by strengthening tools for the detection of environmental crimes in overburdened communities, improving outreach to the victims of such crimes, and ensuring that our investigations are structured to provide maximum assistance to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in its exercise of prosecutorial discretion and pursuit of remedies that will guarantee adequate protection for those communities.