News Release

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For Immediate Release Contact: Communications Office (916) 324-9670 March 13, 1998

Environmental Crime-Fighters Target Rural California Counties

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California District Attorneys Association in partnership with state and federal environmental protection officials today unveiled a program to put additional prosecutors in the field to help fight environmental crime in rural California. CDAA's Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project will boost prosecution of environmental offenders in 32 rural counties under the direction of local District Attorneys.

"The open spaces and limited resources of our rural counties make them particularly vulnerable to environmental crime," said California District Attorneys Association President George Kennedy. "The Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project is a bold partnership, committing federal, state and local resources to this fight. We hope that CDAA can assist local prosecutors not only in addressing specific instances of environmental crime, but also in training a core group of public employees who can work together in making our environment safer."

For the past two and a half years, CDAA, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), and several U.S. Attorney's Offices have cooperated throughout the state in the operation of environmental enforcement task forces involving regulators, prosecutors, and other sworn law enforcement officials. As a result, many counties are experiencing significant increases in the number of environmental investigations and prosecutions.

Although this initiative is working extremely well, there are large numbers of environmental cases -- involving water pollution, violation of air district rules, illegal solid waste disposal and fish and wildlife issues -- which remain unaddressed because task force members have not received the education and training needed to pursue them. The Circuit Prosecutor Project will provide rural District Attorney's Offices with the resources to meet this training need, providing a vital ingredient to increasing the overall effectiveness of environmental enforcement in those areas.

"No one should profit from polluting the environment," said California Secretary for Environmental Protection Peter M. Rooney. "This project is a major step towards uniform, aggressive and consistent enforcement of California's environmental laws. It will serve notice to any who believe they can gain an economic advantage by not complying fully with California's environmental laws. The circuit prosecutors will help to level the playing field' in rural areas, where environmental crime may go undetected and unpunished, and to deter future offenses."

Five regional "circuit prosecutors" are being assigned regions of the state where they will coordinate and provide training and education to existing multi-county environmental enforcement task forces. Training activities will include one day multi-media enforcement seminars, lectures on specific topics such as expert testimony and service of search warrants, and regular briefing and explanation of cases and developments in environmental enforcement.  Cases developed by the task forces will be prosecuted in counties where they occur by circuit prosecutors designated as special deputy district attorneys by the local District Attorney.

"There is no higher priority for EPA's enforcement program than ensuring that environmental crimes, which can kill people, destroy property and cripple the environment, are safely detected, effectively prosecuted and consistently deterred," said Steven A. Herman, U.S. EPA's Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "This agreement with California's front line enforcement officials demonstrates EPA's continuing commitment to deliver training and build enforcement capacity at the community level, where it is needed most."

"The protections provided to the public by our environmental laws extend only as far as there are trained officers to enforce them," said Felicia Marcus, Regional Administrator of U.S. EPA's western regional office. "The Circuit Prosecutor Project is a great example of federal, state, and local agencies cooperating to protect the health and environment of residents in rural counties throughout California."

The California Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project is a joint effort of CDAA, Cal/EPA, U.S. EPA and the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG). It will be funded in its first year with a $200,000 grant from U.S. EPA and $400,000 in funding and in-kind support from state and local sources. Cal/EPA's Air Resources Board and Department of Toxic Substances Control, and member District Attorney's offices of CDAA also have contributed to the non-federal share of the project.

Circuit prosecutors will focus their activities in the following counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Lake, Shasta, Tehama, Siskiyou, Modoc, Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, Glenn, Colusa, Butte, Sutter, Yuba, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Alpine, San Benito, Merced, Stanislaus, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Mono, Inyo, Madera and Kings. Circuit prosecutors will serve other counties on an as-requested basis.

Note to editors and reporters -- The following District Attorneys were confirmed to attend this morning's announcement: Terrence Hallinan (San Francisco), George Kennedy (Santa Clara), Mike Capizzi (Orange County), Susan Massini (Mendocino), Stan Eller (Mono), McGregor Scott (Shasta).

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