NEW HORIZONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY LAW

Environmental
Enforcement
Networks
Concepts, lm plementation a nd Effectiveness
Hllirf'd by

Michad FaurePtofiJsor .HoastrMu Unirrr.nty .4/ri(ISiridtl tmr.i Ero.umu

5<-htNI of Lall'. RIJIIt'J'dam. 1ltt Nnltrtlam.i.f: Cllairmall 6/
1hr Fl~mlsiJ lllgl C()l.mtl/4/Enfll'ollmnual Etifuret>mt m
( JIIIRMJ, 8n.d.ttls. Bo'lgt'11m

Peter De Smcdt
Lmv. LDR. GMm. Fklglum

AIIOI'IItf iJI

An Sm.s
Pt'mfOIII:fll SrcrrJOry, Fit>mM 1/ig/r Coonril l1/l:nriroruntlllill
Ellforctmtm ( 1'1/R/.0. Br:.sd:l. 8t'lt.i11m

I'I~W IIORIZONS I NE~\'I RONMfl\'TAI.. t\NOENER Q't'

Owltailllnu, UK Nll'rllwmph,ll), l-I A. IJSA.

Lt\W

 Mic hael Fa ure, Pete r De Smedt a nd An Stas 2015

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permission of the publisher.
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Law subject co llection
DOl 10.4337/978 178347740 I

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Contents
List ojjigures
List of tables
List of contributors
List of abbreviations

IX
X

XI
XIV

Introduction
Mic/we/ Fawe. Peter De Smedt and An Stas

PART 1 GENERAL THEOR Y

Enviro nmenta l enforce ment networks: th eory, practice and

potentia l
Grant Pink

13

Better regulation, e nfo rcement and networking: eo-dependency

for the globa.l environment
Campbe/1 Gemme/1

37

Co nnecting cult ures: towa rds sustainable networking: key

success factors for enviro nm ental cooperation across cultu res
Esther Janssen

59

The role o f networks in ensuring compliance and strengthen ing

coordination : a compa ra tive analysis on 1NECE, ECENA,
RENA and REC Turkey
Zerrin SavaJWI

Evaluating a nd assessi ng environ mental enforcement networks:

through use of the network evaluation ma trix
105
Grant Pink and lames Lehane

PART II
6

68

BENEFITS OF NETWORKS

T owards a critical analysis of enviro nmenta l enforcement

networks
Jwnes Lehane

131

Environmental e1!(orcemem net works

VI

Environmental enforcement netwo rks: their 'value proposi tion'

during times of red uci ng reso urces and budgets
153
Grant Pink

Environmental regula tio n a nd e nforcement netwo rks operati ng

in tandem: a very effective vehicle for driving efliciencies and
facilitating knowledge exchange and transfer
172
Campbelf Gemmelf and Tony Circelfi

Countering tra nsnatio na l orga nized wildl ife crime: regional

and sub-regional initiatives, global responses and the need for
more effective coordi na ti on
Edward van Asclt

I0

Can supervision and enforcement networks make

self-regulation wor k?
JV!artin de Bree, H an de H aas and Paul Meerman

PART Ill
11

12

H untington geographic enforcement/compli ance initia tive: a

case study in mu lti-organisati on networ king and
collaboration
Eugene L ubieniecki

13 The European Un ion Forum of Judges for the Environment

Luc Lavrysen
14 T he Seaport Envi ronmental Security Ne twork: facilitating
interna tional enforcement colla boration to prevent illegal
hazardous waste shipments through ports
Danielle Fest Grabiel, Robert George Heiss,
A.feredith Koparova, Debomh Kopsick and H enk Ruessink

15

223

THEMATIC NETWORKS

The Lusa ka Agreement Task Force as a mecha nism fo r

enforcement against wildli fe crime
Emmanuel B. Kasimbazi

PART IV

187

239

263
276

289

HORIZONTAL NETWORKS

North American working group on environmental

e nforcement a nd co mplia nce coo peration: moving from
capacity building to operational activities
Deborah Kopsick and Susan Elizabeth Bromm

305

ConteJIIs
16

17

18

19

Informal environmenta l networking: th e EPA Network

example
William Fawcett

321

Developing and sustai ning environmental complia nce and

enforcemen t networks: lessons learned from the Internationa l
Netwo rk on E nviro nmental Complia nce and Enforcement
Jo Gerardu, Meredith Koparova. Kenneth Markowit:,
Dunvood Zae/ke and Gunnar Baldwin, Jr

334

Environmenta l inspections and environmental compliance

assurance networks in the con text of European Un io n
environment policy
Miroslav Angelo v and Liam Caslnnan
Success and fai lure factors in deve loping effective
environmen ta l enforcement networks: the case of the East
A frica n Network for Environmenta l Compliance and
Enforcement
Gerphas Opondo

PART V
20

vii

350

377

VE RTICAL NETWORKS

Regional environmental enforcement netwo rks in th e U nited

States
LeRoy Paddock

393

21 Gh ana 's efforts at environmental enforcement networks: lega l

and inst ituti onal structures
Bem adette Araba Adjei and Larsey i'vfensah

419

22 Effective networking, formal versus substa nti a l co mp liance,

co nfli cti ng powers: strengths and weaknesses o f environmenta l
criminal provisions enforcement networks in Italy
Gra:ia M aria Vagliasindi

430

23

Domestic envi ronment al enforcement netwo rks: the practice of

China
453
Xinyuan Lu, Hu Qin and Jrm Yang

24

E nviro nmental enfo rcement networkin g effo rts in C hile:

lessons learn t and challenges ahead
Juan Carlos Monckeberg, Kay Bergamini and Cristian Perez

470

vii i

Environmental eJJ(orcemem networks

25

Enfo rcement of environ menta l legislatio n by the Belgia n police

Frans Geysels

26

The Flemish High Council of Environmental Enforcement:

the ro le of a n environme nta l enforce ment network in a new
coordinated envi ronmental enforcement landscape within the
Flemish region , 2009- 2014
Afichae/ Faure and An Stas

482

490

Concluding and comparative remarks

i\fichael Faure, An Stas and Peter De Smedt

51 0

h1dex

525

Enforcemenr nerworks in Jraly

4.

447

ENVIRONMENTAL MISCOMPLIANCE BY
CORPORATIONS CAUSING ENVIRONMENTAL,
HEALTH AND ECONOMIC HARM: THE MISSING
'NETWORK' AND CONFLICTING POWERS

The te nsion between a forma l ' compl iance' con cept, such as the one exemplified in the previous section, and a substantial compliance concept, such
as the o ne seen in th e intense contro l and inves ti gative and enforceme nt
activ iti es agai nst en viro nmental crimes carried ou t by po lice forces, prosecutors and jud ges, might create serious 'networking' cha llenges. A more
detailed d iscussion of a case can illus trate the point.

4.1

T h e Ilva Case

The case in th is sense appears pa radigm a tic (still under judgmen t), concerning an Italian industria l compan y - llva S.p.a., exporting its products
througho ut Europe and beyond - and particularly its industria l plant in
T aranto.
Apparently the company didn ' t com ply (a mong other th ings) with
environmental regulations (mainly the IPPC provisions), causing serious
environmenta l pollution (mainly through the emissions of polluting
substa nces into the ai r) wh ich seems to h ave provok ed seri ous d amage
to hum an a n d an im al hea lth, as well a.s consequential damage to other
economic activities in the area. 29

z~

On 26 September 20 13, a press release announced that the European

Commission is taking action against Italy in an effort to reduce the environmenta l
im pact of the Tlva steel plant in Taranto; whil e the Commission sees recent commitments made by the Ita lia n a utho rities to address the situa tion as a positi ve sign,
it is nevertheless ask ing lta ly to respec t its o bliga tions under th e IPPC Di rective
and the Environmental Liabi lity Directive; more information is ava ilable a t http://
europa.eu/rapid/press -release_lP- 13- 866_en.htm (accessed 10 October 20 13). On
the various problematic issues raised by the Ilva case, see Gianfranco Amendola,
'La magistra tura e il caso llva. Pri me ritlessioni' (2012) Questione Giustizia,
No. 5, 9; Angelo Merlin, 'Caso llva.lnquinamento e salute: a lcu ni profili di rischio'
(201 2) Ambiente & Sicurezza, No. 20, 44; Marina Zalin and Luciano Butti, ' Caso
Jlva. Idoneitfa c lcgittimitfa delle nuove disposizio ni d opo la co nvcrsio ne del D.L.'
(20 13) Ambiente & Sicurczza, No. 2, 80; Francesco Vigano, ' In questo numero'
(2013) Dirit to penale contemporaneo, No. I, I; Roberto Bin, ' L'IIva e il solda to
Bald ini' (20 13) Diritto penale co ntempo ranea, No. I, 5; Alessand ro Morelli, '11
decreto Jlva: un dramma tico bilanciamento tra principi costituzionali' (20 13)
Diri tto penale contempo ranea, No. I, 7; Angioletta Sperti, 'Aicune riflession i sui
profili costituziona li del decreto llva ' (20 13) Diri tto pena le contempo ranea, No. I,
12; Giuseppe Arconzo, 'Note criticbe sui "decreto legge ad Il vam", tra legisla zione

448

Environmental e1~(orcemem networks

Th is res ul ted in the m a nagers a nd d irecto rs being a rrested a nd cha rged

with seve ra l crimes: no t o nly en vi ron m ental o nes, but also c rimes re la ted
to hea lth and safe ty in the workplace as well as for the c rime set ou t u nd er
Article 434 of the Crim inal Cod e (the so-called 'u nnamed disaster', in this
case d e fined as an enviro nme nta l di sas te r').
It a lso res ulted in the precautio na ry seizure of several p ro ductive a reas
of the industrial plan t, which was issued p ursuan t to Article 321 of th e
Crim inal Procedu re Code by th e judge for th e prel imina ry inquiry.
T he seiz ure o rder ca used a serio us econo mic threa t to the com pa n y
and to the hu ndreds o f its employees, as th e seizu re judic ial decree had
excluded the possibility o f using the concerned areas of the plant pend ing
the preca u tio nary seiz u re, the refore precluding the possibility o f co ntinu ing p rod uctive activity; it has to be reca lled that a seco nd p recau tiona ry
seizure was iss ued by the j udge o f the preliminary inq uiry, this time
co nce rn ing materials in stock as they we re considered the prod uc t of the
crimes.
In ord er to fa ce the econom ic consequences o f the seizu re and the strong
protests of the employees, 30 a Law D ecree was then e nacted by the
G overnm e nt, a nd la ter co nverted in to L aw b y the Parlia men t,3 1 intro du cing both general and ad ho c provisio ns in order to a ll ow the ind ustria l
plant to continue operations, despite the j udic iary d ecision to seize the
pla n t a nd to s to p productio n.

provvedimentale, riserva di f unzione giurisdiziona le e dovere di repressione e

prcvcnzio nc dei rcati' (20 13) Di ritto pcnalc contcmpo ranco, No. I, 16; Domcnico
Pulita no, ' Fra giustizia penale e gestio ne amrnin istra tiva: riOessioni a ma rgine del
caso ILVA' (2013) Diritto pcnalc contcmpora nco, No. I, 44; Fa bio Di Cristina,
'Gli stabi li menti di interesse s tralegico nazionale e i po teri d el Governo' (20 13)
Gio rna le di d iritto a mministrativo 369; Marco Cuniberti, '11 D.L. s ull' ll va , tra
conni tti d i attri buzio ne e dubbi di legillimi ta costituzio na le' (20 13) Ambienle
& Sviluppo 205; Franco Giampietro, 'IIva: da lla sentenza della Sovrana Corte
11. 85/2013 a l D.L. 11. 6112013' (2013) Ambie11le & Sviluppo 705; Ugo Salan itro ,
'll decreto Ilva tra tutela della sal ute e sa lvaguard ia dell'occupazione: riflessioni a
margine della sentenza della Co rte cos ti tuzionale' (20 13) Corriere giuridico I041 ;
Marisa Meli, ' Ambiente, sa lute, lavoro: il caso Ilva' (20 13) N uove leggi civili
commenta te 10 17; G razia Maria Vagliasindi , 'Eoti collettivi e reati ambientali
tra rcspoosabi li ta "penale" c rcsponsa bi litil socia lc' in Bruno Mo nta11a ri (ed.), La
costruzione dell'identita europea. Sicurezza collettiva, liberta individuali e mode/li di
regolazione soculle (vo l. I, T orino: Giappichelli, 20 12), 367.
l<l
On these pro tes ts, see Naza reno Dinoi, 'llva, scalta11o sequestro e a rresti,
8mila operai occupa11o le vie d i Ta ra nto' Corriere del Me=zogiom o (26 Ju ly 20 12)
availab le a t http://corrie redelmezzogio rno.co rri ere.it (accessed I0 October 20 13) .
" Law Decree 3 Decem be r 20 12, No. 207, converted (with amendments) into
Law 24 December 20 12, No. 23 1.

Enforcemenr nerworks in Jraly

449

Law Decree 3 Decembc r 20 12, n. 207, as co nve rted into Law 24 December
20 12, No. 23 1, establishes in general that, when a situatio n of economic
crisis occurs within a company of national strategic relevance with more
than two h undred employees (and therefore there being a compelling
need to safeguard occupatio n a nd production), 32 the Ministe r for the
Environm ent, while revising the IPPC permi t, may authorise the industrial
plants to continue their economic activities for 36 months, despite the preca utio nary seizure o rder even tually imposed by a judge. The Law Decree
specificall y establishes that the ll va industrial plan t must be co nside red of
strategic national relevance, it puts Ilva back in possession of the seized
goods and it authorises the prosecu tion of its producti on activities.
T hese provisio ns seemed to substa nti a lly nullify the effects of the j udi cia l precautionary seizures.
As a consequence of the enactmen t and conversion into Law of the previo usly mentioned Law Decree, a conflict of powe rs challenge was ra ised
by the proceeding prosecutor agai nst the Government and Parl iament;
mo reover, the involved Court for the re-examination of precautionary
meas ures and the judge for tb e preliminary inqu iry challenged the constitutional legitimacy of the La w Decree, as converted into Law.
The Constitutio na l Co urt, call ed on to decide o n both iss ues, did no t
ad mit the challe nge of confli ct of powers 33 or th e constitutional legitimacy
one;J.l the latter was also declared partly ungrounded. The Constituti ona l
Co urt decisions considered, among other profiles, the eco no mic protection aims pursued by the Government and Parliament.
After th e Constitu tional Court decisio ns, the same judge fo r the
preliminary inquiry ordered the precautiona ry seizure (fin al ised to the
confisca ti on order of an equivalen t value) of 8 billion euros (the amo unt
corresponding to the estim a ted proceeds of the crimes attributed to
the managers a nd directo rs of llva) belonging to a holding co rpo ration
of the Ilva company; at the tim e of the seizure th e company was managed
by the same perso ns who had managed Ilva at th e time o f the commission
of the facts con tested in the ll va case.
This seizure order was issued pursuant to Legislative Decree 8 June 200 1,

31

See Ugo Salanitro, ' 11 dccrcto Ilva tra tutela della salute e salvaguardia
dcll'occ upazionc: riflcssio ni a marginc dclla scntcnza dclla Cortc costituzionalc'
(20 13) Corriere giu ridico t04 1.
~~ Corte Costituzionalc. ord. 13 February 2013, No. t6; Corte Costituzionale,
ord. 13 February 20 13, No. 17; the decisions are available at www.pcnaleeontcmporanco.it ( 14 February 2003) (acccssed 10 October 20 t3).
" Co rtc Costituzionalc, 9 May 2013, No. 85, available at www.pcnalccontcm
poranco.it (9 May 20 13) (accesscd I0 October 20 13).

450

Environmental enforcemem networks

n. 23 1, on liabi lity of collective entities for the crimes committed to their

benefit, in the specific case of the cha rge of criminal association in order
to commit an 'environmental disaster' . In particular, the order was issued
purs uant Art. 24-ter of Leg. Dec. No. 231/2001, which includes the crime of
unlawful association fo r commi tting felo nies(" Associazione per delinquere')
provided by Art. 4 I 6 of the C rimina l Code among the crimes from wh ich
the liabili ty of collective entities can arise when committed for their benefit,
read in co nn ection with the above-mentioned Art. 434 o f the Crimina l
Code, providing for th e fe lony of collapse of buildings or other disasters
as well as with the felonies of removing or omitting precautions against
accidents on workplaces and poisoning water or alimentary substances
respec ti vely provided by Articles 437 and 439 of the Criminal Code.
It must be recalled that Articles 434, 437 and 439 of the Criminal Code
are not expressly included among the listed crimes for which collective
entities can be held responsible; accord ing to the judge for the preliminary
inquiry, as well as the Court for the re-examination o f precautionary measures who confirmed the order, these provisions could nevertheless have
assumed indirect relevance as goa l-felonies of the criminal association.
These considera ti ons depose in the sense th at the seizure o rd er seems
aimed at substantially overcoming the provisions ad Jlvam and the related
decisions of the Constitutional Court through a reading o f the involved
provisions, which, also in light of the judicial and normat ive framework of
the llva case described so far, seems to force the spirit, if no t the letter, of
the same provisions.
The S upreme Court annulled the precautionary seizure o rder issued pursuant Leg. Dec. 231 /2001 , on the grounds (among o ther reasons) that the
crimes provided by Articles 434, 437 and 439 of the Criminal Code are not
included in the list of crimes for wb ich collective entities ca n be held responsible. The Supreme Court also rejected in the case at stake the possibility for
Articles 434, 437 and 439 of the Criminal Code to assume indirect relevance
as goal-felonies regarding the crime of un lawful associat io n for committing
felonies (with the latter included in the list of crimes attributab le to the
collective entities), as this reading wou ld violate the principle of legality. 3s
4.2

Lessons from the Jlva Case

As is clear, many relevant actors and institutions were and continue

to be involved in this case: the legislator, the government enforcement

" Corte di Cassazione, 20 December 2013, No. 3635, available at www .pena lecontemporaneo.it ( I I February 2014), accessed 7 March 20 14.

Enforcemen/ ne/works in Italy

451

institutions, the judiciary, the company and its employees, the civil society
(including media) and other slakeholders.
The case involves the enforcement of many relevant lega l provisions, in
a framework where the enforcement of environmental legislation is strictly
linked to the e nforcement of other relevant specific provisions (such as those
on safety in workplaces) as well as of general substantia l and procedu ral
criminal provisions. The case a lso involved the constitutional rules on distributio n of powe r a nd, moreover, th e same fundamenta l concept of separation of powers and the role of the judiciary in the area of crim inal law. 36
Moreove r, the case shows the need to adequately take into consideration
the links between environmen tal protection and economic-occupational
inte rests when enacting and enforcing (a mong other th ings) envi ronmental provisions, as both activities imply a deep reflection o n the balance
between environmental protection, health protection and work safety
protec tion, as well as a st udy on the balance between the above-mentioned
facto rs and economic activities and competition.
Clearly, dealing with such a complex, multilevel and articu lated case
would require a high level of cooperation and informal networking among
all the interested parties.
Looking at the facts, some significant gaps in netwo rking have occurred,
reaching the level of a connict of powers challenge, probably as a consequence of (a mong other issues) the above-mentio ned different approaches
to the issue of environmental compliance.
These gaps in netwo rking contributed to generating relevant consequences: the increased time needed to solve the connict; the emergency
(and indeed not thought through enough) introductio n of provisions
which potentially apply to future similar critical situations; the adoption
of judicial decisions which, with the aims of overcoming the legislative
intervention and the Constitutional Court decisions, might be interpreted
as partially forcing if not the letter at least the rat io nale of some normative
provisions, as well as vio lating some fundamenta l principles of punitive
Jaw. All these elements do not seem to produce positive effects on the
ultimate goal of the protection of the environment and of the ot her related
interests, as well as. in a more genera l perspective, o n the fundamenta l
principles of crimina l Jaw and o n the same concept of separation of
powers.

"' On the latter proliles. sec for instance Domenieo Pulitano. 'Fra gi ustizia
penale e gestione amministrativa: rinession i a margine del caso ILVA ' (2013)
Oiritto pena le contemporaneo, No. I, 44; Fra ncesco Vigano, ' In questo numero'
(2013) Diritto pena le con temporaneo, No. I, I .

452

Environmemal enforcement net works

5. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The analysis conducted so far demonstrates tha t, despite a certain indi fference towards environmental criminal provisions enforcement networks
from a co nceptual a nd theoretical perspective, in Italy th ere do exist
relevant exa mples o f effectiveness in networking (formal and info rm al, at
the pu blic level, at the civil society level and at a mixed p ublic-civil society
level) for the enforcement o f enviro nm enta l criminal provisio ns.
Also, the co ncep tu al importance and practical benefits of netwo rks in
the specific fie ld o f the fight against organ ised environmental crime was
demonstrated .
The stru cture, tasks a nd achieve ment of th ese network s depose in the
sense that the latter are potent.ially effective models o f enviro nmenta l
enforcement networks.
Nevert heless, these positive exam ples still coexist with so me releva nt
gaps to be fi lled when it comes to substa nt ial co mplia nce, as well as to
cooperation between powers and authorities which are invo lved in environmenta.l enforcemen t. T hese pro files migh t con tribute to creating cha llenges to environ mental compliance and enforcement, th erefore negatively
affecting the envi ronmental protection goa ls ac hievement and rela ted
relevan t economic interests and resulting in a subs tantial breach of the
sa me funda menta l principle of sustainable development as well as of the
relevan t fundamen tal pri nciples of criminal law.
This co ncl usion calls for t he need to foster informal network ing between
pub lic autho rities as well as between public authorities and co rpora tions
a nd stake ho lde rs fo r enviro nmenta l compliance a nd enfo rcement.
Moreover, th e need to adequa tely ta ke into consideration the links
between envi ro nmental protection a nd econom ic-occupational in terests
should not be neglected in the future development of enviro nm ental legislation and the re lated fo rma l and informal co mplia nce and enforcement
networks.
This seems necessary to make further progress in ensuring a more
effecti ve applica tion of envi ronmenta l legisla tion, also through a network
culture whic h can contribute to reaching a greater consistency of approach
in the implementat io n, application and enforcement of environ menta l
legislatio n.