Transcript Document
Environmental Enforcement
Presented at the
UHLC
March 10, 2010
Roger A. Haseman
Assistant District Attorney
Harris County, Texas
1
Overview
Historical Perspective
Types of Cases
Investigative Agencies
E.C.R.P.
Annual Stats
S.E.P.s
Initiatives
Training & Education
2
Historical Perspective
Began in the late 1970s
The Pollution Division
One person assigned to this Division as
well as other duties
Received most, if not all, cases from the
Harris County Pollution Control Division
(HCPCD)
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Historical Perspective
Responsible for the prosecution of two
seminal cases:
American Plant Food Corp. v. State
(Water Pollution)
Exxon Co. U.S.A. v. State (Air Pollution)
Still make case law with every trial today.
4
Historical Perspective
1991 – SB2
Created a multitude of new offenses, both
felonies and misdemeanors
Health & Safety Code
Water Code
Basic framework we still use today.
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Types of Cases We Prosecute
Illegal Dumping – Strict Liability
Water Pollution – Strict Liability
Used Oil Act Violations
Air Pollution
Hazardous Waste Violations
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Special Situation Cases
Parks and Wildlife Code Violations
– Sewage discharges from boats
– Industrial Waste discharges
(Fish houses/Seafood processors)
– Prohibited Species cases
(Non-native Fish/Plant life)
2007 – 2008 (29 total cases)
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Special Situation Cases
Animal Cruelty Investigations
– These were initially the responsibility of the
Pollution Division
2005 – Water Pollution cases involving
horse stables and dog fighting operations
Environmental impact from animal feces
discharges and runoff
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Who Investigates
Environmental Crime?
HCPCD – HCPHES
– (Merger with the Health Department)
– 15 Investigators
HPD/EIU – 1993
– 6 Police Officers and 6 City Inspectors
HCEED – 1993
– 7 Constables + 2 Salvage Yard Detail
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Who Investigates
Environmental Crime?
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
– 2 Game Wardens (Environmental Officers)
Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ)
– 2 Criminal Investigators
E.P.A. – ???
County Attorney’s Office
10
Environmental Circuit Rider
Project (ECRP)
Project of the Houston-Galveston Area
Council of Governments (H-GAC)
Reimbursable Contract with H-GAC to
assist the other 12 counties in the region
Enabled Environmental Crimes to obtain a
fourth prosecutor position
Idea conceived as a result of SB 1265
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SB 1265 – 2003
Codified as Section 7.203, Water Code
Criminal Enforcement Review
Requires the TCEQ to first review offense
reports submitted by peace officers before
a prosecuting attorney may initiate
criminal environmental charges against a
defendant holding a TCEQ permit
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SB 1265 – 2003
The TCEQ then has 45 days to evaluate
the report, determine whether a violation
exists, and whether administrative or civil
remedies would be more appropriate than
criminal charges.
If there is a determination that
administrative or civil remedies are
inadequate or inappropriate, then the
criminal prosecution may proceed.
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SB 1265 – 2003
In all other cases, the violation will be
resolved through administrative or civil
means, and a prosecuting attorney may not
prosecute the alleged violation.
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Response to SB 1265
Harris County prosecuted 400
environmental cases in 2003
TCEQ prosecuted 20 total cases in the
remaining 253 counties during same period
Businesses here complained to legislature
about being prosecuted
Legislature decided to try to stop Harris
County from prosecuting these cases
(Rogue prosecutor)
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Response to SB 1265
Goal to work with H-GAC to provide
training and prosecution, if necessary to
the other 12 counties in the region
2004 – Prepared both civil and criminal
manuals for prosecuting environmental
violations
2005 – Went to every county in the region
to provide training
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Response to SB 1265
2006 – 2009
Provided assistance to all counties in the
region
Actively prosecuted cases as a special
prosecutor in Fort Bend and Montgomery
Counties
In 2008 – 2009, handled approximately
100 cases in those two counties
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Annual Stats – Five Years
2005 – 383 Cases – $729,405.00
2006 – 546 Cases – $594,951.00
2007 – 420 Cases – $644,956.00
2008 – 492 Cases – $259,300.00
2009 – 481 Cases – $525,050.00
Avg. – 465 Cases/Year
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Annual Stats – Five Years
Total Restitution – $446,541.92
Total Community Service Restitution
$3,395,347.51
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Supplemental Environmental
Projects (S.E.P.s)
Both the City of Houston and Harris
County have S.E.P. Accounts
Corporations perform projects through PreTrial Intervention Agreements
Penalties – Fines + S.E.P. Contributions
Total S.E.P. Contributions – 2004-2009
$2,435,650.00
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S.E.P. Recipients
Buffalo Bayou Partnership – $895,000.00
–
–
–
–
–
Hike and Bike Trails
Mighty Tidy
Buffalo Bend Wetland Park
Educational Tour Boat
International Coffee Building
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S.E.P. Recipients
Galveston Bay Foundation
The Children’s Museum
Keep Houston Beautiful
Harris County – Ozone Monitors
City of Houston – Hybrid Vehicles and
Park Projects
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Initiative – Back Log of Cases
Beginning of 2009 – 215 Cases
As of March 1st – 139 Cases
We filed 424 new cases in 2009
We handled 481 cases in 2009
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Other Initiatives for 2009—2010
Apartment Complex Sewage cases
Power/Pressure Washing Cases
Ship Channel Initiative – Boat Patrols
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Training & Education
City of Houston Seminars (NEET)
–
–
–
–
Waste Transporter Seminar
Power/Pressure Washing Seminars
Apartment Complex Sewage Issues
Automotive Industry Seminar
HCPHES Training
H-GAC Environmental Roundtables
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Training & Education
TCEQ Basic Environmental Course
TELEA Conference
SEEN Conferences
– Our office is an agency member representative
for TDCAA
FLETC (Advanced Environmental Crimes
Course – Two Weeks)
NDAA Courses
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Conclusion
No other county in Texas does what Harris
County does
No other county in Texas has more than
one prosecutor assigned to environmental
The vast majority of criminal
environmental case law has come and
continues to come from Harris County
Harris County is the leader in Texas on
environmental crimes
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Miscellaneous Items
Mens Rea (Culpability)
Intentional or Knowing Violations
– “with respect to conduct” (Texas law)
– Ahmad v. United States (Federal law)
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Public Welfare Doctrine
Strict Liability Offenses
– Water Pollution (Chapter 7.147, Water Code)
– Illegal Dumping (Chapter 365, H&S Code)
Criminal Negligence
Corporations – Probation???
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Water and “Water in the State”
means groundwater, … lakes, bays, ponds,
… reservoirs, springs, rivers, streams,
creeks, estuaries, wetlands, marshes, inlets,
canals, the Gulf of Mexico, … and all other
bodies of surface water, natural or artificial,
inland or coastal, fresh or salt, navigable or
nonnavigable, and including the beds and
banks of all watercourses and bodies of
surface water, that are wholly or partially
inside or bordering the state or inside the
jurisdiction of the state.
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Water in the State
Drainage ditches
Watts v. State, 140 S.W.3d 860
(Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2004,
pet. ref’d)
Sanitary sewer lines
McGee v. State, 923 S.W.2d 627
(Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1995, pet.
ref’d)
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QUESTIONS???
Roger A. Haseman
Assistant District Attorney
Chief, Environmental Crimes Division
Harris County, Texas
713-755-5834
[email protected]
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