315R02003
6th International Conference
on Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement
April 15-19,2002
San Jose, Costa Rica
Proceedings Volume 2
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6th International Conference on
Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement
San Jose, Costa Rica
April 15-19,2002
The European
Commission
&
VROM
World Bank Group
OECD
Environment Emrironnement
Canada Canada
UNEP
I EL.
I N E C E
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
VOLUME 2
ApriM 5-19. 2002
San Jose, Costa Rica
Editors:
Mr. Jo Gerardu, VROM, The Netherlands
Mr. Durwood Zaelke, INECE Secretariat, United States
Mr. Kenneth Markowitz, INECE Secretariat, United States
Mr. Thomas Higdon, INECE Secretariat, United States
Ms. Catherine Spangler, INECE Secretariat, United States
Executive Planning Committee:
Mr. Peter Acquah, Ghana Ms. Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, UNEP
Mr. Antonio Herman Benjamin, Brazil Mr. Manuel Rodriguez Becerra, Colombia
Mr. Jose Campillo Garcia, Mexico Ms. Maria Comino, Australia
Mr. Christopher Currie, Canada Mr. Hashim Daud, Malaysia
Ms. Michele de Nevers, World Bank Mr. William Futrell, Environmental Law Institute
Mr. Marco Antonio Gonzalez Pastora, Costa Rica Mr. Markuu Hietamaki, Finland
Mr. Donald Kaniaru, UNEP Mr. George Kremlis, European Commission
Dr. Paul Leinster, United Kingdom Ms. Sylvia Lowrance (Co-chair), US EPA
Ms. Helena Cfzkova, Czech Republic Mr. Sirithan Pairoj-Boriboon, Thailand
Mr. Manuel Rodriguez Becerra, Colombia Mr. Ken Ruffing, OECD
Mr. Charles Sebukeera (Co-chair), Uganda Dr. Babu Sengupta, India
Mr. Eugene Shannon, Cote D'lvoire Mr. Bie Tao, People's Republic of China
Mr. Nizar Tawfiq, Saudi Arabia Mr. Gerard Wolters (Co-chair), VROM, The
Mr. Durwood Zaelke, CIEL Netherlands
Sponsors:
Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Netherlands
United States Environmental Protection Agency
European Commission
The Ministry of the Environment and Energy of the Republic of Costa Rica (MINAE)
Center for International Environmental Law
The World Bank
United Nations Environment Programme, IE
Environment Canada
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Comisfon Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD)
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These Proceedings, Volume 2, include opening and closing
remarks, keynote speeches, additional papers, summaries
of plenary themes, workshops, site visits, and regional meet-
ing discussions, results of the participant evaluations,
the co-chairs Final Conference Statement and a list of
participants at the Sixth International Conference on
Environmental Enforcement and Compliance, April 15-19,
2002 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Copyright ©2002 by the Conference sponsors: Inspectorate
of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The
Netherlands; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, United
States; European Commission; The Ministry of the
Environment and Energy of the Republic of Costa Rica
(MINAE); Center for International Environmental Law; The
World Bank; United Nations Environment Programme, IE;
Environment Canada; Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development; and the Comisfon
Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD). No part
of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means
without the prior permission of the authors and attribution to
the Sixth International Conference on Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement, April 15-19, 2002, held in
San Jose, Costa Rica. Use of these materials is strongly
encouraged for training and further dissemination.
Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not nec-
essarily represent the views of their organizations.
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PREFACE
PREFACE
These Conference Proceedings
contain papers submitted by speakers,
conference participants, and other enforce-
ment professionals dedicated to achieving
the environmental compliance and enforce-
ment goals discussed during the Sixth
International Conference on Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement held in San
Jose, Costa Rica, April 15-19 2002. These
papers are made available to all enforce-
ment practitioners throughout the world to
further the dialogue in this important disci-
pline. For the first time, the web played an
integral role in providing information to con-
ference participants and distributing the
results of the Conference to other compli-
ance and enforcement stakeholders. These
materials are also available through the
Web site of the International Network for
Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement (www.inece.org) where
papers presented in San Jose are indexed
by topic along with papers presented at the
first five conferences, and Volume 1 of the
proceedings from this Sixth International
Conference.
The Sixth International Conference
brought enforcement professionals togeth-
er to share experiences and make plans to
take the environmental compliance and
enforcement fight to the next level. In addi-
tion, INECE made a conscious decision to
focus on enhancing regional cooperation
and networks, adopting new methods for
measuring success, and generally raising
awareness about the importance of compli-
ance and enforcement efforts. Conference
accomplishments included:
• Hosting a successful pre-conference
workshop on "Environmental Issues of
Importance to Costa Rica and other
Central American Countries for Local
Professionals", in Spanish, for 90 local
compliance and enforcement practition-
ers on Saturday, April 13, 2002.
• Hosting 172 Conference participants
from more than 80 countries and
organizations, including 37 who were
assisted with outside funding.
• Presenting ten plenary panels with
35 speakers, 22 workshops with 59
facilitators and rapporteurs, and six
regional meetings.
• Publishing Volume 1 of the Conference
Proceedings in print and electronic
formats.
• Drafting and presenting the Conference
Statement from the Co-Chairs.
• Reviewing and discussing Annotated
Outline on Compliance and
Enforcement Indicator project, including
two workshops, as well as a specially
scheduled breakfast meeting.
• Reviewing and discussing draft list of
project for INECE Strategic Plan.
• Arranging field visits to six sites, with
local experts as guides, and providing
written case studies.
• Posting presentations and other
Conference documents on the
INECE.org web site every evening
during the Conference.
• Video taping all plenary sessions of the
Conference.
• Providing a Cyber Cafe with ten
high-speed Web connections and other
business services.
• Hosting a Press Conference for
Co-Chairs with resulting news story in
The Tico Times,
• Presenting copies of the best-selling
text on International Environmental Law
& Policy to all participants, along with
a Treaty Viewer CD with over 70 envi-
ronmental treaties in a searchable
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IV
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
database by i-Sciences and the World
Resources Institute.
For more information on these and
other Conference accomplishments,
please visit http://www.inece/conf/accom-
Plish6th.htm
In addition to the anticipated
accomplishments listed above, several
additional accomplishments resulted from
the rich networking opportunities at the
Conference, including:
• Forming the INECE International
Network for Environmental Prosecutors.
• Agreeing on funding from the European
Commission to support follow-up
planning for regional networks in Africa,
Asia, and South America.
• Agreeing on INECE partnership with
UNEP to host the Global Judicial
Symposium at the WSSD in
Johannesburg, South Africa, in August.
• Agreeing on funding from the European
Commission for the Global Judicial
Symposium.
• Establishing the Asian Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement Regional
Network, with funding for initial meeting
committed by the Ford Foundation.
• Hosting various side meetings at the
Conference, including meetings by
Prosecutors, NGOs, Inspectors, Judicial
Symposium organizers and funders,
African meeting with World Bank and
UK, and an additional session on INECE
Compliance and Enforcement Indicators.
Ultimately, the success of the Sixth
International Conference was built upon the
strength of the individual commitments
renewed in San Jose, the durability of the
bonds that are forged between local,
regional, and international networks and
interests, and the vision contained in the
strategic plan that will guide INECE over
the coming years. For the first time, the
Sixth International Conference prepared a
Conference Statement that was submitted
to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development. In addition to the Conference
Statement, the draft Strategic Plan was dis-
cussed, including the planned efforts to ful-
fill the INECE goal of fostering and
strengthening regional enforcement net-
works within Africa, Asia and Latin
America. These networks will benefit from
the experience of current INECE partner
networks such as the European Network
for Implementation and Enforcement of
Environmental Law (IMPEL) and AC-
IMPEL, its sister organization serving the
accession countries to the European
Union.
On behalf of the Executive
Planning Committee and the Secretariat
staff, we look forward to your continued and
productive use of these conference materi-
als. Comments and suggestions should be
sent to the INECE Secretariat by email at
inece@inece.org or by fax to 1-202-249-
9608 or by mail to 1367 Connecticut
Avenue, NW, Suite #300, Washington, DC
20036.
THE EDITORS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
CONTENTS
PREFACE iii
FINAL CONFERENCE STATEMENT 7
CONFERENCE PROGRAM 13
Welcoming Remarks for Pre-Conference Local Event,
Walters, Gerard 29
Opening Remarks by Day Chair, Lowrance, Sylvia 31
Keynote Address by the Director of International Cooperation Ministry
of the Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, Ulate, Ricardo 35
Theme #1: The INECE Mission: Environmental Results Through Enforcement
Summary of Panel 1 Discussion: The Role of Institutions and
Networks in Environmental Enforcement, Moderator: de Nevers,
Michele; Rapporteur: Wolff, Evan 39
UNEP Governing Council Adopts Guidelines on Compliance With and
Enforcement of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, Kaniaru, Donald 43
The Role of Institutions and Networks in Environmental Enforcement,
Kaniaru, Donald 51
Summary of Panel 2 Discussion: The Regional Network Experience,
Moderator: Manual-Rodriguez, Carlos; Rapporteur: Hagen,Paul 57
The Region Network Experience: Presentation On The
Ghana EPA Experience, Allotey, Jonathan 59
New Independent States Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement Network (NISECEN): An Effective Mechanism
to Strengthen Environmental Compliance and Enforcement in
Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Michalak, Krzysztof 61
Environmental Law Enforcement and Compliance in
Central America, Mauri, Carolina 81
From 'The Mexican Problem" to a Regional Experience: Environmental
Enforcement And Compliance In North America, Azuela, Antonio 103
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2 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Theme #2: Ensuring Effective Environmental Enforcement Through
Institutional Capability and Performance Assessment
Summary of Panel 3 Discussion: Organizing for Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement, Moderator: Bianchi, Adriana;
Rapporteur: Muskens, Piet 117
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement at the United States
Department of Justice and the Role of Enforcement in Good
Domestic Governance, Cruden, John 119
National Compliance and Enforcement of International Environmental
Treaties, Mulkey, Marcia 129
Organization Model of Services Responsible for Control on State
of the Environment vs. Their Effectiveness of Work Based on
Experience of the Inspection for Environmental, Zareba, Krzysztof 135
Legislative Bases of Ecological Control in Russia, Egorova, Marina 143
Domestic Programs for Implementing Multilateral Environmental
Agreements: Establishing MEA Implementation Mechanisms,
Anderson, Winston 147
Experience of the Inspection for Environmental Protection in
Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law in
Poland, Panek-Gondek, Krystyna 175
Behavioral Control by Means of Enforcement in Case of the
Surface Water Pollution Act, Zeegers, Ingrid 181
Legal Control of Water Pollution in Huai River Valley, China:
A Case Study, Xi, Wang 187
Summary of Panel 4 Discussion: Raising Awareness and
Measuring Results - How to Define Success,
Moderator: Verheijen, Lambert; Rapporteur: Hagen, Paul 199
Performance Indicators for Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement Programs, Part I: The U.S. EPA Experience, Stahl, Mike 201
Performance Indicators for Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement Programs, Part II: The U.S. EPA Experience, Stahl, Mike 209
Raising Awareness and Measuring Results: How Do We
Define Success? May, Brad 215
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Environmental Risks Associated with Activities Involving Ammonium
Nitrate in the Netherlands, Van der Veen, Henk and Muskens, Peter 227
Summary of Workshop 1AI: Measuring Success Through Performance:
Defining Environmental Enforcement Indicators (Group I) 233
Summary of Workshop 1AII: Measuring Success Through Performance:
Defining Environmental Enforcement Indicators (Group II) 235
Summary of Workshop 1B: Administrative Enforcement
Mechanisms: Getting Authority and Making It Work 237
Summary of Workshop 1C: Building Effective In-Country Networks
for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement 241
Summary of Workshop 1D: The Negotiation Process
Leading to Compliance 245
Summary of Workshop 1E: Training Programs for Compliance
Inspectors 247
Summary of Workshop 1F: Environmental Offenses: Criminal and Civil 253
Theme #3: Raising Awareness: The Importance of Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement
Opening Remarks by Day Chair, Wolters, Gerard 259
Summary of Panel 5 Discussion: Economic Instruments and Voluntary
Measures, Moderator: Bromm, Susan; Rapporteur: Petek, Waltraud 261
PROFEPA: The New Vision of the Environmental Audit,
Thomas-Torres, Lorenzo 265
Citizen Suits in International Environmental Law: The North American
Experience, Knox, John 273
Summary of Workshop 2AI: Encouraging Public Role in Compliance
Monitoring and Impact of Public Access to Environmental
Information (Group I) 289
Summary of Workshop 2AII: Encouraging Public Role in Compliance
Monitoring and Impact of Public Access to Environmental
Information (Group II) 291
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4 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Summary of Workshop 2B: Government Programs to Encourage
and Respond to Public Involvement in Enforcement 293
Summary of Workshop 2C: Promoting Voluntary Compliance 297
Summary of Workshop 2D: Self-Monitoring Data: How to Ensure
Accuracy and Integrity 299
Summary of Workshop 2E: Environmental Information Systems:
Institutional Requirements for Collection, Management
and Access 303
Summary of Workshop 2F: Information Management and
Enforcement: Ensuring Effective Application at the Working Level 305
Summary of Panel 6 Discussion: Information Collection,
Standards, Sharing, Access, Credibility and Use,
Moderator: Shears, Terence; Rapporteur: Hagen, Paul 309
The Recognition to Right of Information, Santosa, Mas Achmad 313
Public Ratings of Industry's Environmental Performance: China's
Greenwatch Program, Wang, Hua 319
Self-Monitoring (of Air Emissions, Discharges to Water and
Waste) in Finland, Hietamaki, Markku 339
Summary of Panel 7 Discussion: The Evolving Role of the
Judiciary in Environmental Compliance and Enforcement,
Moderator: Rodriguez-Becerra, Manuel; Rapporteur: Lofton, James 345
The Deep Judicial Control of Public Policy, Condition Sine Qua
Non for Environmental Order and Sustainable Development,
Decleris, Michael 347
Preparing Judges for the Evolving Role of the Judiciary,
Karamanof, Maria 355
The Inseparable Link Between the Cultural and Natural
Environment: The Greek Experience, Kapelouzos, loannes 359
Environmental Law Enforcement: The Role of the Judiciary,
Anderson, Winston 353
UNEP's Judicial Symposia on the Role of the Judiciary in
Promoting Environmental Law and Sustainable Development,
Kurukulasuriya, Lai 333
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Theme #4: Case Studies — Visits to the Field
Summary of Case Study Field Visit: Coffee Cooperative 395
Summary of Case Study Field Visit: InBIO 399
Summary of Case Study Field Visit: Market-based Conservation 403
Summary of Case Study Field Visit: Ecotourism 407
Summary of Case Study Field Visit: Conservation Easements 411
Summary of Case Study Field Visit: Wildlife Rescue 415
Theme #5: Constructing Effective Interlocking Networks at the
Country, Region and Global Levels
Summary of Panel 8 Discussion: Implementation of International
Environmental Agreements Through the Domestic Legislation
of Signatory Countries, Moderator: Kaniaru, Donald;
van Zomeren, Frederique 429
MEAs Governing Vessel Operations: The Role and Challenges
of Enforcement, Linsin, Gregory 431
Summary of Workshop 3A: Role of Police as Environmental
Enforcers: INTERPOL Training 437
Summary of Workshop 3B: Illegal Transfrontier Movements of
Hazardous Waste (International Link to Basel Convention):
Establishing the Network/Contact Database 439
Summary of Workshop 3C: Development of Sustainable
Regional Enforcement and Compliance Networks:
Elements and Examples 441
Summary of Workshop 3D: International Targeting on
Environmental Crime/Activities 447
Summary of Workshop 3E: Enforcing Domestic Programs
Implementing International Agreements 449
Summary of Workshop 3F: Designing a Pesticide Forum:
Identifying Common Elements of a Forum as Well as
Specific Information Needs for Pesticides 451
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6 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Theme #6: Regional Network Meetings: Africa, Asia, Central America/
Caribbean, North America, Europe, and South America
Summary of Panel 9 Discussion: Reports of Regional
Meetings and Workshops, Moderator: Oposa,
Tony & Klein, Wout; Rapporteur: Jones, Davis 457
Summary of Workshop 4A: Africa Regional Meeting 467
Summary of Workshop 4B: Asia & Pacific Regional Meeting 471
Summary of Workshop 4C: Central America & Caribbean
Regional Meeting 475
Summary of Workshop 4D: Europe Regional Network Meeting 483
Summary of Workshop 4E: North America Regional Network Meeting 487
Summary of Workshop 4F: South America Regional Network Meeting 489
Summary of Panel 10 Discussion: The INECE Strategic Vision,
Modera tor: Zaelke, Durwood; Rapporteur: van Zomeren, Frederique 491
CONFERENCE EVALUATION 495
PARTICIPANT LIST 525
PARTICIPANT LIST BY COUNTRY 547
MEMBERS OF THE INECE EXECUTIVE PLANNING COMMITTEE 557
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND CONFERENCE SUPPORT 563
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... 565
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CO-CHAIR FINAL CONFERENCE STATEMENT
CO-CHAIR FINAL CONFERENCE STATEMENT
Sixth International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
San Jose, Costa Rica, April 19, 2002
INTRODUCTION
1. As the international community prepares to meet in Johannesburg for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development from 26 August to 4 September 2002, the need
to strengthen environmental enforcement and compliance continues to be a dominant
theme. There is a growing recognition that past environmental lawmaking has not suf-
ficiently arrested environmental degradation and that enforcement and compliance
must become a priority in the coming decades. Building the capacity to carry out the
needed enforcement and compliance initiatives requires global cooperation.
2. One key actor in this effort will be the International Network for Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), a global network of practitioners that has done
pioneering work in this field since its founding in 1990 by the environmental agencies
in the Netherlands and the United States, in partnership with UNEP, the European
Commission, the World Bank, OECD and others. The INECE Co-Chairs are Gerard
Wolters, Inspector General, the Ministry Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial Planning,
and the Environment, The Netherlands, Sylvia Lowrance, Acting Assistant
Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency; and Charles Sebukeera, Director, Department of Environmental
Monitoring & Compliance, National Environmental Management Authority, Uganda.
3. The Sixth INECE Conference was held in San Jose, Costa Rica from April 15-19,
2002 and featured a full program of panels, workshops and field visits for the partici-
pants selected to attend this event. Mr. Wolters, Ms. Lowrance, and Mr. Sebukeera
served as the Co-Chairs of the Conference, and issued this Conference Statement
affirming the critical role environmental compliance and enforcement must play in
achieving the rule of law, good governance, and sustainable development.
4. The conference participants acknowledge the assistance and support of the Costa
Rican government and express their deep gratitude for the generous hospitality pro-
vided, including the cultural event at Pueblo Antiguo, and the field visits to explore and
appreciate the natural environment and its management for which the country is so
justly renowned.
5. The conference participants also acknowledge the assistance and support of the orga-
nizations providing financial and other assistance for the Conference, including the
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning & the Environment in The Netherlands, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, the European Commission, the World Bank, the
NAFTA Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Environment Canada, and the
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8 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
International Fund for Animal Welfare, as well as the embassies of the United States
and The Netherlands.
6. The conference participants also thank the governments, agencies, international orga-
nizations, and non-governmental organizations that have, since the Rio Earth Summit,
supported enforcement and compliance efforts, and express the hope that they, as
well as others in a position to do so, will continue to support the implementation of
measures aimed at enhancing and strengthening enforcement and compliance of
environmental laws at the national, regional, and international levels.
THE ENFORCEMENT GAP
7. Despite a growing body of environmental law at the national and international level —
more than 300 international and regional agreements have been developed in the thir-
ty years since the 1972 Stockholm conference — measures of environmental quality
show continuing degradation across a broad spectrum, with serious consequences for
ecosystems and public health, as well as the rule of law and good governance. A
telling example is the substantial mortality from lack of clean water, lack of clean air,
and other forms of industrial pollution.
8. While poverty is a major cause and consequence of environmental degradation and
calls for urgent remedial action, the failure to invest in the strengthening of enforce-
ment and compliance programs is a key reason for the continuing degradation of envi-
ronmental quality.
9. The Capacity Development Initiative of UNDP and the Global Environmental Facility
concludes that there is a need to strengthen domestic capacity to enforce laws and
policies to implement global environmental conventions. The enforcement gap is point-
edly illustrated by the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES): of the 154 parties, 76 are believed generally not to meet one or more of the
requirements for implementing CITES. Without stronger enforcement and compliance,
CITES cannot succeed in protecting endangered species, nor can the other conven-
tions. This situation is repeated in other agreements at the international, regional, and
national level, and is unacceptable if we hope to leave a positive environmental legacy
for future generations.
MANDATE TO STRENGTHEN ENFORCEMENT
10. The need to address the enforcement gap was recognized at the Rio Earth Summit
in Agenda 21, Chapter 8, which specifically directs that States develop their compli-
ance and enforcement capacity; in the European Commission's effort with the current
twelve accession countries and in the recent 6th Community Environmental Action
Program; in the Ministerial Communique from the Meeting of Environment Ministers
of the Americas, held in Montreal, Canada March 29-30, 2001; in UNEP's final
MONTEVIDEO III PROGRAMME, adopted in February 2001; in UNEP's Guidelines for
Compliance and Enforcement, adopted February 15, 2002 in Cartagena, Columbia;
and in the G-8 MINISTERS STATEMENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT, INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION, AND PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION, issued in 1997 in Miami, U.S.A.
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CO-CHAIR FINAL CONFERENCE STATEMENT
11. Most recently the preparatory discussions for the upcoming World Summit on
Sustainable Development recognize the important role of enforcement and compli-
ance in sustainable development governance and cite the need to "promote the
establishment or strengthening of existing authorities and mechanisms necessary for
policy-making, coordination and enforcement" and "develop and maintain effective
legal systems, including strong and clear laws related to compliance, monitoring,
enforcement, and for citizen participation."
BENEFITS OF ENFORCEMENT
12. Protection and maintenance of our life-sustaining natural ecosystems is the funda-
mental benefit realized from addressing the enforcement gap. These benefits gener-
ally outweigh costs, especially when the ecosystem benefits are considered along
with the resulting benefits to public health, enhanced respect for the rule of law,
improvements in governance, and improvements in the competitiveness of countries
and firms, as well as new jobs and assistance in combating unemployment.1
EXPANDING ROLE FOR INECE
13. The growing emphasis on enforcement and compliance is expected to increase the
demand for a more active involvement of INECE and the enforcement practitioners
who participate in the network from 130 countries. These practitioners come princi-
pally from governments, but also from NGOs and academia.
14. The INECE mission is to strengthen enforcement and compliance at the national,
regional and international levels, thereby contributing to the strengthening of the rule
of law and good governance. INECE is the only global environmental network exclu-
sively dedicated to this critical mission. Its goals are to:
a. Strengthen institutional capacity, inter alia, by exchanging experience and develop-
ing best practices,
b. Develop effective interlocking networks at the national, regional and international
levels, and
c. Raise awareness of the importance of environmental enforcement and compliance.
15. The accomplishments of INECE include the landmark INECE PRINCIPLES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT issued in 1992 to "help individuals responsible for envi-
ronmental protection in difference countries, regions and localities design and imple-
ment compliance strategies and enforcement programs." Other accomplishments
include the conference proceedings from the six INECE international conferences,
training materials, the INECE Web site and the INECE Newsletter.
16. These accomplishments are mirrored in the efforts of regional enforcement and com-
pliance networks, most notably the work of the European Network for the
Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL), the AC-IMPEL,
comprised of candidate countries to the European Union, New Independent States
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (NIS-ECEN), the BERCEN
network, comprised of Balkan countries, and the North American Working Group on
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10 S|XTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Environmental Enforcement and Compliance Cooperation of the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation.
17. Continuous efforts are required to be undertaken by all countries and relevant orga-
nizations and operational agencies, including local governmental agencies and non-
governmental organizations, concerned with ensuring the effective implementation
and enforcement of national, regional, and international environmental law. INECE
will play a vital role in these efforts.
18. The Internet is an important and valuable part of INECE's efforts to establish nation-
al, regional and international networks, promote their cooperation, build capacity
around the world, link the society of environmental practitioners, and raise awareness
of the importance of enforcement and compliance.
CALL TO ACTION
19. Therefore, the Co-Chairs of the Sixth International Conference of the International
Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement:
a. L/rgethe International Community, through the World Summit on Sustainable
Development and other related meetings, to reaffirm the commitment to strengthen-
ing environmental enforcement and compliance as an essential part of sustainable
development governance;
b. Appeal'to developed countries to provide necessary resources and technical assis-
tance, on request, to developing countries to strengthen their enforcement capacity
and performance;
c. Encourage INECE to continue expanding its training and capacity building initia-
tives, and to strengthen its partnerships with international, regional, and national
organizations, as well as NGOs and academic institutions, with a view to pooling
their respective comparative advantages, avoiding duplication and optimizing the use
of available resources;
d. Reaffirm INECE's commitment to strengthen and develop regional networks, espe-
cially in Africa, Latin America and Asia;
e. Recognize the important role non-governmental organizations can play in enforce-
ment and compliance, as independent actors and as adjuncts to government
enforcement and compliance efforts;
f. Call upon INECE to develop uniform minimum criteria and pilot test INECE
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Indicators, in cooperation with regional
networks, with a view to improving performance, public policy decisions, and environ-
mental governance globally, as well as the quality of the environment;
g. Note that, INECE, in partnership with UNER is planning a Global Judicial
Symposium in conjunction with the forthcoming World Summit for Sustainable
Development, with the view to promoting networking initiatives and international
cooperation amongst members of the judiciary in order to more fully integrate nation-
al environmental governance and sustainability principles into the judicial process;
h. Commit INECE to build upon its accomplishments, including its conferences,
newsletters and Web site, and to develop new products and services, including new
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CO-CHAIR FINAL CONFERENCE STATEMENT 11
ways to disseminate information through continuing expansion of the INECE Web site
and other appropriate means;
i. Draw the attention of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to INECE's
accomplishments and its future efforts, noting in particular the contribution that
INECE Enforcement Indicators can make to the need for the International Community
to measure progress under Agenda 21, including at future summits, and request
cooperation with INECE in accomplishing these critical goals; and
j. Request the INECE Secretariat to forward this Conference Statement to the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, as well as to other relevant national, regional,
and international institutions and meetings; and
k. Also request conference participants to promote the Conference Statement within
the process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and subsequently, in
their own national systems, with a view to strengthening and enhancing environmen-
tal enforcement and compliance at the national, regional, and international level.
April 19, 2002, San Jose, Costa Rica
1 The Benefits of Compliance with the Environmental Acquis for Candidate Countries
(2001); Esty & Porter, Measuring National Environmental Regulation and Performance, in
THE GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS REPORT 2001-2002 (Oxford 2001); Pratt, Rethinking the
Private Sector-Environment Relationship in Latin America, Inter-American Development
Bank Annual Meeting (March 25, 2000); and Dowell, Hart & Yeung, Do Corporate Global
Environmental Standards Create or Destroy Market Value?, 46 MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2000.
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12 S|XTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Sixth International Conference on
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
Real Intercontinental Hotel
San Jose, Costa Rica
April 15-19, 2002
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14 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT 15
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
As the international community prepares to meet in Johannesburg for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, the need to strengthen environmental enforcement
and compliance is emerging as an important theme. This follows the growing recognition
that decades of environmental lawmaking have not sufficiently arrested environmental
degradation, and that enforcement and compliance must become a priority in the coming
decades. Building the capacity to carry out the needed enforcement and compliance will
require global cooperation. One key actor will be the International Network for Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), a global network that has done yeomen's work in
this field since its founding in 1990 by the Netherlands and United States environmental
agencies, in partnership with the European Commission, The World Bank, United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development and others.
The Conference will meet its purpose and goals through five days of plenary dis-
cussion, participatory workshops, exhibits, and regional meetings. The Conference will be
co-chaired by Ms. Sylvia Lowrance, Acting Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Mr. Gerard Wolters,
Inspector General, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, the
Netherlands, and Mr. Charles Sebukeera, Director, National Environment Management
Authority, Uganda. Conference moderators, presenters, facilitators and participants are
drawn from all regions of the world to represent a wide variety of approaches to and strate-
gies for environmental compliance and enforcement.
The Conference program is designed around six themes:
Theme 1 The INECE Mission: Environmental Results Through Enforcement
Theme 2 Ensuring Effective Environmental Enforcement Through
Institutional Capability and Performance Assessment
Theme 3 Raising Awareness: The Importance of Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement
Theme 4 Case Studies: Visits to the Field
Theme 5 Constructing Effective Interlocking Networks at the Country,
Region and Global Levels
Theme 6 Sustainable, Effective Regional Networks
Many participant countries and organizations will offer exhibits and demonstrate
new advances in training, technology, and communications related to environmental compli-
ance and enforcement. On Wednesday, participants will take field trips to compliance and
enforcement projects throughout Costa Rica. Regional meetings on Thursday afternoon
and Friday morning are designed to develop regional elements for INECE strategic plan.
Participants will: identify existing relevant networks to engage, critical environmental chal-
lenges, and specific project needs; explore enforcement indicators and assessment
methodology; and communicate ways to benefit from technology and the Web. A closing
plenary session will charter future directions for INECE.
Durwood Zaelke, Director
INECE Secretariat
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
SATURDAY, APRIL 13TH
8:30-15:00
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP:
Environmental Issues of importance to
Costa Rica and other Central American
countries for local professionals.
(Locally co-sponsored event conducted in
Spanish, with limited English translation).
TALLER PRELIMINAR: Dirigido a profe-
sionales de la region sobre temas ambien-
tales de importancia para Costa Rica y los
demas paises centroamericanos.
(Evento co-auspiciado y conducido en
espanol, con traduccion al ingles limitada)
12:00-16:00
REGISTRATION
16:00-18:00
RECEPTION:
Dutch Ambassador's Residence
(invitation only)
EXHIBITS THROUGHOUT THE WEEK
SUNDAY, APRIL 14TH
9:00-17:15
PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT:
This course is one of a series designed to
build capacity for implementing environ-
mental management programs in a variety
of governments and cultures. Its format
and content stimulate participants to think
creatively about how to translate national
goals, laws, and requirements into actions
that effectively changes behaviour in
society as to achieve the desired environ-
mental results. (Tom Maslany and Susan
Bromm, USEPA and others)
10:30-12:30
BUSINESS MEETING:
INECE Executive Planning Committee
12:30 - 13:30
LUNCH FOR EPC MEMBERS
12:00 - 18:00
REGISTRATION
17:00-18:00
TRAINING SESSION FOR
WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
19:00-21:00
WELCOME RECEPTION
at Hotel for all participants
DINNER:
On your own
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
17
MONDAY, APRIL 15TH
Day Chair: Sylvia Lowrance,
Acting Assistant Administrator,
Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance, USEPA
OPENING PLENARY SESSION
8:30 - 8:45
WELCOMING REMARKS
The Honorable Dr. Miguel Angel
Rodriguez-Echeverria, President of the
Republic of Costa Rica (invited)
8:45 - 9:00
INTRODUCTION
by Sylvia Lowrance, Day Chair
Opening Conference Statement,
Introduction to INECE, Conference Goals,
Strategic Plan, Review Process
9:00-9:15
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
The Honorable Elizabeth Odio-Benito,
Second Vice President and Minister of the
Environment and Energy of the Republic of
Costa Rica (invited)
THEME 1
The INECE Mission: Environmental
Results Through Enforcement
9:15-10:15
PANEL 1:
The Role of Institutions and Networks
in Environmental Enforcement
This panel will provide institutional per-
spectives on the merits of networks and
explore ways for institutions to work with
INECE to make it more successful in the
future. The panellists will provide the view-
point from their organizations and the
results that have been achieved.
The
Moderator: Michele de Nevers,
World Bank
• Donald Kaniaru, United Nations
Environment Programme
• George Kremlis, European Commission
• Antonio Benjamin, Brazil
10:15-10:45
COFFEE BREAK
10:45-11:45
PANEL 2:
The Regional Network Experience
This panel will highlight examples of
regional networks that have successfully
supported environmental compliance
enforcement and will focus on achieving
global environmental results through
regional and local efforts. Perspectives
from the Africa, North America and Central
Europe will be highlighted.
Moderator: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez,
Costa Rica
• Antonio Azuela, Mexico
• Jonathon Alloty, Ghana
• Krzysztof Michalak, OECD
THEME 2:
Ensuring Effective Environmental
Enforcement Through Institutional
Capability and Performance
Assessment
11:45-12:45
PANEL 3:
Organizing for Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement
This panel will examine the issues of "good
governance" that are intimately tied to the
fair, predictable and consistent application
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
of the law by enforcement officers.
Panellists also will explore mechanisms
and strategies for developing well-written,
enforceable legal requirements.
Moderator: Adriana Bianchi,
The World Bank
• Maria Eugenia DiPaola, FARM Argentina
• John Cruden, USDOJ
• Waltraud Petek, Austria
Ms. Di Paola will present an analysis of
environmental enforcement in Argentina
that focuses on hazardous waste law and
considers unique national challenges. She
concludes that coordination between
national and provincial governments is criti-
cal to effective enforcement in a federal
country and public participation and trans-
parency play critical roles.
Mr. Cruden will discuss the importance of
strong environmental enforcement within
the context of "good domestic governance."
Based on his experience as a senior envi-
ronmental official at the US Department of
Justice, he will elaborate upon those partic-
ular mechanisms, institutions and policies
which are critical to achieving effective
enforcement at the federal level.
Ms. Petek will discuss constitutional, leg-
islative, and administrative policies that
shape the development of clearly defined
environmental requirements. The law-mak-
ing process should include all relevant
stakeholders and must consider new
knowledge and emerging technologies. The
enforcement authorities must have the
proper tools—including procedures, compli-
ance monitoring mechanisms, statutory
reporting requirements, and criminal and
civil sanctions—to act effectively.
12:45-14.00
LUNCH AT HOTEL
14:00-15:00
PANEL 4:
Raising Awareness and Measuring
Results — How to Define Success
This panel will explore the difficulties
involved with defining the success or failure
of environmental enforcement initiatives
and discuss environmental enforcement
indicators.
Moderator: Lambert Verheijen,
North Brabant,
The Netherlands
• Michael Stahl, USEPA
• Brad May, Environment Canada
Mr. Stahl will discuss the development of
improved performance indicators for
USEPA's national enforcement and compli-
ance assurance program. In an attempt to
move beyond evaluating performance
based on number of program activities
(e.g., inspections and enforcement actions
conducted each year), USEPA has devel-
oped and implemented a set of perfor-
mance indicators that measure
environmental results achieved (e.g.,
pounds of pollutants reduced, improve-
ments in environmental management prac-
tices by facilities). Mr. Stahl will present
USEPA's phased approach: identify indica-
tors, design and implement indicators,
report indicators to public, and use indica-
tors to improve programs.
Mr. May will argue that measuring the suc-
cess of environmental enforcement is one
of the more elusive, yet fundamental parts
of a successful regulatory program.
Success goes beyond mere measurement
of the actual level of fines and penalties,
and must include more creative approach-
es. Mr. May will illustrate through case
studies how innovative sentencing is one
way to achieve measurable success in
national regulatory programs.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
19
15:00-17:00
WORKSHOPS
(Coffee break in workshop rooms)
1A Measuring Success Through
Performance: Defining
Environmental Enforcement
Indicators
This Workshop will consider: activity mea-
sures that document enforcement outputs;
levels of compliance and behavioral
change achieved in key target popula-
tions; outcome measures for improved
environmental and public-health results
and relates to national priorities, and; lev-
els of support provided both to the regu-
lated community as compliance
assistance, and to enforcement partners
(e.g., sub-national units of government
including those of indigenous peoples).
a. Mike Stahl, USEPA
b. Krzysztof Michalak, OECD
1B Administrative Enforcement
Mechanisms: Getting Authority and
Making It Work
Empowering administrative environmental
agencies to impose legal requirements
and/or sanctions directly to violators with-
out having to go to a court of law or other
department or agency for prosecution has
been an important development in many
countries, resulting in faster and less costly
response to violations.
a. Wout Klein, VROM
b. Chris Currie, Canada
1C Building Effective In-Country
Networks for Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement
This workshop will explore networks
among complementary organizations with-
in a country, and how they work together
to more efficiently carry out compliance
and enforcement objectives. The
Workshop will identify a set of elements
that lead to successful in-country net-
works, as well as reveal some of the
potential difficulties that may be anticipated.
a. Greg Linsin, USDOJ
b. Neil Emmott, Environment Agency, UK
1D The Negotiation Process Leading
to Compliance
This Workshop will consider the settle-
ment negotiation process and resulting
compliance agreements, schedules, and
action plans. Emphasis will be placed on
the art and science of selling the 'social
good' behind the law, and how it may be
used to trigger alternative modes and
techniques of environmental compliance
and enforcement. The Workshop will result
in a set of themes that are designed to
achieve positive compliance results
through the negotiation process.
a. Tom Maslany, USEPA
b. Tony Oposa, Philippines
1E Training Programs for Compliance
Inspectors
This workshop discussion will concentrate
on ensuring the appropriate level of train-
ing for compliance inspectors. Although
some regional networks (e.g. IMPEL) have
made progress, there is no internationally
recognized benchmark setting the level of
competencies and skills for enforcement
practitioners. This discussion will identify
the opportunities and constraints (national
and international) in organizing training for
inspectors, investigators and legal person-
nel and identify a potential role for INECE.
a. Markuu Hietamaki, Finland
b. Erin Heskett, IFAW
1F Environmental Offenses:
Criminal and Civil
Internationally, the role for criminal
enforcement is widely varied with some
nations relying exclusively on criminal
enforcement mechanisms for the full range
of possible violations of environmental
requirements and others reserving crimi-
nal enforcement for actions thought to be
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
"criminal" in nature. Nevertheless, there is
increasing recognition of at least a set of
violations of environmental requirements
that are recognized as "environmental
crimes" worthy of treatment under criminal
codes and criminal prosecution. The
players involved in criminal enforcement
sometimes differ from those in civil
enforcement requiring different forms
of cooperation both nationally and
internationally.
a. Jose Pablo Gonzalez, Costa Rica
b. James Lofton, USDOJ
19:00-21:30
DINNER AT HOTEL
Guest Speaker: Ambassador Franz
Tattenbach, Costa Rican Ambassador to
the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change
TUESDAY, APRIL 16TH
Day Chair: Gerard Wolters, Inspector
General, Ministry Inspectorate of Housing,
Spatial Planning and the Environment
(VROM)
THEME 3
Raising Awareness: The Importance
of Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement
9:00-10:00
PANEL 5:
Economic Instruments and Voluntary
Measures
This panel will explore voluntary compliance
mechanisms, including building public
support and partnerships and encourag-
ing voluntary compliance by industry.
Panellists will offer a public interest per-
spective and consider cost-effective ways
to achieve adherence with environmental
requirements through agreement and
partnership. Panelists will explore govern-
mental response to private sector environ-
mental management systems, considering
the views of the regulated community
toward traditional enforcement approaches.
Moderator: Susan Bromm, USEPA
• Lorenzo Thomas, Mexico
• Lawrence Pratt, INCAE, Costa Rica
• Beatrice Olivastri, Friends of the Earth,
Canada
Mr. Thomas will discuss the new vision for
Mexico's National Environmental Auditing
Program, which recognizes environmental
auditing as a useful tool for small and
medium size industries to identify needs
and improve environmental performance
and compliance with the laws. The new
program promotes voluntary mechanisms
as a tool to improve competitiveness in
the international markets.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
21
Mr. Pratt will discuss how environmental
regulators worldwide are seeking to identify
a wide variety of means to bring about
improved environmental performance and
compliance with environmental laws and
regulations, including so-called "voluntary
agreements" whereby firms or industries
agree to meet certain goals and objectives
as a positive step toward reaching
improved environmental performance and
compliance. Mr. Pratt will raise awareness
to the formidable obstacles to improved
performance faced by companies in the
developing countries. This presentation
seeks to explain some of the dynamics
between reaching voluntary agreements
and recommendations for opportunities
and initiatives for regulators.
Ms. Olivastri will discuss opportunities and
challenges for public participation in non-
regulatory initiatives. She will share a set
of principles that have been developed by
a multi-stake holder group to build credibil-
ity for voluntary measures.
10:00-10:30
COFFEE BREAK
10:30-12:30
WORKSHOPS
2A Encouraging Public Role in
Compliance Monitoring and Impact
of Public Access to Environmental
Information
This workshop will examine mechanisms
for promoting public involvement in compli-
ance monitoring. The underlying issues
includeconstitutional and human rights,
nature of public involvement, practical rea-
sons for public involvement in compliance
monitoring, difficulties encountered and
other requirements and institutional prac-
tices to ensuring that citizens have access
to relevant information.
a. Carl Bruch, Environmental Law Institute
b. Geoff Garver, Commission on
Environmental Cooperation
2B Government Programs to
Encourage and Respond to Public
Involvement in Enforcement
This Workshop will identify Government
programs and implementing methodology
that encourage the public to participate in
the enforcement process. The Workshop
will result in strategies for more meaning-
ful public participation and identify ways
for INECE to assist capacity building.
a. Patricia Madrigal, Costa Rican
Environmental Law Association
b. Maria Comino, Australia
2C Promoting Voluntary Compliance:
Environmental Auditing and
Outreach and Incentives for Private
Sector Compliance, Communicating
Enforcement Success to Encourage
Voluntary Action
This workshop will examine the incentives
countries are using to promote compliance
and improved environmental performance
generally, and also explore the relationship
between these incentives or carrots and
the threat of the enforcement stick. It will
also examine the widening use and devel-
opment of environmental audits and envi-
ronmental management systems both in
relation to the International Standards
Organization's Series 14000 Standards,
the European Union's eco-management
and audit regulation or other schemes.
a. Tony Oposa, Philippines
b. Lorenzo Thomas, Mexico
2D Self-Monitoring Data: How to
Ensure Accuracy and Integrity
This workshop will discuss the key oppor-
tunities and barriers in establishing appro-
priate regulatory procedures along with
sufficient incentives, for enterprises to pro-
vide good quality information using self-
monitoring. The ways to establish
mechanisms for ensuring quality data (e.g.
by requiring self-monitoring only in facilities
with the appropriate technical capability
and developing quality control standards
for monitoring and record keeping will be
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
discussed along with the ways to reduce
the possibilities for falsification of data.
The workshop will also address the role of
self-monitoring in reviewing compliance
with environmental permits and its compa-
rability and links to environmental informa-
tion systems developed by the governments.
Furthermore, we will aim to identify the
ways to encourage industry to invest and
maintain self-monitoring equipment.
a. Markuu Hietamaki, Finland
b. Krzysztof Michalak, OECD
2E Environmental Information
Systems: Institutional
Requirements for Collection,
Management and Access
This workshop will consider different infor-
mation systems currently in use, their role
in environmental management, their
strengths and weaknesses. What data is
necessary to ensure an adequate decision
making process and how it should be col-
lected and managed? How one could
meet the challenge of ensuring public
access to the information and what the
related limitations are. What new technolo-
gies can we adopt to reduce our workload
and increase our efficiency; are they reli-
able and equally feasible in developed and
developing countries? What needs for
international exchange of information
among enforcement agencies exist and
how INECE may be instrumental in satis-
fying such needs?
a. Robert Choinard, Quebec, Canada
b. Piet Muskens, The Netherlands
2F Information Management and
Enforcement: Ensuring Effective
Application at the Working Level
This workshop will discuss methods to
identify the needs of users of information
and develop systems responsive to their
specific tasks, functions, roles, decisions
and problems. Participants will share ideas
on data, the Web, geographic information
systems (GIS) and satellite remote sensing.
The Workshop will result in recommenda-
tions for applying technology at the working
level to lead to more protective, sustainable,
measureable and cost-efficient decisions.
a. Kenneth Markowitz, INECE Secretariat
b. Gil Nolet, Inter-American
Development Bank
12:30-14:00
LUNCH
14:00-15:00
PANEL 6:
Information Collection, Standards,
Sharing, Access, Credibility and Use
This panel will discuss information man-
agement needs and present ideas on data
systems that assist enforcement persons.
The panel will address the management
and accessibility of data and information
as well as the issues of public access.
Moderator: Terrence Shears, European
Commission
• Adele Cardenas, USEPA
• Achmed Santosa, Indonesia
• Hua Wang, World Bank
Ms. Cardenas will discuss the alignment of
EPA Performance Track and Texas Clean
Industry program to support the develop-
ment of environmental management sys-
tem that limit waste and pollution and
encourage recycling. He will also discuss
Electronic Data Plans (Eplans), which pro-
vides immediate access to current facility
information, and data for first responders
and Performance Track.
Mr. Wang will present examples of how
public disclosure of industrial pollution is
making an important contribution to pollu-
tion control in several Asian developing
countries. He will discuss the motivating
concepts, implementation, and results of
public disclosure programs in China,
Indonesia and Philippines, focusing
particularly on China, which is currently
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
23
implementing one of the most ambitious
public disclosure programs in the
developing world.
15:00-15:30
COFFEE BREAK
15:30-17:30
PANEL 7:
The Evolving Role of the Judiciary
in Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement
Members of the judiciary present their
views on the role of the judiciary in
deciding environmental disputes.
Consideration will be given to existing
and innovative methods used to quantify
environmental damages.
Moderator; Winston Anderson, University
of West Indies
• Michael Decleris, Hon. Vice Pres. of the
Council of State, Greece
• Justice Kuldeep Singh, Former Supreme
Court Justice, India
• Lai Kurukulasuriya, UNEP
Winston Anderson will examine the exist-
ing and proposed role of the judiciary in
ensuring environmental compliance and
enforcement. The presentation will high-
light a recent UNEP/ROLAC judicial sym-
posium that found promising signs that
judges are often prepared to rethink the
judicial function. It will be argued that the
assumption of a more proactive stance
towards environmental protection can be
accommodated within existing legislative
and judicial frameworks.
Michael Decleris will present ideas on how
the Judiciary is rapidly becoming the most
effective branch of government for resolv-
ing environmental disputes, because of
the judiciary's ability to craft comprehen-
sive decisions that embrace the general
legal principles for sustainable develop-
ment. Mr. Decleris will present Greece as
a good example of the evolving role of the
judiciary, characterized by several factors:
constitutional review of statutes, prelimi-
nary control of governmental regulatory
instruments, power for the annulment of
illegal administrative acts and suspension
of their implementation. During the last
decade, decisions of this Court have
resulted in a case law containing a com-
plete system of legal principles for sustain-
able development. These successes have
cascaded across Greek environmental
policy influencing government, NGOs, and
civil society.
Lai Kurukulasuriya will highlight UNEP's
Guidelines for Compliance and
Enforcement as well as UNEP's efforts to
sensitize the judiciaries around the world
to promoting the further development and
enforcement of environmental law. Mr.
Kurukulasuriya will present findings from
seven Regional Judicial Symposia, and
UNEP's planned a Global Judges
Symposium planned for Johannesburg the
week before the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in August 2002.
Against this background, the presentation
will focus on the role of the judiciary pro-
moting compliance and enforcement of
environmental regulations, balancing envi-
ronmental and developmental considera-
tions in judicial decision-making, providing
an impetus to the incorporation of contem-
porary developments in the field of envi-
ronmental law for promoting sustainable
development. This will include issues of
access to justice, right to information and
public participation. The focus will be pro-
moting enforcement through the develop-
ment of regional environmental accords
and implementation of global and regional
environmental conventions along with the
promotion of national policies and strate-
gies for environmental management in the
context of the respective socio-economic
and cultural realities.
Justice Kuldeep Singh will focus on the
fundamental principles of environmental
justice in India such as right to life, clean
air, potable water, inter-generational equi-
ty, the precautionary principle and the pol-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
luter-pays principles as they are enforced
by the judiciary. In addition, important
judgments such as those delivered by
Supreme Court of India on Environmental
Law, including issues of the Public Trust
Doctrine, Sustainable Development,
Precautionary Principle, Polluter Pays
Principles and Saving the Taj Mahal from
Yellow Cancer, will also be addressed.
19:00-22:00
CULTURAL EVENT and DINNER
Buses will transport participants to Pueblo
Antiguo, a Costa Rican village recreating
life as it was at the turn of the century.
Pueblo Antiguo is a center for culture and
the conservation of Costa Rican traditions
that acquaints visitors with the values and
customs that have molded Costa Rica's
national identity.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17TH
THEME 4
Case Studies: Visits to the Field
7:30
FIELD VISITS
Meet in hotel lobby for all day event
Participants will travel by bus to the site of
their choice, accompanied by a local expert.
There will be short case studies distributed
for each site in advance.
Coffee Cooperative
CoopeCafira in San Ramon works to
improve the competitive position of Costa
Rican coffee in the international coffee
market by producing a sustainable coffee.
The Sustainable Coffee (SUSCOF) con-
sortium was established in 1999 consisting
of 6 coffee cooperatives; CoopeCafira is
one of them.
Market Based Conservation
FUNDECOR is a non-governmental orga-
nization founded in 1991 to protect and
increase the Costa Rican forests located
in the country's central plateau.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
25
Wildlife Rescue Center
ZOO AVE accepts orphaned, injured and
former pet animals at their Center for
Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation
(CWRR) located on the Zoo grounds in La
Garita de Alajuela.
National Biodiversity Institute
National Biodiversity Institute's mission is
to promote a new awareness of the value
of biodiversity, and thereby achieve its
conservation and use to improve the
quality of life.
Ecotourism
The Sarapiquis Neotropical Center is a
place where conservation of nature and
eco-development, in combination with
sustainable tourism, has become a reality.
Conservation Easements
With help from The Nature Conservancy
(TNC), the Environmental and Natural
Resources Law Center (CEDARENA in its
Spanish acronym), first established a con-
servation easement in Costa Rica eight
years ago and now has fostered 60 con-
tracts with private landowners, protecting
some 7,000 acres.
DINNER:
On your own.
THURSDAY, APRIL 18TH
Day Chair: Charles Sebukeera,
Director, NEMA, Uganda
THEME 5
Constructing Effective Interlocking
Networks at the Country, Region and
Global Levels
9:00-10:30
PANEL 8:
Implementation of International
Environmental Agreements
Through the Domestic Legislation
of Signatory Countries
This panel will first examine the new
UNEP guidelines for enhancing compli-
ance with multilateral environmental
agreements and for combating violations
of national laws implementing these
agreements. It will then explore how con-
sistent, or inconsistent, is the enforcement
of multilateral agreements by individual
countries and offer examples of coopera-
tive efforts. Panelists will present examples
of regional networks that assist domestic
implementation efforts, ideas on how to
draft laws that consider domestic capacity
and encourage real enforcement at the
operational level. The panelists will share
ideas on methodology for the various
Secretariats to communicate with INECE
and each other for more effective and
resource efficient capacity building and
enforcement cooperation.
Moderator: Donald Kaniaru, UNEP
• Marcia Mulkey, USEPA
• Roy Watkinson, Environment Agency, UK
• Andrew Lauterback, INTERPOL
• Greg Linsin, USDOJ
Ms. Mulkey will discuss implementation of
the international environmental treaties on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs),
Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and the
MARPOL Agreement on Tributyltin Anti-
Foulant Paints (TBT).
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Watkinson will explore transfrontier
enforcement cooperation in a broad range
of examples including G-8 Lyon Group on
transfrontier shipments of hazardous waste,
IMPEL project report, CFC enforcement,
and INTERPOLs focus on environmental
pollution, wildlife, nuclear/environmental
security.
Mr. Lauterback will present on Interpol's
Environmental Crimes Committee (IECC),
its origins, its mission and organization;
the "greening" of Interpol and the UNEP
guidelines; projects and priorities of IECC,
and specifically the Crimes Training Program.
10:30-11:00
COFFEE BREAK
11:00- 13:00
WORKSHOPS
3A Role of Police as Environmental
Enforcers: INTERPOL Training
This workshop will discuss the experiences
of INTERPOL and the National Environ-
mental Crime Unit that began operations
in The Netherlands in 2000. Workshop
participants will evaluate the unique role
of police as environmental enforcers,
methods, analyses of recent cases, and
overall results of criminal enforcement
activities.
a. Andrew Lauterback, USEPA/INTERPOL
b. Rene Bastiaansen,
The Netherlands Police
3B Illegal Transfrontier Movements of
Hazardous Waste (International
Link to Basel Convention):
Establishing the Network/Contact
Database
This workshop will discuss the Basel
Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
their disposal and will develop a proposal
to establish a Network/Contact Database
that would enhance environmental
enforcement and compliance of Basel
Convention by improving control and mon-
itoring of confirmed and alleged cases of
illegal transfrontier movements of haz-
ardous wastes. This workshop will also
explore challenges to identifying, targeting
and intercepting illegal transfrontier move-
ments; identify country-specific differences
in classification of illegal hazardous waste;
and discuss possible approaches for the
rapid dissemination of intelligence through
effective use of Web and network/contact
database at the local and regional level.
a. Brad May, Environment Canada
b. Sylvia Nonna, FARN, Argentina
3C Development of Sustainable
Regional Enforcement and
Compliance Networks: Elements
and Examples
This workshop will focus on the role
regional/sub-regional organizations can
play in compliance and enforcement of
multilateral environmental agreements.
Participants will: examine and evaluate
current institutional framework of regional
organizations ("institutional" meaning the
organizational structures and their 'rules
and practices'); their linkages at national
and international levels; Identify con-
straints in compliance and enforcement at
regional level and their impact at national
and international level; Identify a set of
innovative capacities that could bring
about effective compliance and enforce-
ment; and revolutionize approach to
thought in compliance and enforcement.
a. Daniel Sabsay, FARN, Argentina
b. Ignacio Gonzalez, CEC
3D International Targeting on
Environmental Crime/Activities
This Workshop will consider issues including:
measures to build national capacity to
investigate domestic violations and crimes,
as needed to fulfill national obligations under
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
27
MEAs; interagency cooperation between
environment and customs ministries to con-
trol imports and exports and international
cooperation to address common problems
including transborder pollution spillover from
one nation to another, damage to ecosys-
tems shared by two or more nations, and
illegal trafficking across national borders.
a. Greg Linsin, USDOJ
b. Roy Watkinson, United Kingdom
stakeholders in their endeavors to organize
themselves around a common concern
relating to pesticides impact and the need
for safe use. The knowledge of the interna-
tional conventions (POPs, PIC and
BASEL) and their implementation should
be used as one of the tools to achieve the
Forum goals.
a. Marcia Mulkey, USEPA
b. Marco Gonzales, CCAD
3E Enforcing Domestic Programs
Implementing International
Agreements
This workshop aims to discuss policy and
institutional requirements to ensure appro-
priate and comprehensive transposition of
the requirements of MEAs in national leg-
islation, incorporation of additional require-
ments in inspectors schedules and
mobilization of adequate resources for
increased or new enforcement burdens.
The workshop will also discuss the need
for sharing information about the require-
ments of international agreements,
strengthening capacities of enforcement
agencies in overseeing the implementation
of MEAs at the national level and strength-
ening involvement of enforcement agen-
cies in co-operation among the Parties to
various international agreements
a. Krzysztof Michalak, OECD
b. Ladislov Miko, Czech Republic
3F Designing a Pesticide Forum:
Identifying Common Elements of a
Forum as Well as Specific
Information Needs for Pesticides
This forum will result in a network with a
clearinghouse service placed at different
centers (both in private and state and
international institutions). It will play a cat-
alytic role in promoting information on pes-
ticides and their impact on the environment
and human health. It will facilitate partici-
patory processes and try to integrate the
disperse groups and networks on this issue
preferably at a regional level, create a
state of opinion, support and advise local
13:00-14:30
LUNCH
THEME 6
Regional Network Meetings: Africa,
Asia, Central America/Caribbean, North
America, Europe, and South America.
(Coffee break in workshops)
14:30-17:30
Regional leaders will develop regional ele-
ments for INECE strategic plan.
Participants will: review and comment on
the 6th INECE conference statement;
identify existing relevant networks to
engage; recognize critical environmental
challenges; and recommend specific pro-
ject needs; explore enforcement indicators
and assessment methodology; and com-
municate ways to benefit from technology
and the Web. INECE has designed the
Workshops with a vision toward future
INECE activity, and will guide the regions
toward defining specific actions and
opportunities to work with INECE. Each
Region will prepare results for the poster
session on Friday morning and designate
a spokesperson to present findings in ple-
nary Panel 9.
19:30 - 22:00
CALYPSO NIGHT
Music and dinner by the hotel pool
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28
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
FRIDAY, APRIL 19TH
Day Chair: Sylvia Lowrance,
Deputy Assistant Administrator,
USEPA
9:00-10:30
REGIONAL POSTER SESSION
Each Region will present results from the
previous day's Regional Workshop for
other conference participants to review
and discuss in anticipation of Regional
reporting to follow. Exhibits from through-
out the Region will also be displayed.
10:30-11:00
COFFEE BREAK
14:30-15:45
PANEL 10:
The INECE Strategic Vision
Presentation and discussion of the future
vision for INECE, including Strategic Plan
as charted with the input and recommen-
dations made during the Conference.
Moderator: Durwood Zaelke, Director
INECE Secretariat
• Gerard Wolters, VROM
• Sylvia Lowrance, USEPA
• Charles Sebukeera, NEMA, Uganda
15:45-16:00
CLOSING REMARKS:
Gerard Wolters, VROM
11:00-13:00
PANEL 9:
Reports of Regional Meetings and
Workshops
Designated spokespersons will share the
findings of the Regional Workshops and
present elements for incorporation into the
strategic plan of INECE and a work pro-
gram for the Region.
Moderators: Tony Oposa, Philippines and
Wout Klein, VROM
16:00
ADJOURN
17:00
CLOSING RECEPTION
13:00-14:30
LUNCH
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WOLTERS
29
GERARD WOLTERS — LOCAL EVENT OPENING COMMENTS
Buenos Dias! Bienvenidos y
Gracias por compartir con nosotros este
sueno de promover un medio ambiente
mejor.
Good morning. My name is Gerard
Wolters, and I am the Inspector General at
the Dutch Environment Ministry. I am
pleased to join you this morning both on
behalf of my ministry, and on behalf of the
International Network for Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement, known as
INECE, where I serve as one of the co-
chairs. INECE is proud to be one of the
sponsors of this important seminar.
I am privileged to be in your beau-
tiful country not only for your seminar, but
also to present the 6th International
Conference for INECE. We hope many of
you will be able to join us for that event as
well, which will be held in this same hotel
all of next week.
I should tell you a bit more about
INECE. We are a network, of course, and
we are dedicated to protecting our shared
environment by strengthening enforcement
and compliance.
We have three goals. The first is to
strengthen the capacity of the institutions
dedicated to enforcing our environmental
laws, and ensuring compliance. Our sec-
ond goal is to develop effective enforce-
ment networks at the national, regional,
and international level (including through
seminars such as yours today). And our
third goal is to raise awareness of the
importance of environmental enforcement
and compliance.
All of us in the business of enforce-
ment and compliance are hard working
professionals, but not everyone appreci-
ates the importance of our work as much
as they should. And why is this? It is
because we do not explain our work to oth-
ers. We seem to talk more among our-
selves, and rarely to those outside the
business of enforcement. One of our goals
is to change this, and let everyone know
what we stand for and what we do.
We must start with the laws we
have to protect the environment. We have
many wonderful laws in all of our countries.
We have wonderful laws at the regional
and at the international level as well. In fact,
in the 30 years since the Stockholm
Conference on the Human Environment in
1972 we have developed more than 300
new agreements or treaties. Our lawmak-
ers actually have done a pretty good job.
But in spite of all of these laws to protect
the environment, the environment itself is
getting worse. Most measures of environ-
mental quality show continuing degrada-
tion across a broad spectrum, with serious
consequences for public health and
ecosystems, as well as for the rule of law
and good governance.
A key reason for the continuing
deterioration of our environment is the fail-
ure to enforce our environmental laws. It is
the failure to invest in the strengthening of
enforcement and compliance programs. At
the international level, this Enforcement
Gap is illustrated by CITES, the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered
Species, one of our better know treaties,
which dates back to the early 1970s. There
are 154 countries that are parties to
CITES. Yet 76, nearly half do not meet one
or more of the requirements for implement-
ing and enforcing this key treaty. This is
clearly not right. Without stronger enforce-
ment and compliance, CITES cannot do its
job of protecting endangered species. The
facts speak for themselves: by some esti-
mates, we are losing 27,000 species a
year. That is 74 species every day, 3 every
hour, a rate of extinction at least a thou-
sand times greater than the natural rate.
This situation is repeated at the
national, regional and international level for
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30
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
many other laws. And it is unacceptable if
we are to have any realistic hope of leaving
a healthy environment for the future.
Closing this Enforcement Gap is the mis-
sion of INECE. And we are proud of the
work we do, even if it is not always appreci-
ated! We do seem to inspire fear in peo-
ple, although this is often as not based on
a misunderstanding of the benefits of
enforcement and compliance. Not enough
people know that closing the Enforcement
Gap generally brings benefits that outweigh
the costs. One of your speakers today is an
expert on this, Lawrence Pratt, and I'm sure
he will tell you more about this, because it
is a very important thing to know.
So, as you can see, our mission
and our goals at INECE are similar to the
goals of your seminar. Your seminar today
will give you the opportunity to learn more
about the topic of enforcement and to
understand the tools of the trade. We are all
dedicated to improving our environment,
through environmental law that is better
enforced and better complied with. We all
have the same responsibility to the envi-
ronment, whether we are citizens, enforce-
ment officials, or whether we work for an
NGO or a university. We have the duty to
protect and improve our environment,
which we all depend upon, for life itself. If
we do not enforce the laws against pollution
of our water and our air, our citizens will
suffer, and some will die. If we do not
enforce the laws protecting our natural
resources so that they are managed sus-
tainably, our species will continue to be
driven to extinction, and our fisheries and
other resources will continue to be deplet-
ed. And our citizens will suffer, and some
will be without the food they need to live.
For all of us, our world will be impoverished,
and much of the mystery and magic of the
natural world will be lost forever.
But by sharing our ideas in semi-
nars and conferences, we all have the
opportunity to learn how to do our jobs bet-
ter, and the lives of all of our citizens will be
better. By learning from one another and
building networks together, we will learn to
protect the environment better, and the
lives of our grandchildren will be better. But
you all already know this, and that is the
reason you are here, on a Saturday at that.
So I will let you get on with your important
work, and wish you well with your seminar.
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LOWRANCE
31
SYLVIA LOWRANCE (DAY CHAIR) — OPENING COMMENTS
Thank you, Mr. Ulate for your warm
welcome and hospitality. On behalf of the
three INECE co-chairs, Gerard Wolters
from the Netherlands, Charles Sebukeera
from Uganda, and myself, I extend our
heartfelt thanks to you for agreeing to host
this conference in Costa Rica. Costa Rica
is widely recognized as a country that
acknowledges and embraces the benefits
and importance of environmental protec-
tion, and all my colleagues here from
around the world and I salute your leader-
ship. As you may know, on Wednesday we
will have the opportunity to see first hand
some of the environmental success stories
here in your beautiful country. We look for-
ward to it.
My name is Sylvia Lowrance, and,
in addition to being one of the three co-
chairs of INECE, I am the Acting Assistant
Administrator for Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance in the US
Environmental Protection Agency. In addi-
tion to our domestic work to protect the
environment and human health, the US
EPA works worldwide to help build the
capacity of environmental programs and to
build relationships that help protect and
improve our global environment. We have
been, and commit to continue to be, a
strong supporter of international partner-
ships.
Networking among enforcement
officials is critically important in today's
world. Industries are global and fluid in
their movements; Trade in environmental-
ly-regulated products is an integral part of
this new global economy; and,
Transboundary pollution and natural
resource pressures are known to create
public health problems and constrain eco-
nomic growth.
We in the United States have ben-
efited tremendously from networking. For
example, the U.S. and Mexico have a long
history of transboundary cooperation. So
when we learned that a Mexican company
with a U.S. parent was illegally sending
hazardous waste into the U.S., the U.S.
and Mexico worked swiftly on an investiga-
tion which resulted in a penalty being paid
by the company and the company institut-
ing a training program — overseen by
PROFEPA — for other companies on
transboundary waste shipment require-
ments of the two countries.
Similarly, we have benefited by our
networking with Canada, particularly, in the
area of illegal CFC refrigerant trafficking.
In one of our many cases, we secured
criminal pleas in connection with illegal
importation of 75 tons of CFC refrigerants.
Without close partnership with Mexico and
Canada, these and many other cases
would simply not have been possible.
As you can see, INECE and its
success is important to us all - as public
servants and as private citizens. Let me
now turn to INECE and how it can help us
meet this need. First, its history. While the
name and organization was not formalized
until 1997, the International Network of
Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement, known as INECE, truly
began at our first conference in the
Netherlands in 1990. In the twelve years
that followed, the organization has grown
to well over 84 counties and at least 15
NGO's you find represented here today.
Through the hard work and commitment of
many of you we now have an organization
that goes beyond borders and which has
increased the awareness worldwide of the
importance and necessity of environmental
compliance and enforcement as a compo-
nent of any country's framework for envi-
ronmental protection.
Ten years ago in Rio de Janeiro,
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32
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
the world's leaders wrote "Agenda 21", set-
ting ambitious goals for a sustainable
future. That framework was influenced by
INECE partners and Chapter 8 of Agenda
21 specifically directs that States develop
their compliance and enforcement capacity.
This awareness of the role of environmen-
tal enforcement and compliance is espe-
cially evident now, as the international
community prepares for the World Summit
on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg this fall. Environmental
compliance and enforcement is an integral
part of discussions on good governance
and the role of civil society in sustainable
development. As our countries prepare for
Rio + 10 this August, INECE is in a unique
position to help build the capacity for good
governance. For example, INECE has
been asked by UNEP to co-sponsor a
Global Judges Symposium on
Environmental Law and Sustainable
Development in South Africa as a side
event to the WSSD, and we have been
asked to become involved in the ENVIRO-
LAW 2000 conference also related to the
WSSD.
Much has happened in INECE
since the fifth conference in Monterey
California four years ago: We publish a high
quality newsletter, and have published an
index of all the papers and proceedings
from each of the previous conferences into
one reference guide. After this conference,
the Executive Planning Committee will take
new papers from this conference, the best
of the papers from previous conferences,
and a few special papers, and publish a
book to serve as an additional tool for envi-
ronmental compliance and enforcement.
INECE also has continued to work
with partner organizations on many events,
both regionally and globally, to help build
international capacity to conduct enforce-
ment and compliance activities. These
events include distance learning courses
through the World Bank Institutes, inspec-
tor training workshops in Asia and other
parts of the world, judicial and prosecutor
awareness symposia with the United
Nations Environment Programme, and a
wide range of activities from the different
regional networks. I can only mention a few
Regional activities such as the IMPEL con-
ference in 2000 for members of the
European Commission, and NICECEN's
recent conference in Azerbaijon for the
newly independent states from the former
Soviet Union.
In addition, INECE has established
a dynamic and continually improving inter-
net site to help facilitate global communica-
tion among the partners. This web site
includes several topical forums for real-time
discussion among practitioners in different
parts of the world to foster increased shar-
ing of knowledge and issues, and contains
links to partner organizations.
Improvements to the website will be pre-
sented this week during the conference for
your comments and suggestions. This
website will become a crucial part of our
network. In fact, you can view and com-
ment on the draft conference statement by
the co-chairs on behalf of INECE on the
website and the website will be used for our
conference follow-up.
As we look to the future, we are
working to expand the role of Regional
Networks and to make INECE a more
proactive partnership that becomes a con-
tinual supplier of information and capacity
building assistance. As stated in the
recently adopted terms of reference, we
need to work to effectively interlock in-
country, regional, and global networks with
four goals: 1) create a visible and seam-
less net to deter and detect environmental
violations; 2) support cooperation to protect
shared resources and address common
environmental problems caused by viola-
tions of environmental law; 3) provide easy
access to contacts, experts and capacity
building resources; and 4) periodically
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LOWRANCE
33
assess country, regional and global
progress and capacity building needs.
One of the outcomes of this confer-
ence will be a conference statement that
goes beyond a summary of the proceed-
ings and demonstrates INECE's commit-
ment to the role of enforcement and
compliance in sustainable development.
This statement will be a message to the
World Summit on Sustainable
Development about environmental compli-
ance in the twenty-first century.
We also will work this week on an
important building block of a long-term
strategic plan for INECE. You have for
review a list of projects that have been sug-
gested. We need to hear from you what the
most important needs are for global and
regional networks. Your work will be used
to plan our work for the next three years
and beyond.
Let me note that we all owe a debt
of gratitude to Durwood Zaelke, Ken
Markowitz, Carolina Mauri, and all the staff
at the INECE secretariat for working long
hours to ensure a successful conference.
For this conference and our net-
work to succeed, we must all participate
fully and contribute ideas. This is not meant
to be a series of lectures. Instead, the con-
ference will focus on the workshops each
day that are designed to guide the EPC as
we go forward. We have planned ample
opportunities for you to get to know each
other, and certainly hope that everyone has
a pleasant experience and leaves invigorat-
ed with newfound energy as you return
home to do the extraordinarily important
work you do to ensure a safe, clean, sus-
tainable future for our world and the gener-
ations to follow.
Now let me pass the podium to
Michele de Nevers, who will be moderating
the first panel discussing the Role of
Institutions and Networks in Environmental
Enforcement.
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34 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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ULATE
35
KEYNOTE ADDRESS OF MR. RICARDO ULATE, DIRECTOR OF
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY OF COSTA RICA
Distinguished Co-Chairs of INECE,
Miss Sylvia Lowrance, Principal Deputy
Assistant Administrator of the United
States Environmental Protection Agency,
Mr. Gerard Wolters, Inspector General of
the Ministry of Environment of the
Netherlands, Mr. Charles Sebukeera,
Director of the National Environmental
Management Authority of Uganda, distin-
guished Director of INECE, Mr. Durwood
Zaelke, distinguished participants, ladies
and gentlemen; On behalf of the govern-
ment and the Ministry of Environment and
Energy of Costa Rica, it is my pleasure to
welcome all of you to this sixth meeting of
the International Conference on
Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement organized jointly by INECE
with the support of many international envi-
ronmental related organizations and institu-
tions.
This is probably one of the forums
that will provide important input to the forth-
coming World Summit on Sustainable
Development to be held in Johannesburg
later this year. And I said this because
many of the findings coming from the expe-
rience obtained during the ten years after
Rio indicates that there have been a lot of
opportunities for international and national
dialogue, that there have been several
global and international legal and political
instruments, both binding and non binding,
and there have also been a lot of interna-
tional and national initiatives oriented
towards a common objective, obtaining
sustainable development, but there is still a
feeling that a lot more commitment and
concrete results are to be expected, both at
the national and international levels.
Environmental enforcement and
compliance is a relatively new area in many
developing countries. Many of our countries
have experienced a deep legal and institu-
tional transformation in the recent years in
order to follow "the trends of the fashion" in
environmental issues, by implementing
new and more strict legislation and creating
new institutional settings in order to achieve
goals shaped by the international commu-
nity but where developing countries partici-
pated in a limited way and whose legal and
institutional frameworks probably had not
reached the level of maturity required for
such a transformation.
The capacity of the countries to
guarantee the fulfillment of the regulations
included as a result of many legislative
improvements as well as legal international
developments is without any doubt, one of
the critical elements of environmental gov-
ernance. As in many other fields in modern
politics, environment could no longer be
seen as a responsibility of the governments
only. Civil society and private sector in par-
ticular, have a particular role to play in
achieving national sustainability goals. In
this regard, raising awareness among the
different actors and sectors of the society,
both at the national and international levels,
should be seen as a strategic tool to pro-
mote the attitudinal changes required by a
new culture, a culture that requires a clear
commitment from all towards a goal that is
a global responsibility: environmental sus-
tainability for the current and new genera-
tions.
Achieving environmental enforce-
ment and compliance is also one of the
issues to be addressed from an intersec-
toral perspective; not only from the execu-
tive, but from the legislative and judicial
branches of the government. Harmonization
of both, legislation and practices is critical to
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36 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
provide a clear message to all interested
sectors. The provision of resources to
increase the capabilities of the governments
to obtain the desired goals should be
addressed from a development perspective.
During the last two decades, Costa
Rica has been devoting a lot of efforts and
resources to the consolidation of a system
of conservation areas and to the payment
of environmental services as a mechanism
to guarantee the sustainability of biodiversi-
ty and forest related resources to the new
generations. During the last decade, new
issues have raised to the international con-
sciousness and the country is still on the
process to find out the right paths to be fol-
lowed in order to fulfill all the society expec-
tations. The results of this conference
would be an additional input to the search
for knowledge, but in particular to the
search for successful experiences already
gained.
Again, welcome to Costa Rica. It is
our hope that all of you have the opportuni-
ty to widely contribute to the discussions of
the very interesting areas to be covered
during the conference, and also to enjoy at
least a bit of our country.
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THEME #1
The INECE Mission: Environmental Results Through Enforcement
Theme #1: The INECE Mission included two panels entitled "The Role of Institutions and
Networks in Environmental Enforcement" and "The Regional Network Experience." Panel 1
provided institutional perspectives on the merits of networks and explored ways for institu-
tions to work with INECE to make it more successful in the future. The panelists provided
the viewpoint from their organizations and the results that have been achieved. Panel 2
highlighted examples of regional networks that have successfully supported environmental
compliance enforcement and focused on achieving global environmental results through
regional and local efforts. Perspectives from the Africa, North America, and Central Europe
will be highlighted.
Included under this theme are the summaries of the panel presentations and following
papers:
• UNEP Governing Council Adopts Guidelines on Compliance With and Enforcement of
ME As, Kaniaru, Donald
• The Role of Institutions and Networks in Environmental Enforcement, Kaniaru, Donald
• The Region Network Experience: Presentation on the Ghana EPA Experience, Allotey,
Jonathan
• New Independent States Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (NISE-
CEN): An Effective Mechanism to Strengthen Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Michalak, Krzysztof
• Environmental Law Enforcement and Compliance in Central America, Mauri, Carolina
• From 'The Mexican Problem" to a Regional Experience: Environmental Enforcement
And Compliance In North America, Azuela, Antonio
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38 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SESSION #1: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS AND NETWORKS
39
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #1:THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS
AND NETWORKS IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT
Moderator: Michele de Nevers
Rapporteur: Evan Wolff
1 INTRODUCTION
This plenary session assessed the
role of networks and international institu-
tions in environmental enforcement. It con-
cluded that they have a critical role to play
in rising to the challenges inherent in any
effort to restrain the wide array of environ-
mental violations occurring across the
globe. These networks and institutions can
help develop and implement environmental
policy, provide information and training, and
serve as sources and conduits of assis-
tance that is critical to leveling the playing
field for countries and regions with vastly
disparate capacities and needs, especially
in the face of the constantly changing envi-
ronmental challenges. Both networks and
international institutions bring together spe-
cialists from both the environmental sci-
ences and enforcement worlds. INECE, in
particular, provides an excellent opportuni-
ty for professionals from varied disciplines
to learn from each other and work together
to address common problems. While these
networks and institutions have achieved
significant success both internationally and
regionally, there is room for improvement.
Enhanced and streamlined institutions are
needed as well as additional national and
regional networks. In addition, increased
cooperation among networks, institutions,
and MEA secretariats are needed, espe-
cially in the areas of monitoring and report-
ing. The European Commission network
building actives and preparations for the
World Summit on Sustainable
Development were also discussed. INECE
can help raise awareness of the impor-
tance of compliance and enforcement and
the shared responsibility of all nations for
improvement. The success of the European
Union's Implementation and Enforcement
of Environmental Law, also known as the
IMPEL network, was discussed as an
excellent example of a successful network.
In addition, the value to individual environ-
mental practitioners is also significant.
Successes, challenges, and networking
experiences were detailed as part of the
discussion period and the overall value of
networking and institutional commitments
to environmental enforcement appeared to
be significant.
2 PRESENTATIONS
The moderator, Michele de Nevers,
opened the panel by stressing that net-
working is very important to the World Bank
even though it is not an enforcement
agency. The Bank supports organizations
that perform enforcement and compliance
activities and believes strongly that enforc-
ing environmental laws is critical to pre-
serving the environment. Ms. de Nevers
also stressed the importance of bringing
together people that are specialists in dif-
ferent areas of the environment policy,
including enforcement, and that INECE
provides an excellent opportunity to learn
from each other. To this matter, the World
Bank has a vibrant distance-learning pro-
gram allowing people to learn remotely and
benefit from networks while reducing the
problems associated the conference relat-
ed travel.
The first panelist, Donald Kaniaru
from UNEP, stated that many institutions
exist today and some are prime movers in
environmental policy development and
implementation. These institutions have
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40
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
mushroomed at the global and regional
level but so have the efforts of actors to
evade laws and regulations. Clearly,
enhanced and streamlined institutions are
needed as well as informal network at the
national, regional, and international level.
Mr. Kaniaru continued with a
review of the institutional framework of
compliance and enforcement of environ-
mental laws, then discussed the mandate
as stated in Agenda 21 Chapter 38, and
began to discuss the role of institutions and
networks.
Mr. Kaniaru discussed the impor-
tance of enhancing institutions, realizing
that environmental management must be
integrate into work and polices in other
areas. This includes working with other
areas of law, bodies and institutions of
international environmental agreements
and regulations. This is important in areas
of monitoring, reporting and other areas of
compliance that are particularly critical for
success of these agreements. Mr. Kaniaru
discussed guidelines by which INECE can
bring together people from across govern-
ments and non-governmental areas in an
informal setting to share experiences and
expertise and create networks. This is
being done in global, regional and national
settings.
Mr. George Kremlis from the
European Commission stated that the
European Commission is fully committed to
INECE's work, to building environmental
networks and being an influential partici-
pant at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development. All institutions need to raise
awareness of compliance and enforcement
and realize that it is a shared responsibility
of all nations. The EU has many networking
initiatives, including criminal sanctions for
environmental laws, implementing the pol-
luter pays principle and making member
states responsible for pollutions activities in
there territories. The EU Implementation
and Enforcement of Environmental Law
network, or known as IMPEL, is an excel-
lent example of a successful network. The
EU is also revisiting the ratification of the
Aarhus Convention, which is critical to
improving access to environmental infor-
mation. The EU wants to improve this con-
vention and enlarge its scope. Access to
justice is another initiative that they are
actively pursuing. In addition, they have
created a strong informal networking allow-
ing experts to speak frankly on behalf of
their countries. Other new networks deal
with the New Independent States and
Balkans. Mr. Kremlis concluded by stating
that networking is a very important tool in
improving enforcement and enhancing
effectiveness of environmental laws.
The last panelist was Antonio
Benjamin from Lawyers for a Green Planet
Institute. Mr. Benjamin stated that network-
ing is the heart of INECE's mission. Most
environmental practitioners know what net-
working is and do it in daily life but would be
hard pressed to explain the goals of net-
working and discuss its operations. Mr.
Benjamin discussed four topics in his pres-
entation:
• the goals of networking;
• why and when we network;
• examples of types of networking; and
judicial networking.
Mr. Benjamin outlined 5 goals of
networking:
• cooperation with common goals and
mandates;
• networking is a means of increasing
communication to avoid overlaps and
duplications;
• use networking for conflict avoidance
and mitigation;
• learning technique for new agencies and
units helping them learn how to accom-
plish their goals and missions by com-
municating with others doing similar
area; and
• raises stakeholder participation.
Next Mr. Benjamin discussed why
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SESSION #1: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS AND NETWORKS 41
we network. He began by stating that, as a
general rule, there are environmental sys-
tems throughout the world but there are not
many centralized organizations that work
with these systems. But why do these net-
works exist? First, we network when none
of the partners have full authority to solve
the problems and therefore, organizations
must work together towards a common
goal. Second, networking is when one part-
ner has authority but does not have the
resources, expertise, or political support.
Networking also occurs when we need sup-
port of another partner to fully accomplish
all the goals of the agencies or organiza-
tions. These are all voluntary networking
opportunities, but there are times when net-
working is required. This occurs most com-
monly when a legislature requires intera-
gency networking. Additionally, there are
also horizontal and vertical networking,
among environmental and non-environ-
mental institutions, and between govern-
mental and non-governmental organiza-
tions. However networking does have its
limitations and challenges. Mr. Benjamin
described how it is important that each
agency recognize their natural limitations
and their capacities. Networking does not
occur at any time or at any price, while it is
our goal to develop seamless and larger
networks and we hope it will continue and
all parties would like to keep the channels
of communication open. This allows adver-
saries to engage in open discussions on
often neutral subjects. But it is critical that in
networking each partner needs to maintain
their own values and identities, this is espe-
cially true for INECE.
Mr. Benjamin concluded with a dis-
cussion of judicial networking and how it is
necessary for enforcement in an enforce-
ment and judicial process.
3 DISCUSSION
Question by Jose Pablo Gonzalez
(Attorney General, Costa Rica). In judicial
networking there are often difficulties in
working between government agencies,
especially arising when a prosecutor is a
part of the executive branch and the judicial
branch decides the cases that the prosecu-
tor raises. Mr. Benjamin answered this
question by discussing the tradition of judi-
cial enforcement in most countries. As
opposed to administrative enforcement,
there is much more collaboration at the
executive level than at the judicial level.
Giving the judiciary more support will not
result in more enforcement; we need to
look at other actors to make enforcement
work better, including administrative agen-
cies and NGOs. Examine areas of standing
and criminal vs. civil prosecution.
Recognizing that the judicial agencies may
be limited by the legislative and legal
framework that it operates under.
Question by Steve Herman (Unites
States): Have the EU regional agreements
and networks resulted in specific compli-
ance and enforcement actions in Europe
and if so, what are some examples? Mr.
Kremlis responded to the question by stat-
ing that the European Commission has a
broad set of regulations and laws and is in
the process of setting up a system for
ensuring enforcement and compliance with
these regulations. The system will allow for
problems with compliance to trigger regula-
tory actions involving the member state, but
these are still developing initiatives and
have not been adopted by all member
states. Included in these regulations being
developed by the European Commission
are criminal sanctions for environmental
laws. Currently of all the complaints
received by the European Commission,
46% of these complaints are for the envi-
ronment and this trend is expected to con-
tinue.
Question by Beatrice Olivastri
(FOE, Canada) -What is the importance of
networking with corporate communities
and how will it further develop? Mr.
Benjamin answered this by discussing that
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
ethical principles are stricter when network-
ing between state and non-state actors,
especially regarding due process. We can-
not allow networking to become a unilater-
al way to influence decision-making. Mr.
Kaniaru discussed UNEPs efforts to net-
work with corporations, developing codes
of conduct, and increasing transparency
between these actors. There are appropri-
ate and inappropriate times to partner with
industry, especially when creating regula-
tions of pollution and development.
4 CONCLUSION
International institutions and net-
works play an important role in promoting
effective national, regional, and internation-
al implementation of environmental laws
and policies. INECE should continue its
efforts to develop institutional and network
capacity.
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KANIARU
43
UNEP GOVERNING COUNCIL ADOPTS GUIDELINES ON
COMPLIANCE WITH AND ENFORCEMENT OF MULTILATERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS
KANIARU, DONALD
Director, Division of Environmental Policy Implementation,
United Nations Environment Programme, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya.
SUMMARY
This paper focuses on the recently adopted guidelines on compliance and enforce-
ment of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). This is an important response of
the international community to the urgent need for enhancing compliance with MEAs
through institutional improvements, enhanced organizational co-ordination, strengthened
national environmental implementation and enforcement mechanisms, capacity building
and training. The guidelines, a pragmatic outcome of experience-sharing, and based on the
views of governments and MEA secretariats, seek to engage countries through a menu of
options for strengthening implementation of MEAs and enforcement of national laws, regu-
lations and policies.
1 INTRODUCTION
Since the 1970s, MEAs were
developed quickly, many duplicating each
other in several respects including person-
nel and institutions at national level that
would backup implementation, follow up,
reporting and coordination. It was thus
apparent that coherent implementation was
lacking. There were loopholes too under-
mining the very measures that were intend-
ed to be curbed. It became clear too that
funding had to be made available for devel-
oping countries to be enabled to participate
in negotiations of new instruments, and
thereafter in their implementation.
The international context of compli-
ance and enforcement is provided by MEAs
and the felt need to increase their efficacy
for delivering on environmental objectives.
The last thirty years or so have seen the
rapid development of MEAs. Over 200
already exist, and several more are cur-
rently under negotiation at global and
regional levels. During this period, UNEP's
primary focus too has been in the develop-
ment of international environmental law
and it has facilitated, inspired, spearheaded
and played a catalytic role in the develop-
ment of several soft law and hard law
instruments. Now the international commu-
nity's important task is to advance and
enhance the implementation of agreed
international norms and policies, to monitor
and foster compliance with environmental
principles and international agreements.
However, as international environmental
law and its accompanying national legisla-
tion for environmental protection increase
in number, complexity and sophistication,
so do opportunities and determination to
evade such laws through orchestrated
criminal activities.
Shortcomings were noted not only
globally but also at regional and national
levels. UNECE, for their region, moved into
action and are developing guidelines for
environmental compliance and enforce-
ment building upon the UNEP Guidelines to
be adopted in 2003. INECE embraced
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
action including regional initiatives through
its informal partnership to promote and
strengthen environmental compliance and
enforcement. Other regional initiatives were
also taken, such as:
• The Latin America and Caribbean con-
vened in November 1999 a workshop for
English speaking Caribbean and adopt-
ed a set of Guidelines on MEAs imple-
mentation in the Caribbean.
• The ASEAN too are developing mecha-
nisms to promote compliance and
enforcement of MEAs. The Guidelines
propose options for more effective MEAs
implementation in the countries. They
also draw upon selective elements in the
implementation strategies adopted with
success in individual countries of the
region.
• Furthermore, in the 1990s UNEP facili-
tated and coordinated the development
of, and served as an interim secretariat
for the implementation of a regional
wildlife enforcement agreement called
the Lusaka Agreement on Co-operative
Enforcement Operations Directed at
Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora.
UNEP, still a partner in the implementa-
tion of this treaty, coordinated its negotia-
tion process until its adoption in 1994 as
a regional wildlife law enforcement treaty.
The Lusaka Agreement, enforcing CITES
in Africa, aims at reducing but ultimately
to eliminate illegal trade in wild fauna
and flora.
Convention secretariats and
UNEP moved to promote adherence of
countries to bring MEAs to force. They
also showed concerns on compliance and,
besides Montreal Protocol; other instru-
ments have, or are taking steps, to move
into compliance and enforcement. For
instance: Parties to the UNFCCC are
developing procedures and mechanisms
for compliance under the Kyoto Protocol.
The same is also true for the parties to the
Basel Convention that are developing ele-
ments for monitoring the implementation
of and compliance with obligations under
the Convention. The parties to the CBD
are developing procedures and mecha-
nisms to promote compliance and to
address cases of non-compliance within
the framework of the Biosafety Protocol.
The parties to the CITES are equally
developing a comprehensive plan to con-
cretely address, inter alia, compliance and
enforcement issues. CITES secretariat
regularly reviews and analyzes national
laws of Parties to determine whether such
laws meet CITES implementation require-
ments. Consequently, collaboration with
and support from the Convention
Secretariats, including Interpol and World
Customs Organization in this process is,
sine quo non, for the successful imple-
mentation of the guidelines on compliance
and enforcement of MEAs.
In view of all these parallel efforts
initiated by the MEAs secretariats and
other regional groupings, it was in deed
time to address, in a focused and coordi-
nated way, such efforts which would pro-
vide much needed tools and approaches
to negotiations and measures to ensure
developing countries and countries whose
economies are in transition have the
fullest appreciation of their overall interest
in becoming party to, and the means to
implement, the different instruments.
Notwithstanding the increase of
international agreements and enabling
national legislation, there have been short-
comings in compliance, along with
increasing incidence of evasion of laws
and rules. In this backdrop, the guidelines
for compliance and enforcement of MEAs
were prepared consequent to intense con-
sultations. These guidelines, first mooted
in 1999, were reviewed in October 2001
by a meeting of an intergovernmental
group of experts to which all countries
were invited. The guidelines were adopted
by the Seventh Special Session of the
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KANIARU
45
Governing Council (GC) of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
in February 2002 and are now broadly
available to governments, Convention
Secretariats and all those interested.
2 LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY AND
IMPETUS FOR THE GUIDELINES
The guidelines are drawn from
decision 17/25 of the UNEP GC (May
1993), which adopted the Programme for
the Development and Periodic Review of
Environmental Law, also referred to as
Montevideo II Programme. This had
emphasized the need for promoting effec-
tive implementation of international legal
instruments related to the environment.
This priority was reinforced during a mid-
term review meeting in December 1996
and endorsed by UNEP's GC decision
19/20 of 1997. UNEP had the legislative
basis to undertake work on guidelines but
financial resources were wanting.
In April 1998, G-8 Environment
Ministers, at their meeting in Leeds, U.K.,
recognized that there were serious environ-
mental effects of MEA violations, and the
need also to combat organized crime in this
area. A number of those governments,
including the United Kingdom, Canada,
Germany were ready to provide funding for
initiation of concerted action with selected
MEAs, namely CITES, ,the Montreal
Protocol and the Basel Convention on
Hazardous Wastes. Thus UNEP, along with
the three Secretariats of MEAs, World
Customs Organization, Interpol, and a
number of experts, held the first meeting in
Geneva in July 1999. Important lessons
were available from studies about the three
MEAs in question and the extent of illegal
trade. Similar problems may be envisaged
in other areas, such as chemicals. In the G-
8 Environment Ministers meeting, in Otsu,
Shiga in Japan in April 2000, the commit-
ment was reiterated for supporting compli-
ance, implementation and enforcement.
The Ministers further acknowledged that
developing countries and countries with
economies in transition needed external
assistance in this regard.
To maintain momentum, compli-
ance and enforcement was accorded a
high degree of attention in the 2000-2001
programme of activities at UNEP in the field
of environmental law. It is notable that the
Ministerial Declaration from the first Global
Ministerial Environment Forum held at
Malmo, Sweden in May 2000 also identified
compliance and enforcement of MEAs as a
crucial issue. Subsequently, the Nairobi
meeting (October 2000) of government
experts prepared a new Programme for the
Development and Periodic Review of
Environmental Law for the first decade of
the twenty-first century. The Programme,
which included implementation, compli-
ance and enforcement of environmental
law, both international and national as a
key priority, was reviewed and endorsed by
the UNEP GC in February 2001 in deci-
sions 21/23 and 21/27, pursuant to which
the draft guidelines were given their final
shape.
3 FORMULATION OF THE GUIDELINES
Preliminary elements of the draft
guidelines were prepared by UNEP in
1999. These were reviewed by a Working
Group of Experts on Compliance and
Enforcement of Environmental Conventions
at Geneva from 13-15 December 1999. The
experts decided that the guidelines be split
into two sets, one related to compliance,
and the other related to enforcement and
environmental crime. The drafts were sub-
mitted to governments for review and com-
ments, wherein governments recognized
the need for continuous work on issues of
compliance, enforcement and environmen-
tal crime.
Governments emphasized that the
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
guidelines be non-binding and of voluntary
nature. The need for transparency and
information flow was underlined. The estab-
lishment of mechanisms such as common
reporting formats, timely reporting and pub-
lic access to information was emphasized.
The value and importance of international
co-operation and co-ordination in combat-
ing environmental crime was recognized
and different ways of achieving results in
this area were suggested.
Further exchange of views on the
draft text of the Guidelines was accom-
plished through two geo-politically bal-
anced advisory group meetings held in
Nairobi from November 13-15, 2000 and in
Geneva from August 27-29, 2001. Also rep-
resented were relevant MEA secretariats.
Inputs from these meetings were used to
prepare the final text of the guidelines. An
intergovernmental working group of experts
was subsequently constituted in which the
participation of all governments was invited.
78 governments were represented at the
meeting, which took place at Nairobi from
October 22 to 26, 2001. This meeting final-
ized the guidelines, which were adopted by
the UNEP GC in February 2002.
4 NATURE AND SCOPE
The guidelines provide approaches
to enhancing compliance, recognizing that
each MEA has been negotiated in a unique
way and has its own independent legal sta-
tus. The guidelines acknowledge that com-
pliance mechanisms and procedures
should take account of the particular char-
acteristics of the MEA in question.
Enforcement is essential for securing the
benefit of laws, protect the environment,
public health and safety, deter violations,
and encourage improved performance. The
guidelines are relevant to present and
future MEAs, and anticipate a broad range
of environmental issues, including global
and regional environmental protection,
management of hazardous substances and
chemicals, prevention and control of pollu-
tion, desertification, conservation of natural
resources, biodiversity, wildlife, and envi-
ronmental safety and health.
The purpose of these guidelines is
to assist governments and MEA secretari-
ats, relevant international, regional and sub
regional organizations, national enforce-
ment agencies, NGOs, the private sector
and relevant stakeholders in enhancing
and supporting compliance with MEAs. The
guidelines outline actions, initiatives and
measures for States to consider for
strengthening national enforcement and
international cooperation in combating vio-
lations of laws implementing MEAs. The
guidelines are intended to facilitate consid-
eration of compliance issues at the design
and negotiation stage and also after the
entry into force of the MEAs, at confer-
ences and meetings of the parties.
The guidelines address enforce-
ment of national laws and regulations
implementing MEAs in a broad context,
under which States, consistent with their
obligations under such agreements, devel-
op laws and institutions that support effec-
tive enforcement and pursue actions that
deter and respond to environmental law
violations and crimes. Approaches include
the promotion of appropriate and effective
laws and regulations. The guidelines
accord significance to the development of
institutional capacities through cooperation
and coordination among governments and
international organizations for increasing
the effectiveness of enforcement.
5 BROAD DIRECTION OF
THE GUIDELINES
Though the terms 'compliance' and
'enforcement' are often used loosely and
interchangeably, as far as the guidelines
are concerned, 'compliance' refers to the
situation in which a State is, with regard to
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KANIARU
47
its obligations under an MEA; i.e., whether
it is in compliance or not. 'Enforcement'
refers to a set of actions, i.e., adopting laws
and regulations, monitoring outcomes, etc.,
including various enabling activities and
steps, which a State may take within its
national territory to ensure implementation
of an MEA. In other words, 'compliance' is
used in an international context, and
'enforcement' in a national one. A term that
was problematic throughout the process
was "environmental crime" because it is
understood differently in different jurisdic-
tions. The guidelines therefore opted for the
term violations as discussed.
Overall, the guidelines seek solu-
tions for addressing shortcomings in compli-
ance and enforcement which otherwise
undermine the effectiveness of an MEA
regime, or a party's ability to live up to its obli-
gations. Such shortcomings may include:
• Lack of national legislation.
• Lack of awareness of the relevant regula-
tions, including among industry and con-
sumers or enforcement authorities.
• Lack of financial resources.
• Costs of compliance, creating a financial
incentive for evasion.
• Inadequate penalties.
• Problems with detection.
• Dearth of human resources, institutional
and technical capability.
• Lack of information and economic intelli-
gence.
• Shortcomings in transboundary co-oper-
ation and monitoring.
6 STRUCTURE OF THE GUIDELINES
The guidelines, divided in three
parts, are intended to inform and affect how
parties implement their obligations under
MEAs. The opening part, the introduction,
recalls the basis of preparing the guide-
lines. It acknowledges that the guidelines
are advisory in nature and that parties to
the agreements are best situated to choose
and determine useful approaches for carry-
ing out MEA obligations. The guidelines are
non-binding and in no way affect or alter the
obligations in MEAs. Following the intro-
ductory part, chapter I of the guidelines
deals with enhancing compliance with
MEAs.
Chapter I comprises 29 para-
graphs, wherein "compliance" has been
defined as the fulfillment by the contracting
parties of their obligations under an MEA.
"Implementation" covers all relevant laws,
regulations, policies, and other measures
and initiatives, that contracting parties
adopt and/or take to meet their obligations
under an MEA. The guidelines touch upon
the preparatory work required for negotia-
tions, effective participation in any debate,
assessment of domestic capabilities during
negotiations, review of effectiveness, com-
pliance mechanisms after an MEA comes
into effect and dispute settlements provi-
sions. Other issues in this chapter include
national implementation, detailed to include
a variety of possible national measures.
Capacity building and technology transfer
are also emphasized as important compo-
nents without which effectiveness of MEAs
is undermined.
After chapter I on compliance,
chapter II of the guidelines deals with
national enforcement of laws implementing
MEAs. It comprises 15 paragraphs. Like the
compliance chapter, it contains paragraphs
dealing with definitions of the terms used.
"Enforcement" refers to the range of proce-
dures and actions employed by a State, its
competent authorities and agencies to
ensure that organizations or persons, poten-
tially failing to comply with environmental
laws or regulations implementing MEAs, can
be brought or returned into compliance
and/or punished through civil, administrative
or criminal action. "Environmental crime"
refers to the violations or breaches of
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
national environmental laws and regulations
that a State determines to be subject to
criminal penalties under its national laws
and regulations. This flexible approach is
intended to accommodate practices under
different systems of law.
The subjects handled within the
chapter on enforcement include national
laws and regulations, institutional frame-
work, national coordination, training for
enhancing enforcement capabilities and
public environmental awareness. The
strengthening of the institutional framework
includes the designation of responsibilities
to agencies and clear authority for carrying
out enforcement activities. The need for
consistency in laws and regulations is
emphasized, as well as cooperation in judi-
cial proceedings. Capacity building and
strengthening includes coordinated, techni-
cal and financial assistance to develop and
maintain institutions, programmes and
action plans for enforcement.
7 COMPLIANCE
The guidelines on compliance under-
line:
• Significance of preparatory work, includ-
ing: (a) regular exchange of information
among States, (b) consultations, (c)
experience-sharing, (d) coordination at
national level, (e) synergies with existing
ME As.
• Effective participation in negotiations,
including: (a) assessment of the geo-
graphical scope of the environmental
problem being addressed, (b) identifica-
tion of countries for which the environ-
mental problem may be particularly rele-
vant; (c) establishment of special funds
and other appropriate mechanisms to
facilitate participation, (d) approaches,
e.g., common but differentiated responsi-
bilities, framework agreements, or limiting
the scope of MEA to subject areas with
relatively more likelihood of agreement.
• Assessment of domestic capabilities dur-
ing negotiations, as well as regular
review of the overall implementation of
obligations under an MEA, and examina-
tion of specific difficulties in compliance
and consideration of measures aimed at
improving compliance.
• The need to enhance compliance
through: (a) clarity in stating obligations
in ME As, (b) national implementation
plans, including monitoring and evalua-
tion of environmental improvement; (c)
reporting, monitoring and verification, (d)
establishment of compliance committee
with appropriate expertise, (e) inclusion
of non-compliance provisions and mech-
anisms.
• Regular review of MEA effectiveness in
meeting objectives.
• Introduction of compliance mechanisms
after coming into effect of MEA.
• Dispute settlement provisions.
• National implementation measures, to
include: (a) compliance assessment, (b)
compliance plan, (c) appropriate laws
and regulatory framework, (d) national
implementation plans, (e) enforcement
frameworks and programmes, (f) eco-
nomic instruments, (g) identification of
national focal points, (h) coordination
among national departments, (I) enhanc-
ing efficacy of national institutions, (j)
cooperation of major stakeholders, (k)
dialogue with local communities, (I) role
of women and youth, (m) media, (n) pub-
lic awareness, (o) access to administra-
tive and judicial proceedings.
• Capacity building and strengthening,
including financial and technical assis-
tance for environmental management.
• Technology transfer, which should be
consistent with the needs, strategies and
priorities of the country concerned and
which can build upon similar activities
already undertaken by national institu-
tions or with support from multilateral or
bilateral organizations.
• International cooperation generally, and
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KANIARU
49
in particular at regional and sub-regional
levels.
8 ENFORCEMENT
The guidelines on enforcement
underline:
• National laws and regulations, which are:
(a) clearly stated with well-defined objec-
tives, (b) technically, economically and
socially feasible to implement, capable of
being monitored effectively, with objec-
tively quantifiable standards to ensure
consistency, transparency and fairness in
enforcement, (c) comprehensive with
appropriate penalties for environmental
law violations.
• Conducive institutional framework, which
promotes: (a) designation of responsibili-
ties to agencies for enforcing laws and
regulations, monitoring and evaluation of
implementation; collection, reporting and
analysis of data, including its qualitative
and quantitative verification and provision
of information about investigations, (b)
assistance to courts, tribunals and other
related agencies, (c) coordination among
agencies, (d) strengthening of national
environmental crime units, (e) certification
systems, (f) public access to administra-
tive and judicial procedures, and environ-
mental information, (g) review of adequa-
cy of laws and regulations.
• National co-ordination among relevant
authorities and agencies, environmental
authorities, tax, customs and other rele-
vant officials at different levels of govern-
ment, linkages at field level among cross-
agency task forces and liaison points, as
well as coordination among authorities for
promoting licensing systems to regulate
the import and export of illicit substances
and hazardous materials.
• Training for enhancing enforcement
capabilities, including for public prosecu-
tors, magistrates, environmental enforce-
ment personnel, customs officials and
others pertaining to civil, criminal and
administrative matters, including training
that promotes common understanding
among regulators, enforcement person-
nel and other agencies, as well as devel-
opment of capabilities to coordinate
action among agencies domestically and
internationally.
• Environmental awareness and education,
particularly among targeted groups,
about relevant laws and regulations,
rights, interests and duties, as well as
the social, environmental and economic
consequences of non-compliance, and
encouragement of public involvement in
monitoring of compliance.
• Consistency in laws and regulations that
provide appropriate deterrent measures,
including penalties, environmental resti-
tution and procedures for confiscation of
equipment, goods and contraband, and
for disposal of confiscated materials, and
the setting up of appropriate authorities
to make environmental crime punishable
by criminal sanction.
• Cooperation in judicial proceedings relat-
ed to testimony and evidence, including
exchange of information, mutual legal
assistance and other cooperative
arrangements agreed between the con-
cerned countries, and developing appro-
priate channels of communication.
• International cooperation and coordina-
tion by establishment of communication
channels and information exchange
among UNEP, MEA secretariats and rele-
vant organizations, as well as for devel-
oping infrastructure to control borders
and protect against illegal trade, including
tracking and information systems, as well
as measures that could lead to identifica-
tion of illegal shipments and prosecu-
tions. (Thus regional networks spurred by
the INECE could play an invaluable role).
• Capacity-building and strengthening to
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
formulate effective laws and regulations
and develop institutions, programmes
and action plans for enforcement, moni-
toring and evaluation of national laws
implementing MEAs.
9 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
GUIDELINES
The UNEP GC adopted the guide-
lines in February 2002. The GC sought dis-
semination of the guidelines to govern-
ments, MEA secretariats and relevant inter-
national organizations. The GC further
sought implementation of the guidelines
through the UNEP work programme, in
close collaboration with States and interna-
tional organizations. UNEP has been asked
to take steps for advancing capacity building
and strengthening of developing countries,
particularly the least developed countries
and countries with economies in transition.
UNEP GC has requested UNEP to
seek additional extra-budgetary resources
to facilitate the implementation of the
guidelines. So far Belgium is providing
some funds for this, and we hope that
other interested governments will similarly
make some funds available. The Council
further requests that a report be submitted
to it at its next session on the implementa-
tion of the decision. Consequent to the GC
decision, work has already been initiated
for the preparation of a compliance and
enforcement manual. Three workshops to
test the draft manual shall be held, during
the course of the year, in Africa, Asia and
Latin America, for capacity building and
strengthening.
10 CONCLUDING REMARKS
The guidelines on compliance and
enforcement of MEAs are an important
development in international environmental
governance. During the inter-governmental
consultative process promoted by the
UNEP, the MEA secretariats and govern-
ments were fully involved; their input was
very relevant and was built into the guide-
lines. Capacity building and strengthening
was emphasized by the UNEP GC, and the
guidelines, give due weight to this.
International co-operation and coordination
is also underlined. The guidelines acknowl-
edge the importance of the preparatory
stage of MEAs. They, in large measure due
to detailed consultations with governments
and MEA secretariats, elaborate compre-
hensively on the requirements for effective
compliance and enforcement. Do the
guidelines go far enough? This may be
debatable. However they only go as far as
the governments were prepared to at that
stage of negotiation. They make a clear
beginning and constitute an enabling
framework. At UNEP, we feel satisfied that
all the pertinent international and national
aspects were touched upon in the guide-
lines which may be refined in future as
more lessons are learnt in the process of
their implementation.
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KANIARU 51
THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS AND NETWORKS IN
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT
KANIARU, DONALD
Director, Division of Environmental Policy Implementation,
United Nations Environment Programme, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya.
SUMMARY
This paper discusses the roles that institutions and networks play in environmental
enforcement. Within that role, institutional frameworks are necessary to provide guidelines
for institutions as well as define roles and responsibilities for governments, civil society and
individual citizens. Agenda 21 has recognized the role played by international institutional
arrangements in the integration of environment and development issues at national, sub-
regional, regional and international levels (Chapter 38). In part, Chapter 2 of the UNEP
Guidelines urges states to consider institutional frameworks that promote effective enforce-
ment of environmental laws and policies. As such, institutional and network influence has
grown at the local, national and international levels in the past 10 years.
1 INTRODUCTION
Many formal institutions, intergov-
ernmental at various levels exist today, and
are prime movers in environmental policy
development and implementation. Such
institutions have mushroomed at the global
and regional levels and have direct implica-
tions at the national level; the most impor-
tant being ineffective implementation
because of lack of human, financial, scien-
tific and technical resources. Equally signif-
icant are increasing trends to evade laws
and regulations put in place. Clearly, there-
fore, enhanced and streamlined institutions
are needed as well as a network of informal
networks, springing from national, regional
to global level to enhance enforcement
measures. Such is the challenge offered in
this discussion.
2 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
Legal and institutional arrange-
ments for environmental management have
gradually evolved and changed as scientific
understanding of the dynamics of environ-
mental processes and the impact of anthro-
pogenic activities on such dynamics has
increased. Trends indicate a move from sec-
toral approaches that isolate and exploit the
environment, to a holistic eco-system
approach that is concerned with sustainabil-
ity and promotes an integrated and coordi-
nated approach to environment and the
economy. Institutional arrangements have
also been influenced by participatory
approaches to development and the devolu-
tion of power to sub-national levels, including
the empowerment of grass-roots communi-
ties to decide and act on the political, eco-
nomic and social issues that affect them.
Environmental laws and regulations
are considered indispensable frameworks
and basis for the effective implementation.
They establish mandates for institutions as
well as define roles and responsibilities for
governments, civil society and individual cit-
izens. These rights then have the backing of
the law and, hence, are enforceable.
Thus, when one discusses the
implementation of environmental laws and
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52
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
regulations one is also speaking about the
implementation of the environmental man-
agement frameworks.
Since environment is an area that
transcends all sectors, it is now accepted
that its management requires the coordina-
tion of a multitude of stakeholders. In other
words, its management requires inclusive-
ness. Effective management of the environ-
ment requires diverse national and interna-
tional institutions and individuals with a
wide range of skills to work in harmony.
National and international institu-
tional arrangements for environmental
management inevitably will compose all
stakeholders in the formulation and imple-
mentation of environmental laws, including
their enforcement. These will include: gov-
ernment institutions (coordinating bodies,
line agencies, legislative/judicial branches,
and the police); academic institutions;
NGOs and CBOs; professional associa-
tions; and the private sector as well as
international and regional networks.
3 AGENDA 21 CHAPTER 38
Agenda 21 recognizes in Chapter
38 the importance and the role played by
international institutional arrangements in
the integration of environment and develop-
ment issues at national, sub-regional,
regional and international levels. Chapter
38.21, for instance, emphasized the need
for an enhanced and strengthened role of
UNEP and its governing bodies. Agenda 21
also recognizes the specific roles played by
other UN bodies including specialized agen-
cies within their field of expertise, compe-
tence and comparative advantage including
the need for these international bodies to
cooperate and coordinate their relevant
activities to avoid duplication in the imple-
mentation of agenda 21. Consequently,
UNEP has cooperated and will continue to
cooperate with other relevant bodies to
implement Agenda 21 in general and in par-
ticular in order to ensure coordinated action
in implementation and enforcement of envi-
ronmental law and policies.
4 THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS AND
NETWORKS
The past decade or so, in particu-
lar, after the 1992 UNCED process, the
international community has witnessed
phenomenal growth, establishment and
strengthening of institutions both at nation-
al, regional and global level dealing with dif-
ferent aspects on environment. With the
growth in importance on the subject of envi-
ronmental management came also the
development of institutions to ensure and
facilitate effective coordination and man-
agement of natural resources at all levels.
Institutions at global and regional levels
refocused their activities and environment
became an important activity in a number of
them. At national level, likewise, environ-
mental management has been institutional-
ized with the establishment or designation
of national institutions by law. Framework
environmental laws of many countries today
establish environmental management
and/or inter-ministerial bodies to oversee
enforcement of environmental laws and reg-
ulations in a country (see: Compendium of
Laws in African Countries Vol. I Framework
Laws and EIA Regulations).
Similar development is witnessed
in the development of formal and informal
environmental networks to support interna-
tional, regional and national institutions in
the enforcement of environmental laws and
regulations. These networks both interna-
tionally, such as INECE, and regionally,
such as Implementation and Enforcement
of Environmental Law - EU Network
(IMPEL) and Network for Environment and
Sustainable Development in Africa
(NESDA), to mention but a few, have
become important mechanisms to reckon
with. They support government efforts in
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KANIARU
53
their endeavor and activities on environ-
mental enforcement of multilateral environ-
mental agreements (MEA) and national
laws. It is satisfying to see how networks
have grown in recent years to ensure that
no developments at national level pass
unnoticed without the global chain of mem-
bers being aware in virtually all countries.
INECE and IUCN networks effectively use
information technology facilities (email,
internet and tele and video conferences) to
reach their constituencies and instantly
keep them abreast of developments in the
field of environment, globally. These devel-
opments will inevitably continue to grow
and offer opportunities for regional and
international networks to work together to
enhance environmental enforcement.
Environmental institutions, as man-
dated by Agenda 21 and re-emphasized by
virtually all governing bodies, place focus
on the need and importance to cooperate
and collaborate with governments, relevant
other bodies (networks and convention
secretariats) in all related programmes and
activities. Such collaboration and/or coordi-
nation of activities has an advantage of
ensuring that limited and meager resources
are used effectively to avoid waste and
duplication. It creates synergy and harmo-
nization of relevant policies and activities to
effectively support and build upon existing
activities by the partners or constituencies
for the common goal. It is the need and
importance of such collaboration that insti-
tutions like UNEP is a participatory mem-
ber in the Executive Planning Committee
(EPC) of INECE. This ensures that its envi-
ronmental enforcement and compliance
activities and policies are built in and/or
complement those of INECE and create
synergy and harmony taking into account
its comparative advantage. Collaboration
with relevant networks, INECE and others
regionally and globally, provides a conduit
for sharing and exchanging information,
data, experiences and expertise which are
vital for the effective implementation and
enforcement of environmental laws. Focal
points and/or persons have been estab-
lished or designated in many institutions
and networks to ensure smooth flow of data
and information. Their importance continue
to grow bearing in mind the fluid nature of
national boundaries/frontiers and the
sophisticated nature of criminal activities in
violation of environmental laws and poli-
cies. All international, regional and national
institutions have to work together with
established networks to ensure the suc-
cess of environmental enforcement and
implementation of environmental frame-
work laws.
5 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
UNDER UNEP GUIDELINES ON MEAs
Part D Chapter 2 of the UNEP
Guidelines for national enforcement and
international cooperation in combating vio-
lations of laws implementing MEAs urges
states to consider institutional frameworks
that promote effective enforcement of envi-
ronmental laws and policies. The
Guidelines urge states to designate agen-
cies with responsibilities for enforcement of
laws and regulations; monitoring and evalu-
ation of implementation of laws and to raise
awareness to the public, in particular, regu-
lated community and the general public.
The agencies will collect, report and ana-
lyze data as well as provide information
about investigations. They will assist courts
and tribunals, where appropriate, with rele-
vant information and data for their work.
Such institutional frameworks will endeavor
to control import and export of substances
and endangered species at border crossing
ports and other areas of know or suspect-
ed illegal activities.
The Guidelines urge states to give
clear authority to enforcement agencies
involved in enforcement activities to enable
them to obtain relevant information, have
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54
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
access to relevant facilities such as ports
and border crossings and coordinate with
other agencies. They require authority to
monitor and verify compliance with national
laws and regulations; be able to order
action to prevent and remedy environmen-
tal law violations as well as impose sanc-
tions including penalties for environmental
law violations and non-compliance.
States are expected to promote
policies and procedures that ensure fair
and consistent enforcement and imposition
of penalties based on established criteria
and sentencing guidelines. There is also
need to establish or strengthen national
environmental crime units to complement
civil and administrative enforcement pro-
grammes. Use of economic instruments
has been identified as one of the measures
institutions could use to promote compli-
ance. Institutions should invariably promote
access of the public and civil society to
administrative and judicial procedures to
challenge acts and omissions by public
authorities and corporate persons that con-
travene national environmental laws includ-
ing support for public access to justice.
Participation of appropriate communities
and NGOs in processes contributing to the
protection of the environment ought to be
guaranteed to ensure effective environ-
mental enforcement. Use of media to publi-
cize environmental law violations and
enforcement actions as well as highlighting
examples of positive environmental
achievements should be encouraged.
Periodic review of the adequacy of existing
laws, regulations and policies for the fulfill-
ment of environmental objectives needs to
be put on the agenda of such institutions.
Courts ought to be given authority to
impose appropriate penalties for violations
of environmental laws and regulations as
well as other consequences.
The Guidelines thus provide a
checklist of the functions, tools and man-
dates of a national institutional framework
which states may wish to consider to put in
place, if they do not yet exist or to strength-
en the existing ones, so as to ensure and
guarantee effective national environmental
enforcement of laws and policies. If
requested, UNEP would assist in such
efforts and is in the process of preparing a
manual that can be used by those in need.
However, for the institutional frame-
work to work, coordination among relevant
authorities and agencies becomes sine quo
non for effective enforcement mechanism.
Coordination is inevitable among various
enforcement agencies, environmental
authorities, tax, customs and other relevant
officials at different levels of government.
Linkage at the field level among cross
agency task forces and points is equally
crucial. Coordination by government agen-
cies with NGOs and the private sector is
required. Coordination among authorities
responsible for promoting licensing sys-
tems to regulate and control the importa-
tion and exportation of illicit substances
and hazardous materials cannot be avoid-
ed but should be encouraged.
Furthermore, consistent with rele-
vant provisions in MEAs, national enforce-
ment of laws and regulation implementing
MEAs could be supported through interna-
tional cooperation and coordination that
can be facilitated by international institu-
tions such as UNEP.
The Guidelines also encourage
states to enhance international cooperation
and coordination to contain or prevent envi-
ronmental crimes with transboundary
aspects. States are urged to consider
strengthening institutional frameworks and
programmes to facilitate international coop-
eration and coordination by designing and
establishing channels of communication
and information exchange. Such channels
could be with MEAs Secretariats, World
Customs Organization, NGOs, internation-
al law enforcement agencies such as
International Criminal Police Organization
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KANIARU
55
(Interpol) and networks such as INECE and
IMPEL.
Although the Guidelines are not
binding but advisory in nature, they do pro-
vide a useful tool for states to use an instru-
ment guiding their relations with other
enforcement bodies or networks. The
Guidelines have synthesized various expert-
ise and experiences into a friendly useable
document to guide states as appropriate.
Interpol, though not having actual
enforcement function, has been active in
coordinating and facilitating international
cooperation between law enforcement
agencies in the world during their investiga-
tions of international criminal cases.
Interpol mostly pursues cases reported to it
by its member countries through estab-
lished national central bureaus. Hence, for
Interpol, the necessity and effectiveness of
the multi-agency approach has been rec-
ognized and extensively used in many
countries is inevitable.
The World Customs Organization,
on the other hand, promotes cooperation
and communication among members and
with other international organizations. It fos-
ters human resource development,
improvement in the management and work-
ing methods of customs administrations
and share best practices. Members cooper-
ation with each other and with international
agencies in order to combat customs and
other transborder offences.
UNER Interpol and World Customs
Organization role in environmental enforce-
ment are provided as examples for illustra-
tive purpose. There are many institutions in
the field of environment that deal with
enforcement of laws. However, their work
still depends on the established networks to
further facilitate their work in terms of shar-
ing relevant information, expertise and data.
This should be encouraged and strength-
ened and more so in cooperative arrange-
ment by neighboring countries, sub-region-
al and regional levels. In many regions there
are many sub-regional arrangements deal-
ing with environmental, social, economic
and other matters. These constitute possi-
ble mechanisms for formal or informal net-
works that underscore the need for better
use of resources in the enhancement of the
implementation of MEAs.
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56 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SESSION #2: THE REGIONAL NETWORK EXPERIENCE 57
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #2: THE REGIONAL NETWORK
EXPERIENCE
Moderator: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez
Rapporteur: Paul Hagen
1 INTRODUCTION
This panel highlighted examples of
regional networks that have successfully
supported environmental compliance and
enforcement and focused on achieving
global environmental results through
regional and local efforts. Perspectives from
Africa, North America, and Europe were
highlighted.
2 PRESENTATIONS
Mr. Rodriguez began the program
with brief introductory comments. He noted
that Costa Rica had long ago disbanded its
army and invested in education. He
observed that Costa Rica had developed
environmental laws but to date has placed
little emphasis on EnforcementMr. Azuela
addressed the enforcement of environmen-
tal law in North America. He noted that
Canada and the U.S. had moved quickly to
develop environmental legal regimes
beginning in the early 1960s. In contrast,
Mexico did not begin to seriously develop
its environmental regimes until the 1980s.
The negotiations for a North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the
three countries highlighted these differ-
ences. The increased focus on environ-
mental protection and the use of the U.S.
regulatory model in policy discussions
regarding Mexico's environmental laws and
regulations resulted in a "culture shock" for
Mexico. One of the more significant out-
comes of the NAFTA process was Mexico's
decision to form the Federal Bureau of
Environmental Protection ("PROFEPA")
that enjoys broad administrative enforce-
ment powers and has proven to be an
effective administrative mechanism for
enforcing environmental laws in Mexico. In
addition to NAFTA, Mexico also concluded
an environmental side agreement with the
United States and Canada: the North
American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation (NAAEC). Among other
things, this agreement provides an impor-
tant mechanism for the NAFTA countries to
coordinate environmental policies and pri-
orities. The NAAEC also provides a citizen
submission process that provides an inter-
national forum for any citizen in the three
countries to challenge the alleged failure of
one of the governments to enforce its envi-
ronmental laws. All three countries have
been challenged under the citizen submis-
sion process. The result is a regional
process that promotes cooperation among
the governments and encourages citizen
and NGO participation.
Mr. Allotey provided an African per-
spective on regional networks. He noted
that Ghana established an Environmental
Council in 1974, shortly after the
Stockholm Conference and was therefore
viewed as an environmental leader in
Africa. The Council had advisory functions
within the government initially. In 1994 the
Council was converted to the
Environmental Protection Agency and
given new regulatory powers. Enforcement
was initially handled through the Attorney
General's office where environmental
enforcement cases were not often a priori-
ty. In response, Parliament recently gave
the EPA new enforcement responsibilities.
The Agency is now developing an environ-
mental enforcement and compliance net-
work with the participation of the police and
other enforcement authorities. Ghana coor-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
dinates closely with several other African
states, including Gambia, Tanzania,
Namibia, Uganda and Benin. Ghana also
serves as the Secretariat for Capacity and
Linkages in Environmental Impact
Assessment in Africa, which serves as a
forum for African governments. He noted
that a continent-wide African network could
emerge from these and other regional
groupings.
Mr. Michalak addressed the topic
of regional networking from an Eastern
Europe and Central Asia perspective. He
noted that Europe had several enforcement
and compliance networks aimed at promot-
ing compliance and enforcement and
exchanging experiences on best practices.
One of these networks, the Newly
Independent States (NIS) Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement Network
(NISECEN) grew out of a meeting of NIS
environmental inspectors in 1999.
Countries in the region share many com-
mon experiences, including the develop-
ment of new policies and institutions over
the past ten years, and the challenges of
overcoming economic pressures and a cul-
ture of "non-compliance." The long-term
objective of the NISECEN is to increase the
effectiveness of enforcement agencies in
the NIS and promote compliance with envi-
ronmental requirements. One of the
strengths of the network is that it brings
together and uses a mixture of Western,
Central & Eastern Eueope and NIS experi-
ence and expertise.
3 DISCUSSION
The discussion focused on the
availability of resources to support active
and effective networks. Mr. Michalak noted
that it was important to retain links to policy
makers so as to ensure future political sup-
port for the networks. The NISECEN has a
small staff supported by the OECD and
works to explain to Ministers and institu-
tional funders the importance and value of
the network.
In response to a question on obsta-
cles to building effective networks, Mr.
Azuela noted that in the case of Mexico, the
political dynamic among the NAFTA coun-
tries places an emphasis on border-related
environmental problems making it difficult
for Mexico to divert governmental
resources to pressing environmental prob-
lems in other parts of the country. Mexico's
environmental agenda is thus greatly influ-
enced by the larger political dynamic
among the NAFTA countries.
4 CONCLUSION
Regional networks have success-
fully supported environmental compliance
and enforcement and demonstrated how to
achieve global environmental results through
regional and local efforts. INECE should con-
tinue its support of existing regional net-
works, such as IMPEL, AC-IMPEL, and
NISECEN, and help develop new networks
in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
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ALLOTEY
59
THE REGION NETWORK EXPERIENCE
GHANA EPA EXPERIENCE
ALLOTEY, JONATHAN A.
PRESENTATION ON THE
AG Executive Director, Environmental Protection Agency, P.O. Box M-326, 91 Sralets
Road, Accra, Ghana
SUMMARY
The Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is one of the oldest environ-
mental agencies in Africa, having been established just after the Stockholm Conference in
1972. The agency created an Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network com-
prising the security and regulatory agencies to assist with compliance and enforcement
issues. EPA has assisted a number of sister African countries to establish environmental
management programmes, especially in the areas of national environmental action plan
development, environmental impact assessment (EIA), environmental information system
and environmental quality monitoring.
1 INTRODUCTION
The Ghana Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)(hereinafter "the
Agency") is one of the oldest environmental
agencies in Africa. It was established in
September 1974 shortly after the United
Nations Conference on the Human
Environment in 1972, Stockholm, Sweden
as the Environmental Protection Council
(EPC). It was initially an advisory and coor-
dinating body, which brought for the first
time under one body environmental matters.
As environmental issues gained
prominence in national development, calls
were made for the strengthening of the
EPC and the granting of powers to enforce
environmental practices. This led to the
transformation of the EPC into the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
December 1994 under Act 490, 1994. It
maintained its original functions of advis-
ing, coordination, collaboration, coopera-
tion and awareness creation.
In addition, it was given regulatory
functions of issuing environmental permits
and pollution abatement notices, prescribe
standards and guidelines relating to the
pollution of air, water, land and other forms
of pollution including the discharge of
waste and the control of toxic substance
among others.
Under its mandate the EPA enforces
environmental requirements through issue of
notice in writing to request for environmental
impact assessment containing such informa-
tion specified; issue enforcement notice
when activities poses threat to the environ-
ment or public health to prevent or stop the
activities; and an offence is committed
when the enforcement notice is not com-
plied with and liable to summary conviction
to a fine and term of imprisonment.
The responsible Minister irrespec-
tive of the above actions can also take such
steps, as he considers appropriate to
ensure compliance with the notice. Initially
enforcement through prosecution was
undertaken through the Attorney General's
Department but action was slow. As a result
recommendations were made and with the
support of Parliament, the Attorney
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60
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
General's Department delegated the pow-
ers to the Agency to prosecute cases.
2 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND
ENFORCEMENT NETWORK
The Agency created an Environ-
mental Compliance and Enforcement
Network comprising the security and regu-
latory agencies to assist with compliance
and enforcement issues. Environmental
Inspectors appointed under the Act were
trained by the Attorney General's Depart-
ment in prosecution procedures. The
inspectors with the Agency's lawyers ensure
compliance and enforcement. An agreement
has been reached with the Ghana Police
Service to train police offices in environmen-
tal management. In addition four Police
Officers in each of the ten divisional com-
mands would assist with environmental
crimes, investigations and prosecution.
STRAINING ASSISTANCE
As a pioneer environmental
agency in Africa, the Ghana Environmental
Protection Agency has assisted a number
of sister African countries to establish envi-
ronmental management programmes,
especially in the areas of national environ-
mental action plan development, environ-
mental impact assessment (EIA), environ-
mental information system and environ-
mental quality monitoring. We have
received delegations from these countries:
• Environmental quality monitoring and
general environmental management -
Gambia, Benin
• National Environmental Action Plan -
Zambia, Malawi, Namibia
• EIA - Tanzania. Benin
• Environmental Audit - Uganda
• Environmental Quality Monitoring (Air) -
Benin
There are plans to train environ-
mental officers from Mozambique. Ghana
also hosts the secretariat for Capacity
Development and Linkages for Environ-
mental Impact Assessment in Africa
(CLEIAA), which aims at promoting the
development of EIA capacity in African
countries.
Due to its long period of existence
(nearly 30 years), the Agency established a
training school with plans for multilingual
translation facilities to offer training in envi-
ronmental management for national stake-
holders and also officers of sister African
countries.
These experiences are beneficial
to these countries as we share similar his-
torical and development experience.
Sharing and exchanging these experiences
with others would ensure cost-effective pro-
grammes and avoid duplication and re-
inventing the wheel. They would also
strengthen links and cooperation among
African countries.
4 CONCLUSION
The African region at moment does
not have a functioning Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement (ECE)
Network but I believe that the experience of
Ghana with other countries can be built
upon to establish a functioning African ECE
Network.
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 61
NEW INDEPENDENT STATES ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND
ENFORCEMENT NETWORK (NISECEN): AN EFFECTIVE MECHANISM
TO STRENGTHEN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND
ENFORCEMENT IN EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
MICHALAK, KRZYSZTOF AND BULARGA, ANGELA
Secretariat of the NIS Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network
Non-Member Countries Division, Environment Directorate, Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD), 2, rue Andre-Pascal, 75775 Paris CEDEX 16,
France tel: (33 1) 45 24 96 00 fax: (33 1) 45 24 96 71 e-mail:
krzysztof.michalak@oecd.org; angela.bularga@oecd.org
SUMMARY
This paper provides background on how the New Independent States
Environmental Compliance And Enforcement Network (NISECEN) was established and its
current activities. With the collapse of totalitarian governments in Central Europe, the local
and international public were finally able to become aware of the degrading environmental
problems in their countries. However, due to socio-economic problems, the issue of envi-
ronmental protection was not always of top priority. During a meeting of environmental
inspectors from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, held in September 1999 in Chisinau,
Moldova and organised jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Development,
the State Environmental Inspectorate of the Republic of Moldova and the OECD Secretariat,
NISECEN was formed. NISECEN became an effective mechanism for strengthening envi-
ronmental compliance and enforcement in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
1 INTRODUCTION
In several countries of Eastern
Europe as well as Central Asia (1) growing
understanding of environmental problems
were an important factor stimulating politi-
cal changes, which resulted in the collapse
of the Soviet Union in 1991, and subse-
quent democratisation and a transition to a
market economy. Very quickly, however,
environment slipped down on the political
agenda as some environmental problems
decreased with downturn in output; austere
macroeconomic policies brought social and
economic problems to the fore. The main
challenge of the countries in the region was
to tackle serious environmental problems in
the period of economic transformation and
to translate environmental slogans into
practical programmes that would lead to
real environmental improvement.
Notwithstanding severe human and
resource constraints, environmental author-
ities have dedicated significant efforts to
develop new environmental policies that
would be suitable for a new economic situa-
tion; enforcement agencies have continued
to control compliance and enforce environ-
mental laws. However, there was a growing
urgency for better definition of the responsi-
bilities in these areas, strengthening the role
and capacities of environmental and
enforcement agencies and increasing the
effectiveness of enforcement tools.
The "Environment for Europe"
Conference of Environment Ministers from
the whole European region, held in June
1998 in Aarhus, Denmark, called for
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
greater attention of the international com-
munity to the problems faced by the coun-
tries of the former Soviet Union. The
Ministers emphasised the need to shift
from the development to the effective
implementation of environmental policies
and action programmes, and more effective
enforcement was one of the key areas of
attention.
The NIS Environmental Compliance
and Enforcement Network (NISECEN),
which was established within this frame-
work, supports countries in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia in strengthening enforce-
ment and promoting compliance with envi-
ronmental regulations. The main functions
of the Network are to:
• facilitate strengthening environmental
inspectorates, tools for enforcement and
compliance and the relations with the
regulated community through the devel-
opment and implementation of region-
and country-specific capacity building
and technical assistance projects;
• promote regional networking and interna-
tional co-operation through exchange of
information and experience among the
countries of the region, and between the
NIS and OECD and other countries, to
increase compliance with national and
international environmental requirements.
This paper aims to present current
practices in enforcing environmental
requirements in Eastern Europe and
Central Asia and introduce activities of the
NIS Enforcement and Compliance
Network. Part 1 of this paper provides an
overview of the challenges faced by
enforcement agencies in the context of
economic and political reform in the region.
Part 2 presents briefly the structures,
stakeholder relations, activities of environ-
mental enforcement institutions, the types
and application of enforcement instruments
used to respond to violations of the envi-
ronmental requirements and stimulate
compliance with them. On that basis, the
main lessons learned and recommenda-
tions to increase in the future the effective-
ness of institutions and tools future are pre-
sented. Part 3 of the paper describes the
role and the main features of the NIS
Enforcement and Compliance Network and
the experience accumulated over the last
two years of its operations.
2 TRANSITION TOWARDS MARKET
ECONOMY IN EASTERN EUROPE
AND CENTRAL ASIA
The collapse of totalitarian regimes
in Central Europe in the late 1980's, and
the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the
early 1990's, brought the region's serious
environmental problems to the attention of
the international community. A few well-
known cases attracted the attention of the
international community, such as the con-
sequences of the accident at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant and the catastrophe of
the shrinking Aral Sea. In many cases,
severe health impacts of air pollution from
industry, water pollution from point and
non-point sources or overuse of natural
resource were not obvious even to those
living in the region. When the information
about these impacts became available the
growing public awareness about the magni-
tude and impacts was one of the catalysts
for change. The reform process offered a
unique window of opportunity to integrate
environment into the development of dem-
ocratic and market-based societies.
A number of countries, first and
foremost those in Central Europe, indeed
embarked on the rapid economic transition
towards market-based systems. The liber-
alisation of prices, changes in property
rights and in economic structures, as well
as democratisation, created a new frame-
work for economic development. At the
same time, economic transformation
prompted significant declines in industrial
production. This resulted in noticeable
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 63
reductions in pollution emissions. With the
decrease in pollution and the growing
impact of adjustment policies on society,
public interest and support for vigorous
environmental policies diminished. Environ-
mental issues lost their place on political
agendas as economic and social consider-
ations come to the forefront. As a conse-
quence, the "window of opportunity" for
integrating environmental concerns into
economic development began to close con-
siderably.
The economic reform and transi-
tion towards market economy and demo-
cratic societies in the countries of the for-
mer Soviet Union have been much slower
than the development in Central Europe. It
was influenced by a number of factors,
including:
• Over seventy years of the influence of
the totalitarian system which governed
political and economic development and
society.
• Slow democratisation of the political sys-
tems and limiting access of the society to
information and to the decision-making,
which was coupled with the strong influ-
ence of narrow interest groups.
• Much deeper than in Central Europe,
and in many cases continuing, economic
declines, as well as internal and border
conflicts which followed the disintegration
of the Soviet Union.
While technological, social and
economic progress has been recorded in
some countries of the region during the
Soviet period, a number of them are now
classified as developing countries.
2.1 Environmental Policy in
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
before 1991
Before the political changes of
early 1990's, environmental policies within
the Soviet Union (as well as in other cen-
tral and eastern European countries)
shared several common characteristics,
such as:
• ideological, over-ambitious planning
goals
• declarative and non-realistic standards
which were neither enforceable nor
enforced;
• "command and control" legislation com-
bined with a lack of enforcement will;
• extremely centralised decision-making
and discretionary allocation of resources;
• focus on technological solutions;
• restricted access to information and lack
of public participation.
Environmental policies were built
on extensive systems of environmental leg-
islation supplemented by a set of stringent
ambient and/or effluent standards. In many
cases, enforcement required more data
than monitoring systems could provide.
Responsibilities for environmental protec-
tion were dispersed among sectoral agen-
cies and only in the late 80's and early 90's
did consolidated environmental agencies
start to emerge. Although environmental
committees and ministries were estab-
lished, their capacities, budgets and influ-
ence were generally low; their role was lim-
ited to co-ordination and advice.
In environmental management,
various policy instruments were used,
mostly of a regulatory character. In a num-
ber of countries, systems of environmental
fees and fines on pollution emissions and
natural resource extraction were in place.
However, fees and fines, which were either
negligibly low or unrealistically high, did not
generally reflect the real costs or value of
environmental damages. They did not cre-
ate sufficient incentives for economic
actors to meet environmental standards.
Centrally prepared five-year plans included
provisions for environmental investments
by enterprises as well as by regional and
local government bodies. A portion of state
budgets was allocated for these pollution
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
control investments, such as large sewage
treatment plants, air pollution control instal-
lations, and solid waste disposal systems.
Usually, however, construction of such facil-
ities extended over many years and capac-
ities were often insufficient and their tech-
nologies obsolete by the time of comple-
tion. In many cases, due to overcapacity
and lack of budget transfers, facilities were
never completed. It should be pointed out
however that, central planning as well as
patterns of economic development where
industrial activities have accumulated
around deposits of natural resources
resulted in the underdevelopment of some
parts of the region. This helped to preserve
a diversity of wildlife and areas with unique
natural features richer than those in other
European countries.
2.2 A New Context of the
Transition Period
In early 1990's, all the New
Independent States developed new envi-
ronmental policies and National
Environmental Action Programmes. The
main goal of these new programmes was to
establish the overall policy framework for
environmental protection adapted to the
process of political, economic and social
changes that they were undergoing. The
new programmes were comprehensive and
served a variety of purposes: taking stock
of environmental problems and establish-
ing an information base, elaborating princi-
ples of new policies, and redesigning policy
instruments and institutions.
In many cases, however, the imple-
mentation of these programmes has been
slower than expected. The new policy and
legal frameworks developed by NIS gov-
ernments, in many cases, followed the old
patterns of planning with ambitious, often
unrealistic goals and prohibitive standards
and lack of effective implementation meth-
ods. In particular, enforcement has not
received sufficient attention and violations
of environmental laws have been wide-
spread. At the same time, compliance by
enterprises was constrained. The slow pace
of economic reform, lack of restructuring
industry and their poor financial conditions,
complicated legal frameworks and, as well
as cultural and social development factors,
were major factors of non-compliance. In
some countries, however, the economic
downturn and cuts in production helped
enterprises to comply with the existing envi-
ronmental regulations in the short term.
Notwithstanding difficulties and
severe human and resource constraints,
environmental enforcement agencies have
continued their efforts to control compli-
ance and enforce environmental laws.
Many inspectorates, as well as the
Ministries of Environment, are currently
undergoing structural changes. These
changes reflect strive for improving man-
agement of environmental institutions,
while others are occurring within the con-
text of wider administrative changes.
Nevertheless, the need to define
better the responsibilities in these areas, to
strengthen the role and capacities of
enforcement agencies and to increase the
effectiveness of enforcement tools is still
great and capacity building actions
required. It was acknowledged, however,
that these efforts would not be effective
unless environmental policies are revised
to provide a more realistic framework for
compliance by the regulated community,
and more generally, further progress is
made in establishing the rule of law.
Exposure of enterprises to market forces,
supported by comprehensive environmen-
tal regulatory reform process, are neces-
sary to create better incentives to meet
environmental requirements.
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65
3 CURRENT PRACTICES AND
LESSONS LEARNED FROM
REVIEWING ENFORCEMENT
EFFORTS IN EASTERN EUROPE
AND CENTRAL ASIA
In 1999-2000, the Environmental
Action Programmes Task Force Secretariat
carried out a survey of enforcement and
compliance in countries of Eastern Europe
and Central Asia. The final report (2) com-
piled the answers provided by environmen-
tal enforcement agencies from the twelve
countries to a questionnaire, as well as in
follow-up interviews. The report also pre-
sented general discussions of the best
practices concerning effective enforcement
and compliance, which was, in most cases,
drawn from materials developed within the
International Network on Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), and
in particular from a USEPA publication enti-
tled "Principles of Environmental Enforce-
ment". With the description of state-of-the-
art approaches as the starting point, recom-
mendations were made for how these might
be taken forward in the context of Eastern
Europe and Central Asia. The main findings
of the survey, which reflect the situation as
in 1999, are presented below.
3.1 Institutional Framework
for Enforcement
The environmental enforcement
agencies in the NIS possess wide respon-
sibilities for controlling compliance by
enterprises and enforcing them but their
current institutional set-up hinders the
achievements of these goals. Their position
in the governmental structure is weak and
their relations with policy-making bodies,
i.e. Environmental Ministries and
Committees, are blurred. These features
limit inspectorates' impacts on other gov-
ernmental agencies and industry. Limited
financial and human resources of enforce-
ment agencies is also a major cause of low
effectiveness of their efforts. Resources are
spread too thinly, or fragmented, among
many functions that include permitting,
compliance control, environmental monitor-
ing, reporting and compliance promotional
functions.
The situation in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia resembles a "top-down
policy implementation staircase" rather
than "policy-making - enforcement - policy
revision - compliance circle" which exists in
many OECD countries. The feedback from
the inspectors to policy makers on the
results of environmental policy implementa-
tion and the effectiveness of policy instru-
ments is lacking and policy design is very
often driven by a regulatory process inde-
pendent of the results of enforcement
efforts and compliance.
The results of the survey show an
urgent need for strengthening skills of
inspectors. These could be enhanced by
extensive training and capacity building pro-
grammes and the development of guidance
documents. The increase of capacities of
inspectorates, however, cannot be imple-
mented without adequate financing and
there is also the need to develop realistic
funding strategies for the Inspectorates
(they, however, should not compromise their
independence versus polluters).
Experience from the region shows
that environmental enforcement cannot be
confined to one institution. Many govern-
mental agencies, environmental (such as
environmental funds, information and mon-
itoring institutions), and sectoral (such as
Ministries of Health, Natural Resources,
Industry, Transport, Justice, Interior,
Customs, etc.) play an important role. Only
concerted efforts can bring about the
required compliance. At the same time, the
different responsibilities of governmental
institutions can lead to overlaps and dupli-
cations. While some overlap is often
inevitable, this should be minimised. Thus,
the roles of different institutions in the area
of enforcement and compliance promotion
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
require clear definitions and making these
relations formal.
3.2 Participation of Stakeholders
Effective enforcement also requires
an active participation of stakeholders
beyond the government administration.
Professional associations, universities, citi-
zens' groups and industry are important
partners of environmental inspectorates,
especially in compliance promotion.
The limited stakeholder participa-
tion in the NIS region reduces the potential
for utilizing the public and peer pressure,
voluntary enforcement promotion actions
by the public and voluntary responses by
industry. The role of the public and NGOs in
the region can be one of the most important
elements in recognition of non-compliance
and compliance promotion. Industry should
be consulted to determine compliance
problems and the best means of harmonis-
ing action by enforcement institutions at dif-
ferent levels.
Although experience from effective
participation of the public in enforcement
efforts, as well as mechanisms for a dia-
logue between authorities and enterprises,
exists, further analysis of mechanisms for
increasing public and other stakeholders
participation in enforcement and compli-
ance efforts, and increasing the trans-
parency of inspectors operations is need-
ed. The role of courts in enforcement is
generally insufficient. Enforcement institu-
tions have to continue to press for legal
action in cases of serious or persistent non-
compliance. Mechanisms are needed to
improve the awareness of court personnel
on environmental enforcement.
The role of courts in enforcement is
generally insufficient. Enforcement institu-
tions have to continue to press for legal
action in cases of serious or persistent non-
compliance. Mechanisms are needed to
improve the awareness of court personnel
on environmental enforcement.
3.3 Compliance Control
Compliance control covers the
areas of permitting and inspection. In sev-
eral countries of Eastern Europe and
Central Asia, responsibilities for these two
functions are not well defined among insti-
tutions and this causes several problems.
The lack of provisions for feedback from
environmental inspectors on the environ-
mental permit design is one of the key
obstacles to effective enforcement. Permits
must take account of the real operating
conditions of each process and local envi-
ronmental constraints. This can only be
done with effective interaction between
those issuing permits and those involved in
inspection and enforcement. This may be
achieved by establishing new procedures
between permitting and inspection staff, or
by a reform of the institutional structures
themselves.
Inspections have also significant
resource implications for both enforcement
agencies and for enterprises. In order to
reduce the number of inspections, and to
make more effective use of resources, the
overall system of permitting should be
reviewed with the aim of developing a more
integrated and cross-media permitting sys-
tem. A great deal of experience exists in this
area in OECD countries and the European
Union that could provide models for the
region. A follow-up project is now being
implemented within the NISECEN that
analyses environmental permitting proce-
dures and institutional framework for permit-
ting and control procedures. Preliminary
results of the project are presented in Box 1.
It is important that inspectorate
resources are targeted at the most impor-
tant regulated installations. There are a
number of criteria, which are used to
achieve better inspection targeting.
However, more information sharing is
needed among the inspectors on the
nature of the criteria used to define the
"worst" polluters or those processes with
the greatest hazard. This should enable
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 67
inspections to optimise environmental ben-
efits. Enforcement institutions also have to
invest significant effort into follow-up proce-
dures. Permitting and inspections require
significant resources but these may be
wasted if the follow-up activities are not well
targeted. If undertaken correctly, well-tar-
geted follow-up procedures can result in
less work in subsequent inspections.
The inspectorates face serious
problems with regard to the quality of sup-
port facilities and equipment, especially the
quality of laboratories and monitoring
equipment. Some of them are in critical
state. Many laboratories lack basic meas-
urement instruments and reagents. It is,
therefore, necessary to prioritise monitor-
ing programmes by targeting those pollu-
tants or industries that are most important
to the immediate impact on human health
and on eco-systems. However, this cannot
be done without changes in the legal
requirements in order to limit the number of
pollutants subject to control. (See Box 1.
Current Permitting Systems in the NIS and
Major Elements of Transition to Integrated
Permitting).
Self-monitoring can be one of the
options for ensuring adequate environmen-
tal monitoring and industry should be
encouraged to carry out self-monitoring
and self-reporting. Government institutions
need to ensure that the same quality crite-
ria are applied to government and industri-
al laboratory facilities. In cases where
enforcement institutions undertake moni-
toring for industry, procedures are needed
to ensure that this does not result in con-
flicts of interest.
3.4 Enforcement Powers and Tools
and Non-Compliance Responses
The enforcement institutions in the
region possess extensive enforcement
powers and have at their disposal a variety
of informal and formal enforcement tools.
However, the extent to which these are
being applied in practice is not obvious and
there are indications that some powers
remain largely theoretical. Non-compliance
responses are more widely used, mostly in
the form of non-compliance administrative
fees. Greater use of enforcement powers
and non-compliance responses is con-
strained by institutional barriers, such as
weak position of enforcement agencies
within the governmental structure and vis-
a-vis industry, and insufficient levels of
penalties. Formal enforcement, especially
judicial actions, is constrained by general
problems faced by the courts but also by
lack of understanding of environmental
cases in the courts.
Another obstacle to effective
enforcement is the high degree of discre-
tion enjoyed by inspectors, in particular,
provisions for waivers and exemptions. This
is reinforced by the lack of transparency of
enforcement actions, which may lead to
politically driven actions by enforcement
agencies and benefit-driven actions by indi-
vidual inspectors. Further efforts are need-
ed to eliminate corruption by increasing the
transparency of inspectors' operations.
The impacts of enforcement and
non-compliance responses, especially non-
compliance fees, is limited due to low rates.
In many cases, polluters choose to pay the
fines rather than invest in pollution control;
this approach is more economically benefi-
cial. The low collection of fees and fines also
contributes to the problem. Thus, there is a
need to modify the levels of non-compliance
fees to create a deterrent effect and
increase their collection rates. Although nei-
ther revisions of the base and the rates of
non-compliance fees and fines nor the col-
lection of payments are the responsibility of
enforcement agencies, practical experience
which inspectors could provide on the effec-
tiveness of the policy instruments could be
extremely useful for policy-makers consider-
ing the adjustment of these instruments.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
3.5 Effectiveness of Enforcement
There are major constraints to
effective environmental enforcement,
including the heritage of the Soviet system,
cultural and historical features, economic
and social environment. Many of these can-
not be overcome by internal action of
enforcement agencies. However, economic
hardships necessitate more careful man-
agement and targeting of resources, which
could increase the effectiveness of inspec-
torates and, at the same time, contribute to
the increased confidence in the govern-
ment institutions by the public.
A comprehensive evaluation of
enforcement efforts has not been a feature
in the countries of the region. Some
assessments have been done using activi-
ty indicators (e.g. revenue from sanctions
imposed by inspectors, number of violation
cases or complaints, number of inspec-
tions). In some cases, reports on environ-
mental quality refer to inspectors' actions.
These attempts were good starting but fur-
ther work is needed to develop better crite-
ria and methodologies for carrying out the
assessment of enforcement efforts and
performance of inspectorates. Particular
emphasis could be put on assessing com-
pliance rates.
During the reviews of inspec-
torates' performances it was clear that
some enforcement institutions were much
more ready to provide information on suc-
cessful rather than unsuccessful actions.
Publicising the results of all enforcement
action, whatever the outcome, should be
encouraged. Unsuccessful action is not
always the fault of the enforcement institu-
tion and a lack of openness can undermine
confidence in, and relationships with,
enforcement institutions for important citi-
zens groups.
3.6 Promoting Environmental
Compliance
The system of strict control of com-
pliance with environmental requirements
and penalisation of violations was an exclu-
sive approach in policy implementation in
the Soviet Union. This approach, which
does not consider compliance problems
faced by enterprises, has continuously
been applied in many countries to date. As
a result, the promotion of environmental
compliance is a new area of activity for
many enforcement institutions. However,
before promotion activities are considered
there is a need to establish an effective
economic and environmental policy frame-
work. Several examples of necessary
actions are presented in the Policy
Statement on Environmental Management
in Enterprises adopted at the Ministerial
Conference in Aarhus in 1998, which is
being promoted in the region. At the same
time, enforcement institutions work on
encouraging enterprises to improve envi-
ronmental management using the following
activities:
• Development of an environmental com-
pliance promotion policy by govern-
ments, including provision for a broader
application of Cleaner Production meas-
ures and promotion of Environmental
Management Systems, economic incen-
tives and targeted financial support
actions.
• Developing specific goals for enterprises
and processes, through compliance
schedules for example, established by
inspectors and industry.
• Seminars and training programmes for
staff and enterprise managers on compli-
ance promotion to establish contacts
between the two stakeholders and to lay
the ground for voluntary compliance.
• Organising information and dissemina-
tion seminars with the participation of
policy makers, inspectors and industry to
discuss environmental requirements, and
problems with, and opportunities for,
compliance.
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 69
• Developing communication lines, using
seminars, documentation dissemination
and exchange, and other tools, between
the inspectorates and the citizen's
groups to build public support for
enforcement efforts and promoting com-
pliance.
Case studies are needed, docu-
menting successes and failures of compli-
ance promotion and analysis of best possi-
ble approaches, including institutional and
policy framework. Special links should be
established by inspectorates with institu-
tions that aim to promote better environ-
mental management in enterprises, such
as Cleaner Production Centres, profession-
al associations and universities.
3.7 Transboundary Issues
Compliance with international
(multi-lateral global and regional) agree-
ments, including national enforcement
actions require special consideration.
Sharing information about requirements of
international agreements, both multilateral
and bilateral, should be promoted among
and within each NIS. The NIS inspectors
underlined the importance of the involve-
ment of environmental enforcement agen-
cies in the process of negotiating, ratifying
and implementing international commit-
ments as they can realistically assess the
capacity to comply with new requirements.
In addition, detailed implementation pro-
grammes have to be drawn to facilitate the
implementation of the conventions. These
programmes should include cost estimates
and the provisions for generating neces-
sary resources to address additional bur-
dens. Additional requirements should also
be reflected in individual inspectors' sched-
ules and adequate resources should be
secured for transboundary enforcement co-
operation.
Historical conflicts or national
security issues may prevent effective trans-
boundary co-operation. Political and mili-
tary conflicts have occurred quite often in
the short history of the former Soviet Union
nations and even though the military activi-
ties have stopped they still may shadow
bilateral relations between neighbouring
countries and the relations between the
neighbouring communities. Environmental
co-operation, including addressing trans-
boundary issues, can provide an important
mechanism for establishing free of political
weight dialogue and co-operation between
authorities and communities. Development
of intergovernmental agreements and car-
rying out joint activities between the
inspectors can assist in better understand-
ing of the differences in the legal require-
ments and can also lead to their harmoni-
sation.The NISECEN has already provided
a framework for establishing initial contacts
between enforcement agencies of the
neighbouring countries.
4 NIS ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
AND ENFORCEMENT NETWORK —
HISTORY AND CURRENT PRIORITIES
4.1 The Origins
In 1993, the Environmental Action
Programme for Central and Eastern
Europe provided recommendations on how
to integrate environment into the develop-
ment of democratic and market-based soci-
eties in the region following the political
changes in Europe in late 1980's. At the
1993 Ministerial Conference in Switzerland,
a Task Force was established to assist cen-
tral and eastern European countries
(CEECs) and the Newly Independent
States (NIS) to:
• Promote the integration of environmental
and economic policies.
• Upgrade institutional and human capaci-
ties for environmental management.
• Broaden political support for environmen-
tal improvement.
• Promote mobilisation and cost-effective
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
use of financial resources.
Several activities have been car-
ried out in the period 1993-1998 to reach
these objectives. These have focused on
supporting the development of National
Environmental Action Programmes,
increasing the effectiveness of environmen-
tal financing and promoting environmental
management in enterprises.
Following a Ministerial Conference,
held in June 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark, the
EAR Task Force adopted a new work pro-
gramme, which called for greater focus on
the New Independent States of the former
Soviet Union and emphasised the need to
shift from the development to the imple-
mentation of environmental policies and
action programmes. Strengthening enforce-
ment and compliance with environmental
requirements in the NIS emerged as an
important focus within the new Work
Programme.
An important milestone in imple-
menting Ministerial decisions was a meet-
ing of environmental inspectors from
Eastern Europe and Central Asia that was
held in September 1999 in Chisinau,
Moldova. The meeting was organised joint-
ly by the Ministry of Environment and
Territorial Development and the State
Environmental Inspectorate of the Republic
of Moldova and the OECD Secretariat with-
in the framework of the EAP Task Force.
The participants included officials and
inspectors from Eastern Europe and
Central Asia as well as invited experts and
representatives of donor agencies from
Western and Central Europe.
The participants discussed the
problems and opportunities related to the
different institutional settings of enforce-
ment agencies worldwide and in the region
as well as existing and potential enforce-
ment tools and non-compliance responses.
The role of the public, industry and other
stakeholders in inducing compliance was
an important part of the discussion along
with the identification of more effective
ways in which enforcement agencies could
promote compliance by enterprises in the
transition period. Finally, possible criteria
and ways for assessing the effectiveness of
enforcement tools and the evaluation of
environmental inspection performance
were discussed.
One of the main outcomes of the
meeting was the establishment of the NIS
Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement Network (NISECEN). The
establishment of the NISECEN reflected
the trust of the Aarhus Ministerial
Declaration where the importance of inter-
national co-operation to strengthen the
enforcement of national environmental law
was stressed.
The next "Environment for Europe"
Ministerial Conference to be held in Kiev in
2003 will take stock of progress in address-
ing environmental problems in the region.
The work on enforcement and compliance
will constitute one of the elements con-
tributing to the Ministerial discussion.
4.2 NISECEN Objectives, Value Added
and Main Programme Elements
Exchange of experience, know-
how transfer and co-operation among
countries can provide important support for
strengthening enforcement and compliance
efforts. While sharing a common heritage
such a process can help to compare posi-
tive and negative experience with applying
different instruments or institutional frame-
work. At the same time, since environmen-
tal enforcement institutions in the region
have diverged in important respects inter-
national co-operation can stimulate the
development and introduction of new ideas
adapted to the specific conditions of indi-
vidual counties.
The NIS Environmental Compliance
and Enforcement Network aims to provide
a framework for dialogue and actions at two
levels, including:
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 71
• Promoting regional co-operation.
• Exchange of information and experience
among the countries of Eastern Europe
and Central Asia and between them and
countries from other regions.
• Assisting in developing and implementing
region- and country-specific capacity
building and technical assistance proj-
ects to support enforcement agencies
and promote compliance.
The discussions within the NISE-
CEN cover a wide array of issues, such as
horizontal and vertical institutional frame-
works and responsibilities for enforcement,
regulatory and non-regulatory instruments,
engaging the public and regulated commu-
nity, and international co-operation to
implement bilateral and multilateral envi-
ronmental agreements. The dialogue,
which is conducted at plenary and expert
meetings, is supported by the development
of case studies as well as best practices,
guidance and reference documents. The
main elements of the Work Programme are
presented in Annex 1 and the key outputs
in Box 2.
The NISECEN is a unique initiative
as it is the only one providing a forum for
dialogue between environmental inspec-
tors in the region where they can exchange
experience and lessons learned. During the
discussions the ideas are generated for fur-
ther in-country actions.
The Network also provides oppor-
tunities to link with practitioners and
experts from other regions to enable the
NISECEN Members to build upon on the
rich experience accumulated in other net-
works. The NISECEN co-operates very
closely with the International Network of
Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement (INECE) and other European
networks such as IMPEL (enforcement net-
work of EU Member States) and AC-IMPEL
(enforcement network of EU candidate
countries).
The Network also provides an
important forum to identify capacity building
and know-how needs and communicate
them to the donor community. A number of
demonstration and pilot projects, supported
by donors on the bilateral basis, have been
launched.
Finally, the Network has a direct
link to the high-level environmental policy-
makers through the EAP Task Force and
"Environment for Europe" process so the
recommendations developed within the
Network are communicated to high-level
policy makers so they can receive a high
political support for reform of environmental
policies and institutions at both national
and local level. The key lessons learned
from the initial period of the NISECEN
operations are presented in Box 3).
4.3 Organization of the Network
The activities of the Network
engage officials that develop policy at a
national level as well as practitioners who
undertake inspections of installations.
Dissemination of experience and results is
also carried out beyond the Network mem-
bers in the region and representatives of
other interest groups, such as judges,
NGOs, industry, Cleaner Productions
Centres, professional associations are
invited to the Network activities on a per-
manent or ad-hoc basis. Experts from other
regions are invited to take part in the
Network meetings and specific projects.
The NISECEN meetings are also attended
by the representatives of the donor agen-
cies. This provides them with the opportuni-
ties to discuss the scope of assistance proj-
ects with the recipients and identify the
ways to make their assistance more effec-
tive. (See Box 2: Key Outputs of the
NIECEN Work Programme)
Key Principles for Effective
Environmental Enforcement in the NIS:
The NIS officials and experts agreed on
the need to develop a concise policy docu-
ment that would identify guiding principles
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72
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
and key structural elements of effective
environmental enforcement systems, tai-
lor-made to the NIS context. This docu-
ment should be instrumental in identifying
targets for institutional development in
individual countries in regards to environ-
mental enforcement and compliance pro-
motion. The Principles will be addressed
to environmental ministries, central and
regional enforcement agencies. Eventually,
the Principles' endorsement at the national
level will demonstrate the governments'
commitment to improve existing enforce-
ment systems.
An Update of the Survey on
Enforcement and Compliance in Eastern
Europe and Central Asia: The update of the
Survey on Current Practices in Environ-
mental Enforcement and Compliance
Promotion in NIS will be prepared as a
complimentary document to the Principles.
While the Principles will state the desired
situation, the Survey will scrutinise it in
comparison with the actual situation in the
NIS and will assess recent changes in envi-
ronmental enforcement systems.
Synthesis Report on Environmental
Permitting Systems in the NIS: This docu-
ment will describe major features of the
environmental permitting systems in the
NIS, identify deficiencies and screen the
needs and potential to reform these sys-
tems.
Inspection Toolkit: The toolkit will
provide general elements of and contribute
as much as possible to the needs of the
individual NIS in improving their inspection
organisation. The toolkit will facilitate the
adjustment of inspection criteria and proce-
dures to current requirements and, mainly,
will be addressed to managers and practi-
tioners.
Glossary of Enforcement Terms:
The purpose of the glossary is to provide a
common understanding of the terminology
and enable users across NIS to easily com-
municate among themselves and with part-
ners in OECD and GEE countries.
Terms of Reference for Training
Programme(s): The Network intends to
design training programmes in individual
countries and/or at the regional level. The
programme's Terms of Reference will
describe priority target groups, overall and
specific objectives of training, its content
and possible approaches, inputs, out-
comes, timeframe and budget estimates.
Other Supporting Documents:
• English/Russian Glossary of Terms;
• Training Materials;
• Directory of the NIS Enforcement
Agencies and Their Main Partners;
• NISECE Web Site
(www.oecd.org/env/policies);
• Russian translations of supporting publi-
cations, such as OECD two volume pub-
lication "Environmental Requirements for
Industrial Permitting in OECD countries"
and a USEPA "Principles of
Environmental Enforcement";
The principal mechanism for pro-
gramming and exchange of experience are
the annual Network meetings. The first
launching meeting of the Network which was
held in September 1999 in Chisinau,
Moldova focused on the general problems
and opportunities related to enforcement
and compliance worldwide with a particular
emphasis on defining the priority need of the
inspectors in the region. The second annual
meeting, which was held in November 2000
in Baku, Azerbaijan, focused on environmen-
tal permitting and also agreed upon the ele-
ments of Network activity in 2001 -2003. The
third Network meeting, held in September
2001 in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation,
discussed the framework and targets for
institutional development of the NIS enforce-
ment agencies.
A number of activities of the Network
are being implemented through the small
Working Groups established to work on
specific elements of the work programme.
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 73
The Groups consist of selected Network
Members interested in working on a partic-
ular subject. For example, small working
groups have recently been formed to
analyse in more depth such aspects of the
work programme as environmental permit-
ting, inspection criteria and tools, and
inspectorates' institutional development.
The groups meet on an ad-hoc basis to dis-
cuss the scope of the activity and results.
The final findings are presented in analyti-
cal reports at the annual meetings of the
Network for discussion among the Network
Members. (See Box 3. Key Lessons
Learned from the Initial Period of the NISE-
CEN Operations).
The activities of the NISECEN are
co-ordinated by a small secretariat located
at the OECD in Paris. The Secretariat,
which was established in September 2000,
is composed of one full-time Project
Manager and part-time Assistant. The
Project Manager assists the Members in
developing and implementing the work pro-
gramme. The Manager also takes the lead in
preparing Network annual and expert meet-
ings, commissions and administers the
preparation of analytical reports, carries out
technical assistance needs and brokers
between the NIS Members of the Network
and donors. The Project Manager also main-
tains communication and information dis-
semination channels between Network
Members and beyond. In addition, a half-time
Local Co-ordinator is located in one of the
Network Member countries and assists the
Secretariat in Paris in liasing with Network
Members and carrying out research and
information collection activities.
Core activities, managed directly
by the NISECEN Secretariat, are "twinned"
with demonstration projects, i.e. projects
implemented by donor agencies as part of
their direct aid to individual countries. This
synergy of regional and country-based work
allows to achieve changes "on the ground",
disseminate and replicate results. The
Secretariat works closely with the Network
partners on the development of project con-
cepts and more detailed Terms of
References and fundraising (Box 4). The
Secretariat also keeps the close contacts
with these projects to ensure that their
results and lessons learned are widely dis-
seminated throughout the Network (See
Box 4: In-Country Demonstration Projects
developed within the NISECEN framework).
A range of demonstration projects
are currently under way supported by the
EU Tacis Programme, Sweden and the
USAID. These include:
• Proposals to Improve Institutional Setting
in Moldova and development of the
Inspectorate's Management Plan.
• Inspector Manuals and Training in
Armenia, Belarus and Moldova.
• Inspectorate's Communication Strategy
in Uzbekistan.
• BAT-based regulation in St Petersburg,
Russian Federation.
• Approximation of the IPPC Directive in
Moldova and Ukraine.
• Proposals to Reform Environmental
Permitting Systems in Armenia,
Kazakhstan Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
• Inspector Manuals and Training in
Armenia, Belarus and Moldova.
The Network budget for a two and
a half programming period (2001-2003) is
750.000 EUR. Staff and activity costs are
supported by voluntary contributions from
individual OECD countries. The main sup-
porters of the Network are the Netherlands,
the European Commission, Sweden,
Germany and Denmark. In kind support is
provided by Sweden, the UK and the US.
Increasingly, in kind contributions are being
sought from the NIS Members of the
Network to support selected activities of
the Network.
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74
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
REFERENCES
1. In the context of this paper the region of
Eastern Europe and Central Asia is
composed of the following countries:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the
Russian Federation, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
This group of countries can also be
referred to as the New Independent
States of the former Soviet Union - NIS,
or the Commonwealth of the
Independent States - CIS.
2. "Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement in the NIS: A Survey of
Current Practices of Environmental
Inspectorates and Options for
Improvements" [CCNM/ENV/EAP(2000)
87], OECD 2000
ANNEX 1: MAIN ELEMENTS OF
THE NISECEN WORK PROGRAMME
2001-2003
TASK 1: SUPPORT TO
INSTITUTIONAL REFORM
Objective: Gaining support for and
catalysing institutional improvements in the
NIS enforcement agencies
Main activities:
3rd thematic NISECEN Meeting
and follow-up activities
Meeting proceedings
Development of the Key Principles
of Enforcement by a Working
Group and the Secretariat
Input to the law development
process (e.g. in the Russian
Federation)
Assistance in project identification,
writing ToRs and support to the
implementation of donor demon-
stration projects
World Bank IDF project in Moldova
Preparing an Update of the 2000
Survey of Enforcement Practices in
the NIS, results to be reported at
the Kyiv Ministerial Conference
TASK 2: ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITTING
Objective: Advocating lower bur-
dens for regulators and industry and a bet-
ter link between environmental permitting
and enforcement
Main activities:
Two volume OECD manual on
permitting translated into Russian
language
Country profiles and analysis of
environmental permitting in the
NIS in comparison with
OECD/CEE countries
Development of recommendations
and case studies
Working Group and Expert
Meetings (December 2000 and
2001)
Preparation of a Reference Book
on Environmental Permitting
Demonstration projects and train-
ing (e.g in Armenia and
Kyrgyztsan; a regional training for
inspectors)
TASK 3: INSPECTION CRITERIA
AND PROCEDURES
Objective: Providing guidance in
setting up a more effective compliance con-
trol system and inspection prioritisation;
Main activities:
Inspection Working Group (IWG)
Development of a Toolkit on
Environmental Inspection Criteria
and Procedures,
Previously developed inspection
manuals gathered and reviewed
(USEPA, USAID, IMPEL, Ukraine
Tacis)
Co-operation with the World Bank
IDF projects in Belarus and
Moldova on developing inspection
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 75
manuals
TASK 4: PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Objective: Contributing to profes-
sional growth of officials and practitioners
from NIS enforcement agencies
Main activities:
English/Russian Glossary of
Enforcement Terms
Exchange programmes between
Inspectorates
Assistance in identification of rele-
vant training courses (cooperation
with the WB Institute)
Terms of References for human
capacity building projects and
selected materials translated into
Russian
TASK 5: COMPLIANCE PROMOTION
AND COMMUNICATION
Objective: Fostering communica-
tion with regulated community and civil
society;
Main activities:
Development of a communication
strategy in Uzbekistan together
with the World Bank IDF project
Thematic 4th NISECEN Meeting;
Working Paper on Compliance
Promotion Tools;
Participation in NGO forums;
Other public relation activities.
TASK 6: GLOBAL NETWORKING
Objectives: Promoting understand-
ing of problems faced by the NIS enforce-
ment agencies and gaining support from
policy makers at the international level; and
contributing to widening of international co-
operation by the NIS inspectorates
Main activities:
Participation in the preparation of
the 6th International INECE
Conference;
Input to the development of the
UNECE Guidelines on
Enforcement and Compliance
Active participation in INECE EPC
meetings;
Participation in IMPEL and
BERCEN meetings;
Synopsis of projects and results
achieved by other networks, trans-
lation of relevant materials
TASK 7: INFORMATION AND
MANAGEMENT
Objectives: Knowing better the
project stakeholders and ensuring that as
many as possible institutions and individu-
als are participating and contributing to
work plan implementation and as many as
possible of them benefit from the results of
NISECEN activities
Main activities:
Web site www.oecd.org/env/policy:
Directory of institutions and data-
base;
Progress Reports and Biennial
Report;
Development of the NISECEN
Work Programme for the subse-
quent period
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76 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Box 1: Current Permitting Systems in the NIS and Major Elements of
Transition to Integrated Permitting
Generally, all countries of the region have long-lasting experience in permit-
ting industrial activities. The "polluter-pays" principle has been introduced as an envi-
ronmental policy tool in late 1980-ies. Nowadays, in some countries there are inten-
tions to harmonise legislation with EU environmental acquis, and the political will to
introduce integrated pollution prevention and control.
Environmental permits are used to limit emissions into the environment.
However, the permits are mostly oriented towards end-of-pipe solutions rather than
pollution prevention. Typically, they set Emission Limit Values for individual facilities,
and cover a significant number of pollutants. The Emission Limit Values are derived
from and calculated to meet ambient standards (Maximum Allowable
Concentrations). In the majority of cases, limit values are unrealistically high, difficult
or impossible to achieve even technically.
The number of regulated substances is not clearly identified in permits and
abnormal operation conditions are not taken into account. Permit conditions are rigid
towards process and product changes, increased or decreased production capacity.
Reporting obligation and other conditions are rarely set in permits. Permits have valid-
ity for a limited time period, maximum up to 5 years. In some countries a permit
renewal is requested on annual basis, while Emission Limit Values might be valid for
a longer period. Permits and conditions set thereof are hardly available to the gener-
al public. Although legal requirements are in place, experience in systematically
informing public opinion is recent or almost absent.
Industry has an important role to play in permitting and large enterprises are
used to go through the permit application process. Industry is required to initiate the
permit application process and is responsible for supplying true information. Facilities
also ensure limited monitoring and reports to the authority(-ies). At the same time, the
regulated community is poorly identified and country overviews on companies sub-
ject to permitting are usually incomplete (if any).
Pollution taxes are paid for agreed levels of emissions and companies
exceeding the limit values, which are set in permits, are fined. Absence of a permit is
penalised based on the rates applicable in case of non-compliance with Emission
Limit Values. However, financial incentives to apply for, and respect conditions of a
permit, are weak due to low levels of pollution fees and fines, the erosion of their
value caused by high inflation and low fee collection rates.
Various environmental authorities are responsible for permitting. Institutional
set-up is highly dependent on national environmental administrative systems, which
have gone through several changes during the last decade. As a rule, permitting
authorities are responsible for checking the content of the applications, issue the
permit, and supervise permit owner. Inspectorate carries out compliance control. The
human, material and financial resources, available to environmental authorities, do
not ensure the adequate functioning of the actual permitting system. For instance,
there is little experience in conduction negotiations, providing technical assistance or
establishing partnerships between entrepreneurs and authorities.
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 77
(Box 1 continued)
Since a clear development trend towards integrated permitting emerges
across regions, which stems from the process of harmonisation of the regulations
with those of the European Union, several NIS have started the transition to an inte-
grated permitting system. Based on the experience from OECD countries the main
elements of reform should be as follows:
• Adjust the legal and regulatory framework.
• Identify the range of industry subject to integrated permitting requirements.
• Define the introduction time-scale and sequence of industries.
• Develop guidance for industry.
• Define who and how much pays for permitting.
• Elaborate the content of application and process of applying for a permit.
• Set up the mechanism of public consultation.
• Elaborate the permit structure.
• Analyse financial implications of moving to integrated permitting.
• Build capacity of institutions and staff.
Box 2: Key Outputs of the NIECEN Work Programme
Key Principles for Effective Environmental Enforcement in the NIS: The NIS
officials and experts agreed on the need to develop a concise policy document that
would identify guiding principles and key structural elements of effective environmen-
tal enforcement systems, tailor-made to the NIS context. This document should be
instrumental in identifying targets for institutional development in individual countries
in regards to environmental enforcement and compliance promotion. The Principles
will be addressed to environmental ministries, and central and regional enforcement
agencies. Eventually, the Principles' endorsement at the national level will demonstrate
the governments' commitment to improve existing enforcement systems.
An Update of the Survey on Enforcement and Compliance in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia: The update of the Survey on Current Practices in Environmental
Enforcement and Compliance Promotion in NIS will be prepared as a complimentary
document to the Principles. While the Principles will state the desired situation, the
Survey will scrutinise it in comparison with the actual situation in the NIS and will
assess recent changes in environmental enforcement systems.
Synthesis Report on Environmental Permitting Systems in the NIS: This doc-
ument will describe major features of the environmental permitting systems in the NIS,
identify deficiencies and screen the needs and potential to reform these systems.
Inspection Toolkit: The toolkit will provide general elements of and contribute
as much as possible to the needs of the individual NIS in improving their inspection
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78 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
(Box 2 continued)
organisation. The toolkit will facilitate the adjustment of inspection criteria and proce-
dures to current requirements and, mainly, will be addressed to managers and prac-
titioners.
Glossary of Enforcement Terms: The purpose of the glossary is to provide a
common understanding of the terminology and enable users across NIS to easier
communicate among themselves and with partners in OECD and GEE countries.
Terms of Reference for Training Programme(s): The Network intends to
design training programmes in individual countries and/or at the regional level. The
programme's Terms of Reference will describe priority target groups, overall and spe-
cific objectives of training, its content and possible approaches, inputs, outcomes,
timeframe and budget estimates.
Other Supporting Documents:
• English/Russian Glossary of Terms;
• Training Materials;
• Directory of the NIS Enforcement Agencies and Their Main Partners;
• NISECE Web Site (www.oecd.org/env/policies):
• Russian translations of supporting publications, such as OECD two volume publi-
cation "Environmental Requirements for Industrial Permitting in OECD countries"
and a USEPA "Principles of Environmental Enforcement".
Box 3: Key Lessons Learned from the Initial Period of the
NISECEN Operations
• Proceed from needs and clear objectives.
• Agree on a practical, realistic and measurable work programme as soon as possi-
ble and focus on delivering specific products.
• Rely on a strong stakeholder ownership.
• Define clearly the responsibilities, including those of the Secretariat.
• Keep the link to policy-makers in order to gain political support.
• Focus on human capacity development and commitment as main driving forces of
changes.
• Maintain communication, including the general public.
• Interact with international partners.
• Stimulate country specific activities through promotion of demonstration projects.
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MICHALAK, BULARGA 79
Box 4: In-Country Demonstration Projects developed within the
NISECEN framework
A range of demonstration projects is currently under way supported by the
EU Tacis Programme, Sweden and the USAID. These include:
• Proposals to Improve Institutional Setting in Moldova and development of the
Inspectorate's Management Plan.
• Inspector Manuals and Training in Armenia, Belarus and Moldova.
• Inspectorate's Communication Strategy in Uzbekistan.
• BAT-based regulation in St Petersburg, Russian Federation.
• Approximation of the IPPC Directive in Moldova and Ukraine.
• Proposals to Reform Environmental Permitting Systems in Armenia, Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
• Inspector Manuals and Training in Armenia, Belarus and Moldova.
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80 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
-------
MAURI
81
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND
COMPLIANCE IN CENTRAL AMERICA
MAURI, CAROLINA
Environmental Attorney, EcoConsulta, P.O. Box 4743/1000, San Jose, Costa Rica
SUMMARY
Environmental Enforcement and Compliance is a critical issue for Central
American countries. The Central American countries have a number of laws that attempt to
address different environmental problems. In practice, however, they cannot be effectively
implemented because they are not clear, not flexible, and do not have effective mecha-
nisms for achieving their stated goals. Existing legal and institutional mechanisms have not
helped to solve many of the environmental problems and in some cases have caused addi-
tional obstacles to protect natural resources and the environment. Environmental law
enforcement and compliance in the region is very weak in general due to many different
factors. Some of the main limitations include: lack of political will; inefficient legal frame-
works that do not address environmental issues in an appropriate manner; failure to includ-
ed environmental issues in the national policy plans and planning processes; and lack of
financial and human resources. This paper provides a general overview of the environ-
mental law and policy process in Central America and some of the most important envi-
ronmental provisions in the legal frameworks of each of the countries in the region. It also
examines main obstacles and limitations for an efficient enforcement and compliance of
environmental legislation in the region.
1 INTRODUCTION
Central American countries have
been rapidly depleting their natural
resources. Population growth is a major
problem in all countries, increasing pres-
sure on natural resources and creating pol-
lution problems, particularly in urban areas.
Continuing high indices of poverty in the
region exacerbate natural resource deple-
tion. Legal and political institutions do not at
present provide an effective framework for
environmental protection.
Although Central America has
great biological diversity (about 8% of all
biodiversity of the planet) the rate of biodi-
versity loss is rapid and many species are
disappearing even before being discov-
ered. For about 40 years, between 1950
and 1990, the region lost more than 70% of
its forest cover and along with it valuable
wildlife and environmental benefits. Air and
water quality is also decreasing due to
increasing industrial activities in the region,
ineffective treatment facilities for solid and
liquid waste, as well as weak laws and
enforcement.
The principal environmental prob-
lems in Central America can be summa-
rized as follows:
• Deforestation caused by expansion of
agricultural frontiers for increased pas-
tureland, subsistence agriculture, and
agricultural production. This situation
leads to deterioration of watersheds, loss
of habitat, reduced biodiversity and soil
erosion.
• Loss of biological diversity due to habitat
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82
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
loss, illegal hunting and trade, and per-
haps global climate change effects.
• Increased levels of chemical pollution
from input-intensive agriculture, aquacul-
ture operations, industrial production and
growing urban populations.
• Increased logging and mining causing
significant social and environmental
impacts.
• Over-fishing by industrial vessels causing
severe deterioration of fish stocks.
• Sewage and pesticide residue runoff
transported to streams, beaches and
coral reefs
• Population growth leading to increased
demand on limited resources, more
concentrated urban areas and pollution
problems.
The end of the 1980's and the
decade of the 1990's were very important
because of the legal and institutional build-
ing in Central America. Countries adopted
constitutional provisions to include the right
of a healthy environment, enacted specific
laws for environmental protection such as
General Environmental Laws, Environ-
mental Impact Assessment law, Biodiversity
Law, Forestry Law, and creation of new insti-
tutions such as Environmental Prosecutors
in the Attorney General's Office.
However, existing legal and institu-
tional mechanisms have not helped to
solve many of the environmental problems
and in some cases have caused additional
obstacles to protect natural resources and
the environment. Environmental law
enforcement and compliance in the region
is very weak in general due to many differ-
ent factors. Some of the main limitations
include:
• Lack of political will.
• Inefficient legal frameworks that do not
address environmental issues in an
appropriate manner.
• Environmental issues that are not includ-
ed in the national policy plans and plan-
ning processes.
• Lack of financial and human resources.
This paper provides a general
overview of the environmental law and pol-
icy process in Central America and some of
the most important environmental provi-
sions in the legal frameworks of each of the
countries in the region. It also examines
main obstacles and limitations for an effi-
cient enforcement and compliance of envi-
ronmental legislation in the region.
1.1 Regional Environmental Policy
In 1989 the Presidents of the
Central American countries created the
Central American Commission for
Environment and Development (CCAD,
Spanish acronym), to design and imple-
ment regional coordination of environmen-
tal policy. This initiative is part of the Central
American System for Integration that also
includes other secretariats on economic,
cultural and parliamentary affairs. In August
1994, the Central American Presidents
agreed to issue a joint declaration calling
for the creation of an "Alliance for
Sustainable Development," as a "compre-
hensive Central American initiative that
addresses political, moral, economic,
social, and environmental issues."
1.1.1 Central American Alliance for
Sustainable Development
On October 12, 1994, the Central
American Presidents met in Nicaragua to
sign the Alliance for Sustainable Develop-
ment (ALIDES)J
ALIDES defines sustainable devel-
opment as "a process that pursues pro-
gressive change in the quality of human life
and which targets human beings as the
central and primary target of development.
It is achieved through economic growth
with social equity and changes in produc-
tion and consumption patterns, based on
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MAURI
83
ecological equilibrium and the support of
the region." This implies respect for region-
al, national and local ethnic and cultural
diversity, and the enhanced and full partici-
pation of all citizens, living together in
peace and harmony with nature, not jeop-
ardizing but rather guaranteeing the quality
of life of future generations".
ALIDES main principles include:
• Respect for all life forms;
• Improvement in the quality of human life,
including explicit mention of democratic
participation, cultural diversity, and social
equity;
• Respect for sustainable use of the vitality
and diversity of the earth, including pro-
tection of biodiversity, pursuit of regener-
ation, and sustainable management of
natural resources;
• Promotion of peace and democracy,
including explicit reference to the strug-
gle against violence, corruption, and
impunity;
• Respect for cultural plurality and ethnic
diversity, including explicit reference to
the overlap between indigenous peoples
and the location of sites with great biodi-
versity;
• Pursuit of greater economic integration,
including a call for incorporation of
Central America in broader regional
trade blocs; and
• Explicit recognition of the intergenera-
tional equity issues that underlie sustain-
able development.
1.1.2 Agreement between Central
America and the United States
(CONCAUSA)
During the Summit of the
Americas, held in Miami in December
1994, the U.S. joined Central America in its
ALIDES2 commitment when the Central
American Presidents and Vice-President
Albert Gore signed the Agreement between
Central America and the United States
(Convenio Conjunto Centroamerica-USA,
best known by its Spanish acronym CON-
CAUSA). The Agreement consists of a Plan
of Action that establishes individual respon-
sibilities for the US and the Central
American countries.3
CONCAUSA's plan of action
includes the following areas:
• Biodiversity conservation: Identification,
preservation and sustainable use of the
unique biodiversity of the region;
• Energy: Promotion of clean and efficient
energy use;
• Environmental legislation: Strengthening
of the legal and institutional frameworks
and improvement and harmonization of
environmental laws and regulations; and
• Sustainable economic development.
In addition to the specific compo-
nents of the plan of action, CONCAUSA
also supports and promotes the imple-
mentation of the Alliance for Sustainable
Development. In order to implement its
obligations under CONCAUSA, the US
Government (through USAID) established
the Regional Environmental Program for
Central America (PROARCA), a 5-year 24
million dollar program that was extended
in the fall of 2001 for 5 more years and
with an additional 25 million dollars. This
program is presently managed from the
USAID regional office in Guatemala City.
1.2 Regional Environmental Law
Central American Countries have
developed a regional legal framework to
address some of the most pressing envi-
ronmental issues in the region such as cli-
mate change, biodiversity and transbound-
ary movement of toxic wastes. These
regional agreements provide an important
framework that help countries enact
domestic legislation in order to implement
and comply with international and regional
agreements. All of these agreements that
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have been signed and ratified by all Central
America countries have entered into force.
The secretariat of these agreements is the
Central American Commission on
Environment and Development.
1.2.1 Regional Agreement on Climate
Change
Central America's largest contribu-
tion to climate change is from loss of forest
cover. Reducing the rate of loss of forest
cover, or growing additional forest will help
contribute to mitigating global climate
change. The Regional Agreement on
Climate Change was signed in Guatemala
on October 1993 as a regional effort to
address the impacts of climate change.
The Agreement provides that
"[sjtates must protect the climatic system
for present and future generations based
on equity and in conformity with their
responsibilities and capacities to ensure
that food production is not threatened and
to allow economic development."
According to the Agreement,
Central American countries must develop
conservation and development strategies
that include climate protection measures as
a priority (Article 13). It is important to note
that countries must implement economic
and legal measures, as well as incentives
to promote research on climate change and
protection measures. In addition, countries
must also promote the creation of a law on
climate protection (Article 15).
The implementing institution is the
Central American Commission on
Environment and Development in coordina-
tion with the Regional Committee on water
Resources and the Meteorological
Institutes in each country.
1.2.2 Central American Agreement for
Biodiversity Protection and Priority
Wild Areas Protection
The exploitation of wild species for
commercial purposes is a major threat to
global biodiversity. Central American coun-
tries have established as a priority helping to
conserve biodiversity and ensuring that ille-
gal trade in endangered species is reduced
in the region. The Central American
Agreement for Biodiversity Protection and
Priority Wild Areas Protection was signed in
Nicaragua, in June 1992 during the Central
American Presidential Summit.
The objective of the Agreement is
to "ensure conservation of biological, ter-
restrial and coastal-marine diversity for
present and future generations" (Article 1).
The Agreement also requires Countries to
develop conservation and development
strategies to ensure biodiversity conserva-
tion and establish as a priority the manage-
ment of protected areas (Article 14).
Furthermore, countries must create a
national Biodiversity Law to implement at
the domestic level measures for conserva-
tion and sustainable uses of biodiversity.
In addition, the Agreement directs
countries to implement economic and legal
measures to ensure conservation and sus-
tainable use of biodiversity (Article 13).
Countries should also establish permit pro-
cedures to regulate and control access and
collection of biodiversity resources from
natural habitats and regulate commerce of
biological resources at the national level
(Article 27). The Agreement also recog-
nizes the importance and value of tradition-
al knowledge and practices from local
groups that contribute to conservation and
sustainable use of biodiversity resources.
The Agreement creates the Central
American Council for Protected Areas
responsible for coordinating regional policy
efforts related to the regional system of
protected areas.
1.2.3 Central American Agreement on
Transboundary Movements of
Toxic Wastes
There is an increasing awareness
about disposal of toxic wastes in Central
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America, and Presidents of the region
signed the Central American Agreement on
transboundary Movements of Toxic Wastes
in Panama in December 1992.
The Agreement requires Parties to
enact specific dispositions in their legisla-
tion to impose criminal sanctions to anyone
that plans or participates in illegal transport
of toxic wastes. In addition, each Party
must identify a national authority to imple-
ment this Agreement that must be informed
to the Central American Commission on
Environment and Development.
1.2.4 Regional Agreement on
Management and Conservation of
Natural Forestry Ecosystems and
Forestry Plantations Development
Deforestation is a serious threat to
ecosystems and biodiversity with second-
ary impacts on economic development.
Forests provide important and in many
cases valuable ecological services such as
carbon fixation, protection of watersheds,
biodiversity, and tourism attraction. The
Regional Forestry Agreement was signed
on October 29,1993 and provides a region-
al framework for sustainable management
and conservation of natural forestry
ecosystems and promotes the develop-
ment of forestry plantations.
The objective of the Agreement is
to prevent land-use change in forestry areas
or to recover these areas that have been
deforested. The Agreement also establishes
set of principles and guidelines for institu-
tional, judicial and economic policies to
achieve this objective. Dispositions include
rehabilitation of degraded forests, manage-
ment of natural forests, reforestation and
maintenance of forestry inventories.
At the institutional level, the
Agreement promotes the strengthening of
National Forestry Action Plans in each
country, establishment of an "Environ-
mental Ombudsman", and creation of the
Central American Forestry Council that
includes the Directors of forestry Services
from each country and coordinators of the
National Forestry Action Plans.
2 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN CENTRAL
AMERICA
Most of the economic activities in
Central America depend largely on natural
resources, for example: forestry production,
agriculture and tourism. Industrial activities
are sources of pollution that have a nega-
tive impact on the environment and natural
resources. In the past most of the external-
ities from productive activities were
ignored, placing a significant burden on
natural resources.4
During the 1960's and 1970's,
Central American countries enacted laws
and regulations to address existing prob-
lems in areas such as hunting, fishing, log-
ging, and health, which were spread
among many different codes and legal
instruments.
During the 1980's, countries in the
region sought to regulate environmental
problems in a more systemic manner. They
adopted specific laws and institutions that
expanded the authority and size of the State
but also created conflicts between the laws
and institutions because of the lack of inte-
gration and coordination among them and
previous laws and regulations. These laws
were based on a command and control
approach but the Governments lacked the
capacity to establish specific regulations
and norms to monitor compliance.
The decade of the nineties includ-
ed some important changes to previous
approaches to environmental legislation to
create more general and integrated legal
frameworks through the adoption of
"General Environmental Laws."
This section includes a brief review
of the environmental legal framework in
each of the Central American countries that
addresses main dispositions in their
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Constitution, General Environmental Law
and other relevant laws and regulations, as
well as the institutional structure for envi-
ronmental compliance and enforcement.
2.1 Costa Rica
Environmental Law in Costa Rica
is spread among specific laws, regulations,
and decrees. In some areas, these norms
are not well integrated because they were
created at different times to address
emerging situations.
2.1.1 Constitution
The Constitution of the Republic of
Costa Rica was amended in 1994 to
include a provision on the right to a healthy
and ecologically balanced environment.
The Constitution establishes, among civil
rights that "The State will ensure the overall
well-being of all inhabitants of the country,
organizing and stimulating production and
adequate distribution of wealth. Every per-
son has the right to a healthy and ecologi-
cally balanced environment, and is empow-
ered to denounce acts that violate this right
and to recover damages for caused harm.
The State will guarantee, defend and pre-
serve this right. Legislation will determine
responsibilities and corresponding sanc-
tions".5
The objective of the constitutional
provision is to ensure a healthy environ-
ment and protect against any infraction to
such right that would directly affect human
beings, their health and their right to enjoy
a clean environment. It is important to note
that the Constitution establishes that the
"standing" is broad and includes any citizen
even if he or she was not directly involved
in the harm or dispute. The constitutional
Court had established on several occa-
sions that 'the preservation and protection
of the environment is a fundamental right
and the transgression of this right is a con-
stitutional violation."6
2.1.2 Organic Environmental Law
The Organic Environmental Law 7
provides a general framework law or
umbrella that aims to integrate and coordi-
nate the different environmental norms
spread through the legal framework. The
Law includes general environmental princi-
ples and regulates a broad range of issues
such as environmental impact assessment,
biodiversity, pollution and the establishment
of new institutions, among other issues.
This Law is very general and does not pro-
vide specific implementing mechanisms.
The Organic Environmental Law
defines the environment as "common patri-
mony of all the inhabitants of the nation"
and determine that the "State and individu-
als must participate in its sustainable con-
servation and use, that are of public use
and social interest." In addition, it states
that everyone, in order to develop, has the
right to enjoy a healthy and ecologically
sustainable environment, as well as the
duty to maintain it, consistent with
Constitutional Article 50.
The Law also includes dispositions
on the National Technical Environmental
Secretariat (known as SETENA, its
acronym in Spanish), which is the agency
responsible for reviewing; evaluating and
monitoring environmental impact assess-
ments in Costa Rica. SETENA has the
authority to order the interruption of works
when there is harm to the environment.
SETENA has a specific implementing regu-
lation that includes guidelines on the EIA
process, the scope of SETENA's jurisdic-
tion and creates a special unit for environ-
mental monitoring.
Unfortunately, SETENA is one of
the most criticized environmental agencies
because it is seen as an "obstruction" to
development. This criticism is based on the
fact that all procedures within SETENA
take a long time and in many cases
investors and developers are not happy
with either the delays, or the recommenda-
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tions made. SETENA's main limitation is
the lack of a stable work team due to a con-
tinuous rotation of staff. In addition, the
office has a very limited budget and little
technical equipment to carry out a heavy
workload.
The Organic Environmental Law
has faced many limitations to its effective-
ness because its language is not always
clear, depends solely on the Central
Government for its implementation and
there just very few recent regulations that
provide more specific guidelines for its
implementation.
Other important Laws include the
Wildlife Conservation Law of 1992, the
Forestry Law of 1996, the Biodiversity Law
of 1997, the Water Law of 1942, Law of the
Coastal and Maritime Zone, Soil
Conservation Law, Fishing and Hunting
Law and the General Health Law of 1973.
2.1.3 Main Institutions with
Environmental Responsibilities
• Ministry of Environment and Energy: The
Ministry of the Environment and Energy
(MINAE by its Spanish acronym) is
responsible for implementing the Organic
Environmental Law. Its principal obliga-
tions include design, planning and imple-
mentation of national policies related to
natural resource, energy, mining, and
environmental protection. In addition, the
Ministry must direct, control, supervise,
promote, and develop programs in those
areas. Through the National System for
Protected Areas (SINAC by its Spanish
acronym) the Ministry carries out, in a
decentralized manner, its policies on the
conservation of protected areas.
• National System of Conservation Areas:
The National System of Conservation
Areas was established to coordinate the
creation and implementation of policies
related to the use and management of
natural protected areas. In Costa Rica,
there are 11 conservation areas, divided
by bioregion. Each Area has a director,
Technical Council and a local committee
that are responsible for preparing and
implementing Sustainable Development
Plans.
• The Geology and Mines Direction: The
Geology and Mining Direction is an office
within the Ministry of the Environment
responsible for issues related to the use
of river bed materials, exploration and
extraction permits for underground min-
eral extractions.
• National Technical Environmental
Secretariat: The National Technical
Environmental Secretariat (SETENA) is
an independent agency within the
Ministry of the Environment responsible
for reviewing, evaluating and monitoring
the environmental impact assessments.
SETENA must also analyze the environ-
mental impact assessment (EIA) and rec-
ommend necessary actions to minimize
negative impacts on the environment.
• Ministry of Health: The Ministry of Health
is responsible for undertaking all actions,
activities, and general and specific meas-
ures towards the conservation and
improvement of the environment, seeking
the protection of the public health.
• Ministry of Agriculture: The Ministry of
Agriculture and Livestock is responsible
for monitoring and imposing land use
limitation types according to their geo-
graphical conditions, classifying them in
zones for agriculture, livestock, and
forestry production.
2.1.4 Mechanisms for Environmental
Enforcement and Compliance
The Organic Environmental Law
created two new important institutions: the
Environmental Attorney and the Admin-
istrative Environmental Tribunal. The
Environmental Attorney is responsible for
prosecuting any violation of environmental
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laws to the Attorney General's Environ-
mental Office, as well as participating in
national environmental programs such as
the ecological vehicle registration and the
Ecological Flag (a program to recognize
companies with good environmental per-
formance).
The Administrative Environmental
Tribunal is an independent office within the
Ministry of the Environment that receives
administrative complaints and makes
administrative decisions. The Tribunal is
comprised of three Judges that are respon-
sible for enforcing sanctions established in
the General Law. They are the last adminis-
trative procedure before moving into
Judicial Courts, and its resolutions are
obligatory. Its jurisdiction is to hear and
resolve all administrative complaints
against all public or private parties that vio-
late environmental and natural resource
protection legislation, and accusations
referring to actions or omissions that violate
or threaten the legislation, and to establish
administrative indemnities for damages.8
The Tribunal is responsible for
imposing administrative sanctions for vio-
lating environmental laws, or causing harm
to the environment. Some of the protective
measures and sanctions include: execution
of a compliance guarantee provided in the
environmental impact evaluation; partial or
total restriction of activities; immediate ces-
sation order for the activities causing harm;
or total, partial or definite closure of facili-
ties; and, partial, total or temporary cancel-
lation of permits and patents.9
At the Judicial level the
Environmental Prosecutor's Office, within
the General Prosecutor's Office is respon-
sible for building the case when there is an
environmental violation bringing responsi-
ble parties to court. In Costa Rica, the
Environmental Prosecutor's Office is based
in San Jose and is comprised of three pros-
ecutors for the entire country. They face
many limitations, especially when they
have to travel to distant locations to gather
evidence, due to limited resources and
technical support, and a lack of field
experts. The Environmental Prosecutors
are playing a key role demonstrating to the
judges how to analyze evidence and to
impose jail sentence to violators of environ-
mental laws.
2.2
El Salvador
2.2.1 Constitution
The Political Constitution of El
Salvador10 has two general dispositions
related to the environment. As a general
statement, the Constitution provides that
Citizens' health is a public good and that the
State and individuals are responsible for its
protection. The Constitution also establish-
es that natural resources are of public inter-
est. Specifically, Article 117 establishes that
"The protection, restoration, development
and use of natural resources are declared
to be of public interest. The state will create
the economic incentives and provide the
technical assistance necessary for the
development of adequate programs. The
protection, conservation and improvement
of natural resources will be subject to spe-
cific legislation."
2.2.2 General Environmental Law
The Environmental Law of El
Salvador 11 includes general principles for
the sustainable use of natural resources,
and states that the State, the Municipalities
and the society in general are responsible
for a sustainable environmental manage-
ment. The Law establishes rights and
responsibilities for citizens, and the society
in general, and for the State, which is main-
ly responsible for public environmental
management through the Central Govern-
ment or Municipalities.
The first part of the Law establish-
es definitions, principles and rights for the
citizens including, among others, the "right
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of all people to a healthy environment in
ecological equilibrium" (article 2,a) and the
right of public participation (article 8). In
addition, the Law states the responsibility
of society, the State, and legal and physical
persons to compensate or replenish natural
resources used in their activities (article 2,
d); and the responsibility to compensate or
restore environmental damages to the
State or individuals (article 2,e). The State
has the responsibility to adopt measures to
prevent, avoid and control environmental
disasters (article 53) and to protect natural
resources in coastal-marine areas, in coor-
dination with Municipal Councils and com-
petent authorities.
The second part of the Law sets up
a framework for the protection of renewable
and non-renewable natural resources and
introduces the environmental component
as mandatory in all proposed development
or use of these resources. The third part
establishes legal, judicial and administra-
tive procedures to enforce environmental
violations.
Other important environmental
laws include the General Health Law,
Forestry Law, Irrigation and Drainage Law,
Wildlife Conservation Law, General Fishing
Activities Law, Mining Law and
Hydrocarbons Law.
2.2.3 Main Institutions with
Environmental Responsibilities
• Ministry of Environment and Natural
Resources: The Ministry of Environment
and Natural Resources has the
Constitutional mandate to promote envi-
ronmental protection, conservation and
recovery, sustainable use of natural
resources, and to promote a high quality
of life for present and future generations.
The Ministry is responsible for making
national environmental policies and
enforcing environmental laws.
• Ministry of Health: The Ministry of Public
Health and Social Assistance is respon-
sible for controlling the quality of chemi-
cal, pharmaceutical, and veterinary prod-
ucts. In addition, the Ministry must moni-
tor and control the quality of nutritional
food products and environmental condi-
tions that may affect human health.
• Ministry of Agriculture: The Ministry of
Agriculture and Livestock is mainly
responsible for developing sectoral laws,
especially regarding natural resources
such as forests, wildlife and water for
agricultural and livestock uses.
2.2.4 Mechanisms for Environmental
Enforcement and Compliance
The Environmental Law establish-
es sanctions for environmental misde-
meanors committed by individuals or cor-
porations, as well as by the State and the
municipalities. There are also provisions
regarding civil liability to compensate those
who suffer harm to their health or a risk to
the environment. Civil liability will be set
through compensation, restoration of the
environment or ecosystem, or fines.
"It is an obligation of the State,
decentralized entities, and of all legal or
physical persons, which by action or omis-
sion deteriorate the environment, to restore
and repair damages caused to the environ-
ment."^
The Environmental Law also states
that civil actions for environmental dam-
ages to the community could be initiated by
any individual or corporation directly or indi-
rectly affected by such damage; by five cit-
izens members of a community; or by the
Attorney General.
The Criminal Code was amended
to be more consistent with the
Environmental Law and cover crimes relat-
ed to environmental pollution, deforesta-
tion, depredation of protected flora and
fauna, burning of waste, and transport of
toxic substances. The common sanction for
these crimes is imprisonment and in some
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circumstances just fines.
The Environmental Law calls for
certain preventive measures to avoid fore-
seeable damages to the environment and
ecosystems (Article 83).
At the Judicial level, there are 17
Environmental Prosecutors in the General
Prosecutor's Office responsible for building
environmental cases. They cover the entire
country and receive financial and technical
support from Multilateral Organizations
such as the Inter-American Development
Bank through Cooperation Agreements.
2.3 Guatemala
2.3.1 Constitution
The Constitution contains a state-
ment on environmental policy that estab-
lishes rights and obligations for the State
and its citizens. Article 97 establishes that
"The State, the municipalities and the
inhabitants of the national territory are obli-
gated to propagate the social, economic
and technological development that pre-
vents environmental pollution and main-
tains the ecological balance. All the neces-
sary rules will be dictated in order to ensure
that the usage and the exploitation of
fauna, flora, soil and water, are made
rationally, avoiding its waste."
2.3.2 Environmental Protection and
Improvement Law •
The Environmental Protection and
Improvement Law ™ states as its main
objective that State, municipalities and indi-
viduals must promote social, economic,
scientific and technological development to
prevent environmental pollution and to
ensure an ecological balance through the
rational use of natural resources.14
In addition, the Law establishes
specific responsibilities of the National
Environmental Commission (CONAMA by
its Spanish acronym) which includes
among others: protection, conservation,
and improvement of natural resources; pre-
vention, regulation and control of activities
that cause harm to the environment and
pollution to ecological systems; design of
the national environmental policy, and cre-
ation of incentives for protection, improve-
ment and restoration of the environment.
The agency responsible for imple-
mentating the Law is CONAMA. The Law is
comprised of general principles and meas-
ures to prevent pollution, manage waste,
environmental impact assessment and pro-
tection of natural resources. The Law
requires CONAMA to enact specific regula-
tions for its implementation.
Other important environmental
laws include the Protected Areas Law,
Hunting Mining Law, Health Law and the
Criminal Code. Some specific regulations
include the Regulation of Minimum
Requirements and Maximum Permissible
Limits for the Disposal of
Waste Waters, Regulation for the
Evaluation of Environmental Impact and
Regulation of the Protected Areas Law.
2.3.3 Main Institutions with
Environmental Responsibilities
• National Environmental Commission: The
National Environmental Commission is
responsible for coordinating actions in
the development and implementation of
the national environmental policy. The
CONAMA is responsible for implement-
ing the Law of Protection and
Improvement of the Environment.
CONAMA's main responsibility is to
review and approve Environmental
Impact Assessments. However, this
responsibility is beyond CONAMA's cur-
rent capacity because of insufficient staff
and inadequate resources.
• National Council of Protected Areas:
The National Council of Protected Areas
(CONAP by its Spanish acronym) has
the lead responsibility for promoting con-
servation and improvement of the natural
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patrimony of the country; organizing and
directing the Guatemalan System of
Protected Areas, SIGAP. In addition,
CONAP must coordinate the administra-
tion of the resources of wild flora and
fauna and biological diversity; implement
dispositions regarding conservation of
biological diversity, and build a national
fund for the conservation of natural
resources in Guatemala.
• Ministry of Public Health and Social
Assistance: The Ministry of Public Health
and Social Assistance is responsible for
coordinating actions to protect human
health and implement actions to ensure
basic environmental sanitation, protec-
tion of water resources, especially for
human consumption.
• Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Food: The Ministry of Agriculture,
Livestock, and Food is responsible for
developing and implementing policies for
agriculture and cattle ranching develop-
ment, water irrigation and sustainable
use of renewable natural resources.
• Ministry of Energy and Mines: The
Ministry of Energy and Mines formulates
the national energy policy and proposes
the regulation and supervision of the
exploration, and extraction of hydrocar-
bon and "mineral commercialization sys-
tems."
• Ministry of National Defense: The
Ministry of National Defense is responsi-
ble for controlling and patrolling protect-
ed areas in border zones.
2.3.4 Mechanisms for Environmental
Enforcement and Compliance
CONAMA is responsible for impos-
ing administrative sanctions for violations to
the Environmental Protection and
Improvement Law that comprises of warn-
ings, fines and confiscation of equipment.
The sanctions are imposed according to
the seriousness of the violation, the envi-
ronmental impact, harm to individuals and
the background of the offender. In addition,
CONAMA implements "environmental
audits" as an instrument of control. These
are submitted by interested parties for a
periodical evaluation.
At the Judicial level there are four
National Environmental Prosecutors in the
General Prosecutor's Office and one auxil-
iary Environmental Prosecutor in each of
the Judicial Districts of the country. The
Environmental Prosecutor's Office is
responsible for conducting criminal investi-
gations for crimes against the environment.
The Attorney General's Office has
an environmental division that provides
advice to the State entities on legal envi-
ronmental matters and represents the
State in civil actions.
2.4
Honduras
2.4.1 Constitution
The Political Constitution of the
Republic of Honduras15 establishes a basic
obligation of the State to protect the envi-
ronment and natural resources.
Specifically, Article 145 states that "the
State shall preserve the environment
appropriately to protect human health."
Furthermore, the Constitution calls
for the rational uses of natural resources in
Article 340: "The technical and rational
exploitation of natural resources are
declared of public utility and necessity. The
State shall regulate their use according to
public interest and shall establish the con-
ditions to grant such exploitation to citizens.
Reforestation and conservation of forests
are declared of national convenience and
collective interest."
2.4.2 General Environmental Law
The main objective of the General
Environmental Law16 is the protection, con-
servation, restoration and sustainable man-
agement of the environment and natural
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resources that are of public utility and
social interest. The State and its agencies
are responsible for the defense of the envi-
ronment and for undertaking measures to
prevent environmental degradation.
In addition, article 10 of the
Regulation for the General Environmental
Law recognizes the citizen's right and duty
to participate in all activities aimed at the
protection, conservation, and restoration of
the environment implemented by the State
and its agencies. Public standing is recog-
nized in the administrative and judicial
when there is environmental degradation or
harm to natural resources.
The Law also includes dispositions
regarding the environmental impact
assessment for private or public activities
that involve use of natural resources or
might have a negative impact on the envi-
ronment and natural resources. In addition,
the Law establishes dispositions for pollu-
tion prevention, waste management and
prohibits importation of toxic waste.
The Public Health Secretariat and
the Environmental Secretariat are respon-
sible for the implementation of the General
Environmental Law and other environmen-
tal laws regarding sanitation, air, water, and
soil pollution.
The Law also creates the System
of Protected Areas that includes biosphere
reserves, national parks, wildlife refuges,
natural monuments, and biological
reserves. These areas are subject to
Management Plans.
Other important environmental
laws include the Forestry Law, Fishing Law,
Mining Code, Health Code, Phyto-zoo-
sanitary Law and the General
Transportation Law. Some of the regula-
tions include the Regulation for the
Environmental Law and the Decree for the
Creation of Protected Areas.
2.4.3 Main Institutions with
Environmental Responsibilities
• Secretariat for Natural Resources and
the Environment: The Secretariat for
Natural Resources and the Environment
(SERNA by its Spanish acronym) is
responsible for implementing and enforc-
ing environmental legislation, and the
development, coordination, and monitor-
ing of compliance with national environ-
mental policies.
• Honduran Corporation for Forestry
Development: The Honduran Corporation
for Forestry Development (COHDEFOR
by its Spanish acronym) is an independ-
ent agency within SERNA. The Natural
Resources Secretary appoints the
General Manager. COHDEFOR is
responsible for implementing national
forestry policies, and monitoring the use
of natural resources, while ensuring their
protection and conservation.
• Secretariat for Agriculture, Livestock and
Food: The Secretariat for Agriculture and
Livestock is lead by the Minister of
Natural Resources. The main functions of
the Secretariat include coordination of
the agriculture sector, and promotion of
the agriculture and forestry development.
• Secretariat for National Defense and
Public Safety: The Secretariat for
National Defense and Public Safety, in
coordination with the Public Health and
Natural Resources Secretariat, is
responsible for monitoring continental
and coastal waters.
2.4.4 Mechanisms for Environmental
Enforcement and Compliance
The Secretariat for Natural
Resources and the Environment is respon-
sible for enforcing provisions established in
the General Environmental Law for actions
or omissions against the environment
through criminal or administrative sanc-
tions. Penalties include incarceration, fine,
closure, suspension, seizure, cancellation,
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compensation, and when possible, replace-
ment or restoration of the affected areas to
their previous state.
The Regulation to the General
Environmental Law also states the
Secretariat's duty to conduct inspections
and monitoring, and also to impose preven-
tive and corrective measures at the nation-
al level. At the local level, municipal gov-
ernments have authority to implement
inspection and monitor actions within the
"scope of their power and jurisdiction."
The Criminal Code imposes
imprisonment as a penalty for crimes
against public health. At the Judicial level,
there are thirteen Environmental
Prosecutors; eight are located in
Tegucigalpa and five in different depart-
ments. In addition there are Technical
Environmental Units in three of the coun-
try's regions.
2.5 Nicaragua
2.5.1 Constitution
The Political Constitution of
Nicaragua 17 contains provisions regarding
environmental protection. Specifically, the
Constitution states in Article 60 that
"Nicaraguans have the right to a healthy
environment. The State has the obligation to
ensure the preservation and conservation of
the environment and natural resources."
Furthermore in its Article 102
states that "Natural resources are part of
the national heritage. The State is respon-
sible for the preservation of the environment
and the conservation, development and
rational exploitation of natural resources;
the State may enter into contracts for a sus-
tainable exploitation of these resources,
when there is a national interest."
2.5.2 General Environmental and
Natural Resources Law
The General Environmental and
Natural Resources Law 18 is comprised of a
series of general principles on conservation
and use of natural resources. The Law
includes general dispositions on environ-
mental management, natural resources,
environmental quality, jurisdiction of gov-
ernmental institutions and sanctions.
The main objectives of the Law
are: to prevent, regulate and control causes
or activities hat deteriorate the environment
or pollute ecosystems; to establish meas-
ures for a rational exploitation of natural
resources in the National Planning Policy;
to promote conservation and sustainable
use of water resources; and, to promote a
healthy environment.
The Law is very general and is
supported by more specific legislation such
as the Regulation on Permits and
Environmental Impact Assessment. The
Ministry of the Environment and Natural
Resources implements this Regulation
through the Office for Economic Activities
Control. The list of activities that require an
EIA is very extensive, however, it leaves out
some activities. Environmental permits are
granted after the interested party presents
the required documentation and officials of
the Ministry make a site visit. The EIA
processes are registered in a computer
system that allows better control of the
developed activities.
2.5.3 Main Institutions with
Environmental Responsibilities
• Ministry of the Environment and Natural
Resources: The Ministry of the
Environment and Natural Resources
(MARENA by its Spanish acronym) is
responsible for the implementation and
enforcement of environmental legislation,
and to develop, coordinate, and monitor
compliance with national environmental
policies.
• Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock:
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
is responsible for coordination of the
agriculture sector, and promotion of the
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
agriculture and forestry development.
• Ministry of Health: The Ministry of Health
(MINSA by its Spanish acronym) is
responsible for coordinating actions to
protect human health and implement
actions to prevent pollution to the environ-
ment. The MINSA is required to protect
human health from risks of air, soil and
water pollution as consequences of trans-
port, storage or disposal of toxic waste. In
addition the MINSA must control hygiene
and sanitation for drinking water.
2.5.4 Mechanisms for Environmental
Enforcement and Compliance
The Ministry of the Environment
and Natural Resources is responsible for
enforcing sanctions established in the
General Environmental and Natural
Resources Law. Sanctions include warning,
fine, temporary or permanent cancellation
of permits, partial, total or temporary clo-
sure or suspension of activities.
The Regulation of the General
Environmental and Natural Resources Law
includes more specific dispositions on
actions or omissions subject to administra-
tive sanctions and contains a classification
of minor, serious and very serious viola-
tions. The Regulation also establishes
some criteria to apply administrative sanc-
tions such as harm caused to human
health, valuation of damages, economic
benefit received by the violator of the law,
and type of violation.
The General Environmental and
Natural Resources Law created the Office
for Environmental and Natural Resources
Defense, within the Attorney General's
Office. There are six Environmental Officers
that represent and defend the interest of
the State and society on environmental
issues.
2.6 Panama
2.6.1 Constitution
The Political Constitution of the
Republic of Panama 19 establishes the obli-
gation of the State to guarantee a clean
environment. Article 15 of the Constitution
states that "It is a fundamental duty of the
State of Panama to guarantee its people a
healthy, pollution-free environment, and an
environment in which the quality of the air,
water, and food meet the standards for
appropriate development and maintenance
of human life."
2.6.2 General Environmental Law
The General Environmental Law 20
establishes that the State is responsible for
the management of the environment. In
addition, the Law states that all individuals
or legal entities are also responsible for
preventing environmental damages and for
controlling environmental pollution.
Law creates the National Environ-
mental Authority (ANAM by its Spanish
acronym) as an independent agency
responsible for coordinating with other
agencies on natural resources and environ-
mental protection and environmental man-
agement issues.
The Law states that ANAM is
required for coordinating the national envi-
ronmental policy comprises of measures,
strategies, and actions, as well as to pro-
vide guidelines for actions and conducts of
the public and private sector, and individu-
als on environmental issues. ANAM is also
required to develop national environmental
policies and plans for the sustainable use
of natural resources. These policies and
plans shall be coordinated with the devel-
opment plans of the State.
The National Environmental
Authority is also responsible for directing,
supervising, and implementing national envi-
ronmental policies, strategies, and programs.
The National Environmental Authority is also
responsible for drafting environmental laws
and regulations to be submitted to Congress
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through the President.
Other important environmental
laws include the Forestry Law, the Law of
Wild Flora and Fauna and the Regulation
on the Use of Water Resources.
2.6.3 Main Institutions with
Environmental Responsibilities
• National Environmental Authority: The
National Environmental Authority is
required to ensure that the laws, regula-
tions and national policy on the environ-
ment are complied with and enforced.
• Ministry of Agrarian Development: The
Ministry of Agrarian Development is
responsible for promoting a rational use
of natural resources, identification of
lands for agriculture use through a
rational use of water and irrigation sys-
tems. The Ministry is also responsible for
controlling introduction of exotic species
and compliance with importation permits
and inspection and quarantine require-
ments.
• Ministry of Health: The Ministry of Health
is responsible for implementing health
and occupational health measures and
for implementing norms related to dispo-
sition of waste waters and implement
measures to protect human health for
environmental degradation.
2.6.4 Mechanisms for Environmental
Enforcement and Compliance
The General Environmental Law
establishes the mechanisms to achieve
compliance with and enforcement of envi-
ronmental laws and regulations. The Law
includes administrative sanctions that are
imposed by the National Environmental
Authority such as written or verbal warn-
ings, temporary suspension of operations,
closure of facility, and fines.
In addition, the National Environ-
mental Authority has authority to order the
offending party to pay for the cost of clean
up, mitigation and compensation for the
environmental damages.
The Forestry Law includes several
dispositions on ecological crimes against
natural resources such as forest fires, ille-
gal logging, unauthorized change of land
use, and changes in the flow of natural
waters. Sanctions include seizure of equip-
ment, fines, and imprisonment from 6
months to 5 years.
3 OBSTACLES TO COMPLIANCE
3.1 Issues related to authority
The general environmental frame-
work for environmental enforcement and
compliance in Central American countries
is not very effective. Existing laws do not
establish the necessary control mecha-
nisms for successful implementation. In
addition, environmental norms have not yet
been effective in preventing environmental
harm and authority is generally limited to
sanctions to punish illegal conducts.
The institutions tasked with ensur-
ing environmental compliance in the region
face many challenges and obstacles. The
primary responsibility falls on the environ-
mental ministries. In Central America,
these ministries tend to be under funded
and have unclear lines of authority and
responsibility. In addition, they face obsta-
cles from unclear laws and regulations, as
well as numerous contradictory mandates
and objectives.
In spite of these difficulties, the
ministries of the environment play a key
role in environmental enforcement and
compliance. Their main responsibility is to
watch over the compliance with minimum
environmental standards in the realm of
economic activities. However, many envi-
ronmental problems are not just a respon-
sibility of the ministry of the environment
but other ministries as well. For example
some agricultural practices and subsidies
promote the use of chemicals products that
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
cause harm to the environment and human
health, but there is little coordination
between the Ministries of Environment,
Agriculture and Health. Another example is
the conflict over land use planning and des-
ignation of forestry of agricultural lands for
rural development.
Countries in the region have many
environmental laws, however these are not
always enforced due to different circum-
stances. Some laws are not very clear,
many do not have specific implementing
regulations, and others are in conflict with
other laws. And, as a general rule, the min-
istries do not have personnel to review
compliance or otherwise enforce the laws.
The most critical issue is the clarity
of the laws. Environmental laws seek to
prevent harmful actions against the envi-
ronment and natural resources or to
impose a sanction if harm is caused. Some
laws have very detailed descriptions of their
objectives, definition of terms, implement-
ing agencies, but do not include specific
mechanisms to achieve results, such as
enforcement authorities, or specific defini-
tions of infractions. Governmental agencies
such as the ministry of the environment
and the ministry of health are responsible
for developing the specific strategies to
implement and enforce legislation. These
agencies have the task of developing spe-
cific regulations that include the guidelines
on how to apply the law. These regulations
are the basis for an effective enforcement.
Most of the Central American
countries do not have appropriate regula-
tions to implement their environmental leg-
islation. Most environmentally related laws
in the region have little or no implementing
regulations, making enforcement a difficult
and sometimes impossible task. This lack
of clarity of the legal frameworks creates a
lot of uncertainty for enforcers, the private
sector and the general public. In addition,
these laws become subject to interpretation
that will vary depending on the interests of
the administration or the influence of spe-
cific sectors. For example, all the countries
in the region have General Environmental
Laws that create new institutions, however,
not all countries have adopted regulations
or coordination mechanisms to implement
these laws.
Governmental agencies responsi-
ble for enforcing environmental laws and
regulations have many limitations because
of their legal structure. If there are no spe-
cific regulations that establish and deter-
mine the scope of a norm, it will be the task
of governmental agencies to determine
when a conduct has caused harm and
carry the burden of proof to bring violators
of the law to court or to face administrative
sanctions. This case-by-case approach is
cost-prohibitive in developing countries.
As mentioned earlier, the evolution
of environmental legislation in Central
America went through different phases and
in general developed new legal instruments
to address new environmental issues that
in some situations were adopted as copies
from other countries. The result is a lack of
integration of previous laws and authorities,
which leads to conflicting mandates. In par-
ticular, sectoral laws (forestry, hunting, fish-
ing, and waters) are frequently in conflict
with each other because they were drafted
without coordination. For example, in Costa
Rica the Wildlife Law protects all species of
wild flora and fauna however, it does not
include forestry species. On the other hand,
the Forestry Law does not include specific
provisions to protect forestry species that
are endangered or threatened.
Some of the limitations for compli-
ance with environmental laws in the region
are related to government programs such
as subsidies and incentives that influence
the private sector's motivation to comply
with environmental laws. In several cases,
especially in the agriculture sector, the gov-
ernment provides tax breaks or other sub-
sidies for agrochemical products that are
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used in an inappropriate manner, causing
environmental pollution, water contamina-
tion and health related problems. In addi-
tion, some incentive programs do not pro-
mote a better environmental conduct
because they reward harmful conducts. For
example the Forestry Law of Costa Rica
provides the highest incentives for refor-
estation of pasturelands, but the lowest
incentive for preservation of natural forests.
In some instances laws and regu-
lations require the implementation of meas-
ures or equipment that involve investment
of financial resources, but which do not pro-
vide tax benefits. For example, the impor-
tation of wastewater treatment plants and
pollution control equipment is subject to
duty tax (that in Costa Rica is up to 100%).
In addition, the financial sector applies a
higher interest rate for this type of invest-
ment because it is classified as a "non-pro-
ductive asset".
Environmental legislation in the
region tends more towards application of
sanctions for violations instead of promot-
ing more prevention measures to avoid
environmental damages. The regulated
sectors always look for existing loopholes in
the legislation and choose the least expen-
sive alternative. For example, if the law
establishes low fines for dumping untreated
wastewater into water bodies, the option of
paying a fine is frequently less expensive
than buying an expensive wastewater treat-
ment plant. In this situation, an effective
measure will be to provide an incentive to
promote cleaner environmental conduct
and at the same time establish a higher
sanction if there is a negative conduct.
3.2 Financial and Human Resources
Issues
Environmental institutions in
Central America face a critical situation due
to a lack of financial resources and quali-
fied staff. In addition, there are personnel
constraints in nearly all countries of the
region because of the reduction in the size
of the State and its budget— largely a
result of structural adjustment programs.
Countries have enacted numerous environ-
mental laws and created many new institu-
tions, but the governments do not allocate
new resources or staff to carry out such
tasks. For example, the Organic
Environmental Law of Costa Rica of 1995
created 9 new institutions but the
Government has not provided any addi-
tional resources or personnel to help in its
successful implementation.
Most of the governmental officials
and employees that work on environmental
issues do not have a formal training in this
field and are entrusted with a wide variety
of responsibilities and tasks that they are
not capable of undertaking. In other cases,
even where there are many public officials
with sufficient experience to carry out an
efficient performance; they encounter many
infrastructure limitations to carry out their
job. For example, many institutions do not
have technical equipment, monitoring
equipment, vehicles or travel budgets.
Furthermore, some of the prob-
lems of the implementation of environmen-
tal laws are the lack of control and monitor-
ing mechanisms, frequently attributable to
budget or human resource limitations. For
example, monitoring of national parks is a
task that requires qualified and trained per-
sonnel, equipment (cars or boats depend-
ing on the location of the park) and knowl-
edge of poaching regulations to provide all
necessary information and evidence when
they find a person violating the law. Some
of the countries have support from other
governmental agencies and non-govern-
mental organizations to help carry out this
task. For example, in El Salvador, the NGO
SalvaNatura carries out management and
monitoring responsibilities in El Imposible
National Park. In Honduras, El Salvador
and Nicaragua, the Ministry of Defense
provides support to the Ministry of the
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Environment in monitoring national parks
and protected areas.
It is obvious that many of the exist-
ing laws in Central America were designed
without considering the financial costs of
their implementation. Many laws establish
strict measures and controls but cannot be
implemented because responsible institu-
tions do have the appropriate budget and
have a lack of resources, equipment and
staff. There are laws that promote fiscal
incentives but the Treasury does not
respect the legal mandate. Consequently,
resources are not allocated in environmen-
tally sound or conservation activities.
4 EVALUATION OF OBSTACLES AND
OPPORTUNITIES
4.1 Structure, Authority and
Political Will
Effective enforcement and compli-
ance of environmental laws depends on the
structure and effective functioning of the
government and its national environmental
policy. Such a policy must focus on envi-
ronmental monitoring and control, but also
include a system of economic instruments
that helps eliminate overexploitation of nat-
ural resources and rewards more sustain-
able activities.
In addition to command and control
mechanisms, the adoption of economic
incentives could help as a support to
involve the private sector in environmental
responsibilities that in many situations the
government does not have the capacity to
handle effectively.
Governments should empower the
environmental ministries with more finan-
cial and technical resources. In addition, it
is necessary to clarify jurisdiction of all
agencies responsible for environmental
issues. At present, coordination between
governmental institutions is not always
effective and there is very little coordination
among the agencies that oversee the
implementation and enforcement of envi-
ronmental laws. This situation causes con-
fusion among the responsible agencies
that in many cases are not sure about the
extent of their responsibility. For example in
most of the countries, water issues are reg-
ulated by the Ministry of Health (safety and
quality standards for drinking purposes),
the Water Agency (quantity, distribution and
fees), Ministry of Environment (protection
of water resources) and the Ministry of
Agriculture (irrigation for agricultural pur-
poses).
The governmental structure should
provide appropriate resources and mecha-
nisms for effective enforcement and com-
pliance with environmental legislation, for
example: programs or plans for enforce-
ment and compliance in the different agen-
cies involved in environmental issues, train-
ing of staff and provide technical equipment
and infrastructure.
The environmental law-making
process requires additional political support
to address pressing environmental issues.
Laws need to be more consistent with
socio-economic realities and environmental
issues should be consistently reflected in
other legislation. In addition, national devel-
opment planning should include a stronger
environmental component and reflect the
economic costs of enforcement and com-
pliance with environmental laws.
4.2 Needs for decentralization and its
benefits
Many of the responsibilities of the
ministries of the environment are being
decentralized to provide better outreach.
This process allows the Ministries to take
on more of a coordinating role of the envi-
ronmental policies in each country and
become a better enforcer.
Decentralization of administrative
responsibilities could have positive results,
but could bring problems in some areas.
Decentralization should be done just when
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the regional offices have the experience
and technical resources to address the
issues. Since the current limitation is one of
staff and financial resources, decentraliza-
tion will only be as effective as allocated
resources allow. On the other hand, munic-
ipal and other local authorities could prove
to be more efficient and cost-effective, par-
ticularly when supported by local citizens
and environmental groups.
4.3 Importance of Collaboration with
Ministries, NGO's, Universities
Private NGO's, universities and
international organizations have experi-
enced staff, technical knowledge and
resources to address specific environmen-
tal problems more directly and support the
work of the Ministry of the Environment.
Certain activities could be delegated to
these organizations to relieve some of the
heavy load of the government's bureaucra-
cy, reduce discretional decisions and per-
haps make the fight for environmental qual-
ity more effective.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Environmental law is an evolving
field that tries to adopt norms to redirect
negative conduct. It is a fact that command
and control mechanisms are not sufficient
by themselves for an effective enforcement
and compliance with environmental laws in
developing countries such as those of
Central America. The Central American
countries have a lot of environmental laws
that attempt to address different environ-
mental problems. In practice, however, they
cannot be effectively implemented because
they are not clear, not flexible, and do not
have effective mechanisms for achieving
their stated goals.
The basic principle for environmen-
tal protection is the "polluter pays principle"
that is included in many of the laws of
Central American countries. However, this
principle in practice is more of an enuncia-
tion that is not provided of mechanisms for
a real implementation. For example, envi-
ronmental legislation in the region needs to
promote a conduct that internalizes envi-
ronmental costs and prevents environmen-
tal and natural resource degradation. Legal
frameworks should include more flexible
mechanisms to prevent environmental
damages and more effectively incorporate
the polluter pays principle.
The reliance on the role of the
State is very strong and most of the
enforcement and compliance actions are
highly centralized. All the different actors of
a society could contribute to a more decen-
tralized structure, which could achieve
more effective compliance with environ-
mental legislation. Local governments need
to be empowered to carry out more of
these responsibilities and to have a higher
impact in their communities. The private
sector needs to take new and innovative
challenges to mitigate their environmental
impact by improving their environmental
performance even though they have to
adopt voluntary measures that are beyond
the legal requirements of the country. In
addition, public participation is very impor-
tant to give the opportunity to interested
parties to participate in the law-making and
decision-making processes, perhaps as
well as environmental enforcement and
compliance.
Information and education are key
elements to redirect negative environmen-
tal conducts. In Central America, there is lit-
tle awareness about the consequences of
current damages to the environment and
natural resources and the options that civil
society has to demand actions from the
government or carry out activities to sup-
port the government's tasks. There is also
little investment in programs to correct this
deficiency.
There are very important initiatives
that support efforts to improve environmen-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
tal enforcement and compliance in the
region. For example, the Central American
Commission on Environment and
Development in coordination with the US
Environmental Protection Agency are
already working to facilitate the creation of
a regional network of legal and enforce-
ment experts in Central America. This net-
work focuses on transboundary environ-
mental problems or violations of law,
achieving greater compatibility of national
laws at higher levels of protection, and
improving implementation of international
commitments to protect the environment.
They also assist their members in identify-
ing capacity-building priorities and potential
cooperative projects that promote compli-
ance with environmental requirements and
sustainable development.
REFERENCES AND NOTES
1. The Presidents of Central America,
Panama and Belize signed the Central
American Alliance for Sustainable
Development (ALIDES) on October 12,
1994. It is a comprehensive initiative
that addresses political, moral, econom-
ic, social, and environmental issues.
ALIDES' sustainable development
bases are stated in four key areas:
democracy; social and cultural develop-
ment; sustainable economic develop-
ment; and sustainable natural resource
management and improved environ-
mental quality.
2. The Presidents of Central America,
Panama and Belize signed the Central
American Alliance for Sustainable
Development (ALIDES) on October 12,
1994. It is a comprehensive initiative
that addresses political, moral, econom-
ic, social, and environmental issues.
ALIDES' sustainable development
bases are stated in four key areas:
democracy; social and cultural develop-
ment; sustainable economic develop-
ment; and sustainable natural resource
management and improved environ-
mental quality.
3. It is important to note that CONCAUSA
places more emphasis on environmen-
tal issues than ALIDES.
4. CLACDS-INCAE: "Sustainable
Development in Central America: Public
Policies and Legal and Institutional
Framework" September 1997.
5. Article 50, Political Constitution of Costa
Rica of 1949, amended in 1994
6. See for example Decision 095 of 1995
of the Constitutional Court, which is
considered a clear example
7. Law # 7554 of September 28, 1995
8. Articles 103 to 112 of the Organic
Environmental Law
9. Articles 98 and 99 of the Organic
Environmental Law
10. Constitution of the Republic of El
Salvador. Decree # 38 of December
15, 1983
11. Decree # 233 of March 1998, pub-
lished in The Gazette # 339
12. Article 100, Environmental Law
13. Decree #68-86 of November 28, 1986
14. Article 1 of the Environmental
Protection and Improvement Law
15. Decree # 131 of January 11, 1982
16. Decree # 104-93 of May 27, 1993
17. Reformed by Law # 192 of February 1,
1995
18. Law # 217 of July 25, 1996
19.1983 Reforms published in the Official
Gazette # 19826 of June 6, 1983
20. Law # 41 of July 1, 1998
Association for Legal and Administrative
Orientation in Panama (ASLAP),
"Environmental Law Manual in Panama",
1996
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Central American Commission on
Environment and Development (CCAD),
"State of the Environment and Natural
Resources in Central America", 1998
Center for Environmental Law and Natural
Resources (CEDARENA), "Environmental
Law Manual in Costa Rica", 1996
Center for Environmental Law in Honduras
(CENDAH), "Environmental Law Manual
in Honduras", 1996
Environmental Law and Sustainable
Development Institute (IDEADS),
"Environmental Law Manual in
Guatemala", 1996
Latin American Center for
Competitiveness and Sustainable
Development (CLACDS-INCAE),
"Sustainable Development in Central
America: Public Policies and Legal and
Institutional Framework", 1997
Madrigal Cordero, Patricia: "Enforcement
and Compliance Programs in Central
America" in Proceedings of the Fourth
International Conference on Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement, Vol. I, April
22-26, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Nicaraguan Foundation for Sustainable
Development (FUNDENIC), "Environmental
Law Manual in Nicaragua", 1996
Salvadorean Foundation for Environmental
Law (FUNDASALDA), "Environmental Law
Manual in El Salvador." 1996
UNDP, "State of the Region on Human
Sustainable Development", 1999
The author wishes to give a special
acknowledgement to Durwood Zaelke,
President of the Center for International
Environmental Law (CIEL) in Washington
DC, who contributed his substantive com-
ments and valuable suggestions through-
out the development of this case study.
Special recognition is also due to
Adriana Bianchi, Senior Institutional
Development Specialist, The World Bank
Institute, Washington DC.
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AZUELA, WARMAN 103
FROM "THE MEXICAN PROBLEM" TO A REGIONAL EXPERIENCE.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE IN NORTH
AMERICA
AZUELA, ANTONIO1 AND WARMAN, JAVIER2
1 Investigador, Institute de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
Mexico, Circuito Mario de la Cueva, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacan, Mexico, D.F.,
Mexico 04510.
2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Earth, Atmosphere & Plan, 77 Massachusetts
Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA
SUMMARY
One of the most interesting aspects of the institutional arrangment created by the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is the inclusion of environmental commit-
ments between countries that show had a very uneven development in their environmental
policies. By the early nineties, when the agreement was being negotiated, Canada and the
USA had been enforcing their laws for more than two decades. Indeed, the USA is regard-
ed as one of the world leaders in the enactment and implementation of environmental leg-
islation. On the other hand, Mexico had a promising legislation but very little experience in
its implementation. This asymmetric situation raised concerns on the feasibility of the treaty
as a whole, and gave way to some interesting institutional innovations, as well as to some
responses from both the Mexican government and NGOs throughout the region. Almost
one decade later, it is interesting to reflect on the consequences of those developments. In
this paper, we will argue that there is little chance that the worst predictions will material-
ize. Environmental policies have been strengthened, not weakened and, at the same time,
free trade has not been affected by the asymmetries of environmental performance
throughout the region. In particular, Mexico did not become the sort of environmental heav-
en that some feared. As we will see, this is due both to developments at regional level and
within Mexico.
1 NAFTA NEGOTIATIONS (CONCERNS
AND PREJUDICES
The North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) was questioned while it was being
drafted for putting in the same basket coun-
tries with such a different level of develop-
ment as the USA and Mexico. One of the
main cries for attention came from the envi-
ronmental community, who saw Mexico
becoming a pollution heaven in no time
after signing the document. Several mem-
bers of the USA Congress embraced this
point of view and pushed for further negoti-
ations within NAFTA.
Although a good deal of prejudice
was the basis of that claim, there was no
evidence to counteract that prejudice. As of
1992, Mexico had nothing to show regard-
ing the enforcement of its environmental
laws. Several surveys showed that Mexico's
legislation was good, the problem was it did
not have 'teeth'. As we will see, Mexico
made an effort to change that image, but
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that could not be done overnight. Not sur-
prisingly, the fear of an environmental heav-
en became a serious obstacle to NAFTA.
Also, it gave the opportunity to the incom-
ing Clinton administration to introduce
changes that made NAFTA more accept-
able to the environmental community in the
USA.
It is true that within the original text
of NAFTA, the "parties had already commit-
ted themselves to avoid the relaxation of
domestic health, safety and environmental
standards in order to promote investment
But that was not enough and negotiators
had to produce something else, as we will
see below.
To be sure, the 'environmental
heaven' was not the only issue at stake.
Other prejudices and fears were present in
the proces. For free trade opponents,
NAFTA would bring about further environ-
mental deterioration. At the other extreme,
those who believe in free trade at all cost,
feared that environmental restrictions could
become an obstacle for economic develop-
ment. Also, some industrial groups in
Mexico feared they could be put out of busi-
ness with the implementation of environ-
mental standards they would not be able to
meet. Finally, nationalism, a very strong
ideology in Mexico, gave rise to fears that
Mexico had to adopt the American legal
model - with all the 'adversarialism' that
allegedly distorts environmental policies in
the USA (Zamora, 1993). A discussion of
these issues would take us far from the
purpose of this paper, although they will be
part of the debate for many years1.
Nevertheless, beyond the complexity and
the density of that debate, there is an unde-
niable reality: The outcome of the environ-
mental negotiations— i.e. the adoption of
an environmental side agreement — was
"more the product of the US legislative bat-
tle over NAFTA than the result of an acute
environmental conscience in the govern-
ments of Canada, Mexico and the US"
(Hufbauer et al, 2000).
2 A UNIQUE SIDE - AGREEMENT
As we have said, NAFTA had not
entirely ignored environmental concerns.
Article 1114 (in Chapter 11) clearly stated
that "[T]he Parties recognize that it is inap-
propriate to encourage investment by relax-
ing domestic health, safety and environ-
mental measures". However, the political
process in the USA drove the negotiations
into a more specific "environmental side
agreement", where those issues could be
directly addressed. Thus the parties signed
the North American Agreement for
Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), in
order to establish a framework, to facilitate
effective cooperation in the conservation,
protection and enhancement of the envi-
ronment. One of the creations of NAAEC
was the North American Commission for
Environmental Cooperation (CEC)2.
As we can read in the CEC web
page, "one of the principal aims of the
NAAEC is the promotion of effective
enforcement by the Parties of their domes-
tic environmental legislation". Of course,
due to the legal nature of the Agreement, it
does not make explicit the real origin of the
whole initiative. But it is obvious that there
was a dominant perception about one of
the parties (the "Mexican problem"). No
one in the negotiation process raised con-
cerns that Canada or the USA could create
problems by failing to enforce their laws.
However, as we will see, the Agreement
created an authentic regional dynamic, i.e.
much beyond the original concern that
engendered it.
Before we explain the specific
mechanisms created by NAAEC in order to
promote environmental enforcement in the
region, it is worth mentioning one of the
assumptions behind those mechanisms. In
the negotiations, it was recognized (or
rather, Mexico managed to establish) that
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AZUELA, WARMAN 105
common environmental standards at
regional level were out of the question. It
was taken for granted that Mexico would
not be able to meet the allegedly much
more stringent standards of its counter-
parts. Although nobody challenged this
assumption, it was never backed by serious
studies. Indeed, there are many indications
that standards adopted by Mexican law are
as strict as American and Canadian ones
and, also that most firms in Mexico is capa-
ble of complying with them (PROFEPA,
2000). Thus, the idea of sovereignty took
the place of the debate about levels of envi-
ronmental protection. Each party in the
Treaty retained the privilege to establish
their own levels, as long as they made an
effort to keep them high. This also meant
that the debate shifted from strictly environ-
mental issues to environmental legal
issues. The question is not whether the
environment is protected and how, but
whether the law is complied with. For some
people the difference is not irrelevant.
The agreement puts a heavy
emphasis on cooperation among the mem-
ber countries, fostering joint committees on
different subjects, particularly a working
group on enforcement issues where even
regional compliance indicators have been
worked at, making it a breakthrough on
regional environmental policies. However,
the main issue the Agreement had to
address was that of lack of enforcement of
environmental legislation. And it did so by
establishing two kinds of consequences for
the party that failed to enforce it. One is to
be publicly exposed and the other is trade
sanctions.
The mechanism to publicly expose
governments that are failing to enforce
environmental law (a proceeding that leads
to the elaboration of a 'factual record) is
provided for in Articles 14 and 15. These
provisions give a right to anyone living in
any of the three countries of North America
"to bring the facts to light" concerning the
enforcement of environmental legislation in
any of the three countries".(CEC web
page). If a citizen has gone through all the
national instances of an environmental
demand without authorities giving him/her
a convincing answer, the CEC Secretariat
can take his/her denunciation and ask the
national government for a response. If this
fails, it is assumed that the highlighting of
the government's mistakes is enough to
embarrass it and force it to improve its
enforcement actions.
In the design of the 'factual record'
proceeding, the intentions were to avoid the
creation of anything that resembles a court
or any form of adjudication. Once the
Council of the Commission authorizes the
Secretariat to make a factual record in
response to a citizen's submission, the
Secretariat must undertake an investiga-
tion, gather information from all involved
parties, and produce a report (the 'factual
record') that outlines, in as objective a man-
ner as possible, the history of the issue, the
obligations of the Party under the law in
question, the actions of the Party in fulfilling
those obligations, and the facts relevant to
the assertions made in the submission of a
failure to enforce environmental law effec-
tively. This outcome is not free from ambi-
guities. As we will see, it is even less than
mere 'soft law', because the report is not
formulated in normative terms, i.e. the
Secretariat does not 'command' anything to
the party involved. It is supposed to simply
state the 'facts'. However, it would be very
naive to expect that a 'mere description'
does not have normative implication, when
the issue is whether or not the law is being
followed. As long as the facts under consid-
eration are related to laws, it is impossible
to describe them without at least implying
what should be done.
At any event, the possibility of hav-
ing a 'watchdog' that could investigate
cases of lack of environmental enforcement
was seen as a big step to make govern-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
ments accountable before a new kind of
constituency: those who live in the coun-
tries of North America. This was considered
a very important accomplishment.
However, it was not enough. More serious
consequences were necessary in order to
avoid the temptation of ignoring the political
consequences of public exposure. Thus,
the countries agreed to establish a mecha-
nism that could lead to economic sanc-
tions. When, even after a factual record, a
country falls into a persistent pattern of fail-
ure to effectively enforce its environmental
law, an arbitration panel may be created in
order to examine the case. If the parties do
not reach an agreement, the panel may
impose a monetary enforcement assess-
ment (a fine) of up to 0.007 percent of total
trade in goods between the Parties. The
sum goes to a fund and shall be expended
to improve or enhance the environment or
environmental law enforcement in the Party
complained against. If the country fails to
pay the fine, the panel can determine the
withdrawal of the trade benefits derived
from NAFTA.
The text of NAAEC is very cautious
about this extreme possibility and estab-
lishes a proceeding that allows the parties
in conflict to reach an agreement before a
monetary assessment is established.
Moreover, as we will see below, after
almost a decade there has been no attempt
from any of the three parties to initiate this
procedure against another and that possi-
bility seems unlikely. However, from a strict-
ly legal point of view, the existence of this
procedure creates a completely novel situ-
ation in the relations between the countries
of North America: the obligation to enforce
environmental law is not only part of their
(internal) legal systems, since NAAEC is
also an international duty. This is why
NAFTA and its side agreement can be said
to create the obligation to protect invest-
ment and also to protect the environment. It
is true that the legal mechanisms provided
for the former are much stronger than those
for protecting the environment. But most
observers agree that this was an important
step. After all, NAFTA is the first trade
agreement in the world that addresses
environmental issues.
3 MEXICO'S INTERNAL RESPONSE
Not surprisingly, the relevance that
environmental issues acquired during the
negotiations of NAFTA meant a lot of pres-
sure upon the Mexican government. But its
willingness to sign an environmental side
agreement was not enough; it was neces-
sary to show a serious commitment at
home. This circumstance combined with a
tragic event: in April 1992 more than one
thousand people were killed as a result of
an explosion in the sewers of Guadalajara,
the second largest city in the country. The
public outcry that followed forced President
Salinas to make changes in the environ-
mental organization of the Federal
Government. Three months later, the
Secretan'a de Desarrollo Urbano y
Ecologia (Ministry for Urban Development
and Ecology) was replaced by the
Secretan'a de Desarrollo Soc/al (Ministry
for Social Development). Within the new
ministry, two semi autonomous agencies
were created in order to develop and imple-
ment environmental policies: the Institute
Nacional de Ecologia (National Institute of
Ecology, or INE) and the Procuraduria
Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (Office
of the General Attorney for Environmental
Protection) or Profepa.
It is worth stressing the unique
character of this arrangement, as Mexico is
probably the only country in the world with
a two-tier environmental administration,
with one agency in charge of norms and
regulations and another one that special-
izes in enforcement. In any case, the cre-
ation of PROFEPA in July 1992 meant the
start of an aggressive program of environ-
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AZUELA, WARMAN 107
mental enforcement. The agency was cre-
ated with the 'teeth' that critics were signal-
ing during the negotiations of NAFTA,
although this did not mean any fundamen-
tal legal change, as the authoritarian tradi-
tion of the Mexican State has traditionally
given wide discretionary powers to the
administration to regulate economic activi-
ties. In fact, the environmental legislation
PROFEPA was meant to enforce3 already
gave the Government powers to decide
closures and impose a variety of measures,
without the intervention of the Courts.
With all the legitimacy provided by
both the internal and the external circum-
stances, and with the help of a timely World
Bank loan that allowed the hiring of more
than three hundred new inspectors, PRO-
FEPA began its enforcement program in
mid 1992. Not only did the number of
inspections increase by more than ten
times - from one thousand a year to one
thousand a month4, the measures taken as
a result of visits became more severe. In its
first year, one of every four inspections
ended with a (total or partial) closure, a
measure that was lifted only when viola-
tions were corrected or when a clear
timetable was established to correct them.
Although some companies complained that
this was 'environmental terrorism', it was
the only way that industry would begin tak-
ing its legal obligations seriously. In two
years, the proportion of the .inspected facil-
ities with 'serious violations' dropped from
24 to 4 percent. By 1996 it was less than 2
percent5. This does not mean that in such a
brief period Mexican industry reached lev-
els of 'excellence' in their environmental
performance6; but it does mean that many
of the gross violations (that are not so diffi-
cult to correct) were dealt with for the first
time. This should not be surprising, when
one thinks that before environmental
enforcement was almost non-existent in the
country.
Now the scheme was not only bold;
it was also smart. It combined the 'stick' of
administrative inspections with the 'carrot'
of voluntary environmental audits7.
Obviously, it was unthinkable to close down
every industrial facility with serious viola-
tions. Power plants, oil refineries and other
facilities could not stop operating overnight.
So PROFEPA established a voluntary pro-
gram. Those who join the program are free
from inspections (except if there is an
emergency or a citizen complained) and
are given the time they need to correct the
problems identified by a private auditor. In
exchange, the audit is comprehensive, i.e.,
it covers all aspects of the facilities' envi-
ronmental performance. This means that
apart from complying with Mexican stan-
dards where applicable, they have to adopt
international standards in those areas not
covered by the former. The audit results in
an Action Plan, with a detailed list of cor-
rections. Once the facility concludes that
Plan, it gets a 'Clean Industry' Certificate.
At that time, there was not even a
reference to environmental audits in
Mexican legislation^ Interestingly enough,
however, auditing was mentioned by the
NAAEC as one of the means through which
North American Countries could promote
compliance (Article 5,1,f). So it is obvious
that the adoption of this innovative instru-
ment in Mexico was a direct product of the
NAFTA negotiations. In a few years, many
large facilities throughout the country
joined it, mainly because it offered a 'safe
harbor' against inspections. For most
observers, the environmental benefits were
worth the price of not imposing sanctions,
for each facility spent around one million
dollars in average in order to comply with
the Action Plan. Every year an average of
250 new plants joined the program and by
year 2000 they reached a total of 1,700. To
give an idea of the coverage of the pro-
gram, it suffices to say that those plants
produce over 60% of the industrial GNP in
the country (PROFEPA, 2000).
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Thus, when the Clinton
Administration had to report to Congress
on the effects of NAFTA, the auditing pro-
gram was highlighted as a proof that
Mexico was committed to take environmen-
tal compliance seriously:
"The Mexican government has instituted an
innovative auditing program to promote
industry leadership in voluntary compli-
ance. As of April 1997, 617 facilities have
completed environmental audits, and 404
have signed action plans to implement rec-
ommended improvements to attain, contin-
ually assure, and exceed compliance."
(President of the United States of America,
1997, 125)
Later, an independent report by
Harvard University confirmed that the
Mexican auditing program was a sound
instrument for getting beyond compliance
with environmental law^. Obviously, if firms
joined the Voluntary' program, that was
because they feared the possibility of being
shut down. Those were clear signals that
Mexico was making a real effort in the area
of enforcement.
Another turning point was the cre-
ation of a new ministry at the beginning of
Ernesto Zedillo's Administration (1994-
2000). Semarnap (Secretarfa de Medio
Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca, or
Ministry for the Environment, Natural
Resources and Fisheries) integrated for the
first time the green and the brown agendas.
The enforcement branch of Semarnap,
Profepa began to operate in forestry, fish-
eries, endangered species and coastlines,
the only environmental area at federal level
in which Profepa does not have enforce-
ment powers refers to water pollution.
At this point, we can address a fun-
damental question: Is it possible to enforce
environmental law in all its areas? The truth
is that the difficulties of complying with the
law are extremely diverse. Even if this is an
over simplification, we can say that most
industrial firms are capable of reaching rea-
sonable levels of compliance. That is what
the experience of Profepa makes clear. In
contrast, there are two other areas in which
it is extremely difficult for any enforcement
agency to bring about compliance. Those
areas are deforestation and domestic water
discharges. It is worth looking at the social
and political conditions under which those
'violations' take place, in order to consider
whether or not they can have 'conse-
quences' for Mexico in terms of the
NAAEC.
Mexico has one of the highest
deforestation rates in the hemisphere. More
than one million acres of forests of different
sorts are lost every year. This takes place
through three different categories of prac-
tices: unsustainable forestry, the conver-
sion of forested areas into agriculture, and
the intensification of certain practices asso-
ciated with traditional rural society.
Although we can find situations in which
these three categories occur, it is important
to recognize their differences, because
they are part of different economic process-
es.
Unsustainable forestry — i.e. the
extraction of timber beyond the rate of self-
renewability — is a commonly known form
of deforestation. Misconceived and erratic
government policies have played a mayor
role in encouraging unsustainable forestry.
For the most part of the twentieth century,
the primary way in which the Mexican gov-
ernment tried to avoid the destruction of
forests was by establishing vedas (i.e. a
moratorium on logging). This of course cre-
ates a black market for forest products and
prevents the development of professional
skills among the owners of forests ant its
resources. Moreover, when forest projects
were approved, permits were given not to
the owners of those forests but to private or
state owned corporations. Although more
than three fourths of Mexico's forests are
the common property of agrarian communi-
ties (ejidos and comunidades), they were
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AZUELA, WARMAN 109
only able to collect a small rent for allowing
those corporations to use their forests. In
the late-eighties, government policies
began to promote forestry projects con-
ducted directly by the owners of the forests.
Thus, in many regions of the country they
have just begun to engage directly in the
use of their own forests. The learning
process is only beginning and there are still
serious problems with community forestry,
but most observers agree that sustainable
use of the forest by the owners is a better
alternative than just making all logging ille-
gal.
The second category of practices
that lead to deforestation is the conversion
of forests into agricultural areas. Indeed, it
has been the major cause for deforestation
in Mexico. Although the data available is
extremely scarce, we can agree on the fact
that much more tropical forest has been
lost to agriculture and cattle raising than to
forestry. The causes for this 'change of land
use' are multiple, including an encourage-
ment by certain public policies that recently
have been recognized as fundamentally
wrong. One of the worst mistakes of agri-
cultural policies of the last four decades
refers precisely to the belief that land in the
tropics would be more 'productive' without
its native vegetation. 1) peasants' property
rights over forests were protected only if
they converted them into agricultural pro-
duction. 2) colonization policies populated
the tropics with peasants with no previous
experience in the management of these
fragile ecosystems. 3) public loans were
available for cattle rising, even in natural
protected areas, and 4) huge agricultural
projects were intended to profit with the
supposed fertility of land in the tropics
(Tudela, 1988).
By and large, those policies were
still in effect during the eighties, so it is not
surprising that many rural communities still
now want to transform their forested areas
for producing crops and/or cattle. This hap-
pens particularly where there is no timber
with significant economic value (as in the
seasonally dry forest type, or selva baja
caducifolia) and residents have not devel-
oped the ability to make a sustainable use
of the resources of the forested areas. In all
these cases, peasants do not take advan-
tage of the forest. They simply remove it
because it is an obstacle to short-term prof-
itable activities. In spite of recent efforts
(Semarnap, 2000 and Giugale, et al, 2001)
there is still a long way to go before the
inertia of many decades of wrong policies
can be offset by new policies.
The third category of practices that
lead to deforestation is associated with cer-
tain activities that are traditional in rural life.
The use of wood as fuel at home, the use
of forested areas for grazing, as well as the
use of fire in the 'slash and burn' technique,
are some of these traditions that pose a
threat to tropical ecosystems, when popu-
lation growth make them unsustainable.
This brief account does not try to
cover all the different processes that lead to
deforestation. We only try to illustrate how
different practices can fall into the same
legal category. Cutting trees without a per-
mit (an illegal action) can be part of very
different economic activities. It can be part
of the world of sustainable forestry or of
agricultural production - i.e. using the forest
versus just destroying it. Also, it can be
related to consumption practices of poor
rural societies (fuel woods) or to those of
affluent urban societies - charismatic flora
and wildlife species. Above all, those activ-
ities can be seen as the normal way of
doing things (mainly by local communities),
or as crimes (through a legalistic gaze). In
other words, violations are not seen at the
local level as 'deviant' behavior, and that is
why compliance with environmental law
cannot be attained only through enforce-
ment actions. Adapting human behavior to
legal rules involves, in the case of defor-
estation, nothing less than profound
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
changes in the cultural and economic struc-
ture of rural societies.
There is another area in which we
can observe a massive lack of compliance
with environmental law: Domestic water
discharges. Certainly, several industrial
sectors are responsible for the contamina-
tion of lakes and rivers. But that can be
dealt with through instruments like those
Profepa has used for air emissions, haz-
ardous waste, and so on.1° Nevertheless,
domestic water discharges are a far more
difficult problem. As a recent report by the
North American Environmental
Cooperation Commission states, "in
Mexico only a small proportion of munici-
pal...discharges is adequately treated"
(CCA, 2001, 37). Here, a 'small proportion'
means just around 10 percent (Giugale et.
al. 2001,121). For a country with more than
seventy million people in urban areas, this
represents an enormous challenge. The
problem, of course, is the extremely weak
financial situation of local authorities in
Mexico. Compliance involves the building
and operation of treatment facilities for
which there are not enough public
resources. If collecting taxes from urban
dwellers for the provision of water is diffi-
cult, when it comes to charging for the
treatment of their waters, most local politi-
cians consider that as an impossible task.
According to the law, local authorities
should pay penalties to. the Federal
Government for discharging untreated
water. But this law has been systematically
ignored. Last December, President Fox
issued a Decree absolving municipalities
from all the debts they had accumulated for
not treating their discharges. The justifica-
tion, explicitly stated in the Decree, was
that local authorities just do not have the
resources to comply with the law.
We have gone to some length
regarding two particular areas in which
there is a 'persistent pattern' of violations of
environmental law; and the pattern is per-
sistent because there are structural limits to
what can be attained through enforcement
actions. Also, these areas are important
because they represent extremely severe
environmental problems. Now the interest-
ing thing is that none of them can lead to
the imposition of the economic sanctions
established in the NAAEC. The fear that
created those sanctions referred to the use
of a country as an 'environmental heaven'
(i.e. to the economic consequences of cer-
tain behaviors against the environment, not
to environmental degradation as such).
Activities of practices that do not produce
such economic consequences are not
sanctioned. Some observers have taken
this point too far. For example, for Barbara
Hogenboom, "[t]he enforcement provisions
of the supplemental agreement concern
environmental laws and are explicitly non-
applicable to domestic regulations that pri-
marily regulate exploitation and harvesting
of natural resources, and to environmental
matters that are not connected with trade"
(Hogenboom, 1998, 218). The truth is that
this exclusion applies only to the economic
sanctions established by the agreement,
and it is still possible to promote a factual
record for lack of enforcement even if this
does not have trade implications. To be
sure, the possibility of embarrassing a gov-
ernment is still there for environmental vio-
lations in all areas. Nevertheless, it remains
a fact that the worst consequences that the
NAAEC established for those countries that
do not enforce their laws will only apply
when economic interests are at stake. This
means that Mexico will not have to bear an
economic cost for the most serious and
generalized forms of non-compliance of its
environmental laws.
It is important to stress that in
those areas directly related to international
trade, compliance is not a problem for
those responsible for industrial facilities.
After all, most environmental standards in
industrialized countries adapt to what
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AZUELA, WARMAN 111
industry can actually do. Thus, fears from
all sides proved wrong, mainly because the
widespread violations of environmental law
we have just described do not have an
impact in international trade. By the same
token, no one was put out of business due
to the economic cost of attaining compli-
ance. Far from the dark scenarios that
some observers depicted ten years ago,
NAFTA and its environmental side agree-
ment have benefited the region by putting
the environment in the emerging regional
agenda.
4 NAAEC NINE YEARS LATER
A clear indication that fears around
environmental issues in the negotiation of
NAFTA were basically wrong is the fact
that, almost a decade later, no party in the
treaty has threatened to use economic
sanctions against another party for some
persistent pattern of lack of enforcement of
environmental law. On the other hand,
there has been an important number of cit-
izens' submissions. As of May 2002, 33
submissions had been received: 14 against
Mexico,11 against Canada and 8 against
the USA. However, the consequences of
these procedures have been perfectly toler-
able. In fact, even if Mexico has had to
respond to more submissions than Canada
and the USA, this has not meant a major
problem for authorities or for investors in
the country.
It is true that Mexico had problems
in accepting the first factual record
(Construction and Operation of a Public
Harbor Terminal for Tourist Cruises on the
Island of Cozumel). But the reason was
that the government actions that were
being put into question in that case had
taken place before NAFTA entered into
force. So Mexico had to allow a retroactive
application of the new mechanisms, so as
not to appear as 'boycotting' them.11
Thereafter, Mexico, as much as the other
two countries, has responded to citizens'
submissions as one more of the various
tasks of environmental administration, i.e.,
as a matter of routine. Unfortunately, for too
many observers, it is very important that a
government accepts a factual record
'grudgingly' or 'willingly', as if human emo-
tions (the mood of politicians and civil ser-
vants) were a relevant issue in internation-
al relations. If we look at the 'facts' - and we
will see this is a tricky question - factual
records have not recorded any 'persistent
pattern' of lack of environmental enforce-
ment. They is a new arena for the debate of
environmental issues, and its conse-
quences have been very similar throughout
the region: raising the intensity of the envi-
ronmental debate.
Moreover, the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation has become an
institutional space in which cooperation has
been far more important than conflict. The
environmental authorities of the three
countries have had an opportunity to share
their views on policy options, to develop
common indicators and, above all, to foster
debates about environmental problems at a
regional level. This is apparent with a quick
view to the list of publications of the CEC
web page.
One example of cooperation is the
Resolution adopted by the Council in its
1998 meeting at Pittsburgh, regarding envi-
ronmental management systems (EMS)
and compliance certification. For some
Citizens' Submissions before the CEC: May 2002
Country
Mexico
Canada
USA
Active Files (11)
6
4
1
Closed Files (22)
8
7
7
TOTAL (33)
14
11
8
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years, the ISO 14001 series had become a
fashionable way for corporations to display
environmental excellence. For the Mexican
authorities this presented a problem,
because some big corporations that were
still far from full compliance of their legal
obligations began to announce that their
ISO certification was proof that they were
going beyond the Iaw12. Some of them were
in the process of a voluntary audit but they
had not completed their Action Plans. After
months of consultation in the context of
CEC, it was clear that the USEPA faced the
same problem. Thus these two countries
used the CEC as a forum for a strong poli-
cy statement: ISO 14001 and other EMS
were recognized as useful tools for improv-
ing environmental performance, but they
did not guarantee full compliance with legal
obligations. That was recognized jointly by
the three environmental ministries as the
Council of the CEC.
Now the fact that the NAAEC has
not created the sort of problems that wor-
ried some people ten years ago does not
mean that the results of its operation are
unproblematic. There is one aspect of the
factual record proceeding that should be
critically considered: the profound ambigui-
ty of the very notion of a factual record in
the context of a legal debate. It is logically
impossible to produce a neutral (i.e., a non-
normative) description of a fact, when that
fact is seen from the perspective of the law,
because law is a normative form of dis-
course. If one tries to make a description of
a (legal) situation without clearly stating
that it is legal or illegal, the result can be
extremely ambiguous. In fact, many of the
factual records that have been issued by
the Commission, fail to declare explicitly
whether the law has been broken or not in
the case in point. Thus, everyone will draw
his or her own conclusions. Traditional rul-
ings of a court system are interpretations -
that one can always put into question - but
they must be of a conclusive nature. In con-
trast, a factual record may be a text that has
to be interpreted.
Let us take as an example the final
report on the Metales y Derivados case. As
in many legal cases, the applicability of cer-
tain legal rules was at stake. But the
authors of the report decided that they
were not going to deal with the issue. Thus
the report 'concludes' that
'Without aiming to reach conclusions of law
on whether Mexico is failing to enforce
LGEEPA Articles 170 and 134 effectively,
the information presented by the
Secretariat in this factual record reveals
that, as a matter of fact, the site abandoned
by Metales y Derivados is a case of soil
contamination by hazardous waste in rela-
tion to which measures have been taken to
date have not prevented the dispersal of
pollutants or prevented access to the site,
which relates to the issue of whether
Mexico is effectively enforcing LGEEPA
Article 170. It also reveals that, as a matter
of fact, no actions have been taken to
restore the soil to a condition in which it can
be used in the industrial activities corre-
sponding to the zoning of the area, i.e., the
Mesa de Otay Industrial Park in the city of
Tijuana, Baja California, in order to enforce
effectively LGEEPA Article 134. (CEC,
2002, 59/60)
How can one understand this?
Although there is a clear implication that
something is wrong, a reluctance to making
a legal interpretation is seen in this para-
graph. The text lacks a fitting conclusion,
making it difficult for the common citizen to
understand if a country is enforcing its envi-
ronmental law or not, or even more, if the
environment is being damaged or not. In
this scenario, the results of factual records
like this one can be quite disappointing.
5 CONCLUSIONS
We have tried to show that none of
the fears that the NAFTA negotiations gen-
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AZUELA, WARMAN 113
erated on environmental issues have mate-
rialized. Almost one decade later, there are
no significant social or political actors that
press for a change in the statu quo and the
CEC has become an important space for
cooperation between the three countries.
For Mexico, NAAEC has also cre-
ated a favorable atmosphere for the devel-
opment and consolidation of enforcement
activities within the country. Although it is
difficult to assess the specific weight of
internal vis a vis international factors, it is
undeniable that, nowadays, Mexican
authorities recognize they have a regional
responsibility regarding the environment.
Even if some extreme nationalists regret
this as a loss of sovereignty, the fact
remains that environmental policies are not
responding only to developments within the
country.
At the same time, there has been
no indication that the worst consequences
of a poor environmental performance (eco-
nomic sanctions) can be suffered. Not
because there is a generalized compliance
with environmental law, but because the
areas in which there is widespread lack of
compliance are exempted from those con-
sequences. In this respect, both the text
and the operation of NAAEC are loyal to
their origins: the fear of the economic con-
sequences of environmental heavens, not
environmental concerns as such. This also
means that, even if NAAEC represents
some interesting legal innovations, we can-
not expect those innovations to play a sig-
nificant role in addressing some of the most
pressing environmental problems in coun-
tries like Mexico - i.e., deforestation and
water pollution. The consolidation of nation-
al law (with all its socio political prerequi-
sites) is a condition for addressing those
problems.
REFERENCES
1. For an excellent discussion on the
process, see Hogenboom, 1998.
2. The Commission comprises a Council
(with representatives of the three gov-
ernments) a Secretariat and an Public
Advisory Committee.
3. The Ley General del Equilibrio
Ecologico y la Protection al Ambiente
(or Ecological Balance and
Environmental Protection General Act)
was in force since 1988.
4. This means the Mexican Government
has the capacity to inspect all the facili-
ties within federal jurisdiction every two
and a half years.
5. These gross indicators were replaced
years later with the a system of indica-
tors of compliance. By 1999, the ICNAs
(Indices de Cumplimiento de la
Normatividad Ambiental) provided
detailed information about the level of
compliance of more than eight thousand
plants throughout the country.
6. Indeed, there are indicators that around
one third of the corporations under
inspection processes do not comply
with the technical measures ordered by
Profepa. Profepa, 2000a.
7. The merit of the original institutional
design of Profepa rests on the first
Attorney General, Santiago Onate and
the deputy Attorneys (engineers, by the
way) Francisco Bahamonde and Jose
Luis Calderon.
8. They were recognized as instruments of
environmental policies in 1996 with the
reform of the General Ecological
Balance and Environmental Protection
Act.
9. One of the major findings of that survey
was that "[t]he Voluntary Audit Program
in Mexico is unique because it is much
more than a system for verifying compli-
ance.... risks that are not specifically
regulated under Mexican federal law are
also targeted for identification and cor-
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114
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
rection....We could find no other pro-
gram in the world that offers all the fea-
tures of the Voluntary Audit Program to
its participants" (Harvard.... 2000, 39)
10. If that has not happened it is because
the agency responsible for this (the
National Water Commission) has neg-
lected its enforcement program.
11. In the end, the final report in the
Cozumel case did not show anything
like a persistent pattern of lack of
enforcement of Mexican environmental
law.
12. An embarrassing situation emerged in
Mexico when the first ISO 14001 cer-
tificate was issued to AHMSA, a big
metallurgic compound. After the com-
pany proudly announced this as a
great achievement, Profepa had to
publicly deny that the facility in ques-
tion was in compliance. That company
had to wait for two more years before
getting the 'clean industry' certificate
for completing the Action Plan of its
environmental audit.
CCA. 2001. El Mosaico de America del
None. Informe del Estado del Medio
Ambiente. Montreal: Comision para la
Cooperacion Ambiental
CEC. 2002. Metales y Derivados Final
Factual Record. Montreal: North American
Environmental Cooperation Commission /
Editions Yvon Blais.
Giugale, Marcelo, Olivier Lafourcade y
Vinh H. Nguyen (Coordinadores). 2001.
Mexico. A Comprehensive Development
Agenda for the New Era. Washington: The
World Bank.
Harvard University School of Public
Health. 2000. Evaluation of the Programa
Nacional de Auditorfa Ambiental.
(Coordinator: Robert Pojasek). Boston:
Harvard University School of Public
Health.
Hogenboom, Barbara. 1998. Mexico and
the NAFTA Environmental Debate. The
Transnational Politics of International
Integration. Utrecht: International Books.
Hufbauer, Gary Glide. 2000. NAFTA and
the Environment Seven Years Later.
Washington: Institute for International
Economics.
Profepa. 2000. Informe 1995-2000.
Mexico: Procuraduria Federal de
Proteccion al Ambiente.
Profepa. 2000a. Acciones Coercitivas y
Mejoras Ambientales. La Profepa y la
Industria en la Zona Metropolitana del
Valle de Mexico. Mexico: Procuradun'a
Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente.
President of the United States of America.
1997. Study on the Operation and Effects
of the North American Free Trade
Agreement. Washington.
Semarnap (2000) La Gestion Ambiental
en Mexico. Mexico: Secretan'a de Medio
Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca
Tudela, Fernando (1988) "Los hijos tontos
de la planeacion: los grandes planes en el
tropico humedo mexicano" in Garza,
Gustavo (ed) Una decada de planeacion
urbano-regional en Mexico, 1978-1988.
Mexico: El Colegio de Mexico.
Zamora, Stephen. 1993. "The
Americanization of Mexican Law: Non-
Trade Issues in the North American Free
Trade Agreement". Law and Policy in
International Business. Vol. 4, Number 2.
-------
THEME #2
Ensuring Effective Environmental Enforcement Through Institutional
Capability and Performance Assessment
Under Theme #2, panel 3 "Organizing for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement"
examined the issues of "good governance" that are intimately tied to the fair, predictable,
and consistent application of the law by enforcement officers. Panelists also explored
mechanisms and strategies for developing well-written, enforceable legal requirements.
Panel 4 "Raising Awareness and Measuring Results — How to Define Success" explored
the difficulties involved with defining the success or failure of environmental enforcement
initiatives and discussed environmental enforcement indicators.
This section includes the panel presentations as well as the following papers and workshop
summaries:
• Environmental Compliance and Enforcement at the United States Department of
Justice and the Role of Enforcement in Good Domestic Governance, Cruden, John
• National Compliance and Enforcement of International Environmental Treaties, Mulkey,
Marcia
• Organisation Model of Services Responsible for Control of State of the Environment:
Vs. Their Effectiveness of Work Based on Experience of the Inspection for
Environmental Protection in Poland, Zareba, Krzysztof
• Legislative Bases of Ecological Control in Russia, Egorova, Marina
• Domestic Programs for Implementing MEAs: Establishing MEA Implementation
Mechanisms, Anderson, Winston
• Experience of the Inspection for Environmental Protection in Implementation and
Enforcement of Environmental Law in Poland, Panek-Gondek, Krystyna
• Behavioural Control by Means of Enforcement in Case of the Surface Water Pollution
Act, Zeegers, Ingrid
• Legal Control of Water Pollution in Huai River Valley, China: A Case Study, Xi, Wang
• Performance Indicators for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Programs: The
U.S. EPA Experience, Stahl, Mike
• Raising Awareness and Measuring Results: How Do We Define Success? May, Brad
• Environmental Risks Associated with Activities Involving Ammonium Nitrate in the
Netherlands, Van der Veen, Henk and Muskens, Peter
• Summary of Workshop 1A: Measuring Success Through Performance: Defining
Environmental Enforcement Indicators
• Summary of Workshop 1B: Administrative Enforcement Mechanisms: Getting Authority
and Making It Work
• Summary of Workshop 1C: Building Effective In-Country Networks for Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement
• Summary of Workshop 1D: The Negotiation Process Leading to Compliance
• Summary of Workshop 1E: Training Programs for Compliance Inspectors
• Summary of Workshop 1F: Environmental Offenses: Criminal and Civil
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114 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SESSION #3: ORGANIZING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT 117
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #3: ORGANIZING FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Moderator: Adriana Bianchi
Rapporteur: Piet Miiskens
1 INTRODUCTION
This panel examined the issues of
"good governance" that are intimately tied
to the fair, predictable, and consistent appli-
cation of the law by enforcement authori-
ties. Panelist explored mechanisms and
strategies for developing well-written,
enforceable legal requirements.
2 PRESENTATIONS
Maria Eugenia Di Paolo of FARN
(Fundacion Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales) in Argentina described the legal
framework on hazardous waste in
Argentina. The Hazardous Waste Statute
dates from 1992 before the Constitution
Amendment of 1994. Currently 38 % of the
23 provinces have not implemented the
statute. Formal and informal coordination
structures between the Federal bodies and
the provinces are needed to fill the gap
because of outdated legislation. A plea was
made to institutionalize and formalize coor-
dination and organization structure of haz-
ardous waste enforcement by sharing coor-
dination and supervision between the
Federal Authority and the Consejo Federal
del Medio Ambiente (CoFeMa)
John Cruden of the US Department of
Justice described the framework of
enforcement in the USA as a pyramid. The
broad base level consists of the people "in
the field", including the government investi-
gators, non-governmental organizations,
and citizens. The middle level consists of
state administrative agencies. The top level
consists of both civil and criminal enforce-
ment. Enforcement is important to protect
human health and environment, to reward
compliance and deter non-compliance.
Finally, enforcement is critical for "good
domestic governance" for several reasons,
inducing:
• citizens need to have confidence that
non-compliers are dealt with in a proper
way;
• businesses need to have confidence that
the government is acting consistently, and
• by setting a good example and by con-
sistent enforcement Good Governance
must be noticeable in behavior of gov-
ernment, businesses and all the citizens.
Waltraud Petek of the Federal
Ministry for Environment, Youth and Family
Affairs in Austria described the process of
defining and developing environmental
requirements. The regulatory chain for set-
ting environmental requirements goes
through legislation; implementation; com-
pliance control; compliance promotion;
enforcement; and assessment and feed-
back. The development of clearly defined
environmental requirements needs careful
constitutional, legislative and administrative
policies. In this law making process, a thor-
ough analysis of the problem and identifi-
cation of possible solutions based on the
most recent knowledge and technologies
need to be identified, whereas in the deci-
sion making, all relevant stakeholders need
to be involved, so that the relevant interests
are considered. To act effectively, the
enforcement authorities must have the
proper tools, including procedures, compli-
ance monitoring mechanisms, statutory
reporting requirements, and criminal and
civil sanctions.
3 DISCUSSION
Question from Dr. B. Sengupta
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118
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENTS
(India): How can balance be determined
between administrative enforcement and
judicial enforcement? Due to enforcement
of air pollution demands for vehicles the
use of buses was forbidden and conse-
quently school had to be closed.
Answer by John Cruden: In fact
there are two questions. The first regards the
balance between administrative and judicial
enforcement: To answer this question for the
USA, judicial enforcement has "greater
teeth". If one does not comply, he can even
go to jail. It is more stringent than adminis-
trative enforcement but also more time con-
suming. Administrative enforcement can
lead to quicker environmental results.
The second question refers to the
"buses problem". In general the question is
"How do you bring someone back in com-
pliance without disrupting society". This
may be achieved to set milestones to get in
compliance. This can give assurance that
compliance is achieved without disruption
of society. Be careful that enforcement
does not lead to this kind of disruption.
Answer by Waltraud Petek: The
balance between administrative and judi-
cial enforcement depends on the system in
the countries. In Austria, administrative
enforcers have the authority to close indus-
tries by administrative law and do not have
to go through court. This can lead to quick
overcoming of environmental problems.
Answer by Maria Eugenia Di Paola:
Administrative and judicial enforcement are
different instruments. However, they should
be coordinated, since different government
bodies are involved. For this in Argentina,
guidelines for coordination between the dif-
ferent bodies are needed.
Question from Dr. Silvia Nonna
(Argentina): Administrative enforcement
authorities are not political authorities. The
National Federal Register is an example of
an enforcement authority. It is useful to
state that the hazardous waste law is an
example of an outdated law. Your presenta-
tion depicted clearly what an outdated law
can bring for a country. Environmental law
should be updated al the time. This brings
me to my question whether an administra-
tive authority may step aside with an out-
dated law.
Answer by Maria Eugenia Di
Paola: At the moment the Federal Register
has to deal with an outdated system, which
does not meet enforcement requirements.
Therefore the enforcement possibilities are
limited. My plea is to involve the Federal
Register in building of coordination. Scope
of executive power: think about how to draft
laws? Authority with experience: consen-
sus building process; opinion of officials
who enforce the law: Share between
authorities and include enforcement.
Remark by George Kremlis
(European Commission): Better law making
is an important message. However laws
and law making is extremely difficult. Policy
makers who try to make laws with a holistic
approach make life difficult. Therefore it is
extremely useful to involve people with
experience in execution and enforcement
of laws in the process of law making. In pro-
posals for new laws the consequences for
execution (e.g. the calculated costs for
implementing laws) and for enforcement
should be taken into account.
Answer by John Cruden (USA):
Indeed enforcement people should be
involved in the legislation process. But don't
wait for a perfect law to enforce. There will
never be one!!!
4 CONCLUSION
Good governance is intimately tied
to the fair, predictable, and consistent appli-
cation of the law by enforcement authori-
ties. Well-written and enforceable legal
requirements are critical to good gover-
nance. Therefore, INECE should help
develop the enforcement capacities of leg-
islators and rule makers around the world.
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CRUDEN, RUBIN 119
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT AT THE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE ROLE OF
ENFORCEMENT IN GOOD DOMESTIC GOVERNANCE
CRUDEN, JOHN C.1 AND RUBIN, JAMES W.2
1 Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division
2 Assistant Chief, Policy, Legislation and Special Litigation Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530
SUMMARY
Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the United States
Department of Justice has responsibility for over 10,000 cases filed in all 94 federal judicial
districts, utilizing over 400 attorneys. In this paper, four topics are covered:
• How ENRD is organized and how it handles environmental litigation
• Where ENRD fits into environmental litigation efforts in the United States, and in
particular environmental enforcement.
• The value of strong environmental enforcement.
• The concept of good domestic governance and how it relates to enforcement.
1 THE ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL
RESOURCES DIVISION (ENRD)
ENRD is one of the six litigating
divisions of the Department of Justice. Our
specific goals are to:
• ensure strong and fair enforcement of
our Nation's civil and criminal environ-
mental laws;
• provide effective stewardship of our natu-
ral resources;
• protect the rights of Native Americans;
• ensure that land acquisition activities are
well managed;
• protect wildlife and marine resources;
• balance energy needs with environmen-
tal protection; and
• help protect the nations security.
In addition, the Division seeks
strong relationships with our locally based
federal prosecutors, the United States
Attorneys, and with state law enforcement
officials. Finally, ENRD represents the inter-
ests of all our client agencies, such as the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and the Departments of Agriculture and
Interior. Indeed, in regards to enforcement,
ENRD has no investigators of its own, and
instead relies on its client agencies, as well
as on investigator groups like the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, states, and citi-
zens.
ENRD was created on November
16, 1909 as the Public Lands Division. For
the first 50 years, the Division's litigation
was primarily concerned with federal lands,
water and Native American disputes. As the
Nation grew and developed, ENRD's areas
of responsibility expanded to include litiga-
tion concerning the protection, use and
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
development of the Nation's natural
resources and public lands, wildlife protec-
tion, Native American rights and claims,
cleanup of the nation's hazardous waste
sites, the acquisition of private property for
federal use, and defense of environmental
challenges to government programs and
activities. ENRD has its headquarters in
Washington, D.C., and maintains branch
offices in Denver, Colorado; San Francisco
and Sacramento, California; Anchorage,
Alaska; Boston, Massachusetts; and
Seattle, Washington. Division attorneys,
however, litigate in all federal district courts,
which include Puerto Rico and the Virgin
Islands, as well as in special courts such as
the Court of Federal Claims and the Court
of International Trade. ENRD attorneys liti-
gate at the district and appellate level, and
frequently participate in litigation before the
United States Supreme Court.
At present, ENRD has approxi-
mately 650 persons on staff, which
includes over 400 attorneys. About half of
the attorneys are dedicated to environmen-
tal (e.g. pollution) matters and the other half
to natural resource issues, Native
American issues, and land acquisition. In
fact, the Division is sometimes referred to
as the Nation's largest environment law
firm. ENRD is organized into nine litigating
sections with different areas of expertise,
and an Executive Office. The Appellate
Section handles appeals culminating from
the litigating sections, as well as various
matters originating in the courts of appeals,
and assists the Department of Justice's
Solicitor General when the Division's cases
reach the Supreme Court. Pollution litiga-
tion is handled principally in the
Environmental Crimes Section which pros-
ecutes criminal environmental cases, the
Environmental Defense Section which
defends EPA's rulemakings and administra-
tive actions against challenge, defends all
federal agencies in litigation under the pol-
lution control laws and brings wetlands
enforcement actions, and the Environ-
mental Enforcement Section which
enforces the Nation's environmental laws in
civil cases.
The General Litigation Section
conducts affirmative and defensive litiga-
tion involving federal property and natural
resources not subject to one of the
Division's specialized sections, and
defends claims filed by Native American
tribes against the United States. Native
American litigation is also handled in the
Indian Resources Section, which litigates
either to defend tribal interests or to bring
actions on their behalf. The Land
Acquisition Section handles the acquisition
of property for Congressionally-authorized
purposes. The Policy, Legislation and
Special Litigation section provides advice
on legislation, policy, and international
issues, serves as special counsel to the
Assistant Attorney General, acts as liaison
with interagency working groups, monitors
citizen suits under the environmental laws
and participates as amicus curiae, when
appropriate. The Special Litigation section
works on specific complex matters.
Finally, the Wildlife and Marine Resources
Section prosecutes and defends criminal
and civil cases arising under the federal
fish and wildlife laws.
ENRD is relatively unique among
the justice ministries in the world for creat-
ing a large unit focusing exclusively on
environmental and natural resources litiga-
tion. This has enabled the Department of
Justice to develop expertise and experi-
ence in environmental litigation, to better
coordinate major national enforcement ini-
tiatives and to maintain consistent positions
in its litigation. Currently, approximately
30% of ENRD's cases are affirmative envi-
ronmental enforcement matters. The major-
ity of our attorney time is spent on non-dis-
cretionary cases, e.g. defensive litigation
and land acquisition.
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CRUDEN, RUBIN 121
2 THE ROLE OF ENRD AND
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT
WITHIN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
Environmental enforcement relies
on many elements to be successful. If you
can visualize the entire enforcement picture
as a huge triangle with four levels, the base
of the triangle has the largest volume in
terms of enforcement actions. In the U.S.,
that base consists of state and local
enforcement actions that are by far the
biggest number of cases filed annually. I
also include citizen group enforcement in
this category. And, that is precisely as it
should be, with those closest to the polluting
activity being the ones that care the most.
Next, moving up the triangle to a
second level by volume are federal admin-
istrative actions, brought principally by the
EPA and other federal agencies. These
actions tend to be smaller, tend not to
involve a penalty, and are usually resolved
faster without any court involvement.
Although significant, administrative enforce-
ment represents a smaller volume of cases
than state and local actions.
Only now, as one moves up toward
the top of the triangle at the third level do
you get to ENRD's role, which is to file civil
judicial actions in federal court. In fiscal
year 2001 we filed 219 civil cases and
resolved 218 by consent decrees. Although
smaller by volume, civil enforcement cases
are typically more significant cases than
administrative and non-federal ones. This
can be demonstrated by our accomplish-
ments last year (fiscal year 2001): we
obtained $95.3 million in civil penalties; we
secured $78.4 million worth of supplemen-
tal environmental projects; and we recov-
ered $103.6 million in natural resource
damages. The value of injunctive relief for
environmental cleanups under our
Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (also
known as Superfund) was $1.076 billion
and we obtained another $562.8 million to
replenish the Superfund for money the gov-
ernment has spent to clean up contaminat-
ed property. Finally, we obtained $1.901 bil-
lion in the value of injunctive relief under
the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act,
Resource Conservation Recovery Act, and
Safe Drinking Water Act; a great portion of
this amount will be spent by industry on
state-of-the-art pollution control equipment.
While this is one of our most successful
years ever, it gives you some idea of what
we are accomplishing.
Finally, at the very top of the pyra-
mid, with the smallest volume, are federal
environmental criminal cases brought by
our environmental crimes section and
United States Attorneys nation wide. As
these often result in criminal fines and
imprisonment, they provide the most
deterrent value and are reserved for the
most serious acts of illegal misconduct. In
fiscal year 2001, we obtained 150 convic-
tions, the majority of which were through
guilty pleas. We secured $52.9 million in
criminal fines and $62.3 million in fines,
restitution, special assessments, environ-
mental compliance plans and court costs.
3 THE PURPOSES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT
Why enforce at all? Although there
are many reasons to have strong environ-
mental enforcement, for the purpose of this
paper, four reasons are identified. These
are not in order of significance, but are all
important:
• Environmental Protection - Enforcement
protects human health and the environ-
ment. Everyone deserves to breathe
clean air, drink pure water, swim in safe
waters, and live in neighborhoods not
threatened by toxic waste dumps.
• Deterrence - Prompt and effective envi-
ronmental enforcement deters illegal
conduct. That is precisely the reason that
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
countries should aggressively reach out to
notify and involve the public regarding
their enforcement actions so that the
results are visible, understood, and
accepted. Every enforcement action has a
cascading effect on potential wrongdoers,
encouraging them to abide by the law.
• Level Playing Field - Uniform, fair and
comprehensive environmental enforce-
ment protects companies and individuals
who comply with the law. To assure that
air and water emissions do not harm
human health or the environment, pollu-
tion abatement equipment, good man-
agement practices and an overall culture
of compliance are necessary. This can
be expensive or reduce capacity at
times. To assure that complying compa-
nies are not put at an economic disad-
vantage by companies violating the law,
effective enforcement is critical. And, at a
minimum, effective enforcement includes
recouping any economic benefit that the
noncomplying party gained from violating
the law.
• Protecting Government Resources -
Strong and effective enforcement pro-
tects government resources. At a time
where every nation is guarding its eco-
nomic resources and carefully budgeting
where money is to be used, environmen-
tal resources are all the more important.
Each time a government spends cleanup
money where another party is responsi-
ble, environmental enforcement can be
used to recoup the money so it can be
used elsewhere. The principle that the
polluter should pay is not only sound
enforcement strategy, but also valuable
resource strategy for all governments.
4 THE ROLE OF ENFORCEMENT IN
GOOD DOMESTIC GOVERNANCE IN
THE U.S.
4.1 Good Domestic Governance and
Environmental Enforcement
Having discussed the organization
of ENRD, how it fits into the enforcement
picture in the United States, and the overall
value of enforcement, I now want to turn to
the concept of good domestic governance
and how it relates to environmental
enforcement. By good domestic gover-
nance, I mean the manner in which gov-
ernments can work with the public and pri-
vate sectors to make sound decisions and
promote sustainable development, includ-
ing environmental protection. Good domes-
tic governance includes a number of princi-
ples such as effective institutions, public
access to information, public participation
in official decisions and access to justice. It
is also a concept that the U.S. and others
are underscoring in preparations for the
World Summit on Sustainable Develop-
ment, to be held in Johannesburg in August
2002, since good governance is critical to
achieving sustainable development. In my
view, good domestic governance has three
primary components:
• First, businesses need confidence that, if
they comply with laws, their competitors
will do the same.
• Second, citizens need to be confident
that they will have access to information
and that their voice will be heard before
decisions are made and actions taken
that will affect their health, livelihoods
and communities.
• Third, governments have a responsibility
to enact laws to protect the public wel-
fare, to educate their citizens about the
laws, to inspect and assure compliance
with the laws, and to effectively enforce
the laws when they are violated.
As I will describe, these three com-
ponents are interrelated with and support
effective enforcement. In turn, strong
enforcement helps bolster other gover-
nance institutions and mechanisms. In the
U.S., we strive to integrate all these com-
ponents into the daily functioning of gov-
ernment, and in particular, into the devel-
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CRUDEN, RUBIN 123
opment and implementation of our environ-
mental and sustainable development poli-
cies. Thus, our environmental enforcement
is made effective by strong laws and regu-
latory and enforcement authorities, as well
as fair judicial institutions - all critical ele-
ments of good domestic governance.
For example, we have a broad
range of laws that protect air, water, natural
resources, public health and other impor-
tant interests, and clear authority to enforce
those laws, including statutorily prescribed
and meaningful penalties. Just as impor-
tant, we provide adequate resources for
and political commitment to compliance
and enforcement.
Moreover, at the federal level in the
U.S., we fully integrate the expertise and
resources of law enforcement and environ-
mental agencies. Environmental agencies
establish and implement regulations, work
with regulated entities to assure compli-
ance, monitor their compliance, and, when
necessary, initiate administrative enforce-
ment actions. Only at the end of this
process would they refer a matter to ENRD
for judicial enforcement. This integration
allows agencies to focus their expertise
and resources appropriately and to coordi-
nate enforcement and compliance efforts,
including pro-active enforcement approach-
es that address broad patterns of noncom-
pliance by industrial sectors or by media.
Finally, in the U.S. we can rely on a
fair, independent and impartial judicial sys-
tem, with judges who are informed about
environmental laws and the environmental
and economic harm caused by non-compli-
ance. In the criminal area, consistency in
punishment is ensured by use of nationally
applicable sentencing guidelines.
Impartiality, fairness and consistency are
key to broad public acceptance of judicial
determinations, which is itself vital to the
rule of law and creating a public culture of
compliance.
4.2 Graduated Responses to
Non-Compliance
Another important aspect of
enforcement that relates to good gover-
nance is the availability of graduated
responses to violations. In the U.S., our
environmental laws provide a range of
responses to noncompliance, based on the
type and degree of violation. This helps our
enforcement agencies develop flexible
approaches tailored to specific situations. It
also helps with institutional integrity and
public credibility since actions can be taken
that are proportionate to the violation and
there can be some consistency developed
in enforcement approaches. Governments
are also more likely to take actions if they
have a range of choices, from administra-
tive to criminal, from which to choose rather
than one response that may be too weak or
too strong for a given case.
For example, an administrative
agency such as the EPA can respond infor-
mally to identified instances of minor non-
compliance. Such informal actions include
phone calls, site visits, warning letters and
notices of violations. These actions advise
a company about the violation and direct
compliance by a date certain. They can
also initiate a more formal legal process
such as civil administrative order which is a
legal, independently enforceable order that
describes the violation, provides evidence
of the violation, and requires corrective
action by a certain date. Administrative
orders may include cease and desist
orders, requirements to abate a hazard, or
authority for the agency to enter and cor-
rect an immediate danger to the public or
the environment. Such an order is handled
by the administrative system within the
agency. However, if a company violates the
order, the agency then can refer the matter
to ENRD for enforcement in a federal court.
Some environmental laws authorize an
agency to assess administrative penalties
as well, which may also be enforced in
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court by ENRD if the entity does not pay.
Overall, administrative actions are the most
common type of federal enforcement
response.
Civil judicial enforcement in the
U.S. generally results from a referral to
ENRD from one of the agencies that moni-
tors environmental compliance, such as the
EPA or the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Sometimes, referrals are also made by
state agencies and private citizens. For
example, ENRD may initiate a legal action
against a company for failing to comply with
an administrative order. Or we will sue to
recover funds spent by an agency in
responding to an environmental harm.
Where necessary, we will bring an action to
respond to an emergency or abate an
immediate endangerment to human health
or the environment. ENRD will ask the
court to provide the appropriate relief, such
as an order enjoining present and future
harmful actions, requiring payment of fines
or penalties, and/or mandating mitigation or
remediation of the environment. Other
types of relief can include denial or revoca-
tion of permits, shutdown of facilities, and
requiring further reporting, inspections,
training or other actions designed to ensure
long term compliance.
The U.S. environmental statutes
provide specific maximum amounts of
penalties that can be assessed for viola-
tions of the law. Under that authority, ENRD
will generally seek to secure a penalty that
recoups any economic benefit the violator
might have enjoyed as a result of noncom-
pliance as well as an additional amount
appropriate to the nature and gravity of the
violation. ENRD also is committed to
resolving civil actions, where appropriate,
through settlement. Settlements can allow
the Division to secure effective remedies
and actions at substantially less cost than
trying a case before a judge. In such
instances, the Division may consider coop-
erative actions by the defendant as mitigat-
ing any penalty sought. For example, in
addition to an order to comply, the settle-
ment may require a defendant to perform a
supplemental environmental project_(SEP).
A SEP must have some nexus to the viola-
tion. Examples include establishing a vol-
untary compliance program beyond that
required by law or an agreement that the
defendant purchase and/or protect sensi-
tive habitat. Settlements are generally
embodied in consent decrees, which are
agreements signed by the court and
enforceable as judicial orders.
At the other end of the spectrum,
criminal enforcement is generally appropri-
ate when a person or company has know-
ingly and willfully violated the law.
Examples include falsifying documents,
operating without a permit, or deliberately
taking an action prohibited by law. Again,
ENRD will receive referrals from relevant
federal agencies, state agencies or the
public that such conduct has occurred.
ENRD will then consider whether the mat-
ter merits criminal charges. Depending on
the alleged crime, we may seek monetary
penalties and imprisonment, as well as
seizure or forfeiture of property. Criminal
cases are particularly appropriate where
violations are serious or have caused seri-
ous harm. Criminal cases must satisfy a
higher burden than civil cases because of
the rights accorded criminal defendants by
the U.S. Constitution. Several U.S. environ-
mental laws provide for criminal penalties
and enforcement, but federal prosecutors
may also rely on general criminal provi-
sions that make it illegal to report false
information or obstruct justice. This fre-
quently occurs in prosecutions for wildlife
and the smuggling of ozone depleting sub-
stances.
Finally, citizen involvement in
enforcement is encouraged and specifically
provided for in several U.S. environmental
laws. This kind of public involvement gener-
ally ensures the integrity of the enforce-
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CRUDEN, RUBIN 125
ment system and augments the often-limit-
ed government resources. These so-called
private attorneys generally can file civil
judicial actions, with notice to the relevant
agencies, to enjoin pollution and force com-
pliance. As an incentive, some statutes
allow citizens to recover the costs of litiga-
tion and attorney's fees if they substantially
prevail on the merits. The public is also pro-
vided an opportunity to review and com-
ment on consent decrees. Citizens are not
authorized to bring criminal actions, but cit-
izen complaints and tips can lead to suc-
cessful ENRD prosecutions.
4.3 Enforcement Programs and
Approaches
Whatever differences countries
may have in their enforcement schemes,
we all share a common concern: How to
maximize our limited financial and technical
resources. In the U.S., we have developed
a number of programs and approaches that
seek to make the most effective use of
resources and ensure other good gover-
nance principles.
4.3.1 Focusing on High Impact
Industries and Top Executives
We are utilizing a multi-media and
sector-based enforcement approach to
focus some of our enforcement efforts on
violations that occur in particular industrial
sectors that have a significant impact on
the environment and human health. For
example, we have had initiatives focusing
on the refinery and wood product indus-
tries. This type of approach allows us to
address environmental problems in a num-
ber of media and to take high-profile nation-
al actions that will have significant environ-
mental benefits. It also serves as notice to
the regulated community of the govern-
ment's intention to enforce the law vigor-
ously. Similarly, where appropriate, we
enforce against the highest levels of a cor-
poration to ensure that we reach the real
decision makers in environmental viola-
tions. The threat of criminal penalties pres-
ents a powerful incentive to top executives
to comply with the law.
4.3.2 Focusing on Ecosystems
Similarly, another major priority is
focusing enforcement efforts to protect
ecosystems of special concern. For exam-
ple, we joined other federal agencies and
concerned state agencies to coordinate
enforcement efforts to address the condi-
tions of the Mississippi River and its tribu-
taries. We have also focused enforcement
efforts on cleaning up the Great Lakes.
4.3.3 Environmental Justice
We have followed the U.S. govern-
ment's express policy that federal agencies
evaluate and take into account environmen-
tal justice concerns in their work. We have
focused enforcement efforts to ensure we
are providing environmental protection to
minority and low-income communities and
Native American tribes that may be particu-
larly at risk from harm due to the locations
in their communities of hazardous waste
sites or industrial sources of pollution.
4.3.4 Pro-active Programs and
Interagency Coordination
Finally, we are looking for opportu-
nities to address non-compliance more
broadly and maximize our resources. In the
past, enforcement efforts have often been
reactive, for example responding to tips,
news of incidents and referrals from agen-
cies. However, we are developing more
coordinated approaches whereby prosecu-
tors and investigators at the local, state and
federal levels share their knowledge and
expertise to identify and respond to broad-
er patterns of non-compliance - whether by
industry or region or nationwide. I will
describe later how this approach has been
particularly effective in combating the grow-
ing black market in ozone depleting sub-
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stances. The approach has also been quite
successful in combating illegal traffic in
endangered species and vessel source pol-
lution.
4.4 Enforcement Policies
In the U.S., we have also devel-
oped enforcement policies and goals to
guide our efforts, again based on principles
of good governance such as fairness,
transparency, science and public involve-
ment. As I stated earlier, our enforcement
policies seek to ensure equity and fairness
by leveling the playing field; provide deter-
rence; and ensure benefits to environment
and human health. For example, EPA and
ENRD utilize an established penalty policy
to determine the appropriate amount of
penalties and other relief to seek in a given
case. This policy provides general consis-
tency while allowing flexibility in individual
cases. In addition, to determine when non-
compliance occurs, we rely on a full menu
of information derived from agency inspec-
tions, investigations, self-reporting and citi-
zen monitoring.
4.5 Implementation of International
Environmental Obligations
Finally, strong enforcement is vital
to the full implementation of international
obligations the U.S. and others have under-
taken in multilateral environmental agree-
ments. These agreements represent a uni-
fied response to global concerns and they
cannot be fully effective unless member
countries fully implement their obligations
through domestic laws and enforcement.
This area, in particular, is a clear example
of how strong enforcement and other gov-
ernance components are critical to
achievement of environmental protection
and sustainable development on a global
level.
In the U.S., we have made effective
enforcement of our international obligations
a priority. In particular, we have focused our
criminal enforcement efforts on the growing
and lucrative illegal trade in ozone deplet-
ing substances and endangered species
which are governed by the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer and the Convention on the
International Trade of Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as well
as on the discharge of pollutants into the
oceans from vessels, which is governed by
Convention and Protocol on the Prevention
of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL.) This
focus has required effective use of all ele-
ments of good governance. For example,
we have developed strong laws, such as
the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air
Act and the Act to Prevent Pollution from
Ships to implement our international obliga-
tions. These laws proscribe substantial
penalties for violations, and ENRD and its
client agencies vigorously enforce the laws
before a judiciary well informed about the
environmental significance of the issues.
Our enforcement also relies on citizen mon-
itoring to identify violations of law.
Our enforcement efforts are further
bolstered by interagency coordination and
pro-active enforcement approaches. For
example, ENRD is working cooperatively
with law enforcement and environmental
agencies in the United States and other
countries to share information necessary to
prosecute smuggling of chlorofluorocar-
bons (CFCs) and other ozone depleting
substances through a National CFC
Enforcement Initiative. We meet regularly
with representatives from EPA, Customs,
other relevant federal, state and local agen-
cies and representatives from other coun-
tries to share experiences and information
and discuss possible areas for targeting
enforcement resources. We follow a similar
procedure regarding vessel source pollu-
tion. In the wildlife area, we have also bro-
ken up several international enterprises
trading illegally in protected birds and rep-
tiles. For example, our Division has worked
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CRUDEN, RUBIN 127
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
Customs Service to identify and interdict
illegal smuggling of reptiles, including tor-
toises, turtles, snakes and lizards from
Africa, Asia and South America - part of a
$5 billion dollar yearly international black
market in live animals and animal products.
These joint efforts have led to numerous
indictments, guilty pleas and sentences. In
many instances, our enforcement efforts
have required and benefited from the assis-
tance of enforcement officials in other
countries.
The transnational nature of illegal
trade and other violations of multilateral
environmental agreements requires an
effective international enforcement network
to allow countries to work cooperatively
with law enforcement and environmental
agencies in other countries to share infor-
mation to prosecute crimes and to notify
each other of suspected illegal actions. We
at ENRD would like to continue to share
information on specific matters as well as
more general expertise on investigation
and prosecution experiences, including
through joint enforcement projects and
efforts to build capacity in other countries
for strong enforcement. To this end, we look
to INECE to enhance these networks and
cooperative work and hope that the upcom-
ing World Summit will highlight the impor-
tance of joint efforts to implement multilat-
eral environmental agreements.
5 CONCLUSION
In summary, four major themes
were discussed:
• the structure of ENRD;
• the role of ENRD in U.S. environmental
enforcement;
• why we enforce;
• and how strong enforcement and other
components of good domestic gover-
nance are critical for the U.S. in terms of
achieving environmental protection and
sustainable development.
The U.S. and other countries have
especially stressed good domestic gover-
nance in the run up to the August 2002
World Summit on Sustainable Develop-
ment in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is
our hope that conferences such as the 6th
INECE Conference and the work of INECE
in general will help strengthen environmen-
tal enforcement and good domestic gover-
nance and provide for future opportunities
for information exchange and collaboration.
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128 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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MULKEY, CHANON 129
NATIONAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL
ENVIRONMENTAL TREATIES
MULKEY, MARCIA E.1 AND CHANON, KEITH E.2
1 Director
2 International Program Manager
Office of Pesticide Programs, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Code 7501C, Washington, DC 20460
SUMMARY
This paper discusses the importance of compliance and enforcement to any envi-
ronmental regulatory program, especially in the context of effective international relations.
Before international negotiations may begin, countries must develop their national posi-
tions. Upon completion of an international agreement, each country must then translate the
treaty obligations into national law. Governments must be empowered to implement laws
and regulations in order to promote compliance. The views expressed herein are those of
the authors and not necessarily those of the United States Government.
1 INTRODUCTION
The role of compliance and
enforcement is critical to the success of any
environmental regulatory program. No mat-
ter how good the science or how carefully
regulatory decisions are crafted, their value
is limited without compliance. The connec-
tivity among programmatic design, imple-
mentation, and compliance, provides a
good basis for describing the key elements
for promoting compliance and enforcement
of international treaties.
Since the 1992 Rio Conference,
there has been a great deal of progress in
addressing environmental problems on an
international scale, especially in the area of
hazardous chemicals, products, and pesti-
cides. Over the last ten years, international
cooperation has become a norm for
addressing environmental issues of global
concern. The growing support for interna-
tional cooperation and action has, in itself,
introduced a number of challenges for
countries. National governments must think
beyond their traditional domestic approaches
in order to adapt and develop new strate-
gies for influencing international debate
and for implementing international agree-
ments. Also, the international community
has become more aware of the connectivi-
ty between international trade and interna-
tional environmental concerns. The experi-
ence of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) has been singular in
that regard, and certainly, the public, at
large, will continue to focus on this inter-
connectivity.
Three basic principles are impor-
tant for achieving international cooperation
through effective national implementation.
First, when engaged in international treaty
negotiations, governments must develop
responsible national positions and negoti-
ate in good faith. Second, governments
must translate international agreements
into effective national laws, regulations, and
enforcement mechanisms. Third, govern-
ments must promote a "culture of compli-
ance." Three recently negotiated environ-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
mental conventions will be used to illustrate
these principles: 1) the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPs), 2) the Rotterdam
Convention on the Prior Informed Consent
Procedure (PIC) for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International
Trade, and 3) the International Convention
on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling
Systems on Ships (Antifouling Treaty).
The Stockholm Convention on POPs focus-
es initially on the so-called "dirty dozen"
chemicals (Table 1).The convention seeks
to either completely eliminate the produc-
tion, sale, and use of these substances, or
to severely restrict them to a handful of
compelling uses such as DDT for certain
public health purposes. The twelve chemi-
cals, for the most part pesticides, are
already banned or largely restricted in
some areas of the world. With the signing of
the Stockholm Convention, many govern-
ments face the challenge of meeting the
treaty obligations that effectively require the
use of alternatives.
The Rotterdam Convention on PIC
establishes both a framework and a proce-
dure for regulating the international trade in
hazardous chemicals and for assuring that
countries have complete and timely infor-
mation about chemicals that may be
imported. With a focus on hazardous chem-
icals, many of which are pesticides, PIC
establishes a threshold whereby any chem-
ical that is banned or severely restricted in
two regions of the world can be subject to
export and import controls (Table 2). This
enables a country to choose whether those
substances can be imported. It also
empowers countries to prevent the trade of
chemicals and pesticides with hazardous
formulations that cannot be used safely
under particular circumstances.
The Antifouling Treaty is a conven-
tion designed to control the type of sub-
stances that are applied to protect the hulls
of ships, in particular, organotin biocides.
These pesticides can have serious adverse
effects in marine environments. The con-
vention prohibits the application of organ-
otin biocides, particularly tributyltin (TBT),
on ships beginning January 1, 2003.
Because of the longevity of these biocides
on ship hulls, the convention provides a
period of 5 years after which they must
either be removed or sealed to prevent
leaching. The convention also establishes a
risk and benefit review process for other
antifouling systems to ensure that alterna-
tives do not cause unreasonable adverse
affects on the marine environment.
2 DEVELOP RESPONSIBLE NATIONAL
POSITIONS AND NEGOTIATE IN
GOOD FAITH
In order to have international
agreements that are effective, governments
must begin to plan and develop national
positions before the start of negotiations. If
countries enter into an international negoti-
ation having considered questions about
implementation and issues about enforce-
ment and compliance from the outset, the
negotiation is more likely to result in an
effective and meaningful international
agreement. Issues to consider include: a)
level of national commitment and political
will, b) institutional capacity to enforce and
promote compliance, c) clarity of organiza-
tional roles, responsibilities, and relation-
ships among governments, the regulated
community, and the public, and d) mecha-
nisms for consulting with public stakehold-
ers.
In the U.S., it is customary to first
reach a unified governmental position
among the various federal (and, if appropri-
ate, state) governmental agencies. As a
large complicated bureaucracy, this initial
step can pose several challenges. This
process also includes consultation with
public stakeholders that may be affected by
the potential activities. The affected indus-
try, which often has the necessary
resources and motivation, is likely to be
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MULKEY, CHANON 131
engaged; however, other parts of the public
may need assistance in order to be ade-
quately engaged. After finalizing the gov-
ernment position, stakeholders continue to
participate in the negotiation process as
observers, and it is common for the gov-
ernment and stakeholders to continue a
dialogue during the negotiations.
The Antifouling Treaty illustrates
the complexities of this dynamic process for
involving industry and other stakeholders.
First, it was necessary for EPA to under-
stand the myriad number of issues from the
perspective of the ship builders, port opera-
tors, and the manufacturers of both the
organotin coatings and potential substi-
tutes. Second, it was necessary to under-
stand the dynamics and sensitivities of the
estuarine environment. A public-private dia-
logue ensued in order to reach a sophisti-
cated fine-tuned position. This involved
issues of enforceability and feasibility of
potential new requirements. In considering
these issues, it became clear that a purely
standard setting approach is not sufficient.
Two key elements were necessary to devel-
op an effective treaty: 1) the introduction of
safer alternatives that can protect ships
from the build-up of barnacles, and 2) a
method for detecting the presence of organ-
otins on ships. Even with these elements in
place, treaty implementation will be chal-
lenging and will likely require additional
resources at the national level.
3 TRANSLATE INTERNATIONAL
AGREEMENTS INTO EFFECTIVE
NATIONAL LAWS, REGULATIONS,
AND ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS
After successfully negotiating an
international agreement, it is necessary for
each country to translate the treaty obliga-
tions into national law. Some of the chal-
lenges of this second stage could be avoid-
ed if countries, prior to and during the
negotiation phase, planned for some of the
expected outcomes of the agreement.
Three elements are important in this
phase: 1) status of national legal authori-
ties, 2) availability of information and tech-
nical expertise, and 3) understanding and
support from the affected parties.
In order to create the legal authori-
ty needed for implementing the agreements
at the national level, countries may need to
pass statutes, prepare regulations, issue
orders, and interpret existing laws. Recent
activity in the U.S. to ratify the Stockholm
and Rotterdam Conventions illustrates the
importance of creating adequate legal
authority. In the U.S., existing federal legis-
lation (The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act and the Toxic
Substances Control Act) establish the
basic legal authority for EPA to implement
the agreements. After further legal analy-
sis, some specific statutory changes to
these laws were considered necessary.
Therefore, a package with these proposed
statutory changes was submitted to
Congress along with the treaties for ratifi-
cation in April 2002.
Information and technical expertise
provide a basis for implementing laws at
the national level. This can include general
information and technical documents,
national and international chemical assess-
ments, and information on alternatives. In
the area of tributyltin, EPA is in the process
of implementing the phase-out schedule
established under the Antifouling Treaty.
This involves both voluntary and mandato-
ry approaches based on the risks and avail-
ability of alternatives. Also, the Coast
Guard is reviewing monitoring techniques,
including certificates and placards for doc-
umenting the types of antifouling paints
being used on ships entering U.S. ports.
Thus, necessary information and monitor-
ing mechanisms will be in place to support
the effective application of national laws.
Finally, understanding and support,
within the government, the regulated com-
munity, and from anybody who has a role to
play, is needed for successful compliance
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
and enforcement. To promote awareness
and support, governments can organize
consultations with the regulated community
and other stakeholders and can support
training seminars and workshops.
Stakeholders, too, can engage their sectors
through similar awareness raising activi-
ties. Thus, both the public and private sec-
tors can accelerate implementation by
becoming fully engaged and supportive of
national implementation efforts.
4 PROMOTE A "CULTURE OF
COMPLIANCE"
Promoting a culture of compliance
around legal requirements poses a com-
plex set of challenges. Governments must
be empowered to implement laws and reg-
ulations through:
• Clearly stated goals, requirements, regu-
latory and non-regulatory tools, and con-
sequences
• Technically and economically feasible
standards
• Market mechanisms
• Financial and technical resources
• Incentives and deterrents
• Citizen involvement
The first step is to have require-
ments that people can comply with, that are
understood, and that are mandatory when
needed. Standards are not meaningful if
they are not both technically and economi-
cally feasible. It does not mean they must
be easy, or that they cannot reach for tech-
nical capacity that currently does not exist.
Nor does it mean that they cannot push the
system to internalize more costs than it
readily does. However, in the end, regula-
tions must be possible to implement.
The use of market mechanisms
can also be highly effective in promoting
compliance. In addition, adequate financial
and technical resources are critical both
within and outside the government. While
incentives are important, deterrents are
also needed. The regulated community
needs to have a reason to comply and that
almost always includes a strong deterrent.
Lastly, citizen involvement makes a signifi-
cant difference, both in terms of information
flow and enforcement activity.
In the chemical area, pesticides
and other chemicals fulfill a valuable func-
tion as products. Without alternatives to
these products, the willingness to halt their
use will be difficult to achieve. Also, incen-
tives and deterrents, penalties and fines,
and license revocations all have particular
relevance in the chemicals arena. In the
pesticide area, license revocations and
modifications can operate as enforcement
tools. Finally, citizens can do a lot to assist
government enforcement. Governments
should provide citizens with whistle blower
protections and other safety measures
especially in contexts where citizens feel
relatively powerless.
5 CONCLUSION
International agreements are excit-
ing and they can also make a huge differ-
ence for generations to come. However,
they will do so only when they are imple-
mented and when affected parties comply
with the requirements. Toward this end,
government has a critical role to assure
there is a culture of compliance throughout
the world with regard to these major and
valuable agreements. The role of the pri-
vate sector should be to work with govern-
ment and to independently help assure that
policy is informed by their practical knowl-
edge. The general public can affect political
will through democratic processes and can
promote the exchange of information and
assure enforcement. International agree-
ments, if implemented effectively on a
national basis, can result in stronger envi-
ronmental and public health protection on a
global scale.
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MULKEY, CHANON 133
Aldrin
Chlordane
DDT
Dieldrin
Endrin
Heptachlor
Hexachlorobenzene
Mirex
Toxaphene
PCBs
Dioxins
Furans
Table 1. List of 12 Persistent Organic Pollutants
2,4,5-T
Aldrin
Sinapacryl*
Captofol
Chlordane
Chlordimeform
Chlorobenzilate
DDT
Dieldrin
Dinoseb and dinoseb salts
1,2-dibromoethane (EDB)
Fluoroacetamide
HCH (mixed isomers)
Heptachlor
Hexachlorobenzene
.indane
Vlercury Compounds
'entachlorophenol
Toxaphene*
vlethamidophos (Soluble liquid formulations of the substance that exceed 600g active ingredient/I)
Vlonocrotophos (Soluble liquid formulations of the substance that exceed 600g active ingredient)
?hosphamidon ( Soluable liquid formulations of the substance that exceed 10OOg active ingredient/I)
Methyl parathion (emulsigiable concentrates (EC) with 19.5%, 40%, 50%, 60% active ingredient and
dusts containing 1.5%, 2%. And 3% active ingredient)
Parathion (all formulations)
Irocidolite (Industrial)
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) (Industrial)
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) (Industrial)
Polychlorinated Terphernyls (PCT) (Industrial)
Tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (Industrial)
Table 2. Chemicals Subject to the Prior Informed Consent Procedure
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134 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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135
ORGANISATION MODEL OF SERVICES RESPONSIBLE FOR
CONTROL OF STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT:
VS. THEIR EFFECTIVENESS OF WORK BASED ON EXPERIENCE OF
THE INSPECTION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN POLAND
ZAREBA, KRZYSZTOF
Chief Inspector for Environmental Protection, Ul. Wawelska 52/54 00 922 Warsaw, Poland
SUMMARY
From 1991 to 1999, the Polish State Inspectorate for Environmental Protection
developed and successfully implemented a program to enforce environmental laws and
encourage industry to adopt pro-environment activities. This article discusses the effects of
the administrative reforms on the Inspectorate's work and highlights the advantages and
disadvantages of decentralisation.
1 DEVELOPMENT OF INSPECTION
SERVICES IN POLAND
The origins of environmental pro-
tection services in Poland date back to
1980 when the Environmental Protection
and Management Law created a basis for
the establishment of a national level
Inspectorate. The Inspectorate was headed
by the Chief Inspector for Environmental
Protection, who managed Field Offices in
the 9 largest Polish cities and 2 teams that
carried out inspections and assessments of
the state of the environment and were
responsible for the prevention of extraordi-
nary environmental hazards throughout
Poland. At that time, the Inspectorate was
an agency of the Minister of Environment.
Additionally, each Voivodship (Region of
Poland) had its own Environmental
Protection Department operating under the
structure of the Voivodship Office (regional
administration), and an Environmental
Research and Control Centre (or
Laboratory); both bodies were subordinat-
ed to the Voivod (head of regional adminis-
tration) and implemented tasks related to
the inspection of compliance with environ-
mental law for the needs of the regional
government.
This situation did not contribute to
the effective use of environmental law
enforcement resources. Research was car-
ried out according to different procedures,
enterprises were evaluated based on vari-
ous criteria, and measurement data was
taken on different types of equipment and
according to different methodologies. Due
to this, the results achieved were not com-
parable and could not be used for the
development of overall assessment and
reports. Thus, one of the changes proposed
in 1990 by the Solidarity movement, which
organised a special "small round table" to
solve environmental problems, was to inte-
grate the uncoordinated and chaotically
working environmental protection services
into a single body. In 1991, as a result of a
thorough reorganisation of personnel,
property and technical facilities of the cen-
tral inspection and the regional centres, the
State Inspectorate for Environmental
Protection was established. It was a two-
level structure. The Chief Inspector for
Environmental Protection performed his
tasks via the central unit - the Chief
Inspectorate for Environmental Protection
and the 49 Voividship (regional)
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Inspectorates working in the field. Work
plans, budget and overall implementation of
the Inspection's tasks were supervised by
the Chief Inspector for Environmental
Protection.
Working under that structure for
almost 10 years, the Inspection developed
coherent and comprehensive rules of con-
ducting inspections. Standard measure-
ment methodologies were also developed
and implemented. The laboratory potential
of Voivodship Inspectorates was extended,
which enabled research on the state of the
environment throughout the country and
reliable control of compliance with environ-
mental regulations by industries. Central
management enabled effective planning of
laboratory equipment purchases; central
budget allowed for effective co-financing of
purchases financed by the National Fund
for Environmental Protection and Phare
programmes. Since late 1990s the
Inspection had a network of 48 laboratories
with state-of-the-art equipment and quality
system certificates for compliance with the
PN-EN 45 001 and ISO/IEC 25 Manual
standards. Also, most of the buildings in
which environmental protection services
are located were constructed or mod-
ernised in the years 1991-98.
The Inspection implemented a
number of modern solutions in the fields of
environmental law enforcement and indus-
tries' stimulation for pro-environmental
activities. The solutions include, among oth-
ers, a system of imposing obligatory fines
for transgression of environmental regula-
tions, with the option of suspending the
fine, which allows the fined enterprises to
change the sanctions imposed into invest-
ments eliminating the cause of non-compli-
ance. Another instrument was the creation
of the so-called "List of 80" which specifies
the largest polluters whose names are
made available to the general public. Being
under a strict inspection regime and pres-
sure by Non-Governmental Organisations,
all plants from the list started environmen-
tal adjustment programmes. By now, many
of them have completed their programmes
and reached full compliance with environ-
mental regulations. A new solution was the
development, together with consultants
from the US Environmental Agency, of
adjustment programmes which have the
status of regular legal instruments specified
in the Polish environmental law system.
Also in 1990s the rules of work of
the State Environmental Monitoring were
developed. Under the existing system envi-
ronmental data is collected, further
research and measurements are recom-
mended, environmental change trends are
analysed and regular reports on the state
of the environment in individual regions and
in the country are developed. Since 1991,
under the standardised series "State
Environmental Monitoring Library" almost
500 different titles have been published
which include a variety of papers, reports
and analyses. Another achievement of the
centralised, uniform inspection system
included the implementation of the pro-
grammes for counteracting extraordinary
environmental hazards and control of trans-
boundary movement of wastes.
In the opinion of environmental
decision-makers, the centralised, strongly
managed State Inspection for
Environmental Protection had an excellent
impact on the creation of a coherent and
effective environmental management sys-
tem in Poland. In the country in which envi-
ronmental issues had been significantly
neglected, that system was of special
importance. The effective work of the
Inspection guaranteed enforcement of fees
for economic use of the environment and of
fines for non-compliance with emission lim-
its. The fees and fines were paid into envi-
ronmental protection funds, which, in turn,
granted preferential credits for pro-environ-
mental investments. The whole system,
based on the "stick and carrot rule", i.e.
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ZAREBA
137
sanctions on the one hand and preferential
cheap credits on the other hand, led to the
development of a big environmental invest-
ments market. Annual investments into
environmental projects constituted about
1.5-1.7 % GDP, which over the last 20
years contributed to a major improvement
of the state of the environment in Poland.
However, the centralised structure
of the Inspection, based on a strong
enforcement regime, was associated with a
police-like system. Thus the popular name
"the Green Police", used even today by the
media and NGOs to express their high
opinion on the Inspection services. Yet the
system in its previous central-control shape
was perceived as unfriendly by inspected
industries. The inspectors, although having
good knowledge of environmental protec-
tion regulations and pro-ecological solu-
tions and technologies, were not able to act
as consultants or advisors and could not be
partners to industries without being sus-
pected of corruption.
2 EFFECTS OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE
REFORM ON THE INSPECTION'S
WORK
The beginning of 1999 brought the
administrative reform of the country, aimed
at decentralisation of the State administra-
tion system and transfer to lower levels of
all competencies that could be taken over
by local governments, in accordance with
the principle of subsidiariness. The Voivod,
as a representative of the central adminis-
tration, lost many of his prerogatives, trans-
ferring them to Voivodship (regional) gov-
ernments. Instead, as compensation, he
was vested with supervision over the
Voivodship conjoined administration, under
which all inspections and special forces
existing in the Voivodship were included.
This way the Voivodship Inspectorates for
Environmental Protection came under the
responsibility of the Voivods (heads of
Voivodship administration). At the same
time however, they formed and still form a
part of the structure of the Inspection for
Environmental Protection supervised by
the Chief Inspector. The Inspection lost the
word "State" from its name, in spite of the
fact that its activities still cover the whole of
the country. The Chief Inspector still sets
the directions of the Inspection's work,
supervises its task performance and is an
appeal body for decisions taken by
Voivodship inspectors, but is no longer in
charge of the organisation's budget.
In the first years after the reform,
the work of the Inspection services was
automatically running along the old track.
But the dual subordination - to the Voivod
and to the Chief Inspector - is starting to be
more and more troublesome. Especially
that one of them assigns the tasks without
allocating any funds and the other one lim-
its the Inspection's budget to finance other,
more neglected services. It is estimated
that most of the Voivodship Inspectors have
at their disposal only 50% of funds as com-
pared with 1999. Other factors that need to
be taken into account are inflation and the
fact that a number of tasks increase each
year, for instance, due to the implementa-
tion of new legislative acts. A lot indicates
that due to the shortage of funds, instead of
being strengthened, the Inspection servic-
es will be limited and some of the field
offices will have to be closed down.
The tasks of the Chief Inspection
should be implemented in a uniform man-
ner in order to ensure comparability, and
co-ordinated on the national scale in order
to obtain reliable results. However, in prac-
tice the work of individual Voivodship
inspectors is becoming more and more dif-
ferentiated due to different policies, devel-
opment plans and priorities promoted in
individual regions. Coordination of laborato-
ry work and investment purchases for labo-
ratories to use the resources more effec-
tively is impossible, because each
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Voivodship finances only its own inspection
office, based on the policy and funds deter-
mined by the Voivod. Therefore sometimes
the costly equipment that could serve sev-
eral Voivodships is left unused. Renewal of
Good Laboratory Practice certificates is
now at risk.
Privatisation is rapidly progressing
in Poland, but there still is a large group of
State-owned enterprises. Application of
enforcement measures towards those
enterprises, for which the funding authority
is the Voivod, in situations where the Voivod
is also the head of the environmental
inspection, creates a conflict of interest.
The Voivod imposes fines on his own enti-
ties and is a judge in his own cases. In the
current structure, the Chief Inspectorate
has limited possibilities of submitting to
Voivodship Inspectors of recommendations
and guidelines regarding methods of per-
forming the Inspection's tasks. This applies
in particular to the performance of follow-up
inspections and to analysis of claims and
requests. It is much more difficult, and in
practice even impossible, for the Chief
Inspectorate to react to negligence and
irregularities in the work of the Voivodship
administration or to demand verification of
incorrect administrative decisions.
The society perceives the decen-
tralisation of the Inspection, implemented in
1999, as the lowering of its rank and impor-
tance, and limitation of its independence in
implementation of enforcement activities.
Opinions that the effective system was dis-
assembled or disintegrated are frequent.
And this happens in the situation when the
Inspection is facing new challenges con-
nected with Poland's integration with the
European Union. For example, only the
implementation of the European
Parliament's recommendations regarding
the minimum criteria of environmental
inspection's work requires inter alia:
• Uniform planning of inspection activities.
• Keeping of a consistent register of
inspected installations.
• Evaluation of control of compliance of
the inspected facilities with the EU legal
requirements.
• Guaranteeing appropriate frequency of
inspections for particular categories of
installations.
• Presenting reports and collective
data regarding the effects of inspection
activities carried out.
Such requirements can be met
only when national coordination of inspec-
tion activities is ensured and the policy of
the Minister of the Environment is consis-
tently implemented.
3 OPTIMUM SOLUTIONS TO BE
APPLIED IN THE FUTURE
In view of the threats to the conti-
nuity of tradition and to the quality of
inspection work, the search for good model
solutions for the future was undertaken.
The Chief Inspectorate analysed and com-
pared the experience, structures and work
organisation of counterpart organisations
in the USA, Ireland and Denmark. We have
thoroughly analysed all reports developed
within the framework of AC IMPEL, i.e. the
European Network for the Implementation
and Enforcement of Environmental Law, of
the countries associated with the EU.
Those reports evaluated inter alia struc-
tures responsible for environmental protec-
tion in Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic,
Slovenia, Cyprus and Latvia. We looked for
guidelines and recommendations that
would be adequate to the Polish conditions.
Within the framework of the twinning
PHARE project aimed at the strengthening
of Polish public administration bodies,
including Inspectorates for Environmental
Protection, in the field of law enforcement,
an analysis was performed as to the divi-
sion of competencies, organisation struc-
tures and interrelations among institutions
responsible for environmental protection
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139
management in Poland after the reform.
Taking into account all advantages and dis-
advantages and the experiences of other
countries, the experts are to propose the
solutions that are most appropriate for the
Polish conditions.
On the basis of the analyses made
so far, we know that good law enforcement
organisation requires strategic planning in
order to define tasks and schedules, indi-
cate responsible persons and sources of
funding, evaluate factors that can have an
impact on execution, and conduct appropri-
ate consultations with the society. In Poland
the work plan for inspection activities is
developed by Voivodship Inspectors on the
basis of the Chief Inspector's guidelines in
which selected priorities are specified.
Voivodship Inspectors also take into
account issues identified in the State and
regional Environmental Policies, results of
previous inspections, monitoring data, and
complaints by citizens. The annual and
quarterly plans cover routine inspections,
i.e. comprehensive inspections of overall
environmental impact of the inspected
enterprise on the environment, and follow-
up inspections to check the fulfilment of
post-inspection orders issued after the pre-
vious inspections. The plan includes a time
reserve for potential non-routine inspec-
tions, i.e. follow-up inspections conducted
as a result of complaints and interventions
by citizens. It seems that in the future the
plans should also take into account the pro-
portion of the inspected installations to the
total number of installations of a given type.
Such strategic plans for the issuance of
permits and inspections of enterprises
should be prepared by one central authori-
ty in cooperation with the parties involved.
Improving the state of the environ-
ment or counteracting environmental dam-
age requires regulatory actions, i.e.
issuance of permits regulating, for exam-
ple, permissible emission levels or opera-
tional processes. If the process of issuing a
licence for the use of the environment is to
take into account all aspects of the enter-
prise's impact on the environment and pos-
sibilities created by best available tech-
niques as in the case of integrated permits,
it has to be carried out by a group of
experts with nationally recognised qualifi-
cations. It is also very important to ensure
cooperation of inspection services and per-
mit-issuing staff, to ensure joint considera-
tion of conditions required from and possi-
ble to be complied with by the enterprise.
Information from inspections is of key
importance for the revision of permits. Also
information on the state of the environment,
so-called monitoring, impacts both the
inspection planning process and the
parameters defined in the permit. Thus, an
optimum solution for the environmental
management system is a national organi-
sation with regional branches, responsible
both for implementation and enforcement
of the law, for instance an agency combin-
ing the permit-issuing, inspection, and
monitoring functions.
In the future environmental protec-
tion agency model, we would like the
inspectors to retain their current powers
and competencies. In particular, during an
inspection an inspector should be autho-
rised to access the installations 24 hours a
day, and other facilities between 6 and 10
a.m., as it is currently the case. We would
also like to retain an inspector's right to
inspect vehicles at any time of the day and
night. During the inspection, the inspectors
may take samples and conduct other activ-
ities in order to verify if the enterprise car-
ries out its activity in accordance with the
environmental permit. The inspectors may
also:
• Demand written or verbal information
from the personnel in order to determine
facts;
• Demand access to documents and data
connected with the inspected facility;
• Verify whether the methods of operation
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
of the installation, including transport
means, are correct;
• Verify whether protective installations
and devices are used and correctly
maintained.
During an inspection, the inspec-
tors examine the impact of the enterprise
on all environmental media. The inspectors
also check the formal and legal documenta-
tion, permits, payment of the fees and
charges, type of technologies and raw mate-
rials used.
Following the inspection, an official
inspection report is prepared which
includes measurement data, information
about sample collection and surveys,
administrative decisions, declarations, etc.
If irregularities are found, relevant law
enforcement instruments are applied,
depending on the type of the irregularity.
The sanctions include: post-inspection
orders, fines, obligation to take steps to
eliminate the source of negative environ-
mental impact before a specified deadline,
suspension of the operations that violate
environmental regulations, notification to
the public prosecutor's office or to public
administration agencies. In addition to indi-
vidual reports, the Inspection for
Environmental Protection prepares an
annual report- so-called summary of notice
tasks executed. We evaluate all these expe-
riences very positively and we are con-
vinced that they should be used in the
process of organising the new inspection
organisation/agency.
In practice, the Inspection in
Poland relies on measurements performed
by its internal laboratories. Since results
are the basis for imposing any penalties, it
is imperative that measurements are car-
ried out in a reliable manner so as not to be
questioned by industrial plants. In western
countries, industrial plants themselves per-
form many measurements. This self-moni-
toring is of great importance for the disci-
pline of the industrial plant, because it
enables the plant to control its own impact
on the environment and to take corrective
action independently before an inspection
is started. The self-monitoring is vital for
plants that demonstrate a voluntary, active
approach to environmental issues.
However, self-monitoring provides no basis
for enforcement measures. Therefore, for
indifferent or unwilling plants, the only form
of law enforcement is inspections with
measurements under so-called "compli-
ance monitoring" with the use of appropri-
ate enforcement instruments such as fines,
post-inspection orders, notification to the
prosecutor's office or suspension of the
plant's operation. Many inspections out-
source these measurements to certified
third party laboratories. The Polish
Inspection is fortunate enough to be the
owner of such laboratories, which allows for
their wide and comprehensive use both in
inspections of industrial plants and in mon-
itoring of the environment. We would like to
preserve this situation in the future organi-
sational solutions.
Ensuring adequate levels of expert-
ise and qualifications of employees that
issue permits and conduct inspections
requires a standardised training system,
which should be arranged by one nation-
wide organisation. A single institution
should collect information, prepare periodic
reliable reports, and present them to the
public in a systematised manner.
The opinions and experiences pre-
sented in this paper will be used as guide-
lines in the organisation of services
responsible for the environmental protec-
tion management in Poland. We will
endeavour to use all the experience of the
State Environmental Protection Inspection
(a centralised, uniformly managed organi-
sation, which operated between 1991 and
1999), and also to incorporate new valu-
able elements, which we have discovered
while cooperating with the IMPEL network,
such as partnership approach to industrial
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ZAREBA 141
plants or linking of the permit issuing func-
tion with the compliance control function. I
am also sure that the experience presented
by the inspectors participating in the
INECE Conference in Costa Rica will
inspire us to come up with new ideas to
shape our new organisation for environ-
mental law implementation and enforce-
ment in Poland.
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142 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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LEGISLATIVE BASES OF ECOLOGICAL CONTROL IN RUSSIA
EGOROVA, MARINA
Advisor to the Environmental Committee, Russian Duma, 1 Ohotny ryad str.,
Moscow 103265, Russian Federation
SUMMARY
This paper discusses the legislation related to the ecological control system in
Russia. The Environmental Protection System in Russia is of extreme importance, but
unfortunately it is operating under extreme shortage of funding and other necessary
resourses for effective environmental control. The new Constitution of Russia in 1993 pro-
vided the public with the right for a safe environment, and disclosure of authentic informa-
tion relating to the environment. Problems existed with the actual practice of this rule. The
prior Law "about protection of an environment" created in 1988 and accepted in 1991
established many more effective policies, giving municipal bodies the ability to organize
ecological control.
1 INTRODUCTION
Environmental protection, ecologi-
cal safety and sustainable development
issues are of vital importance for Russia.
The Environmental protection system and
all its parts are functioning in the conditions
of such an acute shortage of funding and
other resources that, at times, concern for
their own survival distracts them from solv-
ing the vital issues of environmental protec-
tion. In almost all cities and towns in Russia
with a population of more than 100,000
people, the average content of different
harmful agents in the atmosphere exceed
the existing air-quality standards. About 40
million of the country's population live in
areas where the level of concentration of
harmful agents exceeds the permissible
standards by ten times. Almost everywhere,
the water reservoirs in Russia are polluted.
Because of the shortage of reagents and
the poor public waterworks and water-sup-
ply systems, half of the country's popula-
tion consumes water that does not meet
drinking water standard.
The development policy of new
areas rich in natural resources was ecolog-
ically unacceptable. The mining industry
always developed in a hurry under the
pressure of the military complex. The result
was one-sided development of the new
areas. They specialized only in raw materi-
al extraction and cooperated with the other
regions of the country in a specific form of
increasing the flow of goods while steadily
decreasing the efficiency of obtaining them.
As a result, the new territory had to be pro-
vided with everything whereas it gave back
only its main produce. This strategy was
harmful not only for the ecosystem of North
Russia, but also for the natives living there.
The ecologically unsafe areas per capita
are extremely large in Russia. With 8 million
square kilometers of wildlife left in Russia,
we have managed to cause greater envi-
ronmental damage than any other group of
people the size of Russia's population (150
million people) on the planet.
All these problems induce us to
search out new ways for more natural and
non-violent formation of socio-economic
development fundamentals, originated from
the principles of sustainable development.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
The idea of sustainable development
occurred as a result of the human realiza-
tion that natural resource potential is limit-
ed, that it is essential to maintain econom-
ic growth at a rate which allows adequate
consumption requirements of the constant-
ly increasing population, and the aware-
ness of the imminent threat of irreversible
environmental changes.
The local and regional ecological
problems in industrialized countries were
more or less solved successfully during the
1980-1990s. They managed to improve the
air quality in the cities drastically, treating
land waters and not only reducing the
amount of industrial and domestic solid
waste but also cleaning up open dumps,
which had been generated for decades.
However, all these have been achieved
mainly at the expense of the ecological
expansion and exploitation of natural
resources outside their own countries,
including Russia. Thus, the solution of the
local and regional ecological problems in
industrialized countries did not contribute to
the improvement of the environment on the
planet. In fact, it promoted deepening of the
contradiction between technology's impact
on the environment and the ability of the
biosphere to neutralize and regenerate it.
Though the general strategy that has been
applied by the industrialized countries for
the previous 30 years in solving ecological
problems is unacceptable for both the
whole humanity and Russia, many meth-
ods of these countries are worth being
applied here.
2 NEW CONSTITUTION OF RUSSIA
To begin, in 1993 the new Consti-
tution of Russia was accepted, in which the
right of a favorable environment was guar-
anteed. In addition, the Constitution has
fixed the federal state device of Russia with
the republican form of government. The right
and freedom are announced by maximum
value. The recognition, observance and pro-
tection of these rights are a duty of the state,
under the Constitution.
The right for a favorable environ-
ment, and disclosure to the public of
authentic information relating to the envi-
ronment are the lawful constitutional rights
of the citizens of Russia. However, it cannot
be realized in practice without enough
advanced assurance for environmental
safety.
On of the main concerns is how will
ecological control be enforced to avoid
infringement of environmental legislation,
as well as utilizing warning signs in order to
maintain a favorable environment.
The question also remains on how to exhib-
it maintenance of this control at all levels of
state and municipal authority.
In Russia, as in the United States
and a number of others countries, a federal
authority exists. Authority of the Russian
Federation is a complex formed by state,
municipal and local authorities. Until 1993,
Russia had no municipalities, which inde-
pendently address the concerns and issues
of the population in their area. Legislative
and executive authority worked together to
carry out all authority in the country.
3 LAW "ABOUT PROTECTION OF
AN ENVIRONMENT"
After acceptance of the Law
"about protection of an environment" in
1991, the following has been put into effect:
• a legal basis has been created for
nature conservation, for more efficient
use of nature and for ensuring ecological
security of the population and the
environment;
• a vertical subordination system of the
multi-purpose regional nature conserva-
tion bodies has been formed. Among
them ecological monitoring and inspec-
tion are the most important;
• a basis for the economic mechanism of
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EGOROVA
145
environmental protection and a more effi-
cient use of nature has been laid. It
includes putting into life the principle that
'those responsible for the pollution
should pay, introduction of payments for
use of natural resources, licenses for use
of nature, an ecological insurance and
certificate system, formation of the sys-
tem of ecological funds;
• an instrument of state ecological pro-
grammers has been put into practice.
The main purpose of it is to combine the
funds of the federal budget, the budgets
of the Federation Subjects, local budg-
ets, ecological funds, enterprises and
other sources for purposeful successive
solution of ecological problems (regional,
municipal and industrial);
• a mechanism for ecological expert exam-
ination has been started up, which is
necessary for all projects and pro-
grammed economic documents;
• a network of specially protected areas,
mainly preserves, has been enlarged
and developed;
• international co-operation in the sphere
of environmental protection and ecologi-
cal security has been extended funda-
mentally;
• ecological monitoring has been substan-
tially developed.
• The quality and quantity of the ecological
information available for the general pub-
lic, administration, subjects involved in
economy and for public organizations
have been improved.
The foundation for systems of pro-
tection for the environment was laid in
1988. For this reason, systems of protec-
tion, including control in the field of protec-
tion, have been a centralized structure. This
method does not provide the right for sub-
jects of the Russian Federation to carry out
ecological control of the environment in
their territories. Additionally, it does not
establish responsibility for environmental
protection. Therefore, in Russia the central-
ized system for protection of the environ-
ment was kept from the Soviet time.
However, after the federal level of a
separate state authority responsible for
protection and control of the environment
merged with the Ministry carrying out man-
agement of natural resources, the country
began the process of easing ecological
control. The Federal ecological fund, made
up of payments for pollution of an environ-
ment, was liquidated. The old law did not
allow the subjects of the Russian
Federation to carry out their own ecological
control. Thus, the federal system of ecolog-
ical control was practically liquidated, and
no other ecological control was created to
take its place. Therefore, the new Federal
law of Russia" about protection of an envi-
ronment " accepted in January 2002 has
created other systems for ecological control
in the Russian Federation.
Under the new Law were new prin-
ciples for protection, and ecological control
such as:
• Principle of ecological danger of planned
economic activity;
• Compulsion for realization of an estima-
tion of influence on an environment and
ecological examination;
• Prohibition of economic and other activi-
ties with unpredictable consequences
that can result in destruction of natural
ecological systems, change and/or
destroy genetic funds of plants, animals,
birds or fishes, exhaust natural resources
and other negative changes to the envi-
ronment;
• Priority for preservation of natural eco-
logical systems, natural complexes and
natural landscapes, biological variety;
• Maintain a continuous decrease in nega-
tive influences of economic and other
activities of an environment according to
the specifications in the protection of an
environment, which can be achieved on
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the basis of using the existing technolo-
gies that have the best environment
effect;
• Responsibility of authoritative bodies on
the state level, and local self-manage-
ment level for maintenance of a favorable
environment and safe ecology, and also
the principle of independence of ecologi-
cal control;
• Duty of compensation for harm to the
environment;
The ecological control in Russia
will be carried out with the purpose of main-
taining the legislation for environmental
protection, observance of the require-
ments, including specifications and norma-
tive documents, for protection of the envi-
ronment, and also maintenance of ecologi-
cal safety. The system of state ecological
control includes two levels — the Federal
ecological control and ecological control of
the subjects of the Russian Federation. All
inspectors of the state ecological control
are the state inspectors.
In the Russian Federation, the
state, industrial, municipal and public con-
trol takes part in carrying out necessary
actions for environmental protection. The
state control (state ecological control) is
carried out by federal bodies of the execu-
tive authority and bodies of the executive
authority of the subjects of the Russian
Federation. The state (state ecological con-
trol) is carried out in the order established
by the government of the Russian
Federation. The government of the Russian
Federation defines the list of objects sub-
ject to the federal state ecological control
according to the present Federal law, and
other federal laws. The government of the
Russian Federation establishes the list of
officials of a federal body of the executive
authority carrying out the federal state eco-
logical control (federal state inspectors).
The list of officials for the bodies of state
authority are the subjects of the Russian
Federation, who will carry out the state eco-
logical control (the state inspectors), is
established according to the legislation of
the subjects of the Russian Federation.
Overlapping functions of the state
control and functions of economic use of
natural resources is forbidden (state eco-
logical control). The state inspectors in the
field of protection of an environment are
obliged:
• to warn, reveal and stop infringement of
the environmental legislation;
• to explain to violators of the legislation of
their rights and duties;
• to observe the rules of the law.
The decisions of the state inspec-
tors can be appealed according to the legis-
lation of the Russian Federation. The state
inspectors are subject to state protection.
4 CONCLUSION
The new Law for the first time has
defined and has given rights to municipal
bodies to organize ecological control. The
municipal ecological control in territories of
municipal formation is carried out accord-
ing to the legislation of the Russian
Federation and established by the norma-
tive legal acts of municipalities. It realizes
the international and constitutional principle
of independence of municipal authority.
Thus, in Russia the legislative basis for
high-grade and effective ecological control
is creating the rights for each man for a
favorable environment.
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DOMESTIC PROGRAMS FOR IMPLEMENTING MULTILATERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS: ESTABLISHING MEA
IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS
ANDERSON, WINSTON
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of West Indies, P.O. Box 64,
St. Michael, Barbados, Tel: (246) 417-4226
SUMMARY
Describes the framework of legislative, institutional structure and processes for
Caribbean multilateral environmental agreements (MEA) implementation including the
process of Caribbean treaty making, the requirement for implementing legislation, and the
utility of having national implementing institutions. The place of regional project-based
activity is briefly outlined.
1 ENVIRONMENTAL TREATY MAKING
The legislative/institutional struc-
ture and process for establishing MEA
implementation mechanisms are insepara-
bly connected with the general principles of
environmental treaty making. In the
Caribbean, the Cabinet is responsible, on
behalf of the State, for the adoption of all
international environmental agreements.
This is in keeping with basic constitutional
principles that the Executive has a monop-
oly on treaty making. The Minister of
Foreign Affairs generally represents
Cabinet in this regard but there are several
exceptions to this rule. For example, in rela-
tion to MEAs of especial global significance
it may that the Prime Minister (even if not
the Minister of Foreign Affairs) signs on
behalf of the State. A Minister in relation to
whose portfolio the subject matter of a par-
ticular treaty falls may be authorized by
Cabinet to adopt that treaty. Other repre-
sentatives may be empowered to act on
behalf of the State by the conferral of "full
powers".
As a general rule, there is no nec-
essary conjuncture between environmental
treaty making and any assessment of the
institutional/managerial resources/capabili-
ties available for implementation. However
in one case the lead environmental agen-
cies is empowered to negotiate environ-
mental treaties initiated by regional and
international inter-governmental organiza-
tions (see: National Conservation and
Environment Protection (Amendment) Act,
1996 (St Christopher and Nevis) (No. 12 of
1996), sect. 4 2B (iv)). Less pointedly the
agency may be authorized to establish and
coordinate institutional linkages locally,
regionally, and internationally (see e.g.,
Environmental Management Act 1995 (Act
No. 3 of 1995) (Trinidad & Tobago), sect. 16
(1) (0).
2 THE REQUIREMENT FOR AND
TYPOLOGY OF IMPLEMENTING
LEGISLATION
2.1 Requirement
The law of the Caribbean for the
most part knows nothing, generally speak-
ing, of self-executing treaties: the operating
assumption is that legislation is required to
give the force of law to environmental treaty
obligations. This is the basis for the deci-
sion given, for example, by the Court of
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Appeal of Jamaica in the Natural
Resources Conservation Authority v. Sea
Food and Ting (1999) in respect of the
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna
(CITES). Although Jamaica is a contracting
party to CITES the Natural Resources
Conservation Authority could not impose a
quota and export permit system to imple-
ment that Convention in the absence of
specific enabling legislation enacted by the
Parliament of Jamaica.
Given that treaty law generally has
no force in Caribbean law without imple-
menting legislation, it might be expected
that when a Caribbean State takes the
solemn decision to become a party to a
treaty, implementing legislation would fol-
low as a matter of course. This logic was
not reflected in British practice, which is
replete with treaties that have not been fol-
lowed by enacting legislation. The situation
in the Caribbean, until the departure from
tradition by Antigua and Barbuda in its pio-
neering Ratification of Treaties Act (cap.
364), universally reflected the illogicality of
the British tradition inherited by Caribbean
states.
2.2 Typology
The speed of legislative response
to the international obligation to enact
enabling statutes could be a function of the
typology of legislation adopted. In basic
terms enabling legislation may implement a
MEA by re-enactment; i.e., by repeating
verbatim or by paraphrase, the substantive
provisions of the treaty to which the State is
party. The Act excludes those substantive
treaty provisions in respect of which the
State entered a reservation.
Implementation by re-enactment is the tra-
ditional Caribbean approach and places a
premium on State possession of legislative
drafting resources, familiarity with the nui-
sances of international treaty law, and sen-
sitivity to the translation of "soft law" treaty
obligations into "hard law" legislative rights
and duties.
An alternative to the traditional
implementation by re-enactment is the
more modern approach of incorporation by
reference, a good example of which is pro-
vided by the National Conservation and
Environment Protection (Amendment) Act,
1996 (St Christopher and Nevis) (No. 12 of
1996). There are many variations on incor-
poration by reference (see Anderson
(1998), at pp. 198-200) but the classic form
comprises a short statute whose central
provision is that the treaties listed (and
sometimes reproduced in a schedule) have
"the force of law" in the country concerned.
Incorporation in this way represents an
economy of legislative competence and
facilitates speedier Parliamentary response
to the responsibility for legislative action.
Correspondingly, other difficulties may be
presented in terms of actual implementa-
tion and compliance, as is explained below.
3 IDENTIFICATION OF A NATIONAL
IMPLEMENTING AGENCY
In the Caribbean, there is no nec-
essary co-relation between treaty making
and the identification or designation of
national implementing agencies. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, although gener-
ally responsible for treaty making, is not
usually involved in the designation of
national focal points or project-based
implementation strategies except for those
MEAs that fall specifically within the sub-
stantive portfolio of that Ministry. There is
therefore a disjuncture between the agency
responsible for accepting environmental
obligations on behalf of the state and those
responsible for designating the agencies/
groups that are to comply with those obli-
gations. This is unsatisfactory since the
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
(DECS) Case Studies and Workshop
(1998) suggested instances in which envi-
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149
ronmental agencies were unaware of the
nature and extent of international environ-
mental rights and obligations binding on the
state.
Neither is the problem resolved by
the mere enactment of implementing legis-
lation, whether by re-enactment or refer-
ence. Implementing legislation might not
resolve the conundrum of identifying the
most suitable implementing agency for the
simple reason that the legislation is often
silent on the point. In other instances the
legislation may place the responsibility on a
parochial agency having no over-arching
responsibility for environmental manage-
ment in the country.
In the absence of formal rule or
standard practice concerning responsibility
for designating national implementing
agencies the best tradition appears to allow
for the ministry with responsibility for the
environment to assume, de facto, the task
of assigning implementation of specific
MEAs to particular agencies. In Jamaica,
the Ministry of Housing and the
Environment performs that function.
Alternatively, the lead environmental
agency may interpret its legislative environ-
mental mandate as sufficiently broad to
encompass the award of responsibilities for
MEA implementation. This appears to be
the position in Trinidad and Tobago with the
Environmental Management Authority.
In these instances therefore, a dis-
tinction must be drawn between the political
focal point for MEAs (usually the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs) and the technical focal
point (generally the Ministry of the
Environment and/or the lead environmental
agency).
4 IDENTIFICATION OF FOCAL POINTS
FOR IMPLEMENTING ACTIVITY
Designation of a national imple-
menting agency must often be supplement-
ed by identification of a specific focal point
for implementing activity in respect of spe-
cific environmental conventions. The most
successful Caribbean approaches to date
(e.g., in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St.
Kitts and Nevis) have involved identification
of the focal point with the lead environmen-
tal agency or the delegation by that agency
to other subsidiary bodies over whom the
agency exercises some control.
The reasons for the appointment of
focal points are not always logical and
appear not to follow any standard criteria.
Treaties may be assigned on the basis of
recognized specialist competence and
qualification (e.g., the assignment of United
Nations Framework Convention On Climate
Change (UNFCCC) to Meteorological office
in Jamaica). Alternatively, a MEA whose
subject matter was traditionally dealt with
by a particular government Department
may be assigned to that Department. A
new MEA concerning conservation of for-
est would be assigned to the Forestry
Department, Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries. A new MEA on con-
servation of biological diversity containing
provisions for protection of intellectual
property rights while making provisions for
areas not traditionally dealt with in Forestry
may nonetheless be similarly assigned.
MEAs may be allotted to a department on
the basis of the personal competence, skill
and experience of a particular individual.
Such assignment often "follows" the person
where he/she is relocated to another
Department or even after leaving the Civil
Service. This is the case even though new
Department/Private Sector agency might
be an inappropriate location for those
treaty-implementing responsibilities.
In practice responsibility for imple-
menting MEA is increasingly assigned to
the national lead environmental agency
either because of the existence of the
required competence and skills in house, or
in default of such qualifications being found
elsewhere. The lead agency often co-opts
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"outside" expertise to complement its own;
the University of the West Indies and the
Institute for Maritime Affairs (Trinidad &
Tobago) are examples of quasi-govern-
ment institutions that provide expertise in
this regard. NGOs and private consultants
may also be contracted to perform particu-
lar tasks.
5 AVAILABILITY OF RESOURCES AND
PROJECT-BASED ACTIVITY
Caribbean public sector resources
tend to be limited and do not allow for
acquisition and retention of scientific, tech-
nical and other expertise on a permanent
basis. Externally funded regional project-
based activity often represents the "nuts
and bolts" of environmental treaty imple-
mentation (see for example, the work of
Caribbean: Planning for Adaptation to
Global Climate Change (CPACC), Wider
Caribbean Initiative on Ship Generated
Wastes (WCISW), and DECS Waste
Management Project (below)).
National project-based activity has
been used to facilitate the drafting of imple-
menting legislation and compilation of
inventories of greenhouse gases and
ozone depleting substances, and the
reporting on remedial measures to the rel-
evant conferences of parties. Similarly,
inventories have been made of national
biological diversity resources and remedial
National Strategic Action Plans formulated.
Areas of cultural and natural heritage of
outstanding universal value have been
identified and conserved, especially vulner-
able species and ecological areas have
been designation and Management Plans
formulated. Endangered species of wild
fauna and flora have been identified and
their international trade regulated.
Contingency plans have been drafted,
assimilation exercises conducted and
regional alerting and telecommunications
systems established in preparation for
dealing with major oil spills. Plans have
been developed for construction of oil
reception facilities in ports.
National Environmental Agencies
and/or the Focal Point for the relevant
Convention are generally responsible for
identifying possible lines of funding, draft-
ing and submitting the project proposal,
engagement of consultants, monitoring
implementation and compliance with the
project document with the terms of the con-
vention. Projects are generally organized
on a national or local basis. Successful
project based activities have represented
significant variation on this theme. For
example, implementing activities have
been initiated and largely controlled by
international agencies; projects have been
organized on a regional and sub-regional
basis. Sustainability is a ubiquitous problem
that permeates all project-based imple-
menting activity.
6 ESTABLISHMENT OF MONITORING
PROCESSES
It is widely acknowledged that the
nature and content of the rules in the con-
ventions is critical to ensuring that multilat-
eral environmental agreements are com-
plied with. Most MEAs operate on the basis
of self-reporting. Provisions may be made
for the regularity of reporting, reporting for-
mats, and national assistance in respect of
international inspection and monitoring.
These provisions in turn generate the
national establishment of systems for
ensuring the generation of information and
data, and for monitoring implementation
and compliance.
7 ENVIRONMENTAL TREATY MAKING
7.1 Introduction
The Ratification of Treaties Act of
Antigua and Barbuda was enacted to reme-
dy a fundamental defect in Caribbean law
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and practice by legislating a role for
Parliament in treaty conclusion and thus
facilitating public awareness. The Act pro-
vides that certain treaties cannot be accept-
ed by the State unless the approval of
Parliament is first obtained. Accordingly, the
Act furthers the objectives of participatory
democracy by giving parliament, parliamen-
tarians, and by extension, the populace, a
voice in the treaty conclusion process.
Anecdotal reports suggest that the Act has
been the catalyst for a significant increase
in public appreciation of, and sensitivity to
environmental treaties, among others.
7.2 The Ratification Requirement
A treaty to which the Act applies
must be ratified by Parliament before the
Minister of Foreign Affairs may deposit an
instrument of formal acceptance. There are
two different procedures for ratification.
Where the treaty concerns the status,
security, sovereignty, independence, unity
or territorial integrity of the country, ratifica-
tion must be by Act of Parliament. As
regard these treaties, too, Parliament must
be afforded the opportunity to debate any
relevant act of a foreign state (section 3
(5)). Legislative approval is also required if
the treaty is to become enforceable as part
of the law of the land (section 3 (2) (a)).
Where the treaty concerns the relationship
of the country with any international organ-
ization, agency, association or similar body,
Parliament may ratify by way of Resolution.
It follows from the foregoing that an Act of
Parliament or Resolution may ratify MEAs.
Mixed views have been expressed
concerning the overall impact of the Act. On
the positive side, public information and
awareness, as well as democratic discus-
sions on treaty obligations and implications
are facilitated. On the negative front, treaty
acceptance becomes politicized and sub-
ject to lengthy parliamentary debates.
Grandstanding and political attacks can
lead to delays in treaty acceptance. Treaty
adoption has also been slowed by failure to
adopt treaties within the slated parliamen-
tary sessions, necessitating a 'rollover1 into
a subsequent session.
7.3 Ratification and Implementation
The Ratification of Treaties Act rat-
ification process bears no necessary rela-
tionship to implementation of the treaty pro-
visions in the law of Antigua and Barbuda.
It is perfectly possible for Parliament to rat-
ify the treaty without the treaty becoming
part of national law. This is apparent from
the fact that parliamentary ratification may
be by way of an Act or Resolution. A treaty
may also be ratified by Resolution with its
provisions being legislated into local law on
a subsequent occasion.
Where the route of implementing
legislation is taken, the treaty may be
adopted by repetition of its provision or by
reference. In the latter case, the convention
will normally be included as a schedule to
the implementing Act.
The general lack of automatic
incorporation/implementation is evident in
section 3, paragraph 3. This is to the effect
that "no provision of a treaty shall become
part of the law of Antigua and Barbuda
except by or under an Act of Parliament."
Antigua and Barbuda has therefore given
an enhanced legislative status to the old
dualism of the British common law. The Act
does not attempt to articulate international
law into the national law in such a way as to
make treaties accepted by the state the
source of rights and obligations for individ-
uals without more. Nonetheless, the
democratization process is envisaged as
bringing greater awareness of international
law making into the national realm.
7.4 Reform of Rules Governing
Parliamentary Participation
The Ratification of Treaties Act
model could be improved by the adoption of
an amendment to Caribbean constitutions
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that entrenches the principle of parliamen-
tary participation in treaty making.
Constitutional entrenchment would bring
greater protection to the ratification process
by making it immune from repeal by ordi-
nary Act of Parliament and would enhance
the international law efficacy of the
process. Embodiment in constitutional law
implies that the process is manifest and of
fundamental importance in furthering the
objectives of democratization and gover-
nance in civil society, and that treaties con-
cluded in defiance of the process cannot be
regarded as legally binding upon the state.
8 IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION
8.1 Incorporation by Re-enactment
8.1.1 General
Traditionally, most treaties have
been incorporated by re-enactment i.e.,
repetition, in the statute, of the treaty provi-
sions. The usual procedure is that the treaty
is identified by name in the definition sec-
tion of the Act; the substantive sections
then repeat, verbatim or by paraphrase, the
provisions of the treaty, but the final claus-
es and any provisions to which the state
has entered a reservation are excluded. A
standard variation is for the statute to make
no reference at all to the treaty while laying
down rules that are, for the most part, in
conformity with the treaty requirements. In
the present context, re-enactment is partic-
ularly evident in relation to treaties estab-
lishing substantive rules of environmental
standards. The main weakness of transfor-
mation by re-enactment is the risk of incon-
sistency between the treaty and legislation
because of misinterpretation, omissions,
and the insertion of incongruous provi-
sions. The Law of the Sea provides a par-
ticularly fertile area for researching such
inconsistencies. For example, Trinidad and
Tobago is virtually unique in reproducing
verbatim, the Law of the Sea Convention's
provisions that the innocent passage of a
foreign ship though territorial waters is
compromised if the ship engages in any act
of 'willful and serious' pollution contrary to
the Convention. (Compare Article 19 (2) (h)
of UNCLOS with s. 12 (2) (h) of the
Archipelagic Waters and Exclusive
Economic Zone Act 1986 (Act No. 24 of
1986) of Trinidad and Tobago). Elsewhere
passage is deemed non-innocent if there is
"any act of pollution calculated or likely to
cause damage or harm to the state, its
resources or its marine environment." (See
e.g., s. 7 (1) (d) Barbados Territorial Waters
Act 1977 (cap. 386); s. 7 (1) (d) The
Maritime Areas Act 1982 (18/1982)
(Antigua & Barbuda) a clear deviation from
the conventional position).
In addition to the difficulty of ensur-
ing consistency, there are practical prob-
lems relating to the resources required to
articulate the burgeoning volume of binding
international obligations into the increas-
ingly complex network of domestic legisla-
tion. In Natural Resources Conservation
Authority v. Seafood and Ting (1999) the
Court of Appeal of Jamaica castigated the
Executive for its failure to incorporate the
provisions of the CITES by domestic legis-
lation but the fundamental problem appears
to have been related to the lack of available
drafting resources. Assistance from inter-
national organizations in the form of the
familiar 'model legislation' or 'code of rec-
ommendations and guidelines' has not
proved adequate to the difficulty.
Theoretically, the failure to adopt
the required legislation leaves the State
vulnerable to an international claim in state
responsibility, although any claimant state
would be required to prove that the failure
to enact implementing legislation caused
the damage/loss of which it complained.
8.1.2 Shipping Oil Pollution Act 1994 as
Amended 1997 (Barbados)
The Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act
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1994 (1994-16) as amended by the
Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 1997 (1997-22)
provides an excellent example of incorpo-
ration by re-enactment. The principal Act
received the assent on 29tn April 1994 and
entered into force on 12tn May 1994. Its
avowed purpose was to make provision
concerning oil pollution of navigable waters
by ships, to provide for civil liability for oil
pollution by ships "and to give effect to cer-
tain international conventions relation to
pollution of the sea."
The conventions re-enacted are
listed in Part VIM:
• Protocol of 1978 relating to the
International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from ships (1973)
as amended);
• International Convention relating to
Intervention on the High Seas in Cases
of Oil Pollution Casualties, 1969;
• Protocol of 1973 relating to Intervention
on the High Seas in cases of Pollution by
Substances other than oil;
• International Convention on Civil Liability
for Oil Pollution Damage, 1969;
• Protocol of 1976 to the International
Convention on Civil Liability for Oil
Pollution Damage;
• International Convention on the
Establishment of an International Fund
for Compensation for Oil Pollution
Damage, 1971;
• Protocol of 1976 to amend the
International Convention on the
Establishment of an International Fund
for Oil Pollution Damage;
• International Convention on the
Prevention of Marine Pollution by
Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter,
1972.
The Amendment of 1997 made
provision for the re-enactment of two addi-
tional international agreements:
• Protocol of 1992 to the International
Convention on Civil Liability for Oil
Pollution Damage;
• Protocol of 1992 to the International
Convention on the Establishment of an
International Compensation Fund for Oil
Pollution Damage.
Part I deals with Preliminary mat-
ters. The short title of the Act is presented.
There is an elaborate Interpretation section
of key concepts that basically repeats the
conventions' definitions. Part II adopts the
substantive provisions of Under Annex 1 of
MARPOL 73/78 in relation to the prevention
of oil pollution. Part III deals with shipping
casualties and purports to incorporate the
provisions of the 1969 Intervention
Convention as amended by the Protocol of
1973. Part IV deals with Civil Liability for Oil
Pollution and incorporates the 1969/1992
Civil Liability Convention. Part V establish-
es the International Oil Pollution
Compensation Fund in accordance with the
terms of the 1971/92 Fund Convention.
Part VI deals with various aspects of
enforcement and attempts to incorporate
those provisions of MARPOL 73/78 that
give jurisdictional competence to the
coastal and port states. Part VIM concerns
identification of the conventions and proto-
cols that are being re-enacted. A list of
these agreements was presented above.
The Act resolves any conflict between itself
and the conventions by providing (s.57)
that in the event of a conflict "the provision
of the international convention or protocol
prevails unless the Minister otherwise pro-
vides by such regulations as he may make
in that behalf."
8.2 Incorporation by Reference
8.2.1 General
The technique of incorporation by
reference involves the conferral of the force
of municipal law upon rules the substantive
content of which are found in the multilater-
al environmental treaty. Although stated in
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terms of an alternative to re-enactment,
incorporation by reference may involve re-
enactment of treaty provisions while simul-
taneously requiring that specific issues be
resolved by direct reference to the treaty.
The classical illustration of incorpo-
ration by reference, however, eschews re-
enactment with consequential provisions
for resolving conflicts. Instead, a typically
short statute has as its central provision, a
section legislating that the treaty or treaties
have "the force of law" in the local jurisdic-
tion. The text of the conventions incorporat-
ed in this way is generally reproduced in a
schedule or several schedules to the Act. In
more modern style the MEAs are simply
listed in the schedule or schedules.
8.2.2 The National Conservation and
Environmental Protection Act
1987 as Amended 1996
(St. Kitts & Nevis^
The National Conservation and
Environment Protect Act, 1987 (No. 5 of
1987) as amended by the National
Conservation and Environment Protection
(Amendment) Act, 1996 (No. 12 of 1996)
provides that "The International
Conventions specified in the Fifth Schedule
shall have the force of law in Saint
Christopher and Nevis".
The Fifth Schedule does not repro-
duce the texts of the conventions thus
incorporated into domestic law. Rather, the
Schedule simply lists, by short title, the
International Conventions and Agreements
made part of local law in this way as fol-
lows:
• Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora 1973;
• United Nations Convention on Climate
Change 1992;
• United Nations Convention on Biological
Diversity 1992;
• Vienna Convention for the protection of
the Ozone Layer, 1985 and Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer 1987;
• Basel Convention on the control of trans-
boundary movement of Hazardous
Waste 1989;
• Civil Liability Convention 1969;
• International Oil Pollution Compensation
Fund Convention 1971.
As a preliminary matter it may be
observed that the full benefit of this
extreme form of incorporation was not
obtained. Several of the conventions listed
have been superceded. In particular the
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
and the International Oil Pollution
Compensation Fund have been actively
encouraging states to denounce the 1969
Civil Liability Convention and 1971 Fund
Convention in favor of the Protocols of
1992, which are intended to replace these
conventions. Severe financial and legal
problems are anticipated for the dwindling
number of contracting parties to the original
agreements. Less dramatically, virtually all
of the remaining conventions have been or
are being amended protocols adopted by
contracting parties.
The Act does enable the Minister
"from time to time" to add or remove any
convention in the Fifth Schedule by way of
Notice, which shall be published in the
Gazette and be laid before the National
Assembly (s. 54C). However the history of
policy formulation, administration and leg-
islative activity is not encouraging; legisla-
tive apathy and inertia have been blamed
for not providing timely responses to envi-
ronmental problems (see Natural Resources
Conservation Authority v. Seafood and Ting
(1999)).
Another substantial concern is
whether, as alluded to earlier, this strata-
gem of incorporation of reference accom-
plishes its objective. The conventions listed
as having the force of law make substantial
requirements of contracting parties. For
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155
example CITES requires designation of a
Management Committee and Scientific
Committee. These institutions are essential
to the developments of rules providing for
imposition of quotas and export permits as
was dramatically illustrated in Natural
Resources Conservation Authority v.
Seafood and Ting (1999). These institutions
also evaluate whether international trade in
the species would be detrimental to the
survival of the species. On the one hand
the provision that CITES "has the force of
law" creates a qualitative difference from
the position, which existed in Jamaica. On
the other hand, such a provision does not,
per force, create the required institutions.
The other MEAs incorporated by
reference similarly make institutional,
administrative, and policy requirements of
the State of Saint Christopher and Nevis.
National authorities are required to develop
national inventories of greenhouse gas
emissions and greenhouse gas removals
by sinks and to strengthen research capa-
bilities (UNFCCC, 1992). Obligations exist
to identify and monitor components of bio-
logical diversity and to develop a National
Strategic Action Plan to deal with loss of
biological diversity (CBD, 1992). National
authorities must make provision for the
freeze in consumption of chlorofluorocar-
bons (CFCs) by July 1, 1999 and the com-
plete elimination of their use by 2010
(Montreal Protocol 1987, as amended).
There are obligations relating to establish-
ment of competent authorities and focal
points, notifications to importing states and
re-importation with regard to the trans-
boundary movements of hazardous wastes
(Basel Convention, 1989). Specific legisla-
tive provisions must be made for the litiga-
tion and judicial proceedings in respect of
civil liability for oil pollution damage (CLC,
1969). There are obligations of notification
to the International Oil Pollution
Compensation Fund in respect of the
names and addresses of persons within the
territory who import more than 150,000
tons of oil in any one calendar year (1971
Fund Convention).
Such illustrations of the obligations
arising under the various conventions serve
to support the point that merely providing
that the Conventions have the force of law
within the country may not be sufficient; fur-
ther institutional, administrative, and policy-
making may all be required to complement
incorporation by reference.
9 NATIONAL IMPLEMENTING
AGENCIES AND FOCAL POINTS
9.1 Anguilla: The Anguilla National
Trust
In Anguilla and other dependen-
cies/associated states MEA acceptance
lies with the United Kingdom although con-
sultation with national authorities would
take place as a matter of course before any
such Agreement was extended to the
dependency.
The Anguilla National Trust has
broad responsibility for coordinating/cri-
tiquing MEA implementation. In discharging
this function the Anguilla National Trust has
developed an conservation programme
aimed at increasing (a) public awareness,
(b) participation by stakeholders at the
community level, (c) institutional support,
and (d) public and private sector sensitivity
related environmental issues.
The Anguilla National Trust has
analysed the implications of acceptance of
the Cartagena Convention and Specially
Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider
Caribbean Region (SPAW) Protocol in
anticipation of Anguilla's inclusion in these
Agreements under the UK's ratification
(see: Ijahnya Christian "Preservation for
Generations"). The Anguilla National Trust
suggests that given Anguilla's small size,
becoming part of the Party to the Protocol
and Convention would not only be useful
but necessary if the protection and devel-
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opment of the marine environment and
coastal resources is to be assured.
The Anguilla National Trust found
that a number of the practices required for
implementation were already being pur-
sued but that the legislative framework was
inadequate; the practices were not legally
obligatory and may therefore ultimately be
ineffective. Private land ownership and the
cultural attitude of Anguillians to land also
signaled the need for a strong degree of
public discussion and public awareness of
the objectives and provisions of the
Protocol and the Convention so as to
engender public support at the point of
implementation. The fact that Government
is a major land owner means that the state
itself will need to be familiar with the
Convention and Protocol and their support-
ing documents, and to be assured of the
Agreements' concern for increased eco-
nomic growth in tandem with protection of
critical environmental assets.
Preserving sea turtles, one of the
objectives of SPAW Protocol and CITES
illustrates some of the difficulties of MEA
implementation. The four species of sea
turtle found in Anguilla are the hawksbill
(Eretmochelys imbricata), leatherback
(Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia
mydas) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta).
Conservation efforts have organized
around the Sea Turtle Conservation
Project, which is supported by the Wider
Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation
Network (WIDECAST). Continuing prob-
lems that frustrate the effectiveness of the
conservation measures include:
• The less than complete compliance with
the existing moratorium by Anguillian
fishermen.
• The unlawful harvesting of turtles by fish-
ermen from neighboring islands.
• The need to integrate the protection of
these and other species into existing and
proposed legislation for protected areas.
In particular, it is not clear that the
legislation on marine parks, for example, is
sufficient or adequate to ensure the protec-
tion of sea turtles and other endangered
marine life. The hope was expressed that
Anguilla's inclusion in the SPAW Protocol
would create an opportunity to address the
legislative requirements. Poaching by citi-
zens of European Union countries that are
already Parties has been highlighted as
requiring redress at the highest levels. This
means that the integrated management
objective of the Cartagena Convention and
SPAW Protocol would include not just col-
laboration between partner agencies at the
national level but perhaps arrangements for
legislation and jurisdiction sharing at
transnational levels.
The Anguilla National Trust is also
of the view that the requirements of the
SPAW Protocol could strengthen initiatives
to engage landowners in conservation
planning for the generating revenue from
their lands. Traditionally, owners of coastal
lands have thought of development in
terms of hotels (villas etc.), restaurants and
other facilities of this type. Inclusion in the
SPAW Protocol could facilitate national
thinking about the importance of land-
scape, leaving lands in their natural state
for low impact activities such as bird watch-
ing, the scientific and amateur study of
flora, and passive recreation.
As regards environmental impact
assessments, the Anguilla National Trust is
of view that these should be mandatory for
all major projects and projects to be devel-
oped in environmentally sensitive areas
whether they be Government of Anguilla
projects or those involving private
investors. Again, the legislative and institu-
tional framework is weak but participation
in the Convention and Protocol was seen
as creating the opportunity for prioritization
of training courses that can strengthen
Anguilla's capability, co-ordination, con-
duct, evaluation, ElAs and reviewing their
reports. The provisions should also ensure
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that development decisions are based on
the recommendations of such reports and
that they involve public consultation.
9.2 The Bahamas: The BEST
Commission
MEA implementation in The
Bahamas is generally unsatisfactory.
Formal institutional and regulatory initia-
tives are fragmentary and largely uncoordi-
nated. Informal initiatives exist upon an
inadequate or non-existence legislative
basis. There is a widely acknowledged
need for institutional strengthening that
results in a legislatively established lead
agency with broad powers of environmental
management.
The Bahamas Environment, Science
and Technology (BEST) Commission was
instituted by administrative procedure with-
in the context of the recent developments in
international environmental policy making.
Following his attendance at UNGCSIDS
(which adopted Agenda 21's call for inte-
gration of environment and development
within the context of suitable institutional
arrangements, the Prime Minister caused
the establishment of The BEST
Commission. The BEST Commission func-
tions within the Prime Minister's Office and
is the de facto national environmental
agency pivotal to effective implementation
of several environmental treaties and to
provision of advice and recommendations,
and the facilitating of inter-agency co-ordi-
nation and co-operation. In short, the
Commission is an attempt to provide an
interim solution to the gaps in the institu-
tional and regulatory landscape.
In relation to its role as implement-
ing agency for MEA implementation the
Commission has created a number of sub-
committees. The National Climate Change
Committee is the focal point for implementa-
tion of the UN Climate Change Convention.
The Ramsar Committee is the focal point for
implementation of Ramsar Convention and
identification and management of wetlands
of international significance. The Biological
Diversity Committee is concerned with
implementation of the United Nations
Convention on Biological Diversity
Convention and is in the process of prepar-
ing a national strategy for biological diversity
sustainability. Ad Hoc Committees are
established as appropriate. The strategy of
implementation by sub-committees facili-
tates the co-opting of competence and tech-
nical expertise from individuals, groups and
organizations without outlandish outlays of
financial resources. Service on the sub-com-
mittees is generally voluntary.
More problematic is the lack of
legal status in the Commission. No legally
binding obligations exist in relation to the
functioning of the Commission.
Consultation with it may be by-passed or
ignored when inconvenient or inexpedient.
There may be no legal basis for the involve-
ment of BEST in MEA implementation; an
issue that could call into question the valid-
ity of the environmental measures taken by
the Commission. Accordingly, the
Commission has sought support from inter-
national donor agencies in reviewing its
institutional and juridical arrangements.
Sub-component II of the Inter-American
Development Bank-sponsored Environ-
mental Management Policy and Institutional
Strengthening Project is to be focused on
preparation of a detailed institutional and
organizational assessment and recommen-
dations for the BEST Commission and
other agencies involved in environmental
management. The Project is also intended
to develop a long-term financial plan for
BEST and to assess the capacity in the
government agencies for quality control,
monitoring and enforcement.
9.3 Guyana: the Environmental
Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection
Agency Act 1996 was established by the
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as
the national lead environmental agency of
Guyana. The Guyana EPA has the sub-
stantive mandate and the institutional and
administrative apparatus similar to those in
Trinidad and Tobago.
Particular insights may be gained
in relation to MEA implementation in
Guyana by considering the implementation
of the UNCBD. Guyana signed the
Biological Diversity Convention in June
1992 and ratified it in August 1994. General
oversight responsibility for conservation of
biological diversity is conceded to the lead
environmental agency, the EPA, because of
that Agency's broad administrative and
implementation powers.
UNCBD implementation is assisted
by legislative support derived from fisheries
legislation (e.g. Fisheries Act 1957,
Fisheries Regulation, 1962, Fisheries
(Aquatic Wildlife Control) Regulation 1966);
forestry (The Forest Act and Forestry
Commission Act); wildlife (Wild Birds
Protection Act 1987). However, this legisla-
tion is generally outdated and inappropriate
for solving modern biological diversity prob-
lems. Legislation in relation to bio-safety
and intellectual property rights is even
more inadequate.
A National Biodiversity Strategy
was formulated in 1997 and a National
Biodiversity Action Plan is being developed
with local and international expertise.
The most innovative step taken by
Guyana pursuant to its commitment to con-
serve biological diversity was the conclu-
sion of the agreement in 1995 with the
Commonwealth Secretariat for the estab-
lishment of the Iworkrama International
Centre for Rain forest Conservation and
Development Programme. The Programme
Site covers 60,000 hectares of Guyana's
rainforests that under the Agreement are
dedicated to the international community.
The stated objective is to conserve biologi-
cal diversity and promote sustainable
development, and equitable and sustain-
able utilization of tropical rain forests that
will bring lasting ecological, economic and
social benefits to the peoples of Guyana
and contribute to the world's knowledge of
critical aspects of rain forest management
and development. The Agreement is
embodied in and receives legal status from
the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain
Forest Conservation and Development Act
1996.
9.4 Jamaica: The Natural Resources
Conservation Authority
The Natural Resources Conser-
vation Authority (NRCA) is the central
agency for the implementation for multilater-
al environmental agreements in Jamaica
and its centrality has been recognized with-
in the United Nations system (NRCA
Mission Statement). The Authority has been
designated as the focal point for activity
related to effectuating Jamaica's rights and
obligations under several specific ME As.
The Authority provides support and a coor-
dinating function in relation to all environ-
mental agreements to which the
Government of Jamaica is party. The
Authority also performs the role of "default
agency"; where an MEA is not the responsi-
bility of any other specific agency it may be
taken that Authority has the responsibility for
its implementation. To this end the Authority
has undertaken or coordinated a number of
MEA project-based activity, developed a
large number of policy documents critical to
MEA implementation, and delegated man-
agement functions related to MEA imple-
mentation to Non-Governmental
Organizations.
The multilateral environmental
treaties for which the Authority has specific
implementing functions include:
• Vienna Convention for the Protection of
the Ozone Layer, Vienna, 1985.
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that
deplete the Ozone Layer, Montreal 1987.
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• London amendment to the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that deplete the
Ozone Layer, Copenhagen 1990.
• Copenhagen amendment to the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that deplete the
Ozone Layer, Copenhagen 1992.
• Montreal amendment to the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer, Montreal 1997.
• Convention on International Trade in
endangered Species of Wild Flora and
Fauna (CITES).
• Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance especially as Waterfowl
Habitats.
• Convention for the Protection and
Development of the Marine Environment
of the Wider Caribbean Region,
Cartagena de Indias, 1983 (Cartagena
Convention).
• Protocol to the Cartagena Convention
concerning Cooperation in Combating
Oil Spills in the Wider Caribbean Region
[Oil Spills Protocol].
• Protocol to the Cartagena Convention on
Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife.
Administration of multilateral envi-
ronmental treaties necessarily falls upon
the Natural Resources Conservation Authority
in the absence of specific designation of
other agency because the Authority has
broad responsibility for protecting and con-
serving the physical environment of
Jamaica. Conventions that are adminis-
tered by the Natural Resources
Conservation Authority in the absence of
special designation of another agency
include.
• Convention on Transboundary Movement
of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal
(BASEL Convention).
• Convention on the Conservation of
Migratory Species of Wild Animals Bonn,
1972.
The Authority necessarily plays a
coordinating role in relation to the imple-
mentation of all environmental treaties by
virtue of its lead agency status. The
Authority has broad responsibility for pro-
tecting and conserving the physical envi-
ronment of Jamaica. There are also statu-
tory provisions requiring consultation and
collaboration between the Natural
Resources Conservation Authority and
other agencies exercising environmental
functions. Coordination is presently most
evident with Planning and Ministry of
Agriculture officials. MEAs in relation to
which the Natural Resources Conservation
Authority performs a support/coordinating
role include:
• Convention concerning the Protection of
the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,
1972 [in conjunction with the Jamaica
National Heritage Trust].
• International Convention on the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships,
London 1973 (MARPOL) [in conjunction
with the Ministry of Transport].
• Protocol of 1978 relating to the
International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships,
London 1973 [in conjunction with the
Ministry of Transport].
• United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea, Montego Bay [in conjunction
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs].
• International Convention for the Safety of
Life at Sea [in conjunction with the
Ministry of Transport].
• United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change, New York, 1992 [in
conjunction with the Meteorological Office].
• Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change, Kyoto, 1997 [in conjunction with
the Meteorological Office].
• Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio
de Janeiro, 1992 [in conjunction with the
Institute of Jamaica].
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• United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification, Paris, 1994 [in conjunc-
tion with the Ministry responsible for
Water].
The Natural Resources Conser-
vation Authority has been relatively suc-
cessful in the implementation of MEAs
falling directly or indirectly within its
purview. The Authority has attracted inter-
national funding for several of its activities
in addition to the domestic sources of fund-
ing identified in its parent statute. The
Authority has been able to undertake sev-
eral MEA project-related activities, develop
a large number of policy documents that
directly impact MEA implementation.
Where constraint of resources has threat-
ened to curtail implementing activity the
NRCA has developed the innovative tech-
nique of delegating management functions
to Non-Governmental Organizations.
NGOs are authorized in this way upon the
Natural Resources Conservation
Authority's approval of their corporate and
institutional suitability management plans,
plans for attracting funding, and indication
of reasonable prospects for sustainability.
9.5 Trinidad and Tobago: The
Environmental Management
Authority
Prior to 1995, environmental man-
agement in Trinidad and Tobago was char-
acterized by a lack of environmental and
conservation focus. Over forty separate
pieces of environmental legislation existed
with many obsolete with inadequate penal-
ty structures little cross-sectoral linkages
and no facility for the establishment of
broad environmental standards. After a
gestation period compared to that of an
elephant (Trinidad Guardian Newspaper
94-09-14) the Environmental Management
Act of Trinidad and Tobago was assented to
on 7th March 1995 (Act No. 3 of 1995). Not
the least interesting aspect of the Act of
1995 is the unprecedented array of institu-
tions established with varying kinds of
responsibility for environmental manage-
ment. The lead agency is undoubtedly the
Environmental Management Agency, but
there is also an Environmental Trust Fund,
and the Environmental Commission. The
Environmental Trust Fund was established
to finance the operations of the Authority
and derives resources from government,
endowments, international donors, pay-
ment for EMA's services, and borrowings.
The European Commission has a broad
mandate to hear environmental disputes
that may be conferred on the Commission
and exercises the jurisdiction and powers
equivalent to a High Court.
There are no express provisions in
the EMA pertaining to MEA implementation
but the Authority is necessarily pivotal to
the effectuation of all MEA obligations. The
general functions of the Authority which
necessarily impinge upon MEA implemen-
tation include the following:
• Make Recommendations for a National
Environmental Policy.
• Develop and implement policies and pro-
grammes for the effective management
and wise use of the environment.
• Co-ordinate environmental management
functions performed by persons in
Trinidad and Tobago.
• Make recommendations for the rationali-
zation of all governmental entities per-
forming environmental functions.
• Promote educational and public aware-
ness programmes on the environment.
• Develop and establish national environ-
mental standards and criteria.
• Monitor compliance with the standards,
criteria and programmes relating to the
environment.
• Take all appropriate actions for the pre-
vention and control of pollution and con-
servation of the environment.
• Establish and coordinate institutional
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linkages locally, regionally and interna-
tionally;
• Undertake anything incidental or con-
ducive to the performance of any of the
foregoing functions.
The range of its functions and pow-
ers made the Environmental Management
Authority the natural focal point for multilat-
eral environmental agreement implementa-
tion. On this ground, the Authority has
sought and obtained a loan from the World
Bank to facilitate its institutional and admin-
istrative work relevant to the effectuation of
such agreements as SPAW, United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change, the Convention on Biological
Diversity, and the Basel Convention. An
important stumbling block remains the pas-
sage of enabling legislation to provide the
framework for implementation. Particular
concerns have been expressed that neither
the Basel Convention nor MARPOL 73/78
has attracted the required domestic legisla-
tion. External funding is, however, assisting
with the development of the Environmental
Code, expected to be completed March
2000.
In executing its MEA implementa-
tion functions the EMA acts in concern with
regional project-based activities and institu-
tions. Particular mention was made of the
Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to
Climate Change in relation to the UNFCCC,
and the Wider Caribbean Initiative on Ship
Generated Wastes in relation to efforts to
implement the MARPOL convention.
As done elsewhere, the EMA has
engaged in the practice of delegating MEA
implementation function to agencies over
which it exercises supervisory, or at least
coordinating, functions. Such agencies are
in charge of attracting their own funding
and marshalling their own technical compe-
tence and expertise. The Forestry Division
of the Ministry of Agriculture seeks to
implement CITES by inter alia, providing for
declaration of sanctuaries and protected
areas, and provides for protected species
such as the leatherback turtle.
9.6 St. Kitts & Nevis: The Department
of the Environment
Of all Caribbean framework legisla-
tion, the National Conservation and
Environmental Protection Act 1987, 1996
of St. Kitts and Nevis makes the most
explicit provisions for the articulation of the
lead environmental agency (Department of
the Environment) into MEA implementa-
tion. The Department of the Environment is
expressly empowered to negotiate environ-
mental treaties initiated by regional and
international inter-governmental organiza-
tions and non-governmental organizations.
The Department also has the function of
implementing environmental policies, pro-
grammes and projects in order to achieve
sustainable development. This function
must be contextualized against the back-
ground where seven major MEAs are incor-
porated by the same statute and given the
"force of law" in St. Kitts & Nevis. For further
commentary see above.
10 DECS- RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The Fifth Meeting of the
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
(OECS) Ministers' Environment Policy
Committee, held in Montserrat, November
22 and 23, 2001, endorsed the recommen-
dation from the Ninth Meeting of the
Technical Advisory Committee (TAG) that a
Task Force on Multilateral Environmental
Agreements and Documents be estab-
lished. The objective of the Task Force
would be to make recommendations to the
Environment Policy Committee on viable
approaches to be adopted for the negotia-
tion and implementation of, and compliance
with, multilateral environmental agree-
ments. Consideration would be given to the
reduction of costs and achievement of effi-
ciency; enhancement of compliance; and
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
more effective implementation.
The inaugural meeting of the
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States-
Natural Resources Management Unit Task
Force on Multilateral Environmental
Agreements and Documents was held at
the DECS Secretariat, St. Lucia on March
27, 2002.
Both the Environment Policy
Committee and the Task Force recognize
several characteristics of treaty making and
implementation in the OECS sub-region
• Inadequate participation in negotiation,
lack of adequate discussion or even noti-
fication to national stakeholders prior to
signing and ratification, absence of
implementing legislation and institutional
support, and failure to supply material
and human resources for compliance
were among the deficiencies identified.
The divorce between state protocols for
negotiation and implementation, and the
fragmentation in the institutional arrange-
ments for implementation, were identified
as further obstacles to be dealt with.
• The sub-region is considering the need
to revise the current methods of negotia-
tion and implementation of MEA/Ds and
that some degree of regionalization,
based upon one or other of the following
paradigms:
• The Regional Negotiating Machinery
• The South Pacific Regional
Environmental Programme
• The Alliance of Small Island States
• Caribbean Community
• Organization of Eastern Caribbean
States-Natural Resources
Management Unit Task Force
• That there was support for the position
put forward in the Recent "Anderson"
Report that this function could be per-
formed by the OECS-NRMU and that the
establishment of the office of Treaty
Officer would be useful in that context.
• That the regional body chosen to fulfill
this task should be fully accredited.
• That protocols and procedures should be
established that would enable the region-
al body to attend negotiating sessions,
conferences of the parties, and other rel-
evant meetings, using the financial
resources available from the secretariats
of the conventions whenever possible.
• That the regional body would make rec-
ommendations on negotiations and
implementation strategies but that ulti-
mate decision on binding international
rights and obligations would remain in
the individual states, thereby preserving
state sovereignty.
• That the regional entity should undertake
to review and evaluate, on a continuing
basis, the pitfalls and benefits arising
from environmental agreements, drawing
upon existing documentation wherever
possible.
• The regional body would perform a cat-
alytic role in ensuring the preparation
and coordination of negotiating positions
in all relevant international forums.
• That under the auspices of the regional
entity or otherwise the following tasks
would be undertaken:
• Investigation of the feasibility of hav-
ing a single environmental law pro-
viding regulatory and institutional
support for negotiation and imple-
mentation;
• Evaluation of the cost of compliance
and of all available financial
resources for compliance;
• Provision of periodic training semi-
nars, workshops, short courses on
multilateral environmental agree-
ments utilizing resources available at
UWI and other regional institutions;
• The further integration of the various
Caribbean Community Ministerial
Councils in relation to environmental
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management issues;
• Examination of the feasibility of using
regional conventions to implement
global agreements (e.g., using SPAW
to implement CITES) thereby reduc-
ing costs and furthering efficiencies.
11 RESOURCES AND PROJECT
BASED ACTIVITY
11.1 Organization of Eastern Caribbean
States: Solid and Ship-Generated
Waste Management Project
The independent governments of
the Organization for Eastern Caribbean
States (OECS) have the beneficiaries of
loan, credit and grant funds from the
International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD), the Caribbean
Development Bank, Global Environmental
Facility and other agencies to finance the
Solid and Ship-Generated Waste
Management Project. The objective of the
Project is to address the problems of man-
aging ship and shore generated waste in
the countries of Antigua and Barbuda,
Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St.
Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The improvement of solid waste manage-
ment systems in the OECS is anticipated to
enhance the quality of both terrestrial and
marine environments.
The Project has both national and
sub-regional components. The national
components include provision of materials
and equipment to enhance solid waste
storage, collection, treatment and disposal,
and the handling of ship-generated wastes.
The regional component involves manage-
ment support and the provision of technical
assistance to the countries in order to
improve the regulatory environment,
strengthen management capabilities,
improve day to day monitoring of waste
management systems and identify opportu-
nities for waste reduction, recycling, recov-
ery and re-use. Specifically, the project
supports and provides for five principal pro-
grammes:
• Construction of new sanitary landfills or
the upgrading of existing landfills.
• A system of waste collection and disposal
for MARPOL Annex V wastes.
• Enhancement of waste collection, including,
where appropriate, development of trans-
fer stations, and provision of equipment.
• Waste minimization/recycling through
analysis of policy measures needed for
encouraging waste minimization.
• Institutional strengthening, including
development of legislation on solid waste
and environmental health as well as pub-
lic education programmes.
The initiation and operationaliza-
tion of this project has greatly facilitated
practical steps at the national level to
implement relevant conventions such as
MARPOL 73/78, and the London
Convention, 1972, 1996.
11.2 Wider Caribbean Initiative on
Ship-Generated Waste
The proliferation of MEAs relating
to protection of the marine environment has
informed IMO policy in relation to
Caribbean states. At the Organization of
American States/International Maritime
Organization/USAOD/Government of
Puerto Rico Workshop on Oil Pollution
Regulation and Enforcement held in San
Juan, Puerto Rico 11-15 October 1982 the
International Maritime Organization esti-
mated that over 30 treaties regulating the
discharge of maritime pollution could be
identified. In this context the Organization
projected that in future more emphasis had
to be placed upon the implementation and
enforcement of the existing Conventions
rather than the creation of new
Conventions. The Organization offered
assistance on a regional basis to
Caribbean countries and Caribbean states
indicated a preference for technical assis-
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tance with the development of the required
implementing legislation, and technical and
financial assistance with regard to the
development of port reception facilities.
Within this general context the
International Maritime Organization con-
ducted a number of Missions to several of
the region's developing countries in the
early 1980s. A Mission by the International
Maritime Organization Inter-Regional
Consultant on Marine Pollution was made
to the Caribbean Islands of Antigua,
Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands,
and The Bahamas from 3 February to 3
March 1981; to the Republic of Guyana
from 18 to 24 March 1980; and to the
Commonwealth of The Bahamas 25
February to 11 March 1981. (The Three
Reports are available as International
Maritime Organization Publications com-
piled by Cmdr. T.M. Hayes).
International Maritime Organization
was responsible for introducing the Draft
Protocol Concerning Cooperation in com-
bating Oil Spills in the Wider Caribbean to
the first meeting of legal experts convened
by the Executive Director of UNEP in New
York from 7 to 11 December 1981 to con-
sider flexible and general legal regional
arrangements to support the then emerging
Caribbean Environment Programme. The
Draft was considered in detail at the sec-
ond meeting of Legal Experts opened by
UNEP in cooperation with International
Maritime Organization at the UN
Headquarters in New York from 7 to 16 July
1982. At this meeting the International
Maritime Organization indicated the possi-
bility of linking the draft protocol to the
Convention. After a third and final meeting
of the Legal Experts in Santo Domingo,
from 3-5 November 1982 the Convention
and Oilspill Protocol were finalized. Both
instruments were adopted at the
Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the
Protection and Development of the Wider
Caribbean Region at Cartagena de Indias,
Colombia, from 21 to 24 March 1983 and
entered into force on 11 October 1986. The
Cartagena Convention, like others devel-
oped under UNEP Regional Seas
Programme, is a framework document
requiring cooperation among contracting
states; to safeguard the integrity of this
approach parties are required to accept
more detailed commitment to prevent
marine pollution from at least once specific
source. The Oilspill Protocol remained, until
June 1991, the only protocol to have been
adopted pursuant to this policy. Since the
Cartagena Convention requires that each
contracting state becomes, simultaneously,
a contracting party to at least one of its pro-
tocols, it followed that, for the first eight
years of the Convention's existence,
acceptance of the OILSPILL Protocol was
a necessary precondition to becoming a
party to the Cartagena Convention
(Anderson (1997) at p. 225).
There was a relative lull in
International Maritime Organization activity
in the Caribbean until the development of
the Wider Caribbean Initiative on Ship-
Generated Waste. Wider Caribbean Initiative
on Ship-Generated Waste is a Technical
Assistance Project developed on the
request of the 22 Developing Countries in
the Wider Caribbean region. The objective is
to support implementation of the
International Convention for the Prevention
of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78)
and the Special Area designation of Annex V
of the Convention. The Project is funded by
the Global Environmental Facility through
the World Bank, and is implemented by the
International Maritime Organization.
Most developed countries have rat-
ified MARPOL 73/78 but the status of ratifi-
cation for developing countries in the Wider
Caribbean region is relatively modest. Even
where some States have ratified, little or no
action has been taken to implement the
requirements of the Convention. MARPOL
73/78 is perceived to be a highly technical
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instrument making special demands in
terms of provision of port reception facilities
and the like which require external techni-
cal and financial assistance. A need specif-
ically recognized was that of the develop-
ment of national legislation to enable
enforcement of the Convention.
Programme activities were envis-
aged to encourage countries of the region
to invest in port reception facilities, waste
management infrastructure and institution-
al training programmes. These would con-
tribute towards the longer-term goal of end-
ing the discharge of all-ship generated
wastes into the waters of the Caribbean
Sea. Project activities included:
• Assistance to governments and port
authorities on legal, technical, and insti-
tutional measures needed to implement
MARPOL 73/78.
• Provision of a forum for considering
options and for reaching a regional con-
sensus on the actions to be taken.
• Assisting ports in the Wider Caribbean
Region in setting tariffs for receiving
Annex I, II and V wastes, including cost
recovery for waste management sys-
tems.
11.3 Caribbean Planning for Adaptation
to Climate Change Project
One of the most significant initia-
tive in Caribbean implementation of UNFC-
CC has been the development of the
Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to
Climate Change Project funded by the
Global Environmental Facility. The
Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to
Climate Change Project is currently undo-
ing important institutional changes but as
initially conceived Project had its origin in
the Global Conference on the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing
States which took place in Barbados in
April/May 1994. In the words of the
Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to
Climate Change Project Document (1997):
"During the Conference, the small island
developing states of the Caribbean
requested GS/OAS assistance in develop-
ing a project on adaptation to climate
change for submission to the Global
Environmental Facility."
The Global Environmental Facility
Council approved the project as part of its
Work Program in May 1995. Caribbean
countries and the Caribbean Community
have maintained an active level of partici-
pation throughout the project preparation
phase. A Project National Focal Point
(NFP) was designated for each country.
During the project preparation phase, two
regional workshops and a national consul-
tation workshop took place in each of the
eleven participating countries. A third
regional workshop on the project was held
as part of the pre-appraisal review of the
project document.
In the words of the Project
Document: "The project's overall objective
is to support Caribbean countries in prepar-
ing to cope with the adverse effects of glob-
al climate change, particularly sea level
rise, in coastal and marine areas through
vulnerability assessment, adaptation plan-
ning, and capacity building linked to adap-
tation planning. Project encouraged adop-
tion of specific measures for strengthening
regional capability for:
• monitoring and analyzing climate and
sea level dynamics and trends, seeking
to determine the immediate and potential
impacts of global climate change;
• identifying areas particularly vulnerable
to the adverse effects of climate change
and sea level rise;
• developing an integrated management
and planning framework for cost-effective
response and adaptation to the impacts
of global climate change on coastal and
marine areas;
• enhancing regional and national capabili-
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ties for preparing for the advent of global
climate change through institutional
strengthening and human resource
development.
11.4 Integrated Coastal Zone
Management Project
The Integrated Coastal Zone
Management Project emerged to satisfy
the requirements of the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing
States-Programme of Action and has inti-
mate linkages to Caribbean Planning for
Adaptation to Climate Change. Integrated
Coastal Zone Management is one of the
most effective ways of planning for adapta-
tion to climate change. To this end the OAS
contracted consultants in 1998 to conduct a
survey and make recommendations on
integrated coastal zone management and
legislation in selected countries of the
Anglophone Caribbean. In 1999 US
Agency for International Development
(USAID) contracted consultants to broaden
the Integrated Coastal Zone Management
Project to include recommendations in
respect of all Caribbean countries, albeit by
categories. Category 1 focuses on the
mainland states of Guyana and Belize.
Category 2 on the larger/more developed
islands such as Jamaica, Bahamas,
Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados.
Category 3 includes the island states of the
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.
The Integrated Coastal Zone
Management Project Report record that
integrated coastal zone management is
assuming increasing importance in the
Caribbean. Management systems are
being developed to deal with growing prob-
lems of coastal deterioration caused by
rapidly expanding levels of beach tourism,
growing urbanization of coastal lands and
coastal sand-mining used to support the
construction industry in coastal areas and
elsewhere. Exposure of coastal areas to
the risk of maritime oil pollution has also
encouraged the stimulation of pollution
control legislation.
The tradition of fragmented admin-
istrative approach to coastal zone manage-
ment has experienced significant improve-
ment in the last ten years. Currently,
Caribbean countries present a multiplicity
of management frameworks. There was
independent stand-alone coastal zone leg-
islation, umbrella legislation regulating
coastal resources as a component within a
comprehensive environmental strategy,
and fragmented legislative systems in
which the coastal zone is managed on an
ad hoc basis in response to specific prob-
lems. In every instance, recognition of the
vulnerability of the coastal zone to sea level
rise and the requirement for regulation of
pollutants that cause climate change tends
to be implied and not expressed.
The consultants were of the view
that sustainable management of coastal
resources raises continuing challenges
even for those countries with sophisticated
management strategies. Here questions of
explicating management objectives, inte-
grating international controls, and testing,
improving and maintaining efficient man-
agement strategies predominate. The exis-
tence of improved coastal management
practices in some Caribbean countries pro-
vides important lessons for the regional
management of coastal resources. This is
especially valuable in relation to small
island states with similar coastal zone prob-
lems but without the human, material or
technical resources to fashion an indige-
nous management strategy. Adoption of
new legislation in these countries brings
questions of ensuring suitability to the spe-
cific local context. There are further issues
of ensuring the legislation's integration into
the pre-existing legal infrastructure.
Significant legislative and institu-
tional improvements, associated with the
Integrated Coastal Zone Management
Project and similar project-activity have
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occurred in Barbados (See: Coastal Zone
Management Act 1998) and Belize
(Coastal Zone Management Act 1998 (No.
5 of 1998)); and there is heightened activi-
ty in relation to ICZM in such countries as
St. Lucia, Jamaica, and The Bahamas.
11.5 Regional Project Activity in
Relation to Biological Diversity
In relation to the Convention on
Biological Diversity (Biodiversity Convention),
adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, a
1997 Review of the Implementation of the
Small Island Developing States-
Programme of Action United Nations
Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean suggested that conser-
vation of biological diversity had been pro-
moted by researchers and environmental
and conservation organizations. However, it
was found that the subject "has not found
widespread support among the general
population" (UNECLAC Review (1997) at p.
24). Key issues identified in the Review
included the following:
• Lack of inventory of biological resources.
• Lack of integrated strategies for the man-
agement of terrestrial and marine bio-
diversity.
• Inadequate socio-economic and biologi-
cal research on key species.
• Increasing habitat degradation and
destruction.
• Unsustainable exploitation of commer-
cially important indigenous species.
• Insufficient or non-existent safeguards
against loss of rights to genetic
resources.
A major regional project activity
has been the relatively low budget (US$0.6
million) "A Conservation Assessment of the
Terrestrial Eco-regions of Latin America
and the Caribbean" funded by the World
Bank, Global Environmental Facility and
World Wildlife Fund. The executing agen-
cies were the World Wildlife Fund and
International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development.
The Project was conceptualized on
the basis of limited resources and the need
to balance conservation interests and the
imperatives of economic development.
These considerations suggested that an
objective regional framework can be a use-
ful input to help guide the investment deci-
sions of regional organizations such as the
International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, Global Environmental
Facility, or major international conservation
NGOs, such as World Wildlife Fund. To this
end, the International Bank for Recon-
struction and Development contracted the
World Wildlife Fund to carry out an in-depth
study to assess the conservation status of
terrestrial biodiversity in Latin America and
the Caribbean. LAC was divided into 178
natural terrestrial units, called ecoregions,
as well as 13 mangrove complexes. Using
an approach based on the science of land-
scape ecology and conservation biology,
the conservation status and biological dis-
tinctiveness of each ecoregion was deter-
mined. As regards Small Island developing
states in the Caribbean the Project focused
upon identification of biological resources,
land resources and capacity building. The
Project resulted in a published Report high-
lighting the most biologically valuable and
threatened ecoregions of LAC.
Important regional activity to pro-
tect biological diversity is carried on under
the Caribbean Environmental Programme,
which forms the core of the UNEP's
Regional Seas Programme in the
Caribbean. Conservation of biological
resources falls within the objective of the
SPAW Protocol and thus overlaps consid-
erably with the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity.
The direct impact of these regional
activities upon national implementing
efforts may be characterized as average.
Traditional regulatory activities in such sec-
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tors as fisheries and forestry involving the
taking of measures for the conservation of
biological resources have evolved along
separate lines. Admittedly, the widespread
adoption of CBD and the increasing
acceptance of the SPAW Protocol have
encouraged a spate of recent activities.
With Global Environmental Facility support
virtually all-Caribbean countries have pre-
pared or are preparing individual biodiversi-
ty strategy and action plans and a related
first report to Conference of Parties to the
Biological Diversity Convention. Funding
from other external agencies sometimes
demonstrate a preference for private sec-
tor-led initiatives. For example, the
Montego Bay Marine Park Trust benefited
from a US$25,000 grant from USAID. The
Trust was the first local community group to
be delegated authority for the management
of park resources. The grant was used to
establish basic administrative systems and
equipment needed to strengthen the Trust's
administrative capabilities as it prepared to
assume the official responsibility for the
Marine Park's sustainable management.
Similarly, the private sector oriented BEST
Commission in The Bahamas secured
IADB funding for institutional review and
strengthening. Also the National Wetlands
Committee of Trinidad and Tobago, a
Cabinet appointed inter-sectoral commit-
tee, responsible for formulating a wetlands
policy through which the wise use the coun-
try's wetlands can be achieved, has attract-
ed external funding. Much of the policy for-
mulated by the Committee was in compli-
ance with the guidelines listed in the
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands but obvi-
ously also facilitate the conservation of bio-
logical resources.
12 GUIDELINES FOR MEA
IMPLEMENTATION
12.1 Introduction
The most effective MEA imple-
menting strategies are those supported by
legal, administrative, institutional, technical
and funding arrangements that address
directly carrying out of the obligations
under the conventions. Such arrangements
provide a catalyst for ongoing environmen-
tal management objectives and allow for
capacity building and thus respond to the
requirement of facilitating the long-term
sustainability of environmental manage-
ment activity.
There are no prescribed formal
national guidelines governing the opera-
tionalisation of MEAs in any Common-
wealth Caribbean country. However, over
time various practices have evolved which
would, probably, be regarded as more
effective in some countries of the region
than in others.
The following Guidelines for MEA
Implementation are drawn mainly from the
experience of those Caribbean countries
that have expended most energy and
resources in trying to come to terms with
the carrying out of MEA obligations. The
Guidelines are a work in progress and are
suggested as useful points for information
discussion and analysis rather than as
models for uncritical national action.
12.2 Environmental Treaty Making
MEA implementation has evolved
on the basis of processes that require
development of two types of national focal
points, the political focal point and the tech-
nical focal point
The political focal point is generally
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is
responsible for environmental treaty mak-
ing on behalf of the state whereas the tech-
nical focal point is generally responsible for
formulating and executing a national work
programme in accordance with country
obligations under the convention. In prac-
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tice the technical focal point may be a
Ministry, Government Department, statutory
corporation, or a semi-private sector
agency.
Under the present arrangements
the obligations of the political focal point
end with the act of formal acceptance,
unless, perchance, performance of the
treaty falls within the substantive purview of
the Ministry. This could be unsatisfactory
since instances have arisen where other
agencies of state have been unaware of the
acceptance of an MEA and therefore of
their responsibilities for carrying out obliga-
tions under the agreement. At minimum
there should be clear administrative proce-
dures by which the political focal point con-
veys the nature and extent of state accept-
ance of MEAs to all relevant public and pri-
vate sector stakeholders with relevant func-
tions to perform.
An alternative to administrative
notification is provision for overlapping
jurisdiction between the technical and polit-
ical focal points. This is the case in St. Kitts
and Nevis where the Department of the
Environment is given statutory powers to
participate in the negotiation and conclu-
sion of environmental treaties. This proce-
dure has obvious advantages in terms of
awareness and preparedness for imple-
mentation of relevant treaty obligations.
Caribbean countries should:
• Identify/ensure clear delineation of the
principal political and technical focal
points for MEAs and ensure adequate
levels of staffing and funding.
• Ensure that the political focal point is
aware of and in regular contact with the
technical focal point or technical focal
points responsible for implementation of
each MEA.
• Ensure proper notification procedures by
the political focal point of all accepted
MEAs accepted by to all relevant agen-
cies and actors.
• Provide, as appropriate, for the involve-
ment by the technical focal point in the
negotiation, conclusion, and acceptance
of MEAs.
• Ensure that the political focal point does
not communicate final acceptance or rati-
fication of the MEA to the Secretariat of
the Convention until any required imple-
menting legislation has been enacted.
12.3 The Ratification Process
The traditional procedure for envi-
ronmental treaty making involves final
acceptance or ratification by Cabinet acting
through the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The
Executive had and exercised a complete
monopoly over treaty negotiation, conclu-
sion, acceptance or ratification on the
ground that external affairs fell within the
monopoly of the Executive. Parliament
played no role in treaty making.
Consistent with the constitutional
principle that Executive could not make law
for the citizenry, MEAs concluded on behalf
of the state had no direct effect within the
national legal system unless and until
Parliament intervened to pass an enabling
or implementing Act. In order to be effective
domestically, the treaty had to "incorporat-
ed" or "transformed" into national law by leg-
islation. There are several instances in
where the Executive entered into treaties
that cannot properly be implemented
because there was an absence of imple-
menting legislation (see e.g., National
Resources Conservation Authority v.
Seafood and Ting (1999) (Jamaica Court of
Appeal)). Parliament, in its deliberative dis-
cretion could also decide against the legisla-
tive implementation of the treaty provision.
The dualistic approach to treaty
making and treaty implementation followed
in the Caribbean is, generally speaking,
inefficient and outdated.
Antigua and Barbuda, uniquely,
adopts a more modern approach. In that
country, Parliament is legislatively given a
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role in treaty ratification. Before MEAs and
other treaties can be considered binding on
the state. This procedure facilitates the
involvement of the Parliament in the treaty
making process. Televised parliamentary
debates on treaty ratification also encour-
age public awareness, education and
involvement. The process is intended and
has the practical effect of empowering pub-
lic participation at every stage of the imple-
mentation cycle as required by the Rio
Declaration and basic tenets of participatory
democracy.
Following parliamentary final
approval of the MEA, official communica-
tion of the final acceptance or ratification is
communicated to the Convention Secre-
tariat the Executive (normally the Minister
of Foreign Affairs).
Caribbean countries should:
• Identify or establish, as appropriate,
clear procedures for MEA ratification.
• Legislate a role for Parliament in treaty
acceptance and ratification.
• Ensure that the description of treaties
requiring Parliamentary approval or ratifi-
cation is broad enough to include all sig-
nificant MEAs.
• Ensure development of procedures man-
dating that approval by Parliament be fol-
lowed by communication of the state's
acceptance by the political focal point to
the Convention Secretariat.
• Ensure public broadcast and/or dissemi-
nation of Parliamentary debates and dis-
cussions on treaty ratification.
• Ensure that Parliamentary approval or
ratification reflects, simultaneously, leg-
islative incorporation of the MEA into
domestic law.
• Subject MEA denunciation to a process
of parliamentary involvement similar to
that of MEA acceptance.
• Work toward constitutional entrenchment
of the Parliamentary approval or ratifica-
tion/denunciation process.
• Ensure, between the time of signing and
ratification of the MEA, that the state and
all its organs refrain from activity that
would defeat the object and purpose of
the treaty.
12.4 Passage of Enabling or
Implementing Legislation
In the Caribbean constitutional
system, the decision to accept a MEA must
be conjoined with Parliamentary passage
of enabling legislation; i.e., legislation that
incorporates relevant provisions of the con-
vention thus allowing for its application
domestically.
Pragmatism argues that the legis-
lation should be adopted prior to final ratifi-
cation of the Convention. This avoids the
unfortunate situation illustrated in Natural
Resources Conservation Authority v.
Seafood & Ting (1999) in which national
environmental agencies have no legal
authority to adopt measures to implement
conventions to which the state is party
because Parliament has been slow to enact
the enabling legislation.
Incorporation "in advance" of ratifi-
cation is generally preferable but could
result in the delay of treaty acceptance dur-
ing the research, drafting and passage of
the law. Drafting, technical, and financial
assistance may be available from the
Secretariats of some of the Conventions.
Enabling legislation, whether enact-
ed before or after ratification may be of at
least two types. Legislation may incorpo-
rate by (a) re-enactment or (b) reference.
Incorporation by re-enactment is
generally preferable because institutional,
administrative, regulatory and penal meas-
ures required by the MEA may be translat-
ed into domestic law at the same time. This
method also allows the state to translate
any "soft law" type obligations into appro-
priate "hard law" legislative standard and to
omit provisions in respect of which the state
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entered a reservation. Final clause may
also not be incorporated.
However, this approach places a
premium on the possession of drafting skills
and technical competence. There is also the
risk that conventional obligations could also
get lost in the translation resulting in incon-
sistency between the legislation and the
MEA. Where the wording of the legislation is
clear and unambiguous the local courts are
constitutionally obliged to apply it even if in
contravention of provisions in a convention
to which the state is a party.
Incorporation by reference has the
advantage of speed and simplicity.
Ratification need not be delayed for legisla-
tive considerations and the giving of "the
force of law" to the MEA must mean some
inter-penetration of the Agreements into
the national legal system.
However, the obligations of the ref-
erenced agreements are not necessarily
(and not usually) thereby fulfilled. In particu-
lar incorporation by reference does not cre-
ate any required institutions in domestic law.
The combination of both methods
could possible provide the best technique
in this regard. Where incorporation by re-
enactment is impractical within the required
time frame, incorporation by reference may
be chosen as a temporary expedient. As
soon as possible after the incorporation by
reference, the referring legislation should
be supplemented by substantive provisions
contained in ancillary legislation as soon as
practicable.
Caribbean Countries should:
• Ensure the passage of implementing or
enabling legislation prior to final accept-
ance or ratification of the MEA.
• Provide for the acquisition and retention
of suitable drafting skills and expertise.
• Where necessary, accept/solicit assis-
tance with the drafting of implementing
legislation from the Secretariat of the
Convention and/or from competent inter-
national global and regional organizations.
• Consider the relative merits of legislation
that implements by re-enactment as
compared with legislation that imple-
ments by reference.
• Where because of limited resources, exi-
gencies of time, or other reasons, pas-
sage of full implementing legislation is
impractical, consider utilization of the
abbreviated form of incorporation by ref-
erence illustrated by the National
Conservation and Environmental
Protection Act (Amendment) 1996 of St.
Kitts and Nevis.
• Combine, as appropriate, the methods of
implementation by re-enactment and ref-
erence.
• Ensure that the implementing legislation
is consistent with the and fulfills the MEA
obligations.
• Ensure that implementing legislation cre-
ates any required institutional, adminis-
trative and policy-making arrangements.
• Ensure that implementing legislation pro-
vides all appropriate administrative.
• Ensure that the implementing legislation
provides adequate penalties and incen-
tives to foster compliance with the MEA.
• Provide that in the even of conflict
between the domestic legislation and the
MEA, the MEA should prevail unless the
relevant Minister, by formal procedure,
provides expressly to the contrary.
• Ensure that the courts are empowered to
take judicial notice of ME As that have
been incorporated into domestic law.
• Ensure that implementing legislation is
revised and updated to keep pace with
amendments to the treaty regimes that
have been accepted by the state.
12.5 The Technical Focal Point: the
National Implementing Agency
In the best practice, the technical
focal point is also the national implement-
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ing agency for MEA operationalisation.
A national implementing agency
constitutes an important element in the pro-
gramme of MEA implementation. Such an
agency is the catalyst for environmental
management and for continuing public
information and awareness. The agency
may also possess powers in relation to the
negotiating international environmental
agreements and given the typically broad
environmental mandate is necessarily cen-
tral to MEA implementation. Regulatory
techniques include "command and control"
as well as market-oriented strategies. The
latter is increasingly recommended in
MEAs, particularly the United Nations
Framework Convention On Climate
Change and its Kyoto Protocol.
The nature of the implementing
function necessarily means that the NEA
must be a cross-sectoral and coordinating
body rather than the sectoral institutions
that traditionally characterize Caribbean
regulatory arrangements.
It may be that organization within
the government (e.g., as a Department of
the Environment within a Ministry of the
Environment) may provide greater function-
al independence than organization as a
"parastatal" organization (e.g., a statutory
corporation). The bureaucratic tradition and
trade union involvement in the civil service
could give such a Department significant
autonomy as compared with a statutory
corporation where members of the Board
are appointed and dismissed in the sole
discretion of a Minister. Contra wise, legis-
lating establishing Environmental Depart-
ments tends not to bind the Crown (or
State) and therefore do not control govern-
mental activity. This contrasts with the leg-
islative arrangements in respect of "paras-
tatal" bodies such as the Natural
Resources Conservation Authority in
Jamaica or the EMA in Trinidad and
Tobago.
The technical focal point is gener-
ally responsible for formulating and execut-
ing a national work programme in accor-
dance with country obligations under the
convention. All day-to-day responsibilities
fall under the management of the technical
focal point. In practice the technical focal
point may be a Ministry, Government
Department, statutory corporation, or a
semi-private sector agency.
The modus operand! varies but
there are common elements to some of the
more effective technical focal points.
Caribbean countries should devel-
op a broad legislative framework that:
• Provides the policy framework within
which MEA implementation takes place.
• Constitutes a technical focal point for
MEA implementation.
• Ensures that the technical focal point is
the national lead environmental agency.
• Decides, on the basis of the comparative
advantages, between establishment of
the lead agency within the government
as opposed to establishment as a statu-
tory corporation.
• Allows for at least minimum functional
and financial independence of the
agency.
• Provides that the mandate of the agency
includes the co-ordination and supervi-
sion of other bodies having environmen-
tal functions.
• Ensures availability of both "command
and control" measures as well as market
oriented strategies.
• Ensures that the agency dedicates spe-
cific resources to MEA implementation.
The National Environmental
Agency, as Technical Focal Point, should:
• Adopt specific MEA implementation
strategies.
• Determine the rights and obligations
accruing under the Agreement.
• Identify relevant local skills, expertise
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and allied resources.
• Ensure the ascertainment of the likely
impact of the treaty on economic growth
and development.
• Ascertain the treaty's likely impact on
sound regulation of relevant environmen-
tal problems.
• Ascertain the treaty's probable catalytic
role in furthering local environmental
management objectives.
• Ascertain whether and in what specific
ways the treaty recognizes the special
needs of developing countries.
• Ascertain whether the treaty provides
assistance for participation in meetings
and working groups to assure full partici-
pation.
• Ascertain whether the treaty establishes
funding mechanisms and procedures for
transfer of technology for treaty imple-
mentation.
• Ascertain whether the treaty allows for
adjustment of obligations and timetables
to recognize the social, economic, and
development needs of developing coun-
tries.
• Ensure that the state derives all financial
and technical resources for implementa-
tion available under the treaty.
• Ensure attendance at meetings, work-
shops and seminars concerned with
implementation.
• Ensure the submission of timely reports,
inventories etc, to the Secretariat of the
convention.
• Liaise closely with the Secretariat of the
Convention and (with any required clear-
ance from the political focal point)
promptly communicate problems that
impede compliance with the treaty.
• Ensure proper organization and execution
of project based implementing activity.
• Ensure compliance with relevant laws,
including the prosecution of offenders.
• Ensure establishment and observation of
proper domestic MEA monitoring and
compliance procedures.
• Ensure proper coordination with regional
and sub-regional bodies responsible for
MEA implementation projects.
• Oversee the employment of private con-
sultants/NGOs to provide necessary
skills and expertise not available "in-
house".
Where no national environmental
agency exists, Government should:
• There should be the convening of a
steering committee to oversee the MEA's
operationalisation.
• The steering committee should be 'high
powered' and appointed by Cabinet or
the Minister with competence for imple-
mentation of the MEA (e.g., the Minister
of the Environment).
• The steering membership of the steering
committee should comprise competent
persons from government agencies, civil
society and NGO who possess appropri-
ate skills and expertise relevant to the
particular convention.
• The steering committee should act under
the general advise and subject to the
general supervision of the relevant
Minister.
• In appropriate cases, constitute the
steering committee as the technical focal
point.
12.6 Regional and Sub-Regional
Project-Activity
Regional and sub-regional project
activities provide critical linkages between
the global MEA and the national imple-
menting agency. National institutions and
administrative arrangements benefit signifi-
cantly from the presence and operation.
Harmonization of national implementing
activity is fostered across a region with com-
mon historical, juridical and cultural charac-
teristics. Existing regional integration agree-
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ments (e.g., Caribbean Community) rein-
force the desirability for harmonization.
Regional project activity also lends to trans-
fer of technical and financial resources and
local capacity building that in turn promotes
sustainability.
The critical importance of regional
and sub-regional activity argues for the
development of appropriate project propos-
al to international donor/financing agen-
cies. Important requirements are made of
such proposals in terms of clarity of objec-
tives, institutional and administrative
arrangements, viability, and sustainability.
Increasingly, too, international agencies are
demonstrating a readiness to fund private
sector oriented management schemes and
proposals should reflect this consideration
in appropriate circumstances.
Caribbean countries should:
• Cooperate in MEA implementation by
working through existing regional organi-
zations such as Caribbean Community,
Caribbean Environment Programme/
United Nations Environment programme,
Organization of the Eastern Caribbean
States, Association of Caribbean States.
• Stimulate and negotiate the conclusion
of regional arrangements that are specifi-
cally designed for MEA implementation.
• Ensure that regional implementation proj-
ects reflect and respond to the local pri-
oritization of needs.
• Ensure that regional projects contain ini-
tiatives that facilitate local capacity build-
ing and institutional strengthening.
• Ensure that attention is given to the pro-
ject's long-term sustainability.
• Keep complete records of project activity
within their individual territory.
• Ensure closest possible coordination
between the focal point of regional activity
and the national technical focal point.
• Ascertain and evaluate the precise con-
tribution of the regional project on MEA
implementation objectives and obliga-
tions.
• Report on contribution of regional project
to Multilateral Environmental Agreement
implementation to the Secretariat of the
MEA.
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PANEK-GONDEK
175
EXPERIENCE OF THE INSPECTORATE FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN IMPLEMENTATION AND
ENFORCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN POLAND
PANEK-GONDEK, KRYSTYNA
Deputy Director of Organisation Department in the
Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection
Ul. Wawelska 52/54, 00 922 Warsaw, Poland
SUMMARY
The paper describes the development of Poland's environmental regulatory institu-
tions and their activities. It discusses the results of their work and the effectiveness of enforce-
ment instruments including: the "List of 80" - which focus of industries that have a particular-
ly adverse impact on the environment, fines, and orders suspending plant operation. It gives
brief descriptions of changes that have taken place during the last two years under adminis-
trative reforms and adjustments required for membership in the European Union.
1 ORGANISATION
The Inspectorate for Environmental
Protection (IEP) is the body responsible for
insuring compliance with environmental
regulations and the monitoring of environ-
mental conditions around the nation. The
IEP is headed by the Chief Inspector for
Environmental Protection. Each of Poland's
16 regions (Voivodships) has its own
Regional Inspectorate for Environmental
Protection, headed by the regional
Inspector. Regions with larger territories
also have field offices subordinate to the
regional Inspectors. There are 33 such field
offices in Poland. On the national scale, the
IEP currently employs 2500 people includ-
ing inspectors, laboratory staff, specialists
in environmental monitoring and support
personnel.
The Chief Inspector for Environ-
mental Protection formally supervises the
regional Inspectors. Thus, from the point of
the Code of Administrative Procedure, the
Chief Inspector is a superior body to the
regional Inspector. On the other hand,
regional Inspectors operate under the
structures of the regional Administration
subordinate to the head of the Region
(Voivod). This double responsibility is a
result of the Polish administration system
reform of 1999, which also created several
other sub-regional administrative entities: a
local government (Urz_d Marsza_kowski),
a middle level of local government (powiat),
and the smallest unit of local government
(gminas). One powiat usually groups 5-6
gminas.
The main goal of the Inspectorate's
control activities is enforcement of environ-
mental law. The Chief Inspector for
Environmental Protection issues inspection
directives. The regional Inspectors develop
annual work plans after reviewing these
directives, along with national and regional
environmental policies, environmental mon-
itoring information, inspection findings, and
comments from citizens the regional envi-
ronmental policy, the state of the environ-
ment as illustrated by monitoring results, the
findings of earlier inspections, as well as
complaints and protests of the citizens.
The Chief Inspector established the
following priorities in 2001:
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• Integration with the European Union by
transposing the aquis communautaire
and through projects aimed at strength-
ening administrative bodies and inspec-
tion services responsible for the imple-
mentation of European Union directives.
• Development and improvement of coop-
eration between regional inspectors and
the local administration bodies, including
heads of Voivodship self-governments,
regarding information exchange and sup-
port to inspection work.
• Reduction of environmental impact of the
country's largest polluters.
• Reduction of emission of air pollutants
from energy generating sources and
from industrial processes.
• Protection of water resources, with spe-
cial emphasis on underground waters
used by the population and by industries.
• Assessment of waste management,
including hazardous waste, compliance
2 ADJUSTMENT TO EUROPEAN UNION
REQUIREMENTS
One of the Inspectorate's priority
tasks is to adjust its work to the require-
ments of the European Union, including "the
European Parliament and the Council
Recommendation No. 2001/331/CE, setting
minimum criteria for environmental inspec-
tions in member states" of April 4, 2001. It is
important to standardise inspection work so
that entities receive equal treatment
throughout the country, as required by
Polish legislation, the code of administrative
practice, and the EU guidelines.
In order to standardise inspection
services in the country, the Chief Inspector
issued the latest of the "Guidelines on con-
ducting inspections and on post-inspection
activities of the Environmental Inspection"
on July 1, 2001. At present, these guide-
lines are being updated to reflect a recent
amendment in the Environmental Law and
to take into account the aforementioned
Recommendation of the European
Parliament.
The Chief Inspector plays an active
role in legislative development, by propos-
ing changes in the law and giving opinions
on draft laws and regulations. Moreover, the
Chief Inspector works with the Supreme
Chamber of Control, with local government
bodies and with Poland's other inspection
authorities and enforcement bodies, includ-
ing the State Sanitary Inspection, National
Labour Inspection, State Fire Brigades, the
Police, the Border Guard and the customs
administration. Through IMPEL, the
European Union Network for the
Implementation and Enforcement of
Environmental Law, and AC IMPEL, its twin
network in the candidate countries, the
Inspectorate is able to share experience
and cooperate with other European envi-
ronmental law enforcement agencies.
3 RESULTS OF THE INSPECTION'S
WORK
The Inspectorate keeps records of
business entities subject to inspection.
There were 46,018 entities registered in
2001 compared to 44,045 in 2000. The
inspections cover all aspects of the user's
environmental impact. The objectives of an
inspection are not limited to determining the
type and extent of environmental violations,
but also include identifying the causes of
irregularities and possibilities of their elimina-
tion, as well as identifying individuals respon-
sible for them. Post-inspection proceedings
review both the causes of the irregularities
and industries approach to solving the identi-
fied problems. The industries are responsible
for solving their environmental problems, but
the Inspectorate prefers to cooperate and
propose possible solutions rather than to limit
itself to sanctions.
Every year, the Inspectorate car-
ries out over 16,500 inspections. In 2001,
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PANEK-GONDEK
177
there were 4,600 comprehensive inspec-
tions, covering all environmental media
simultaneously; almost 9000 follow-up
inspections, aimed at checking the imple-
mentation of previous post-inspection
orders; and over 3000 inspections prompt-
ed by complaints and protests of citizens
and Members of the Parliament. If technical
conditions allow, during the inspections
control, emissions are measured. In 2001,
the 48 Inspectorate laboratories carried out
6,600 control measurements. All the labo-
ratories have implemented a quality assur-
ance system based on the standard PN -
EN 45 001 and on the ISO/IEC 25 manual
and are currently working to adapt their
systems to the requirements of the stan-
dard PN-EN ISO 17 025. 2001.
4 POLICY TOWARDS PARTICULARLY
SERIOUS POLLUTERS
The Inspectorate pays special
attention to supervision of industries that,
from the national perspective, have a par-
ticularly adverse impact on the environ-
ment. These industries are registered on
the so-called "List of 80", which was drawn
up in 1990 and originally included 80 enti-
ties. The aim was to ensure that the
progress made by these industries in solv-
ing their environmental problems was sys-
tematically monitored. The Chief Inspector
developed special guidelines on the control
of these industries. The Inspectorate's
enforcement measures, combined with
great pressure from the media and NGO's,
have prompted the industries to take the
steps necessary to be deleted from the list.
New environmental regulations
have introduced some modifications in the
procedures applicable to the industries list-
ed on the List of 80. Conditional deletion
from the list is possible, provided that the
industry has agreed to an adjustment pro-
gramme with the environmental authorities
and that it begins the implementation of
measures designed to ensure compliance
with the relevant permits. The industry will
be permanently deleted from the list upon
fulfilment of the obligations made at the
time of conditional deletion.
Being on the List of 80 and under a
tightened inspection regime has proved to
be an incentive for the industries to imple-
ment the necessary environmental meas-
ures. 52 plants were deleted from the List of
80 between its establishment in 1990 and
the end of 2001, including 36 industries
which managed to fully comply with envi-
ronmental regulations; 16 plants were
deleted conditionally upon starting of the
measures provided for in their approved
adjustment programmes. In the meantime,
a few new plants have been entered onto
the List of 80, by the end of February 2002
the List included 40 plants.
5 SUBJECT-FOCUSED INSPECTIONS
One of the measures used by the
Inspectorate to assess compliance with
selected environmental protection regula-
tions or environmental policy objectives is
subject-focused inspections on the national
scale
In 2001, the Inspection for En-
vironmental Protection conducted country-
wide subject-focused inspections to verify
the following areas:
• compliance with asbestos waste disposal
regulations;
• compliance by units which are users of
the environment with the obligation to
pay fees for the commercial use of the
environment;
• compliance with environmental regula-
tions by users of medical waste thermal
treatment systems;
• compliance with the law of decisions
issued by local governmental bodies in
relation to the use of the environment;
• compliance with environmental protection
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
regulations by organisational units man-
aging wholesale markets;
• compliance with environmental protection
regulations by industrial plants that use
animal tissue waste and carrion in the
production of meat/bone feeds;
• compliance with environmental protection
regulations by operators of hazardous
waste incineration systems;
• compliance with environmental protection
regulations by meat industry plants;
• protection against noise emission in
urban areas, with particular emphasis on
major transport routes;
• compliance with regulations on interna-
tional trade in ozone layer-depleting sub-
stances, which are controlled by the
Montreal Protocol.
6 OBLIGATORY FINES
When a plant exceeds permissible
levels of pollutant emission to the environ-
ment, specified in emission decisions, or
operates without necessary permits, the
Inspectorate is obliged by the Polish law to
impose a fine on the plant. In 2001, fines
were imposed on 4,181 industrial plants
(compared to 5,115 in 2000):
• 2,456 fines for sewage discharge and
exceeding permissible water consump-
tion levels (338 fines in 2000);
• 1,399 fines for emissions to the air
(1,225 in 2000);
• 96 fines for illegal waste storage or
waste storage not compliant with relevant
requirements (153 in 2000);
• 230 fines for noise emission (356 in 2000);
In 2001, the total value of the fines
imposed, calculated proportionally to the
duration of excess emissions or for the peri-
od between the occurrence of the violation
and the end of the calendar year, amount-
ed to 270.5 million PLN (66 million USD). In
2000 the figure was 404.8 million PLN (99
million USD).
7 FINE SUSPENSION SYSTEM
The main objective of the fines is to
stimulate pro-environmental measures by
plant. Therefore, if a fined plant undertakes
the obligation to implement within a speci-
fied time (no longer than 5 years) a project
to eliminate the cause of the sanction
imposed, the fine may be temporarily sus-
pended. If the goal is achieved within the
specified time, the fine is cancelled, if it is
lower than the investment outlays. If the fine
was higher, the plant pays the difference
only. Thus, the fine suspension system con-
verts sanctions into investments to elimi-
nate environmental law transgression.
In 2001, units of the Inspection for
Environmental Protection issued 668 deci-
sions suspending penalties for the total
amount of 168.9 million PLN (approximate-
ly 41 million USD). Out of 238 plants using
the suspension system, which by the end of
2001 were to complete investments elimi-
nating the cause of non-compliance, as
much as 236 (99%) met the deadline (in
2000 the proportion was 94%). It should be
stressed that the high efficiency of the sus-
pension system has been observed for a
number of years; the system strongly stim-
ulates business entities to undertake pro-
environmental measures.
If control measurements are taken
in a plant and, based on their results, an
administrative fine is imposed, the plant
also has to cover the costs of the measure-
ments. If the results demonstrate that the
plant operates in accordance with the law,
the costs of the inspection are covered by
the state budget. In 2001, 3612 decisions
were issued which imposed on the inspect-
ed plants the obligation to pay the costs of
inspections for the total amount of 5.4 mil-
lion PLN i.e. about 1.3 million USD (in 200,
3,567 decisions were issued for the total
amount of 3.2 million PLN i.e. approx. 0.8
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PANEK-GONDEK
179
million USD). As in previous years, in 2001
a high level of effectiveness in collecting
these payments was reported which was
92.8% (compared to 90.1% in 2000).
8 OTHER ENFORCEMENT
INSTRUMENTS
In addition to administrative fines,
the Inspectorate uses other instruments to
enforce compliance with environmental
regulations. These instruments include
post-inspection orders, setting deadlines to
eliminate law transgression, and, as a last
resort, suspension of the operation of the
plant/ installation. While taking these meas-
ures the Inspectorate is guided by the prin-
ciple of adequacy of the sanction used, so
that the penalty is proportional to the viola-
tion identified and takes into account the
plant's overall attitude to environmental
protection.
In 2001, the units of the Inspec-
torate issued 10,008 post-inspection orders
for the plants inspected (compared to
10,435 in 2000). The orders imposed the
obligation to eliminate violations detected,
to regulate formal and legal issues, etc. In
2001, Voivodship (regional) environmental
inspectors issued 82 decisions setting
deadlines for eliminating the violations
detected (in 2000 - 136 decisions) and 15
decisions suspending the operation of
organisational units (compared to 19 deci-
sions in 2000).
When a violation of environmental
protection law has the status of an offence
or crime, the Inspectorate is entitled to
impose an additional personalised fine
upon the individual guilty of the violation. In
total, the Inspectorate imposed 1,260 of
such personalised fines for the total sum of
176.5 thousand PLN i.e. approximately 43
thousand PLN (compared to 1,844 fines for
the total sum of 238.6 thousand PLN i.e.
about 58 thousand USD, in 2000). In justi-
fied cases, the Inspectorate has the right to
act as public prosecutor. In 2001, environ-
mental inspectors filed 43 cases with the
police and prosecution bodies (compared
to 68 cases in 2000) and 158 cases with
petty offence courts (compared to 216 in
2000). At present, all applications are sub-
mitted to district courts.
9 ROLE OF THE INSPECTORATE IN
EVALUATION OF NEW INVESTMENTS
The Inspectorate conducts inspec-
tions of new projects when they are put into
operation to check whether a facility and/or
installation comply with environmental pro-
tection requirements. If the requirements
are substantially violated, the Inspectorate
suspends the launching of the investment
or submits its objections to the planned
launching. In 2001, Voivodship environmen-
tal inspectors suspended the launching of
new projects in 11 cases (compared to 13
cases in 2000) and submitted their objec-
tions to planned launching of 152 projects
(214 projects in 2000).
The Chief Inspector for Environ-
mental Protection is a second-instance
body for administrative decisions by
Voivodship inspectors. In 2001, 442
appeals against decisions of Voivodship
inspectors were submitted to the Chief
Inspector, including 8 complaints against
lack of action. 62 complaints were filed with
the Supreme Administrative Court against
decisions of the Chief Inspector. The high-
est number of appeals from decisions of
Voivodship inspectors was related to water
and wastewater management (154), issues
connected with pollutant emission to the air
(105), waste management (78) and exces-
sive noise levels (71). Other cases were
related to the suspension of the operation
of plants and objections to the launching of
projects.
The Chief Inspector for Environ-
mental Protection upheld decisions of
Voivodship inspectors in 189 cases. 106
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decisions were directed for reassessment,
and in 102 cases the administrative pro-
ceedings were discontinued. In 39 cases
the Chief Inspector overruled decisions of
Voivodship Inspectors and issued his own
decision. In 2001, the Supreme Admin-
istrative Court issued 60 verdicts, including
39 complaints dismissed or with court pro-
ceedings discontinued, and overruled 12
decisions taken by the Chief Inspector and
Voivodship Inspectors and overruled deci-
sions of the second-instance body. In 4
cases, the court declared invalidity of the
Chief Inspector's verdicts and in 5 cases
proceedings were discontinued.
The Inspectorate accepts and
analyses complaints, interventions and
applications related to environmental nui-
sance of plants or to deterioration of the
environment. As a result of those interven-
tions the Inspectorate conducts inspections
of the users of the environment, followed by
post-inspection measures according to its
capacity. In 2001, units of the Inspectorate
analysed approximately 5 thousand inter-
ventions. Most cases analysed were relat-
ed to water quality and wastewater man-
agement (1407), protection against waste
(1183), air protection (872) and protection
against noise (800).
One of important tasks of the
Inspectorate is the supervision over trans-
boundary movement of wastes. The Chief
Inspector for Environmental Protection
issues permits for import of wastes from
abroad, export of waste and transit of haz-
ardous waste. In 2001 the Chief
Inspectorate for Environmental Protection
received 191 applications (50 more than in
2000) for foreign waste import permit. In
2001, the Chief Inspectorate received also
21 applications for waste export permits
(40% more than in 2000), which were relat-
ed to export of pesticides after the expiry
date, used solvents, used catalysts, used
fluorescent lights and condensers contain-
ing polychlorinated bi-phenyls. In 2001, four
applications were submitted to the Chief
Inspector for Environmental Protection for
permits for transit of hazardous substances
across Poland. 3 permits for the transit of
car battery scrap were granted.
10 EXPECTED CHANGES
After administrative reform and the
subordination of regional inspectors to both
the Chief Inspector for Environmental
Protection and to heads of Regions, the
Inspectorate has reported many disrup-
tions in the appropriate functioning of the
organisation. Taking into account new tasks
related to the transposition of the European
Union law to the Polish legislation and new
challenges connected with the accession
process, it has to be concluded that the
environmental inspection structures require
modification and ultimately, strengthening
and implementing a new more effective
methods of work. It seems that the organi-
sational model of services responsible for
the implementation and enforcement of the
environmental law should be similar to the
model used by agencies operating in many
European Union countries, in which
responsibilities for the issuing of permits
and the control of compliance with the law
are joined. At present, we are working
together with experts from the Netherlands
and United Kingdom under a twinning proj-
ect financed under PHARE 99 to determine
directions of changes required.
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ZEEGERS, KLAVERS, BIJSTERBOSCH, DE BLECOURT 181
BEHAVIOURAL CONTROL BY MEANS OF
ENFORCEMENT IN CASE OF THE SURFACE WATER
POLLUTION ACT
ZEEGERS, INGRID1, KLAVERS, HETTY2, BIJSTERBOSCH, JOWl',
DE BLECOURT, GOBY4
123RIZA, PO Box 17, 8200 AA, Lelystad, The Netherlands.
4 Open University, PO Box 2960, 6401 DL, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
SUMMARY
Suitable policy solutions are required to reduce the problem of diffuse pollution of
surface water. This study addresses whether and how enforcement officers of the Dutch
Surface Water Pollution Act can contribute to alleviate the problems of diffuse surface water
pollution caused by inland shipping as an example of a target group. By performing (pre-
ventive) environmental inspections, enforcement officers are in the position to influence the
behaviour of this target group. It does however demand a different approach to that used in
checking for transgressions of rules and regulations alone. The instruments required to
break through the 'social dilemma' (group pressure and educational communication) could
be integrated into the enforcement officer's working procedure. This would increase the
feeling of personal effectiveness amongst the target group, thereby transcending the social
dilemma. A compliance-based style emerges as the most suitable process for effective
enforcement, as it concentrates on cooperation, alignment of ideas and persuasion of the
target group. Communication (also externally) about the results of the inspections by
means of an environmental performance index will increase the return on inspection efforts.
With this new preventive approach, enforcement appears to be a suitable instrument for
tackling diffuse sources of pollution such as the inland shipping vessels. The Ministry of
Transport, Public Works and Water Management is currently gaining practical experience
in this field through environmental inspections on inland shipping vessels.
1 INTRODUCTION
The problem of diffuse sources of
water pollution differs from the pollution
issue caused by industrial discharge. In the
case of diffuse sources, it concerns very
large groups of individual polluters who
cannot all be addressed individually
through permits [9]. In the Netherlands, this
includes for example some 100,000 farms,
10,000 inland shipping vessels, 200,000
recreational vessels, and so forth [1]. As a
result of the large scope of the group of pol-
luters, it is impossible for the enforcement
authority to always and everywhere exact
proper environmental behaviour.
Exacting the preferred environmen-
tal behaviour through rules and regulations
is in any case not the authority's primary
objective since it is not a sustainable and
practicable solution. Although important
and necessary, rules and regulations are
just one method of ensuring proper behav-
iour. In cases of 'imposed proper environ-
mental behaviour', the dilemma arises that
as soon as external pressure disappears,
the proper environmental behaviour does
as well [2].
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
The authority's objective is there-
fore to instil proper environmental behav-
iour into the target group's natural behav-
iour. Society must take its own responsibili-
ty with respect to the environment serious-
ly, even without the presence of the
enforcement authority. It also means that
traditional enforcement of environmental
rules and regulations is no longer sufficient
for successfully combating the problem of
diffuse pollution. The authority is therefore
seeking other instruments with which it can
influence individuals' environmental con-
duct [3]. The question is whether and how
enforcement of Dutch legislation such as
the Surface Water Pollution Act can con-
tribute to this objective?
2 METHOD
2.1 Literature Study
In order to gain a clear picture of
policy instruments that might be suitable for
influencing the behaviour of large groups of
individual environmental polluters, a litera-
ture study was performed. This study also
investigated the scope of the term 'enforce-
ment'. In other words, what jurisdiction do
enforcement officers have when exercising
their duties? Information from policy
memos, governmental and socio-economic
studies and from environmental psychology
was cross-referenced to form a theoretical
enforcement model [4].
2.2 Field Survey
A qualitative and empirical field
survey was also carried out, targeting how
enforcement officers of the Surface Water
Pollution Act currently operate in practice
with respect to enforcement for a large
group of diffuse polluters. Inland shipping
was used as the example as it represents a
considerable diffuse source of pollution in
the Netherlands. In addition, there is con-
siderable activity in the inland shipping sec-
tor to solve the problem and enforcement
officers already have experience in per-
forming preventive environmental inspec-
tions on inland shipping vessels.
The field survey was performed by
a series of interviews in which the enforce-
ment officers' working methods were
recorded by means of a standard question-
naire. Information was also obtained from a
written questionnaire submitted to both
interviewed and non-interviewed officers.
For verification, the questions were submit-
ted to the target group itself (the inland
shippers) [4].
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Social dilemma
The literature indicates that the
cause of poor environmental behaviour by
large groups of individual polluters is the
result of the 'social dilemma'. This refers to
the fact that short-term personal interests
of individuals always take preference over a
group's long-term collective burden. As a
result of the large size of the target group,
the consequences of individual conduct
seem like a drop in the ocean. Successful
intervention strategies will therefore have to
address how to break through the social
dilemma. In the literature, 'group pressure'
and '(educational) communication' are
mentioned as potentially successful instru-
ments. [5 & 2].
Educational communication refers
to a process whereby the target group is
shown the consequences of poor environ-
mental behaviour, how harmful particular
habits can be to the environment, that
progress can feasibly be made to improve
the situation and that others (colleagues,
industry, etc.) are already making a contri-
bution to solving the issue and that those
efforts are genuinely bearing fruit.
Group pressure refers to a process
in which individuals receive feedback with-
in the target group as a whole on their envi-
ronmental performance as compared to
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ZEEGERS, KLAVERS, BIJSTERBOSCH, DE BLECOURT 183
other members of the target group. In other
words, polluters are confronted with their
own performance by means of an index.
This stimulates the target group's feeling
that its efforts are having a positive impact.
3.2 Enforcement Style
Coercion alone does not eradicate
the social dilemma [2]. Yet the scope of
operation of the controllers is generally
associated with exercising coercion. The
enforcement officer's job consists only in
part of detection and sanctioning, or the
exercise of coercion. A large proportion of
the enforcement activities consist of pre-
vention [6 & 7].
The literature defines the scope of
the enforcement concept by means of the
term enforcement style [&]. It describes two
ideal forms or models of enforcement. The
compliance style seeks cooperation, align-
ment of ideas and persuasion, while the
deterrence style is based on deterrence
and sanctions. Enforcement officers are in
the position to execute their work in differ-
ent ways, focussing on policy objectives,
legislation, companies, their own organisa-
tion, or their profession. The culture of the
parent organisation and the enforcement
officers' personal character therefore deter-
mines which enforcement style is used. The
enforcement style determines whether
enforcement officers base their activities on
coercion or on prevention.
3.3
Enforcement Model
Analysis of the theory on behav-
ioural control and the concept of enforce-
ment show that enforcement officers can
contribute positively to instilling proper
environmental behaviour into the natural
conduct of large-scale diffuse target
groups. In order to do so, the instruments
that address breaking through the social
dilemma (group pressure and educative
communication) must be integrated in the
officers' working methods. The compliance
style emerges as the most suitable method
to achieve this, as it seeks cooperation,
alignment of ideas and persuasion of the
target group rather than plain coercion. The
resulting theoretical enforcement model
consists of the following steps [4]:
• The target group's behavioural motives
must be determined to ensure a suitable
enforcement strategy.
• Feedback between practice and policy in
order to remove the problems and barri-
ers outside the enforcement officers'
sphere of influence is necessary.
• The inspections should focus more on
influencing behaviour by providing good
feedback based on observed environ-
mental performance in practice (possibly
by means of an environmental perform-
ance index).
• The return on inspection efforts should
be increased by communicating the
results of the inspections externally, pos-
sibly in the professional literature.
3.4 What is Observed in Practice?
The enforcement model and work-
ing method as described above are not yet
common practice. They are however being
tested in the Ministry of Transport, Public
Works and Water Management's sphere of
operation. During inspections of inland
shipping vessels, the current inspection
method has been adapted to include the
concept of the environmental performance
index. Enforcement officers are therefore
already gaining experience with the new
preventive environmental inspections.
However, practical studies indicate
that the current environmental inspections
have assumed a preventive character
because of the absence of regulations or
because of the fact that legislation has
become too complicated to enforce. The
enforcement officers interviewed consid-
ered the 'detection and sanctioning of
offenders' activities to be the 'genuine'
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
enforcement work, while prevention was
considered to be of secondary importance.
This is noteworthy since if enforcement offi-
cers themselves consider preventive
enforcement to be of low importance, this
might impede the success of the new
approach (which integrates 'educative com-
munication' and 'group pressure' into the
inspections) [4].
The lack of (environmental) back-
ground knowledge may also harm the suc-
cess of the new approach. In practice,
enforcement officers generally have a lack
of knowledge of the backgrounds of envi-
ronmental rules and regulations, while this
is critical for gaining the support of the sur-
veyed target group that is expected to take
appropriate environmental measures [4].
4 CONCLUSIONS
Enforcement officers of the Surface
Water Pollution Act can make an important
contribution to tackling the issue of diffuse
water pollution. The enforcement officers
are the government's ambassadors and
communicate directly with the target group
in the field. This means that they are in the
position to influence behaviour. It will
demand a different approach to the tradi-
tional inspections of transgressions of the
rules and regulations, since coercion alone
does not break through the social dilemma.
The instruments aimed at breaking
through the social dilemma (group pres-
sure and (educative) communication) could
be integrated into the enforcement officer's
operating procedure. In doing so, the com-
pliance style emerges as the most suitable
method as it seeks cooperation, alignment
of ideas and persuasion of the target group.
The new enforcement approach is
being tested in the Ministry of Transport,
Public Works and Water Management's
sphere of operation. During inspections of
inland shipping vessels, the current inspec-
tion method has been adapted to include
the concept of the environmental perform-
ance index. Enforcement officers are there-
fore already gaining experience with the
new preventive environmental inspections.
REFERENCES (mostly in Dutch)
[1] Figures from the Ministry of Transport,
Public Works and Water Management,
1988.
[2] Midden C. J. H. en Weenig W. H.,
(1990), Met milieuvraagstuk vanuit psy-
chologisch perspectief: determinanten
en bemvloeding van milieugedrag, De
Psycholoog,25,594-601 from
'Milieugedrag: determinanten en bem-
vloeding via voorlichting', Universiteit
Leiden - Sociale en
Organisatiepsychologie, Leiden, 1998.
[3] Cramer J. M., (1991), Milieu als
maatschappelijk probleem in
Nederland, from 'Milieugedrag: determi-
nanten en bemvloeding via voorlicht-
ing', Universiteit Leiden - Sociale en
Organisatiepsychologie, Leiden, 1998.
[4] Zeegers I., Blecourt-Maas C. de,
Klavers H. (2001), Handhaving van dif-
fuse bronnen: een model voor de
beroepsbinnenvaart, RIZA werkdocu-
ment2001.040X.
[5] Ajzen I., Madden T. J. (1986),
Prediction of goal-directed behaviour:
Attitudes, intensions and perceived
behavioural control, Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology,
22,453-474 from 'Milieugedrag:determi-
nanten en bemvloeding via voorlicht-
ing', Universiteit Leiden - Sociale en
Organisatiepsychologie, Leiden 1998.
[6] Wiering M. A. (1999), Controleurs in
context: handhaving van mestwetgev-
ing in Nederland en Vlaanderen,
Lelystad: Koninklijke Vermande, 1999.
[7] WVO-Contactteam/FWVO (1998),
Samen met visie verder, een aanzet tot
een nieuwe kijk op de toekomst van de
handhaving van de Wvo bij
-------
ZEEGERS, KLAVERS, BIJSTERBOSCH, DE BLECOURT 185
Rijkswaterstaat, Ministerie van Verkeer
en Waterstaat-Directoraat-Generaal
Rijkswaterstaat, 1998.
[8] Coolsma C., Reenen P. van, Wiering
M., (1999), Handhaving in stukken,
Beschouwingen over theorie en praktijk
van de handhaving van recht,
Amsterdam SISWO, 1999.
[9] Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat
(1998), Vierde Nota waterhuishouding-
Regeringsbeslissing, Den Haag,
Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat
(1998).
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186 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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Xi, ZHENGXIANG 187
LEGAL CONTROL OF WATER POLLUTION IN HUAI RIVER VALLEY,
CHINA: A CASE STUDY
XI, WANG 1 AND ZHENGXIANG, XU2
1 Ph.D, Professor of Environmental Law, School of Law, Shanghai Jiaotong University,
Shanghai, China. Email: wangxi@public.wuhan.cngb.com
2 LLM Candidate in Environmental Law, School of Law, Wuhan University,
Luojia Hill.Wuhan 430072, China
SUMMARY
The water pollution campaign control in Huai River Valley is the first river valley
based, large-scale water pollution control program conducted in China. The water pollution
campaign control in Huai River Valley is the first, river valley based, large-scale water pol-
lution control program conducted in China. The first stage of the program has completed by
the end of 1999 and provides valuable experiences for other river or lake valleys water pol-
lution control programs(1).This paper studied and reviewed the history and experience of
the campaign. Part 1 introduces the background of the water pollution problem in Huai
River Valley. Part 2 describes the major provisions of the Interim Regulations on Water
Pollution Control in Huai River Valley, which formed the legal framework for water pollution
control in the valley. Part 3 examines the implementation of the regulations. The program's
implementation experience shows that it is not easy for people, enterprises and govern-
ments at local level to abandon backward traditional mode of economic development and
change to the new mode of sustainable development. Part 4 points out the major environ-
mental, economic and social impacts of the campaign. Part 5 concludes the paper with
some final comments.
1 BACKGROUND
Huai River originated from Tongbo
Mountain, Hehan Province. It flows east-
ern-ward and joins Yangzte River in
Yangzhou City and into Eastern Sea of
China. The river is over 1,000 kilometers
long. The river valley has a population of
151,000 and covers an area of 269,000
square kilometers spanning five provinces
in Central, Eastern and Central South
China: Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shangdong
and Hubei. The population density is the
highest among all large river valleys in
China. There are 36 cities at the prefecture
level and 182 cities at the county levels. The
Huai River valley a major production bases
for agricultural products, coal and oil ener-
gy. 13% of the total grain output of the
country is produced in this area, which
feeds one seventh of the population of the
country, while the area of the Valley is less
than 2.8 % of the whole land territory of the
State. Therefore, the Huai river valley is
very important to China.
The economy of the Valley has
grown very fast since the Chinese govern-
ment shifted its priority from class struggle
to economy construction and economic
reform in I978. But unfortunately, the fast
growth of industries along side the Huai
River brought heavy pressure on the eco-
logical environment of the Valley. Leading
the way are rural and township industries,
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characterized by small-scale, mostly family
run industries, using backward or even
primitive production technology, low energy
and resource efficiency and high pollution.
The wastes produced by those factories
are mostly discharged into the environment
without any pre-treatment. There are 15
categories of small enterprises, such as
paper pulp mill, textile mill, dyeing mill,
small chemical plant, small brewery and
small currying mill. So they won the name
of "15 small" enterprises in China. Those
"15 small" enterprises caused heavy pollu-
tion to the water bodies of the Huai River
Valley. In addition to industrial pollution,
household and other wastes are also dis-
charged directly into environment without
any pre-treatment. Therefore, the water
quality of the main stream of Huai River
and its tributaries has deteriorated quickly.
For example, the water pollution index of
Huai River in 1981 was 2.95. It increased to
7.14% in 1993.(2) The 1993 Report of
Environmental Condition of China issued
by National Environmental Protection
Agency reported that
"pollution in Huai River is serious. The
water pollution is more serious in dry
season. There are 82% of rivers in the
area with water quality lower than the
third classes national surface water
quality standards. Among the 13 moni-
tored river sections, there is only 18.3
% reach the first and second national
surface water quality standards. There
is 15.7% reaching the third class
national surface water quality stan-
dards. There is 66% meeting the fourth
and fifth national surface water quality
standards."(3)
The actual water pollution situation is more
serious in some areas. There are many
sections of the rivers where the eco-sys-
tems no longer function. In some places
water pollution caused problems for the
drinking water supply. The frequency of pol-
lution accidents was increasing; about once
every two years in 1980s. There were three
serious water pollution accidents in 1993
alone.(4)
Serious water pollution in Huai
River valley threatened human health of
local residents. (5) and caused heavy eco-
nomic losses. Water pollution caused many
disputes between factories, neighborhood
residents, and administrative regions.
People and entities in the valley com-
plained about water pollution since mid-
1970s. During this period, Deputies to the
local People's Congress and members of
local Committees of Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference raised
the water pollution issue again and again
since then. On 5 December 1980, a large-
scale accident caused the death of fish in
the of Kui River, a major tributary of Huai
River. In response, in 1983 the Office of the
State Council required the local govern-
ment to take firm measures to eliminate
major water polluting sources of Kui River.
But the water pollution problem in Huai
River valley was not solved in 1980s. The
main causes for the failure includes:
• poverty in the region;
• lack of funding and technology;
• complicated water course system;
• trans-boundary water courses; and
• complicated water disputes.
Water pollution control in Huai
River Valley entered a new phase in August
1993 when the National People's Congress
organized the news media to report on the
water pollution problem. (6) The reports of
China Central Television and major news-
papers caused strong concern from both
the general public and the State's leaders.
Mr. Song Jian, the Councilor, led an inspec-
tion group of Environmental Protection
Committee and visited Huai River Valley in
May 1994. During the inspection, the group
received a petition, signed by over 10 thou-
sand people of Huai River Valley, highlight-
ing the water pollution problem. In
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Xi, ZHENGXIANG
189
response, the inspection group convened
an "On-site Meeting on Environmental Law
Enforcement in Huai River Valley" in Bangfu
City, Shandoung Province. In this meeting,
the Central Government committed ambi-
tious targets for water pollution control with
the goal of to eliminating pollution problem
in Huai River Valley by the year 2000.
2 LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR WATER
POLLUTION CONTROL IN HUAI
RIVER VALLEY
The State Council issued interim
regulations on Water Pollution Prevention
and Control in Huai River Valley (here-
inafter referred as "Regulations") on August
8, 1995 and approved the implementation
Program and the Ninth "Five-Year Plan for
Water Pollution Prevention and Control in
Huai River" (hereinafter referred as
"Program and Plan") on June 29, 1996.
Those two documents established the legal
framework for water pollution prevention
and control in Huai River Valley.
2.1 Objectives
The Regulations required that all
effluent discharges from industrial sources
in the valley meet the 1997 standards and
that the water quality of the major sections
of rivers, lakes and reservoirs meet
Program requirements. Based upon the
objective, the Program and Plan set forth
water quality targets for year 2000 for major
river sections. Mainstreams of rivers in the
valley must meet the third class of the State
Surface Water standard. Water quality of all
the tributaries must meet the fourth class of
that standard. The Program and Plan
required a 40% reduction of pollution load
for the entire valley by 1997 and a 30%
reduction of pollution load by 2000. The
maximum level of COD discharge was set
at 890,200 tons by 1997 and 368,000 tons
by 2000.
2.2
Measures to control
The Regulations provided the fol-
lowing measures for control of water pollu-
tion.
2.2.1 Leading group
The Regulations required that the
Leading Group of Water Resources
Protection in Huai River Valley be strength-
ened. The membership of the Leading
Group was enlarged to cover the State
Planning Commission, State Economic and
Trade Commission, Financial Ministry,
Construction Ministry, Chemical Industry
Ministry, General Association of Light
Industry, Agriculture Ministry, and
Development Bank. The leading group is
responsible for coordinating water pollution
prevention and control in the valley and
exercising other powers authorized by the
State Council.
2.2.2 New and existing sources control
The Regulations prohibited the
construction of new small scale factories
dealing with chemical paper pulp, paper
making, currying, chemical products, print-
ing and dyeing, electroplating and brewage
in the valley. The construction of large and
medium scale factories causing serious
pollution was restricted. The regulations set
a deadline requiring that sources with efflu-
ent discharges exceeding the standards, or
causing serious pollution, were to suspend
operation by 1 January 1998.
2.2.3 Pollution ceiling and effluent
permit
The regulations required plans for
pollutants discharge ceilings approved by
the State Council. The contents of the plan
include pollutants ceiling control areas, pol-
lutants discharge ceiling, targets of pollu-
tants discharge reduction, pollutants reduc-
tion deadlines, priority control areas, and
listing of major polluting sources outside of
major control areas. The local governments
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
make their control plans based upon the
valley-wide pollutants discharge plan. Their
pollutants discharge is then incorporated
into their middle and long term social and
economic development plans as well as
their annual plans. The major polluting
sources in and outside the major pollutants
discharge control areas must apply for pol-
lutant discharge permit and install measur-
ing devices for wastewater discharge at
sewage outlets.
2.2.4 Provincial standards for water
quality and water quality control
zones
The Regulations require the estab-
lishment of provincial boundary water qual-
ity standards and authorized the Water
Resources Protection Bureau of Huai River
Valley to monitor water quality at the four
provinces boundaries. The Program and
Plan further divided the whole valley into 7
control zones, 34 control units, 100 sub-
control-units and 82 water quality control
sections based upon the characteristics of
watercourse system, administrative regions
and the objectives of water quality protec-
tion. The Program and Plan also set forth
water quality standards for each of the 82
sections, COD discharge ceilings for major
cities and towns, COD discharge ceilings
for major effluent outlets, the minimum
requirements for effluent reduction and
time tables for each provinces and cities at
county level, and targets for phasing out
backward industrial equipment.
2.2.5 Joint control of water pollution in
dry season
The Regulations required water
quality monitoring and mandated the timely
exchange of monitoring information among
the environmental protection, water
resources, and other relevant departments.
The environmental protection departments
regulated sources for discharge compli-
ance with the control plan. The water
resources departments control the water
gates according to water gate pollution
control plans.
2.2.6 Construction of centralized waste
water treatment plants
The Program and Plan lead to 303
water pollution control projects; a 16.6 bil-
lion yuan of investment. In addition, the
Trans-Century Green Projects Plan of
China has 77 projects related to water pol-
lution control in Huai River Valley; a 2.8 bil-
lion yuan investment.
2.2.7 Other measures
In addition, the Regulations
required the provincial governments to del-
egate some water pollution control tasks to
counties and cities. The city and county
government made a commitment to under-
take these tasks. The regulations provided
economic incentives for the water pollution
control projects. The Regulations provided
sever punishments for those who did not
accomplish comply with the Program and
Plan.
3 IMPLEMENTATION
The first stage of the campaign can
be divided into three phases.
3.1 Phase one: Slow start (May, 1994
- September, 1995)
As mentioned before, the inspec-
tion group of the State Environmental
Protection Committee held an On-site
Meeting on Environmental Law Enforce-
ment of Huai River Valley in Bangfu City,
Shandoung Province in May, 1995. They
decided that 197 factories in the valley that
would either close down, be suspended,
merge with other factories, change prod-
ucts and production processes, or reallo-
cated to other places. (7) However, water
pollution was still serious in the valley,
because the pollution load reduced in 1994
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Xi, ZHENGXIANG 191
was only 4% of the total effluent dis-
charged. The water quality of the river's
mainstreams was still poor. Most of the
mainstream water quality was in the fifth
class or worse. (8) In addition, two large
scale water pollution accidents occurred
that year. A significant reason for the slow
start was a lack of willingness to control
pollution at the local level. Enterprises and
even some local government officials
believed a principle called "pollution first,
control pollution second". They thought the
most important thing is to break away from
poverty. Environmental protection is sec-
ondary to the poverty problem. Local gov-
ernments and enterprises accused each
other on one hand, but also wanted to get
pollution compensation from neighbor gov-
ernments and enterprises on the other
hand. None of them were really serious
about their own responsibility for pollution
problems.
3.2 Phase two: Effluents compliance
(September, 1995 - December,
1997)
The State Environmental Protection
Committee held a second On-site Meeting
on Environmental Law Enforcement of Huai
River Valley in Lianyungang City, Shandong
Province in September 1995. They decided
to take firm action against pollution and
ordered that all chemical paper pulp pro-
duction equipment with production capacity
lower than 5,000 tons per year be closed by
June 30, 1996. 1,111 such paper pulp
equipments closed by the deadline. (9) The
State Council made a Decision on Several
Issues of Environmental Protection on
August 15, 1996 that required closing 15
categories of small-scale enterprises by
September 30, 1996 all over China. The
four provinces of Huai River Valley closed
down 3,876 such small enterprises by the
deadline, which resulted in a 25% reduction
of pollution load to the Huai River Valley
and accomplished the target set forth by
Program and Plan for the period of 1994-
1996. (10)
However, closing down the 15 cat-
egories of small-scale enterprises that
were causing serious pollution is compara-
tively an easy job, because it basically
deals with the interests of a small number
of the population. Less easy getting all
industrial sources in the valley to meet the
effluent standards. According to the
Regulations, all enterprises that discharge
waste water shall meet the objective by the
end of 1997, otherwise they will be ordered
to close down, no matter who owns the
enterprises, making profit or not, large
scale or small scale, and important to the
local financial income or not. For achieving
this objective, the State Environmental
Protection Administration issued a notice to
the four provinces of the Huai River Valley
in August 1996 that required all enterprises
that discharge wastewater to submit an
attainment plan. The notice required the
provinces to prepare an attainment plan for
all enterprises which discharge wastewater
over 100 tons per day. The State
Environmental Protection Administration
left it to the provinces' discretion how to
deal with enterprises that discharge waste-
water less than 100 tons per day.
The progress in water pollution
control was slow even by the middle of
1997. There were still 689 enterprises that
discharge wastewater over 100 tons per
day that had not started to construct pollu-
tion control facilities by June 1997. The
construction of urban sewage treatment
plants also made little progress. (11) There
are two reasons for such a slow this. The
first one is that local governments and
enterprises did not fully understand the firm
determination of the Central Government in
eliminating water pollution problem of Huai
River Valley. They were still in the mindset
of "wait and see". Enterprises were worry-
ing about the problem of unemployment,
while local governments were worrying
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
about the reduction of local governmental
revenue. (12) The second reason is the lack
of investment and reliable, practical, and
economically feasible pollution control
technology.
In order to eliminate the fluke mind
of local governments and enterprises, Mr.
Song Jian, a State Councilor, emphasized
in the Eleventh Meeting of the
Environmental Protection Committee that
there will be no policy change for water pol-
lution control in Huai River Valley. He
emphasized that the deadline will not be
changed and the standards for checking
and accepting the pollution control work of
polluting sources will not be lowered. To
those enterprises that did not reach the pol-
lution control objectives within the deadline,
firm measures, such as closing, will be
applied. (13) In early December 1997, the
State Environmental Protection
Administration emphasized again that there
will be no change in the objective and
deadline as well as the standards for
checking and acceptance. (14) The gover-
nors of the provinces in the valley also
emphasized the "not change" statement.
The Central Government address
the lack of funding by arranging a 300 mil-
lion yuan state loan aimed at supporting
enterprises in state designated "poverty"
counties as well as those established by
the state to alleviate poverty. (15) The
provincial governments also created a fund
for pollution control. For example, Jiang Su
Province arranged 150 million yuan loan for
pollution control. The State Planning
Commission, Construction Ministry, State
Environmental Protection Administration
and Financial Ministry decided to levy a
wastewater treatment fee for urban waste-
water treatment to make provide supple-
mental funding for construction, operation
and maintenance of wastewater treatment
plants. (16)
In order to implement the pollutant
discharge ceiling and discharge permit
requirements, the Meeting on Huai River
Valley Pollutant Discharge Ceiling and
Effluent Permit held on November 11,1996
decided that:
• the four provinces of the Valley would
prepare their own pollutant discharge
ceiling plans and implementing plans;
• the four provinces would complete pollu-
tant discharge registration before 30
June, 1997;
• enterprises that discharge waste water
over 100 tons per day would be the fist
to apply the pollutant discharge permit
requirements; and
• that permits shall not be issued to those
enterprises that the State ordered to
close down or suspend operation and
those enterprises that do not meet the
effluent standards after 1997. (17)
Great progress was made in the
second half of 1997 when the objectives for
that year were meet. In his television
speech on January 1, 1998, Mr. Xie
Zhenghua, the Administrator of the State
Environmental Protection Administration,
declared that among the 1,562 enterprises
with waste water discharge over 100 tons
per day, there were 1,139 enterprises that
had completed pollution control projects,
215 enterprises were suspended and
undertook construction of pollution control
facilities, 18 enterprises were ordered to
close down because there was no hope to
solve their pollution problems. As the 1,844
enterprises that discharge wastewater less
than 100 tons per day, there were 1,504
that completed pollution control projects.
There was a total reduction of 40% of the
pollution load in the Valley. (18)
There are 14 urban wastewater
treatment plants under construction. When
they are completed there will be a total
treatment capacity of 1.51 million tons per
day. A large amount of household waste-
water and industrial wastewater will be
treated before discharged into Huai River.
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Xi, ZHENGXIANG 193
3.3 Phase three: Follow-up monitoring
and other activities (1 January,
1998-)
From January 1, 1998, the priority
of Huai River water pollution control shifted
to strengthening daily on-site inspection
and supervision of pollutant discharge
activities of enterprises and accelerating
construction of urban wastewater treatment
plants. (19)
The Construction Ministry has
decided a timetable for the construction of
urban wastewater treatment plants in Huai
River Valley. The 52 urban wastewater
treatment plant projects in the four valley
provinces were put into operation in June
2000. An addition to the projects were fin-
ished in 1998. (20)
4 IMPLICATIONS
The Water Pollution Campaign of
Huai River Valley has significant impacts on
the environment, society, and economy of
the valley.
4.1 Environmental implications
The 1997 Report on the State of
Environment reported that water quality of
mainstream of Huai River has improved,
especially in the high pollution sections of
the river. The water quality of the main-
stream is mainly in third or fourth class. (21)
But pollution in its tributaries is still serious.
52% of the main tributaries have water
quality beyond the fifth class, while 71 % of
the secondary and tertiary tributaries were
beyond the fifth class. (22)
The 1998 Report on the State of
Environment reported that organic pollution
of the main stream decreased some. But
the overall quality of the main stream was
still not good. Among the monitored river
sections, there was 11 % reaching the sec-
ond national surface water quality stan-
dard. There was 17% reaching the third
class national surface water quality stan-
dard. There was 24% meeting the fourth
and fifth national surface water quality stan-
dard. There was 48% worse than the fifth
national surface water quality standard.
(23)
After nearly 5 years, the campaign
has succeeded in stopping water quality
deterioration in the valley. A monthly report
on the water quality of Huai River Valley
issued in October 1998 showed that water
quality was, in general, better than before.
(24) With the improvement of water envi-
ronment, river ecological system started to
recover. In some rivers, fish and other water
species come back. The drinking water
problem in the valley has been alleviated to
some degree. However, it is still too early to
tell the substantial environmental improve-
ment brought about by the first stage of the
campaign.
4.2 Social implications
The water pollution control cam-
paign of Huai River Valley has broad social
impacts. The first social impact is the
enhanced position and influence of envi-
ronmental protection departments. Through
the campaign, the organization and per-
sonnel of environmental protection depart-
ments have been strengthened. Many envi-
ronmental protection departments become
independent. Environmental protection
departments have been given more
enforcement power than before. For exam-
ple, Huainan City, Anhui Province, author-
ized environmental protection departments
the power to veto new construction projects
and the power of closing down or suspend-
ing operation of small enterprises that
caused serious pollution problem. (25) The
campaign resulted in less illegal interfer-
ence with the work of environmental pro-
tection departments from leaders of local
governments. Environmental law enforce-
ment for has improved. There is more coop-
eration between the environmental protec-
tion departments, leaders of local govern-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
ments and other departments of govern-
ment. People respect the authority of envi-
ronmental protection departments more
than before. They realized that environmen-
tal protection departments are powerful.
(26) They also are more supportive of the
work of environmental protection depart-
ments. The social basis of environmental
regulation is enhanced.
The second social impact is that
the authority of environmental law and pol-
icy has been strengthened. In the past,
people and enterprises treated environ-
mental law and policy as something soft
and were not serious about them. Even at
the beginning when the Central
Government decided to close down small
paper pulp mills, there were many people
and enterprises that did not believe the
government was really serious about it. But
when many such factories were really
closed down by the government, people
and enterprises started to realize that envi-
ronmental law and policy are something
that can be real hard. (27) The campaign
gave local governmental leaders, local
enterprises and local people a lesson
about environmental law and policy. Local
governmental leaders had a much better
understanding of environmental law and
the strategy of sustainable development.
They realized that there must be coordina-
tion between development and environ-
ment in their future work. Local business
managers were also educated by the cam-
paign. They said that if they realized the
importance of environmental protection
earlier, there might be less economic and
environmental losses caused by the water
pollution. (28)
The social impacts of the cam-
paign went beyond the Huai River Valley.
Other major river and lake valleys have
learned from the experience of water pollu-
tion control of Huai River Valley. Local gov-
ernmental leaders and enterprises no
longer dismiss the water pollution control
campaign as a fluke. They are better pre-
pared for the water pollution campaign in
their valleys. Based upon the experience of
Huai River Valley, the Central Government
had declared that the water pollution con-
trol campaign in Tai Lake Valley will have
objectives higher than that of Huai River
and requirements are stricter than that of
Huai River Valley. (29) Moreover, the expe-
rience of water pollution control in Huai
River Valley contributed to the amendment
of Water Pollution Prevention and Control
Law of China. The revised Water Pollution
Prevention and Control Law aborted many
experience of Huai River Valley.
4.3 Economic implications
The closings of thousands small
enterprises in Huai River Valley had impor-
tant economic impacts on local economy.
At the present, the negative impacts are
remarkable. Firstly, costs of production for
local enterprises increased. Local enter-
prises had to invest more of their fund to
control pollution and update their produc-
tion technology. That resulted in the
decrease of competitiveness. Secondly, the
large scale closing down campaign result-
ed in the decrease of local revenue. Thirdly,
the risk of bank loan increased because
many enterprises had been closed down
and lost their ability to pay back the loan.
(30) Lastly, the increased investment for
pollution control and helping small enter-
prises increased the financial burden of
local governments. The development of
local economy was restricted.
But from the long-term view, the
water pollution control campaign in Huai
River Valley is positive to the economic
development of the valley. As a local official
said, "Water pollution control in Huai River
Valley provided an opportunity to the devel-
opment of the valley. If we combine water
pollution control with the transformation of
economic growth mode and economic sys-
tem, and combine it with the reform of state
owned enterprises as well as promotion of
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Xi, ZHENGXIANG 195
technology upgrading, the economy of the
valley will eventually be benefited." (31)
5 LOOKING FORWARD TO FUTURE
Although the water pollution control
campaign of Huai River Valley had made
remarkable achievements, there is still a
long way to go to realize the objective of
clean water of the Huai River Valley. The
priorities for the future work of the cam-
paign would be the following.
5.1 Strengthening law enforcement
and keeping the achievements
Because the water pollution control
campaign in Huai River affected local econ-
omy and economic income of some local
people and is a campaign pressed from
Central Government, there is a possibility
that local governments and local enterpris-
es reassume the polluting production
processes when attentions of Central
Government is absent. In fact, there have
been many cases that factories discharge
wastewater or illegally operate the prohibit-
ed pollution facilities secretly. (32) The
Environmental Protection Department of
Jiangsu Province discovered that there
were 12 enterprises among 35 major enter-
prises that had been approved as reaching
the discharge standards had conducted
illegal discharge or discharge pollutant in
exceeding required limits in 1998. (33)
Therefore, keeping the achievements of the
campaign is a long-term and difficult task.
The environmental protection departments
should keep alert and strictly enforce Water
Pollution Prevention and Control Law of
China and the Regulations. They should
continuously supervise the operation of
enterprises and punish and prosecute ille-
gal discharging enterprises and their man-
agers.
Enterprises Effected Disposal and
Phased Out Equipment Safely
To those closed enterprises and
their workers, government will continue to
provide help. The help included money,
training opportunities for new careers, and
technological assistance for clean produc-
tion. Government will encourage and assist
those enterprises to develop environmen-
tally sound agricultural processing indus-
tries and service industries.
The campaign phased out many
backward production machines and equip-
ments. The environmental protection
departments should supervise the destruc-
tion of those machines and equipment and
prevent them to be transferred to other
places and used there.
5.3 Continue To Eliminate Heavy
Pollution Sources And Promote
Clean Production
At the present, the total capacity of
wastewater treatment by the proposed 52
treatment plants is 370,000 tons of COD
per year. This capacity is not enough. There
are still 230,000 tons of COD from house-
hold wastewater and 600,000 tons of COD
from legal discharge of enterprises annual-
ly need to be treated. (34) Therefore, there
is still a need to further adjust the industrial
structure and eliminate heavy polluting
enterprises. There is a need of promoting
clean production also.
5.4 Construction of wastewater treat-
ment plants
In order to meet the need of treat-
ing wastewater by 2000, the total capacity
of treatment should be 10 million tons per
day. Therefore, the Central and local gov-
ernment as well as banks shall provide
more financial support for construction of
treatment plants.
5.2 Helping The People and
6 CONCLUSION
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Huai River Valley water pollution
Campaign is basically an environmental
law enforcement program. The closing of
small-sized but serious polluting sources
has been one of the major regulatory
measures since the first Environmental
Protection Law of PRC promulgated in
1979. But the government has never been
serious enough about the spread of such
pollution sources in Huai River Valley until
1995 when the State Council promulgated
the Interim Regulations on Water Pollution
Control in Huai River Valley. The
Regulations organized a trans-provinces
governmental institution for enforcing the
related requirements of environmental law.
The campaign is a valley-wide law enforce-
ment program combined with other meas-
ures, such as funding for construction of
wastewater treatment plants. The cam-
paign has positive impacts on the long-term
development of the valley. The water quali-
ty of the valley has begun to improve. The
people, enterprises and local governmental
officials have received a vivid environmen-
tal law education. The environmental infra-
structure of valley has been improved and
continuously to be improved. The campaign
resulted in an environmental, social and
economical basis for sustainable develop-
ment of the valley. The campaign only com-
pleted its first stage. Many difficulties still
exist. There is a long way to go for realizing
the final objectives of clean environmental
and sustainable development of the valley.
The experience of Huai River
Valley in water pollution shows that the
political will of the government, especially
the political at the national level, is critical to
the success of water pollution control. In a
country like China, with weak economical,
technological, social and knowledge capac-
ity to deal with environmental problems,
political will to protect environment in the
high level of government is the most impor-
tant force for pushing forward the progress
of pollution control. Financial and even
technological solutions to pollution prob-
lems will be resolved as soon as the gov-
ernment is politically determined to elimi-
nate pollution.
REFERENCES
1. China launched water pollution control-
campaigns in other major valleys after
the Huai River Valley water pollution
control. The other such campaigns
include the ones in Tai Lake Valley, Cao
Lake Valley, both are in the east of
China, and Dianchi Lake Valley in
southwest of China.
2. Yearbook of China Environment (1995),
China Environmental Science Press,
1995, p. 178.
3. Yearbook of China Environment (1994),
China Environmental Science Press,
1995, p. 10.
4. Yearbook of China Environment (1995),
China Environmental Science Press,
1995, p.67
5. "Huai River: How to Enter into New
Century", China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 14 June, 1994, p. 1.
6. This propoganda compaign is an annual
series report called "Century Reports of
Environmental Protection in China". It is
organized by the Environment and
Resources Committee of the National
People's Congress, The China Central
Television Station, and other major
newspaper.
7. Proceedings of the Fourth Meeting of
the Leading Group on Water Resources
Protection in Huai River Valley,
Yearbook of China Environment (1996)
(in Chinese), p. 148.
8. Id.
9. Water Environment Management Office
of State Environmental Protection
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Xi, ZHENGXIANG 197
Administration, Achievements and
Suggestions on the Work of Water
Pollution Prevention and Control in Huai
River Valley, Environmental Work
Newsletter (in Chinese), No. 5,
1998, p. 31.
10. Zang Yuxiang, "Objectives and Practice
of Huai River Pollution Control",
Environmental Protection (in Chinese),
No. 1, 1998, p. 14.
11. "There is no change in the Objectives
of Huai River Valley Water Pollution
Control", China Environmental News
(in Chinese), 19 June, 1997, p. 1.
12. "How to face 1997 deadline", China
Environmental News (in Chinese), 24
September, 1996, p. 2.
13. "There is no change in the Objectives
of Huai River Valley Water Pollution
Control", China Environmental News
(in Chinese), 19 June, 1997, p. 1.
14. China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 4 December, 1997, p. 1.
15. China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 21 August, 1997, p. 1.
16. China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 9 October, 1997, p. 3.
17. Yearbook of China Environment (1997)
(in Chinese), p. 108.
18. China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 3 January, 1998, p. 1.
19. Yearbook of China Environment (1997)
(in Chinese), p. 108.
20. China Environmental Industry
Newsletter (in Chinese), No. 4, 1998,
p. 3-4.
21. Report on the State of Environment
(1997), China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 4 June, 1998, p. 2.
22. Report on the State of Environment
(1997), China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 4 June, 1998, p. 2.
23. Report on the State of Environment
(1998), China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 17 June, 1998, p. 2.
24. China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 5 January, 1998, p. 1.
25. "Re-Authorization of Environmental
Protection Departments", China
Environmental News (in Chinese), 17
February, p. 1
26. "Huai River looks for good news in
1997", China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 24 May, 1997, p. 1.
27. "The State Policy Is not Paper Only",
China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 7 September, 1996, p. 2
28. "From Three Times of Closing Down to
Completely Eliminating Pollution",
China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 23 December, 1997, p. 2.
29. Yearbook of China Environment (1997)
(in Chinese), p. 109.
30. "Hai Bei: Who will pay back the 160
million loan?", China Environmental
News (in Chinse), 1 August, 1996, p.
1.
31. China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 16 December, 1997, p. 1.
32. "Managers of Two Paper Pulp
Factories in Shenqiu were detained",
China Environmental News (in
Chinese), 13 July, 1996, p. 1; '"Guerilla
actions' in night", China Environmental
News (in Chinese), 13 February, 1996,
p. 1; "Small Paper Pulp Mills Were not
Killed by Three Strikes'", China
Environmental News (in Chinese), 27
February, 1996, p.1; "Two Paper Pulp
Mills Dared to Discharge illegally",
China Environmental News, 15
January, 1998, p. 1.
33. "A Shock", China Environmental News
-------
198 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
(in Chinese), 28 May, 1998, p. 1.
34. Water Environment Management
Office of State Environmental
Protection Administration,
Achievements and Suggestions on the
Work of Water Pollution Prevention
and Control in Huai River Valley,
Environmental Work Newsletter (in
Chinese), No. 5, 1998, p. 31.
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SESSION #4: RAISING AWARENESS AND MEASURING RESULTS
199
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #4: RAISING AWARENESS
AND MEASURING RESULTS
Moderator: Lambert Verheijen
Rapporteur: Paul Hagen
1 INTRODUCTION
This Panel explored the difficulties
involved with defining the success or failure
of environmental enforcement initiatives
and discussed environmental enforcement
indicators.
2 PRESENTATION
Mr. Stahl provided an overview of
EPA's Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance program. He noted that EPA has
a workforce of over 3,311 employees who
are engaged in inspections, bringing
enforcement cases, providing compliance
assistance and managing data. He
explained that State regulators also play a
significant role in the enforcement of U.S.
federal environmental laws. In the U.S., tra-
ditional indicators focused on outputs such
as the number of inspections conducted.
EPA, in connection with a new law requiring
that agencies report to Congress on results
and performance, has now developed better
performance indicators. These include
pounds of pollutants reduced by enforce-
ment actions, number of entities seeking
EPA assistance and the development of sta-
tistically valid compliance rates for industry.
This has required EPA to develop and sup-
port new internal teams and, in the area of
statistical analysis, retain outside consult-
ants. The benefits of the new performance
measures used by EPA include better com-
munication with Congress improved effec-
tiveness of the enforcement and compli-
ance program and demonstrating the value
of EPA activities and results to the public.
Mr. May noted that Canada relies
on several external indicators in evaluating
its effectiveness and measuring results.
North America has several important
reporting schemes, including the State of
the Great Lakes Basin reporting,
Commission on Environmental Cooper-
ation (CEC) reports, Auditor General of
Canada reports and periodic environmental
NGO reports. All of these provide an oppor-
tunity to measure the results of Canada's
compliance and enforcement efforts. Many
Canadian laws provide a wide-range of
sentencing and sanctions, allowing for cre-
ative sentencing and court orders. These
often allow authorities to impose penalties
that go beyond the payment of fines to
include community and local capacity build-
ing projects. Canada also looks to anecdot-
al intelligence on the reaction of the regu-
lated community to measure its impact.
Communicating enforcement and compli-
ance results to stakeholders and other
agencies, for example, through press
releases have also proven to be an impor-
tant element of education and awareness
raising. Practical recommendations for gov-
ernments include:
• measuring enforcement, promotion and
partnering accomplishments;
• using key environmental indicators to tar-
get future activities; and
• using external assessments to continu-
ously improve operations
3 DISCUSSION
By recognizing the integral role that
enforcement plays in upholding the rule of
law, and therefore in maintaining good gov-
ernance, INECE is uniquely positioned to
establish a standard set of enforcement
indicators that meet universal minimum cri-
teria. For over a decade, INECE has led
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
efforts to increase awareness of enforce-
ment issues and build capacity through
regional and international conferences,
training, and published reports highlighting
best practices. Over the past eight months,
INECE has researched other indicator proj-
ects in order to learn from their experi-
ences. With this knowledge base, INECE
has drafted a proposed methodology for
developing enforcement indicators that has
received significant review and comments
from its partners and representatives of
national, regional, and international organi-
zations.
4 CONCLUSION
There is a clear and urgent need
for an internationally agreed upon mecha-
nism to measure progress toward achiev-
ing sustainable development goals in a
manner that responds to discrepancies in
implementing and enforcing environmental
laws. In response to this need, INECE will
develop a set of indicators dedicated to
environmental.
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STAHL
201
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
AND ENFORCEMENT PROGRAMS: THE U.S. EPA EXPERIENCE
STAHL, MICHAEL M.
Director, Office of Compliance, United States Environmental Protection Agency,
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Code 2221A , Washington, DC 20460
SUMMARY
The purpose of this paper is to describe the efforts of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and use results-based indicators in its
national enforcement and compliance assurance program. The paper provides background
about EPA and its compliance and enforcement program and discusses the need for bet-
ter indicators. It then describes a three-phase process - identification of better indicators,
implementation of better indicators, and use of indicators as a management tool — which
can help other environmental compliance and enforcement programs seeking to manage
in a more results-based manner.
1 BACKGROUND ON ERA'S
ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE
ASSURANCE PROGRAM
In the face of growing public con-
cern over environmental issues the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
was formed in 1970 with the mission of pro-
tecting human health and the environment.
The Agency brought together existing fed-
eral environmental programs and became
the focal point for federal environmental
activity, with broad authority to deal with
environmental problems that affect the air,
land, and water. For example, the Clean Air
Act regulates the emission of pollutants to
the air from stationary and mobile sources,
the Clean Water Act regulates emissions to
water, the Safe Drinking Water Act sets
standards for drinking water, and the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
established a cradle-to-grave system for
handling hazardous waste. There are
numerous other environmental laws imple-
mented by EPA dealing with particular pol-
lutants or hazardous substances such as
lead, asbestos, and oil; with environmental
clean-ups; endangered species protection;
and food safety.
EPA develops regulations and sets
national standards for environmental laws.
Implementation and enforcement of these
environmental programs is done in cooper-
ation with states and Indian tribes. States
have the primary authority for implementing
most environmental programs through del-
egated authority from the EPA. The EPA's
federal role in ensuring compliance is to
implement and enforce programs that can-
not be delegated to states and Indian
tribes, to handle more complex cases
involving multiple states or corporations
with multiple facilities, to deal with issues
that require expertise or resources which
only EPA can provide, and to enforce when
states are unable or unwilling to.
EPA's Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance (OECA) is respon-
sible for ensuring compliance with the
nation's environmental laws. OECA
employs an integrated approach to
increase compliance, using compliance
monitoring, compliance assistance, incen-
tives to encourage self-audits by facilities,
and enforcement. OECA identifies environ-
mental problems by analyzing risks and
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
patterns of noncompliance and developing
strategies to address those problems by
using assistance, monitoring, inspections,
and enforcement in combinations appropri-
ate to the problem.
EPA's fiscal year 2002 budget is
over seven billion dollars. The Agency
employs approximately 18,000 people at
the Agency's headquarters, ten regional
offices, and several laboratories and
research facilities. OECA has approximate-
ly 3,400 employees who provide assis-
tance, conduct inspections and investiga-
tions, develop and execute enforcement
cases, and manage national compliance
data systems.
2 THE NEED FOR BETTER
INDICATORS
EPA was set up to achieve its mis-
sion of protecting human health and the
environment through a command-and-con-
trol regulatory compliance system. The sys-
tem has traditionally relied upon compli-
ance monitoring (e.g. inspections and
investigations) and enforcement actions
(e.g. administrative, civil, or criminal cases)
as the primary tools to ensure compliance
with environmental regulations. Likewise,
indicators of program performance have
been organized around those same tools.
2.1 Limitations of Output Indicators
Traditional indicators of program
performance consist of activity counts, "out-
puts" such as the number of inspections
conducted, enforcement cases initiated,
penalties assessed. Though these indica-
tors give some sense of enforcement pres-
ence, they do not provide all the types of
feedback needed to effectively manage
program performance, and they have sev-
eral limitations.
The first limitation is that these
indicators fail to include many of the new
assistance and incentive approaches being
used by EPA and other environmental
agencies. Compliance assistance pro-
grams provide information on regulatory
requirements for specific sectors and regu-
lated populations, pollution prevention
ideas, and techniques that can help an
organization come into compliance. The
goal of compliance assistance programs is
to increase compliance by helping organi-
zations better understand regulations, thus
preventing non-compliance, and by helping
those out of compliance come back into
compliance. EPA's incentive policies
encourage organizations to identify, dis-
close, and correct violations through volun-
tary self-audits in exchange for reduced or
waived penalties. The activity counts
employed as traditional indicators do not
capture the results of new assistance and
incentive approaches (e.g., they do not
measure the changes in behavior as a
result of compliance assistance).
Activity counts as indicators of pro-
gram performance have several other limi-
tations as well. They fail to measure the
environmental results achieved by program
activities. Where traditional indicators tell
us the number of cases initiated, or penalty
dollars collected, they do not tell us the
pounds of pollutants reduced as a result of
injunctive relief associated with a case, or
the improvements in company or facility
environmental management practices
resulting from assistance, or the return to
compliance achieved by a company using
one of EPA's self-audit incentive policies.
Activity counts reveal very little
about the state of compliance; they don't tell
us what percentage of the regulated universe
as a whole is in compliance with the applica-
ble regulations nor what the level of compli-
ance is in key segments or populations of
that universe. And, finally, activity counts say
little about progress towards achieving envi-
ronmental goals or addressing particular
environmental problems. Knowing the num-
ber of inspections or investigations does not
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STAHL
203
indicate whether the Agency's mission is
being achieved, or whether a strategy to
address a particular environmental problem
has been successful.
2.2 Challenges, Needs, Opportunities
EPA and other agencies have
relied on activity counts for so long
because measuring results of enforcement
and compliance activities — like many gov-
ernment activities — is very difficult. Unlike
the private sector, government agencies
have no clear indicator of performance
such as revenue, profits, market share, or
customer satisfaction. Enforcement pro-
grams do not deliver a product or service,
instead they impose obligations on their
"customers" on behalf of society. In most
cases the person or entity that the regula-
tor encounters is an involuntary recipient of
these obligations, and so cannot be
expected to be an objective source of feed-
back on the performance of the regulatory
program.
The primary and most visible out-
put of EPA's regulatory compliance system
- enforcement actions — are indicative of
regulated entities failure to comply with
regulations and laws. Is an increase in
enforcement outputs good news (i.e., the
Agency was able to identify and correct a
higher percentage of noncompliance prob-
lems), or bad news (i.e., the level of non-
compliance is increasing)? The ambiguity
in interpretation means these activities are
not a reliable indicator of whether the
enforcement and compliance program is
achieving its mission of increasing compli-
ance, or whether the Agency is achieving
its goal of protecting human health and the
environment.
The limitations of solely using out-
put measures as indicators of program per-
formance, and the move to a more diverse
mix of tools to carry out the Agency's mis-
sion, argue for development of better
enforcement and compliance indicators.
Most importantly, better indicators are
needed to create as clear a link as possible
between enforcement and compliance
activities and strategies, and the results
achieved. Better indicators must also docu-
ment the level of compliance in the regulat-
ed community.
The Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 have also pro-
vided motivation and a conceptual frame-
work for the development of performance
indicators and measures. GPRA shifts the
focus of government decision-making and
accountability from activities conducted to
the results of those activities. GPRA
requires federal agencies to develop strate-
gic plans, and annual performance plans
with goals and performance measures
associated with them. More recently,
President Bush's Management Agenda has
emphasized performance reviews, per-
formance-based budgets, and the develop-
ment of high quality outcome measures to
monitor program performance.
Better indicators will enable EPA to
conduct performance analyses, evaluating
the effectiveness of tools and strategies in
terms of achieving desired goals. This type
of performance analysis will enable EPA to
more effectively employ its resources,
investing in activities that achieve results
and modifying or disinvesting from those
areas that are not producing results.
3 PHASE 1 — IDENTIFYING BETTER
INDICATORS
In 1997, EPA's Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
(OECA) initiated the National Performance
Measures Strategy (NPMS) to develop and
implement an enhanced set of perform-
ance measures. As part of this effort OECA
conducted over twenty public meetings with
a wide array of stakeholders, consulted
with experts and practitioners, and
reviewed dozens of studies and articles.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
This outreach effort was extremely benefi-
cial to EPA's strategy for identifying better
performance indicators.
3.1 Guiding Principles
Based on the ideas and sugges-
tions offered by the stakeholders, and the
concepts identified through the research
conducted, OECA developed the following
set of principles to guide the effort to devel-
op better indicators.
3.1.1 There are Diverse and Multiple
Audiences for Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance
Performance Measures
Information about the performance
of EPA's enforcement and compliance
assurance program is used by many par-
ties in a wide variety of ways. The most
important audience is the public. Other sig-
nificant audiences include EPA managers
and staff, Congressional members and
staff, oversight agencies, state environ-
mental agencies, state attorneys general,
environmental organizations, communities,
regulated entities, and the media. All of
them want and would use results-oriented
performance measures presented in clear
and understandable ways.
3.1.2 A Combination of Measures —
Outputs And Outcomes.
Quantitative and Qualitative.
Statistical and Narrative.
Aggregated and Disaggregated.
National and Local - is Necessary
to Measure Performance. Inform
Management, and Serve the Full
Range of Audience and Purposes.
No single number, fact, or category
of measure (e.g., output or outcome) can
convey all the information necessary to
comprehensively measure performance.
The mission of EPA's enforcement and
compliance assurance program is complex.
Its responsibilities are multiple and the
tools used to achieve them are multi-
faceted. Therefore, a variety of perform-
ance measures are needed to ensure
accountability, improve management, and
increase program effectiveness.
3.1.3 Performance Measures are Most
Effective When They Reflect
Management Priorities and Are
Linked to a Limited Number of
Program Goals and Objectives.
Successful performance measures
demonstrate the degree to which organiza-
tions or programs are achieving their goals
and desired results. The number of meas-
ures should be limited to key performance
elements essential for producing data that
aids program evaluation and decision-mak-
ing. Performance measures should reflect
those operational aspects (e.g., quality, fair-
ness, timeliness, cost, etc.) considered to
be management priorities.
3.1.4 Increased Use of Outcome
Measures Presents Many
Challenges. Because Agencies or
Programs May Influence - But Not
Necessarily Control - Outcomes.
Outcomes cannot generally be
attributed or causally linked to individual
functions of an agency or program.
Prevention or deterrence of undesired out-
comes is difficult to measure. Outcome
measures are most concrete and useful
when they are specific to a particular prob-
lem, and therefore may not lend them-
selves to broad aggregation.
3.1.5 Problem-Specific. Tailor-Made
Performance Measures are
Effective for Evaluating
Performance in Solving Specific
Environmental and
Noncompliance Problems.
When agencies or programs identi-
fy and target high-risk, high-priority envi-
ronmental or noncompliance problems,
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STAHL
205
their performance in mitigating or solving
such problems can best be evaluated using
tailor-made measures, indicators, or met-
rics which specifically relate to each prob-
lem. Generally, a performance record that
is specific to each problem needs to be
developed, since problem-specific meas-
ures often cannot generally be aggregated
in a useful way.
3.1.6 Performance Measures Should Be
Used Principally to Evaluate
Effectiveness and Manage More
Strategically. Rather Than Simply
Reporting Accomplishments to the
Public in a More Interesting Way.
If developed and used correctly,
performance measures should permit more
sophisticated analysis of results and activi-
ties that produced them, allow comparisons
of the relative effectiveness of specific tools
and strategies, and lead to informed
resource allocation that is more likely to
achieved the desired results. A well-desig-
nated and wisely utilized set of perform-
ance measures can put strategy and vision,
goals and objectives at the center of man-
agement attention.
3.2 Criteria for Evaluating Potential
Indicators
The discussions with stakeholders
provided also many suggestions about
potential indicators that OECA could use to
measure the performance of its programs.
Those same discussions also produced a
set of criteria that OECA used to examine
the value of each potential indicator and
decide which to implement. Indicators
should be:
• relevant to goals, objectives, and priori-
ties of the agency and to the needs of
external stakeholders.
• transparent so they promote understand-
ing and enlighten users about program
performance.
• credible and based on data that is com-
plete and accurate.
• functional in that they encourage programs
and personnel to engage in effective and
constructive behavior and activities.
• feasible, that is, the cost of implementing
and maintaining a measure should not
outweigh its value to the program.
• as comprehensive as possible with
respect to the important operational
aspects of program performance.
As a result of the discussions with
stakeholders, consultations with experts,
and meetings with internal staff, OECA
selected a set of new indicators to develop
and implement in stages over a period of
three years. The new indicators are:
• pounds of pollutants reduced through
enforcement actions,
• percentage of enforcement cases requir-
ing improvements in facility environmen-
tal management.
• dollar value of injunctive relief and sup-
plemental environmental projects.
• number of audits and self-corrections by
companies/facilities using EPA policies.
• number of entities seeking compliance
assistance form EPA assistance centers.
• rate of recidivism among significant vio-
lators and average time to return to com-
pliance.
• statistically valid compliance rates for key
regulated populations.
These indicators focus on the out-
comes of program activities - i.e., improve-
ments in environmental conditions or
behavior of the regulated universe - rather
than on the number of activities. The indi-
cators also do not measure the ultimate
outcomes of environmental protection such
as improved quality of air or water, but
focus instead on intermediate outcomes
such as behavior changes and other
actions that contribute to the ultimate out-
comes.
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Also as a result of the stakeholder
discussions, OECA identified several key
output indicators - some new and some
used for many years - which would be used
in combination with the new outcome
measures. The key output indicators are:
• number of inspections and investigations
conducted.
• number of civil and criminal enforcement
actions.
• number of facilities/entities reached
through compliance assistance efforts.
• number of training course and other
capacity building efforts provided to
state, tribal , or local programs.
4 PHASE 2 — DESIGNING AND
IMPLEMENTING BETTER
INDICATORS
After identifying the new indicators,
EPA began a multi-year process of design-
ing and implementing the indicators. This
design and implementation phase is a nec-
essary step for developing accurate and
reliable performance indicators, but it is a
step which can be overlooked or de-
emphasized in the rush to begin using bet-
ter indicators sooner rather than later.
EPA used several strategies to
organize and complete the design and
implementation of the new indicators:
• Internal Work Teams. For each of the
new indicators, a team of ERA staff and
managers was assembled to develop
plans to implement each measure. These
groups defined the indicators in more
precise detail, reviewed relevant data in
existing EPA systems, developed new
information collection and reporting
processes as needed, and established a
schedule for testing and implementing
the indicators. These work groups were
very useful in identifying and overcoming
barriers to effective implementation and
they had the added benefit of involving
staff and increasing their sense of own-
ership of the new indicators.
• Pilot Projects. Some of the indicators
were implemented as pilot projects so
that a testing phase could be used to
solve implementation problems. For
example, there were unanticipated diffi-
culties in the collection and reporting of
new information, and the pilot phase was
used to correct the problems and evalu-
ate the continued use of specific indica-
tors.
• Consultants. Expertise from outside EPA
was used to address difficult technical
issues. In developing statistically valid
noncompliance rates, a consultant
helped design a sampling methodology
that resulted in a rigorous plan for con-
ducting inspections at randomly selected
facilities. These inspections were used to
produce a representative sample to
measure noncompliance in specific
industry sectors.
• Phased Implementation. The new indica-
tors were implemented gradually over a
three-year period. Some of the indicators
were implemented and available for use
in Fiscal Year (FY) 1998, while others
were not completed until FY 2001.
Although this meant that the full set of
indicators was not available for use for
three years, the time spent developing
them produced more accurate informa-
tion and spread the implementation bur-
den over a more manageable period.
5 PHASE 3 — USING BETTER
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS
Now that EPA has implemented a
better set of indicators for its enforcement
and compliance assurance program, the
indicators are being used for two purposes.
First, the indicators are being used to
report to the public, the U.S. Congress, and
the U.S. Office of Management and Budget
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(OMB) about the results being achieved by
the national enforcement and compliance
assurance program. Second, the indicators
will be used to analyze and improve the
performance of the program.
5.1 Reporting to External Audiences
Under GPRA, EPA and all Federal
agencies are required to produce an
Annual Performance Report (APR) that
describes the results and outcomes
achieved through the activities of major
programs. This requirement has been in
place since FY 1999, and each year the
APR for OECA has focused increasingly on
results and outcomes while de-emphasiz-
ing the more traditional counting of inspec-
tions and enforcement activities. In addi-
tion, budget requests presented to OMB
officials and Congressional appropriations
committees have been greatly aided by the
new indicators. OECA can now describe its
enforcement and compliance program
accomplishments in terms that resonate
with its multiple audiences - pounds of pol-
lutants reduced through enforcement,
improved management practices at facili-
ties from compliance assistance, violations
corrected and disclosed through EPA audit
policies.
5.2 Analyzing and Improving
Performance
The real value of having better per-
formance indicators — even more impor-
tant than the ability to report meaningful
results to external audiences - is to use the
indicators to analyze and improve program
performance. OECA is now beginning to
use the indicators for this purpose.
OECA has developed a process for
analyzing the performance of the various
elements of the national enforcement and
compliance assurance program. This
process is described in a guidebook devel-
oped by OECA entitled, "Using
Performance Measurement Data as a
Management Tool." The process described
in the guidebook is organized around a
framework of five questions that provide a
structure for the analysis. The five ques-
tions are:
• Are we contributing to the goal of pro-
tecting human health and the environ-
ment through our actions and strategies?
• Are we changing the behavior of the reg-
ulated community in ways that lead to
improved environmental performance?
• Are we achieving appropriate levels of
compliance in key populations?
• Are we achieving the appropriate levels
of enforcement activity in the regulated
community?
• Are we providing appropriate assistance
to our state and tribal partners to support
them in contributing to improving envi-
ronmental performance?
Under each question, the relevant
performance indicators are arrayed to
attempt to answer the question or at least
address the question in the best manner
possible. The framework allows data about
results and the activities that produced
them to be analyzed. These data can be
examined for patterns and more can be
learned about the combinations, types, and
amounts of activities that produce the most
desirable results.
The framework will be tested first to
analyze EPA's compliance and enforce-
ment program under the Clean Water Act.
OECA senior management will review the
results of that analysis, and then a different
program component (e.g., the Clean Air Act
compliance and enforcement program) will
be analyzed. Ultimately, the framework will
be used to analyze the entire national pro-
gram after the close of FY 2002.
6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Government programs of all types
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are under growing pressure to produce
results, measure outcomes, and continu-
ously assess and improve program per-
formance. Developing better indicators of
performance is an indispensable step that
enables programs to move into the era of
results-based management. Environmental
compliance and enforcement programs
face special circumstance and obstacles,
which make development and use of better
indicators a very formidable challenge.
The EPA indicators described in
this article are not offered as a universal set
that will suit all environmental compliance
and enforcement programs. Rather, the
three-phase process used by EPA is sug-
gested as an approach that other programs
can use to develop and use better indica-
tors. Programs and agencies willing to
invest the time and resources to: (1) identi-
fy potential indicators through broad stake-
holder involvement; (2) design and imple-
ment indicators in a careful and deliberate
manner; and (3) use indicators to analyze
and improve programs, will enhance their
accountability to the public, improve their
effectiveness, and increase their contribu-
tion to protecting the environment.
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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
PROGRAMS:
THE U.S. EPA EXPERIENCE
INECE 6th International Conference
April 15, 2002
Michael M. Stahl
Director, Office of Compliance
U.S. EPA
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Presentation Outline
Background on EPA Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance Program
The Need for Better Indicators
Identifying Better Indicators
Designing and Implementing Indicators
Using Performance Indicators
Benefits of Performance Indicators
m
m
I. Background on EPA Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance Program
• Enforce most major U.S. environmental laws, e.g.,
Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act
• Workforce: 3,311 employees to conduct inspections,
bring enforcement cases, provide assistance, manage
data
m Use combination of compliance assistance, incentives
for facility self-audits, inspections and investigations,
civil and criminal enforcement.
B States play major enforcement role through delegated
authority
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The Need for Better Indicators
Traditional indicators of performance counted activities
("outputs") such as the number of inspections
conducted, and enforcement actions taken through the
year
These indicators fail to:
• Include new assistance and incentive approaches
• Measure environmental results ("outcomes") from activities
« Characterize the state of compliance in key populations
• Measure progress in addressing environmental goals and
problems
Special challenges associated with enforcement and
compliance indicators:
• Customer service indicators are of limited value
• Compliance failures of facilities are not government
"successes"
Importance of Developing Better Indicators:
• Increased demand to demonstrate results of government
activities
• Indicators provide a management tool for analyzing program
performance
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III. Identifying Better Indicators
m Principles guiding EPA efforts
« Consult a broad array of stakeholders and address their
needs
• Combination of outputs and outcomes need to be measured
• Indicators should be linked to goals and objectives
• Recognize outcomes are influenced by external factors
» Indicators should help evaluate progress in addressing
environmental problems
• Indicators should be used to both report results to the public
and manage programs
m Criteria for evaluating potential indicators:
• Relevant to program goals, objectives, and priorities
• Transparent to multiple users
• Credible and based on accurate data
• Functional in encouraging the right behavior
• Feasible to implement and maintain
• Comprehensive about operational aspects of the program
» New indicators selected by EPA
• Pounds of pollutants reduced by enforcement actions
• Number of companies/facilities self-disclosing violations under
EPA policies
« Number of entities seeking assistance from EPA centers
• Percentage of enforcement cases requiring improvements in
facility management of pollution
m Dollar value of injunctive relief and supplemental
environmental projects
• Statistically valid compliance rates
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213 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
HdV. Designing & Implementing Indicators
Important strategies for design and implementation of
indicators:
• Use internal teams to define indicators and develop new
information collection and reporting processes
• Pilot projects should be used to test and refine indicators
• Consultants can assist with difficult technical issues (e.g.,
sampling methodologies)
• Implementation should be done in phases over two to three
years
. Using Performance Indicators
• Reporting and documenting progress for the public and
Congress
• Annual Performance Report required by statute
m Using indicators to analyze and improve program
performance
« Beginning performance reviews of components of the national
program
• Adjusting program strategies and resources based on
performance reviews
• Performance review organized around five questions:
• Are we contributing to the goal of protecting human health and the
environment through our actions and strategies?
• Are we improving the environmental performance of the regulated
community?
• Are we achieving appropriate levels of compliance in key populations?
• Are we achieving the appropriate levels of enforcement and compliance
assurance activity in the regulated community?
• Are we providing appropriate assistance to our state and tribal partners to
support them in contributing to improving environmental performance?
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STAHL 214
¥1. Benefits of Better
Improving the effectiveness of the enforcement and
compliance assurance program
Demonstrating the value of activities and results to the
public
Contact Information
Michael M. Stahl
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (MC 22221-A)
Washington, DC 20460
Phone: 202-564-2280 Fax: 202-564-0027
e-mail: stahl.michael@epa.gov
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VAN DER VEEN, MUSKENS 227
ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVITIES INVOLVING
AMMONIUM NITRATE IN THE NETHERLANDS
VAN DER VEEN, HENK1 and MUSKENS, PETER J.W.M.2
1 Policy coordinator, Directorate for Local Environmental Quality and Traffic, Ministry of
VROM
2 Deputy regional inspector, VROM Inspectorate, South Unit, Ministry of VROM
Rijnstraat 8, 2515 XP The Hague, The Netherlands
Safety indicator system at discharge site for
ammonium nitrate solution
SUMMARY
Since the early 1990s the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment (the VROM Inspectorate) has implemented enforcement campaigns
with a central focus on risks for human safety. The most recent campaign involved a study
of the risks associated with the storage and use of ammonium nitrate in the Netherlands,
and the extent to which the statutory regulations are being complied with. The study was
carried out at the four big ammonium nitrate producers in the Netherlands and at a limited
number of storage companies where ammonium nitrate or products containing that sub-
stance are being stored. This particular study was initiated in response to the explosion of
an ammonium nitrate storage centre in Toulouse on 21 September 2002, in which 30 peo-
ple died.
The enforcement campaign revealed that the risk control procedures at the big
ammonium nitrate producers are adequate and, hence, that incidents like the one in
Toulouse are not likely to happen. However, at the storage companies the risks associated
with ammonium nitrate were shown to be more substantial. In addition, there appeared to
be room for improvement in the labelling of products containing ammonium nitrate and in
the directive regulating the storage of such products.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
1 RISK POLICY AS PART OF
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN
THE NETHERLANDS
In the Netherlands, risk policy has
been a major component of environmental
policy for over two decades. Before the oil
crisis in the 1970s it was common practice
to flare the gaseous fraction if it could not
be used on site, but in the wake of the cri-
sis the market value of fossil hydrocarbons
increased to such an extent that the large-
scale utilisation of the gaseous fraction
became commercially interesting. Since
that time the application of LPG (Liquefied
Petroleum Gas) as a fuel for motor vehicles
and as a raw material for the chemical
industry has increased exponentially in the
Netherlands. The authorities realised, how-
ever, that certain risks were associated with
the storage, application and transport of
LPG and commissioned a study into those
risks in the 1980s. That study made use of
the "Quantitative Risk Analysis" as an
instrument for risk assessment. This risk
assessment strategy was then implement-
ed as a policy instrument in the
Netherlands by virtue of the government's
"Integrated LPG Memorandum".
2 RISK POLICY ENFORCEMENT
The government complemented
the new policy with a number of statutory
regulations to ensure that the policy could
be effectively enforced. Examples include
the LPG Filling Stations (Road Traffic)
Decree and the Serious Accident Risks
Decree. The latter decree also served as
the instrument under which the EU Post-
Seveso Directive was implemented in the
Netherlands.
In the early 1990s the Inspectorate
for the Environment at the time launched a
risk-oriented enforcement campaign, the
purpose of which was to implement the
LPG Filling Stations Decree. In subse-
quent enforcement campaigns conducted
by the Inspectorate, risk policy enforce-
ment was repeatedly shown not to attract
the attention it deserves.
The fact that risk policy in the
Netherlands was not properly enforced
and that the safety of citizens was being
jeopardised was brought home with a
vengeance by major incidents involving
many fatal casualties in the towns of
Enschede (May 2000, explosion of fire-
works factory) and Volendam (New Year's
Day 2001, fire in a cafe/dance club). Since
then new statutory regulations in the area
of risk policy (fireworks, fire safety of build-
ings etc.) have been introduced, and all
public authorities involved (municipalities,
provinces and central government) have
reinforced systematic risk policy enforce-
ment procedures. The Inspectorate for the
Environment (which later merged into the
VROM Inspectorate) was also strength-
ened as part of that overall effort.
3 ENFORCEMENT STUDY INTO THE
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
PRODUCTION AND STORAGE OF
AMMONIUM NITRATE
In the morning of Friday 21
September 2001, an explosion took place
in a chemical factory in the French city of
Toulouse. The Grande Paroisse company
(part of the Total/Fina/Elf group) is situated
in the southern part of the city, in the mid-
dle of a residential district. The explosion
had disastrous effects, and the newspapers
reported 30 deaths, 2,442 injured (34 of
whom seriously) and 600 homes that would
be uninhabitable for a long time to come.
Even though the precise cause of
the accident has not yet been fully estab-
lished, the first signs were that the explo-
sion took place in a storage space for mate-
rials containing ammonium nitrate. The
Dutch authorities were obviously eager to
know whether accidents of this nature
could also take place at similar companies
in the Netherlands.
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VAN DER VEEN, MUSKENS 229
This is why the Minister of VROM
commissioned the VROM Inspectorate to
explore the manner in which ammonium
nitrate and products containing ammonium
nitrate are being manufactured, processed
and traded in the Netherlands. The purpose
was to find out whether
• the storage of and activities with ammo-
nium nitrate in the Netherlands are suffi-
ciently safe;
• the rules and regulations issued to guar-
antee safety are properly enforced;
• existing rules and regulations are suffi-
cient to ensure safety.
The study was performed at the
four biggest fertiliser producers in the
Netherlands: Hydro Agri Sluiskil and Zuid
Chemie Sas van Gent (Zeeland province),
DSM Agro Geleen (Limburg province) and
DSM Agro Umuiden (North-Holland
province), but also involved a number of
fertiliser storage companies.
4 PROPERTIES OF AMMONIUM
NITRATE
The accident in Toulouse occurred
when the substance called ammonium
nitrate exploded (detonated)1. Ammonium
nitrate is a substance with a special risk
profile.
It is a solid which, under specific
conditions (high concentrations, high tem-
peratures, confinement and the presence
of catalysts such as oil and chloride), can
explode or decompose releasing noxious
fumes.
In the past this substance caused a
number of very serious accidents, some of
which involved hundreds of fatalities. Not
surprisingly the production, storage and
use of the substance are subject to strict
precautionary measures. In the
Netherlands, products that contain ammo-
nium nitrate (fertilizer) are classified in haz-
ard categories A1 and A2, B and C2.
The Dutch production companies
Bulk storage of fertilizer containing ammonium
nitrate
exclusively make fertilizer in the A2, B and
C categories. Import, storage and tranship-
ment activities with fertilizer in category A1
take place on a modest scale.
5 FERTILISER PRODUCERS
The study of the four companies
that produce and process huge volumes of
ammonium nitrate has shown that under
the present circumstances the chance of
an accident in the Netherlands comparable
to the one in Toulouse is negligible. This is
mainly because the ammonium nitrate at
those companies is different in composition
from the substance that exploded at the
storage company in Toulouse.
The four companies in the study
Discharge site for ammonium nitrate
did, however, show differences in terms of
product range, working methods, safety
policy and safety record.
Nevertheless, the researchers con-
clude that at the moment of the study all
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
four companies operated under sufficiently
safe conditions as regards the production,
processing and storage of ammonium
nitrate and fertilizers containing that sub-
stance. The safety procedures for materials
containing ammonium nitrate and checks
on their composition were found to be ade-
quate and properly complied with in prac-
tice.
All company sections involved in
the study could produce up-to-date permits
under the Environmental Protection Act.
The permits had relevant coverage and
were consistent with the applicable quality
requirements. The companies were found
to operate largely in conformity with the
guidelines stated in their permits. However,
the implementation of the 1999 Serious
Accidents Risks Decree was found to be
lacking in some respects.
The VROM Inspectorate took steps
against one of the four companies, ordering
it to halt the supply and upgrading of a
material containing a particular type of
ammonium nitrate. The company could not
resume this operation until the VROM
Inspectorate was satisfied that the quality
of the material could be sufficiently guaran-
teed.
6 FACILITIES FOR THE STORAGE AND
UTILISATION OF, AND THE TRADE IN
AMMONIUM NITRATE
Firms that stock ammonium nitrate
for trading or processing purposes form a
second category of relevant companies.
Given the large number of companies in
this category and the enormous differences
in terms of company type, size and nature
of operations it proved impossible to pro-
duce a complete picture of all facilities
where ammonium nitrate is or might be
present.
The exploratory study, however,
suggests that in the Netherlands an esti-
mated 170 companies process, store or
use this product in some form or another.
The situation at companies that
operate in the distribution chain for C- fertil-
izer, such as wholesalers, was generally
found to be satisfactory.
Fertilizer refiners (blenders and
coaters) proved to merit some closer atten-
tion, as blending and coating activities at
those companies sometimes generated
types in the risk category of B- fertilizer. At
some companies storage conditions and
fire fighting procedures were found to fall
short of relevant category requirements.
Industrial ammonium nitrate is trad-
ed at wholesalers and chemical storage
Combustible materials (pallets) in the storage
of fertilizer containing ammonium nitrate
and transhipment companies. In many
cases reliable information about the risk
profile (read: detonation aspects) of the
material is lacking. The study highlighted
various companies of this type where con-
ditions were so dangerous as to call for an
intervention. A few companies use ammo-
nium nitrate as a raw material or auxiliary
substance in production processes, but no
significant irregularities were encountered
there.
7 PRODUCT QUALITY, LABELLING AND
STORAGE CONDITIONS
In many cases ammonium nitrate
and products containing the substance that
are traded on the market come from out-
side the Netherlands. The labels suggest
that these products qualify as "oxidising
agents" and should be treated accordingly,
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VAN DER VEEN, MUSKENS 231
rather than as "explosives". However, there
are reasons to assume that some of those
products are certainly "prone to detonation"
and wrongly exempted from a strict treat-
ment regime.
Many of these products are traded
with little or no accompanying risk informa-
tion. The statutory product information
leaflets were found to be incomplete and
misleading on a number of crucial aspects.
The detonation properties of
ammonium nitrate and products containing
that substance are assessed under various
types of regulations, each associated with
its own test system. This generates confu-
sion and may cause the actual risks to be
underestimated.
The CPR-1 directive, used in the
Netherlands in the storage of fertilizers
containing nitrates, needs to be updated. In
a number of respects the directive appears
to have become obsolete and its provisions
are too vague. It should also be made con-
sistent with (new) international provisions
concerning the classification of sub-
stances, packaging and safety policy.
The 1999 Serious Accidents Risks
Decree contains a relatively high threshold
value for ammonium nitrate. The Decree
only becomes applicable in the case of
considerable storage volumes, in contrast
to the threshold values for other sub-
stances with similar risk profiles.
Harmonisation is called for, preferably with-
in an ED context.
8 RECOMMENDATIONS
Given the findings of the study, the
VROM Inspectorate makes the following
recommendations:
• The knowledge about the risk profile of
ammonium nitrate and products contain-
ing ammonium nitrate, and the transla-
tion of that knowledge into policy, must
be improved. For example, the descrip-
tion and labelling of products available
on the market must be refined and stan-
dardised. It is also necessary to update
the CPR-1 safety directive.
• Information about the risk profile of activ-
ities involving the use of ammonium
nitrate and products containing ammoni-
um nitrate must also be improved. This is
clearly a joint task for the public authori-
ties and the business community.
• The public authorities should more effec-
tively structure and intensify their super-
vision of safety procedures for the treat-
ment of ammonium nitrate and products
containing ammonium nitrate. This
applies in particular to the import of
these products, but production and stor-
age methods used in companies within
the Netherlands also call for continuous
attention.
9 AFTERWORD
Time and again, large-scale
calamities of the type that have also
occurred in the Netherlands in recent years
emphasise the need for constant vigilance
at companies and public supervisory
authorities alike. Risk-oriented enforcement
campaigns like the one dealt with in this
paper will continue to be necessary, as
each successive campaign reveals the
existence of companies where risks are still
not being properly attended to, as well as
low levels of compliance and poor-quality
rules.
10 NOTES
1 The term 'detonation' refers to the
process in which a local shock in a sub-
stance brings about a reaction zone that
moves through the substance on a shock
wave at supersonic speed. Explosions
have a highly destructive effect.
'Deflagration' refers to the process in
which local heating of a substance brings
about a reaction zone that moves through
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232 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
the substance by transferring heat, without
the need for oxygen. The decomposition
process will continue even after the heat
source has been removed. Deflagration
causes large volumes of nitrous vapours
to be released, and cannot be extin-
guished by cutting off the oxygen supply.
Under certain conditions (confinement) the
deflagration process may lead to detona-
tion, also knows as 'explosion combus-
tion'.
2 Danger categories for products contain-
ing ammonium nitrate / fertilizers
A1: risk of detonation
A2: will only detonate under exceptional
conditions and releases noxious fumes
(nitrous vapours) in the case of a fire
B: may deflagrate under certain conditions
and releases noxious fumes (nitrous
vapours) in the case of a fire
C: will release noxious fumes (nitrous
vapours) in the case of a fire
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: MEASURING SUCCESS THROUGH PERFORMANCE I 233
MEASURING SUCCESS THROUGH PERFORMANCE:
DEFINING ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT INDICATORS (GROUP I)
Facilitators: Michael Stahl
Krzysztof Michalak
Rapporteur: Evan Wolff
GOALS
• Conduct a general discussion of experiences and efforts with indicators.
• Review of the proposed INECE project on indicators.
1 INTRODUCTION
The workshop considered: activity meas-
ures that document enforcement outputs;
levels of compliance and behavioral
change achieved in key target populations;
outcome measures for improved environ-
mental and public-health results and relat-
ed national priorities; and levels of support
provided both to the regulated community
in the form of compliance assistance and to
government enforcement practitioners.
2 PAPERS
INECE Secretariat, The INECE Enforce-
ment Indicators: Executive Summary and
Annotated Outline for a Multiyear Project
(6th Conference, Volume 2),
Mike Stahl, Performance Indicators for
Environmental Compliance and Enforce-
ment Programs: The U.S. EPA Experience
(Powerpoint) (6th Conference, Volume 2),
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The workshop conducted a gener-
al discussion of experiences and efforts
with indicators and provided an introduction
of the proposed INECE Enforcement
Indicator Project. The International Network
for Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement (INECE) Enforcement
Indicator Project (hereinafter also referred
to as the "Project") aims to develop a sys-
tem for evaluating capabilities of environ-
mental implementation, compliance and
enforcement programs at the national,
regional and/or international level. The
objective of the Project is "action and
accountability through better policy evalua-
tion" in order to create a safer and healthier
environment, and to promote sustainable
development. Specifically, the Project will
develop a process for creating and evaluat-
ing enforcement indicators at the national,
regional and international level. The Project
will then use this process to create model
indicators based on a uniform minimum cri-
teria. Finally, the Project will test both the
process and the model indicators in a sam-
ple of nations around the world.
The development of the Project will
follow a standard methodology that will
include: 1) Preparation and Case Studies;
2) Identification of Partners and Consulta-
tion; 3) Selection of Framework; 4)
Identification of Principles; 5) Indicator
Development; 6) Field Testing; and 7)
Promotion.
The Enforcement Indicator Project
will continually reassess its approach -
including users, partners, principles, mod-
els and practices - in order to expand the
reach and improve the quality of the indica-
tors. New partners will be sought to explore
techniques that insure the indicators
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
remain responsive to evolving environmen-
tal policy making.
The participants noted that it is
important to separate reporting on the sta-
tus of environmental indicators from other
types of indicators. The need for indicators
is to quantify the performance of enforce-
ment and compliance bodies. However, it is
important to keep indicators practical by
developing them with the end user in mind.
The INECE Indicators Project Proposal
needs to involve regional networks and
specific countries early on in the develop-
ment process. This should involve consid-
eration of existing projects with specific
attention to funding and sustainability
issues. Consistency of data will likely be
one of the major challenges when imple-
menting the indicator project.
4 CONCLUSION
• Particular attention must be paid to
challenges of developing indicators.
• Identify the driving pressures and real
needs that the indicators are working to
address.
• Consultation must occur early in the
development stage and include regional
and national input.
• Indicators should not be accessible to a
variety of users while focusing on core
environmental issues.
• Look for practical outcomes of indicators
development and use.
• Link the indicators project with auditing
bodies.
• Ensure that the indicators project is
sustainable and that funding is strongly
considered in the development.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: MEASURING SUCCESS THROUGH PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
235
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: MEASURING SUCCESS THROUGH
PERFORMANCE (Group II)
Facilitators: Durwood Zaelke
Doug Wright
Rapporteur: Peyton Sturges
GOALS
Consider the role of enforcement indicators in environmental compliance and
enforcement initiatives generally and the INECE Enforcement Indicators Proposal for a
multiyear INECE project
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• How do we ensure relevance to all
nations internationally?
• Who are the stakeholders and how do
we secure or assure their involvement?
• Are the principles set forth in the project
proposal appropriate or do we need to
include additional principles?
• Does the model set forth in the proposal
need modification or enhancement?
• Is the methodology set forth in the pro-
posal satisfactory?
• What additional case studies are needed?
2 PAPERS
INECE Secretariat, The INECE
Enforcement Indicators: Executive Summary
and Annotated Outline for a Multiyear
Project (6th Conference, Volume 2).
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
At the facilitators' suggestion, the
participants first discussed the preceding
panel presentations by Mike Stahl and Brad
May, and then reviewed the INECE
Enforcement Indicator Project using a
series of questions that were written on the
flip chart. The questions included how best
to address the different needs of developing
and developed countries, who the stake-
holders were, what principles should guide
the development of indicators, what model
should be used, what methodology, and
what case studies would be most useful.
The participants then proceeded to
discuss the panel presentations, including
the developing/developed country differ-
ences. The participants discussed the criti-
cal role of performance indicators for a
wide range of enforcement applications
including measuring progress toward
attaining empirical environmental quality
goals, engendering support, both public
and financial, for investments in enforce-
ment resources, and generally to demon-
strate to the public, government officials,
and the regulated community that enforce-
ment initiatives and resources are properly
directed. The participants agreed that
enforcement measures designed for one
country or region may not be viable for
other larger, smaller, or less developed
countries or regions. There was also agree-
ment that the process for developing
enforcement was relevant for all countries,
and that output measures and outcome
measures were both useful.
The ability of enforcement indica-
tors to provide a feedback loop was dis-
cussed, and it was noted that such feed-
back would be useful for enforcement
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
managers to determine how effective their
efforts were, and to legislators, policy mak-
ers, and the public. The need to link
enforcement indicators to improvements in
environmental quality was stressed, as was
the difficulties of attributing any particular
enforcement action or program to specific
improvements in environmental quality. It
was suggested that there was a spectrum
of enforcement indicators that would be
useful, ranging from output measures of
activities, to intermediate measures—such
as the additional funding invested by com-
panies in the wake of an enforcement effort
or the rate of recidivism—to measures of
environmental quality, with much of the
most useful work initially focused on the
outputs and intermediate measures.
Participants also stressed the need
to describe indicators in terms that were
easily communicated to the public, such as
the number of days public beaches are
closed due to pollution. The participants
concluded that the utilization of a range or
variety of performance measures is not an
either/or proposition; that enforcement enti-
ties are best advised to adopt that combi-
nation of performance measures that suit
the specific needs and considerations of
the entity adopting them.
With respect to the INECE
Enforcement Indicators Project, the partici-
pants responded strongly that the project
was important and should move forward, in
response to the question whether the proj-
ect was appropriate for INECE. It was
noted that it would be very useful to identi-
fy a sort of "best practices" for enforcement,
as the IMPEL network has done for mini-
mum criteria for inspectors. The value of
having an international, non-governmental
body prepare enforcement indicators was
stressed, and it was noted that such inter-
national indicators could assist enforce-
ment agencies advocates in improving their
programs.
The principles presented in the
Secretariat's background paper were dis-
cussed next. One participant noted that the
principle that the indicators should be
"comparable" should not be used as an
excuse not to move forward immediately,
although there is of course value in ensur-
ing that at least some indicators are com-
parable. The suggestion was offered for a
new principle of "feedback." Another partic-
ipant noted that in addition to "policy rele-
vance," the indicators should have "political
relevance," which could, for example,
include the approach noted by Mr. Stahl
who explained that much of the motivation
for US EPA indicators came from the
Government Performance and Results Act.
Another principle suggested was "synergy"
among environment, economic, social, and
sustainability. "Environmental quality" was
suggested as another principle, and it was
noted that "technological sophistication"
was appropriate in some instances,
although other indicators must be more
basic—perhaps a core set. The participants
also suggested that the indicators should
stress the positive benefits from enforce-
ment and compliance, which, it was noted,
can often exceed costs.
4 CONCLUSION
The participants felt that the INECE
Enforcement Indicator Project was impor-
tant and should move forward.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS 237
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT
MECHANISMS: GETTING AUTHORITY AND MAKING IT WORK
Facilitators: Chris Currie
Wout Klein
Rapporteur: John Rothman
GOALS
To explore the use of administrative enforcement mechanisms among the partici-
pants and to formulate recommendations for INECE actions.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• How might "administrative enforcement
mechanisms" be defined
• What differences exist among the
different administrative regimes
• Taking into account the differences
among the different administrative regimes,
what are the strengths and weaknesses
of various administrative tools
• What recommendations might we make
for further INECE study?
2 PAPERS
INECE Secretariat, Administrative
Enforcement Mechanisms (Workshop
Summary)(5th Conference, page 283,
Volume 2).
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Administrative enforcement can be
defined, initially, by what it is not. It is not
criminal enforcement or civil judicial
enforcement, both of which involve a court
system that is independent of the environ-
mental enforcement agency. The distin-
guishing feature of administrative enforce-
ment is that it does not involve such an
independent court system, although all
administrative enforcement systems within
the experience of the participants provide
access to the judicial system at some point
in the process.
Whether or not an administrative
enforcement system yields findings of fact
and law that are recognized by the inde-
pendent judicial system is a characteristic
that separated the various systems dis-
cussed by the participants. For example, in
the United States, administrative judges
make findings of fact and law that are rec-
ognized by the judicial system as absent of
procedural errors. In other countries, such
as Indonesia, Australia, Holland, Argentina
and Jordan, administrative orders or com-
plaints trigger a process that at the discre-
tion of the respondent, and if not settled,
move to the judicial system for resolution. In
Holland, administrative enforcement is con-
ducted in a special administrative judicial
branch, apart from the civil and criminal
court system.
The variety of tools available in the
administrative enforcement systems that
were discussed included virtually all of the
enforcement tools available to judicial sys-
tems, except for incarceration, which in
each case was available only to the criminal
judicial system. (It was noted, incidentally,
that criminal systems also appear to have
available most of the tools available to the
administrative and civil judicial systems.)
Given that many of the same tools
are available among the administrative sys-
tems, in each country the tools provided to
that particular administrative system varied
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
enormously. At extremes, some countries
provide their administrative system with
punitive monetary sanctions but limited, or
indirect, injunctive sanctions, (eg. U.S.).
Other administrative systems are provided
strong injunctive sanctions, such as the
ability to shut down facilities for violations,
but limited ability to apply monetary sanc-
tions, (eg. Jordan and Mexico).
Most administrative enforcement
systems provide, through procedural char-
acteristics or policy decision of the environ-
mental agency, the opportunity to reach
negotiated settlements with responding
parties. In fact, most agencies presume,
and in fact find, that the majority of actions
they take do settle before there is any
recourse made to the judicial system.
The choice of making recourse to
the administrative system typically lies with
the agency. The reasons by each agency to
decide which path to take vary radically
depending on the system. One set of char-
acteristics that recommend choice of the
administrative route is speed, cost and effi-
ciency. Most agencies reported that their
administrative processes were faster,
cheaper and, therefore, more efficient than
judicial options. Several participants noted,
however, that in cases of emergency, for
example in a circumstance in which contin-
ued operation of a facility exposed neigh-
bors to an unacceptable health risk,
recourse to the judicial system might be
faster and more certain because in their
systems only a judicial order can ensure
compliance.
There was a split of experience
regarding the advantages of administrative
systems where the agency's goal is reme-
diation or restoration. The arguments over
this point were too nuanced to have done
justice in this report.
4 CONCLUSION
There is surprising convergence
regarding a minimal definition of "adminis-
trative enforcement." However, there is a
truly remarkable variety in the powers and
procedures used by various administrative
regimes. A critical assessment of the
strengths and weaknesses of various com-
binations of these powers and procedures
will need a more careful analysis than can
be accomplished merely from the sharing
of anecdotal evidence.
The ideas expressed as recom-
mendations are noted in the order dis-
cussed, without regard to priority.
Explore opportunities to enforce
administrative/civil judgments across
national borders.
Consider conducting an inventory
and analysis of existing administrative
"tools" to the end of creating a more use-
able categorization and analyzing their
effectiveness. It was noted unanimously
that such a project would: 1) have to con-
sider tools that were more usually reserved
for civil judicial systems as well as those
typically offered to administrative systems:
and 2) have to recognize that the effective-
ness of "tools" is dependant upon specific
procedural contexts and, therefore, can
only be analyzed in relation to those specif-
ic contexts.
Recognizing the usefulness of an
international inventory of civil environmen-
tal violators (Is it fair to assume that there
already exists an actual, or inchoate, inven-
tory of criminal violators?), we might want
to consider somehow making the various
national inventories more easily available
and searchable.
There is surprising conver-
gence regarding a minimal definition of
"administrative enforcement." However,
there is a truly remarkable variety in the
powers and procedures used by various
administrative regimes. A critical assess-
ment of the strengths and weaknesses of
various combinations of these powers and
procedures will need a more careful analy-
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS 239
sis then can be accomplished merely from
the sharing of anecdotal evidence.
The ideas expressed as
recommendations are noted in the order
discussed, without regard to any order of
priority.
Explore opportunities to enforce
administrative/civil judgments across
national borders.
Consider conducting an inventory
and analysis of existing administrative
"tools" to the end of creating a more use-
able categorization and analyzing their
effectiveness. It was noted unanimously
that such a project would: 1) have to con-
sider tools that were more usually reserved
to civil judicial systems as well as those typ-
ically offered to administrative systems and
2) have to recognize that the effectiveness
of "tools" is dependant upon specific pro-
cedural contexts and, therefore, can only
be analyzed in relation to those specific
contexts.
Recognizing the usefulness of an
international inventory of civil environmen-
tal violators (Is it fair to assume that there
already exists an actual, or inchoate, inven-
tory of criminal violators?), we might want
to consider somehow making the various
national inventories more easily available
and searchable.
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240 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: BUILDING EFFECTIVE IN-COUNTRY NETWORKS 241
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: BUILDING EFFECTIVE
IN-COUNTRY NETWORKS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
AND ENFORCEMENT
Facilitators: Greg Linsin
Neil Emmott
Rapporteur: Neil Emmott
GOALS
To explore networks among complementary organizations within a country, and
how they work together to more efficiently carry out compliance and enforcement objec-
tives. In particular, to identify a set of elements that leads to successful in-country networks,
as well as some of the difficulties that may be anticipated.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• What have participants found to be, or
think might be, effective in respect of in
country networking for environmental
compliance and enforcement and as
sub-questions:
• networking between who?
• built how?
• to achieve what?
• formal versus informal?
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Compliance and enforcement can
mean different things to different people.
For example, compliance can be: by a state
with an international obligation (e.g. EU
Member States are obliged to transpose
EU Directives into their national legal sys-
tems), by a national body carrying out its
duties (e.g. a regulating authority may be
obliged to carry out certain tasks such as
permitting or inspection), or by a regulated
entity with whatever the law requires (e.g.
an industrial operator must comply with
obligations imposed in an environmental
permit). Similarly, enforcement can be to
promote compliance even where non-com-
pliance has not occurred (e.g. a regulating
authority may take steps beyond what the
law requires to help the regulated parties
comply - this might be called "soft enforce-
ment"), or to correct or punish non-compli-
ance (e.g. criminal prosecutions, adminis-
trative penalties, etc. - "hard enforcement").
Discussion in the workshop tended
to focus on the issues of compliance by
regulated entities, and enforcement
actions, whether "soft" or "hard", to promote
or secure such compliance. Nevertheless,
some general factors were identified as
supporting the success of networks, what-
ever their purpose or level:
• networks need a champion - someone
to spark action and give the network its
drive;
• human interaction and trust between par-
ticipants is essential - it may be impor-
tant to build up these basic elements
before embarking on more ambitious
network activities that depend on them;
• networks tend to rely on good informa-
tion exchange, whether through formally
organized mechanisms or well-estab-
lished but informal contacts.
A clear common purpose or inter-
est is an obvious need. A geographic focus,
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
such as a common boundary around which
different authorities operate, can also help,
and may additionally mean that networking
takes place at a more operational level,
with more scope for direct follow-up action.
In the USA, local-level task forces have
been successful in agreeing upon enforce-
ment strategies and actions between differ-
ent environmental bodies charged with
wildlife protection responsibilities. Such
cooperation requires careful management
of the dynamics in order to maintain con-
sensus between the parties involved.
Some potential barriers to the suc-
cess of networks were also noted. In addi-
tion to the absence of the success factors
discussed above, these were thought to
include:
• The bodies that employ people who can
best participate in networks are not
always willing to allow these people to
invest the time to make a significant con-
tribution. This creates a vicious circle
whereby the network cannot realize its
potential until more time is available from
participants, yet employers are reluctant
to allow staff to participate until results
have been demonstrated.
• Particularly where networks are based
on very individual contacts, a network
can be badly affected if a core individual
moves on to other responsibilities.
On the different types and purpos-
es of networks, clearly there is no universal
"right" answer. Different countries will have
different needs and networking contexts.
For example, in some countries where
administrative arrangements are well
established, there has been fruitful cooper-
ation between established authorities.
Examples of good practice were given con-
cerning networking among Austrian provin-
cial regulators who exchange information
on how they discharge common legal
requirements, and Italy's twinning of more
developed regulatory authorities with less
developed ones. In contrast, elsewhere
there is a more pressing need to establish
new administrative arrangements. In
Croatia, for example, forming a new central
environment agency is being considered to
provide a coordinating function for lower
level authorities.
On the question of whether net-
works best operate formally or informally,
again there is no "right" answer. Formal
groups can spin-off from informal networks,
while conversely successful informal net-
works can sometimes become formalized.
Similarly, there can be close links between
international and in-country networks. For
example, some EU Member States have
internal networks to coordinate their input
to the EU's IMPEL network.
Finally, it was noted that network-
ing in the realm of environmental compli-
ance and enforcement does not always
support direct compliance and enforcement
activities. Useful networking can also be
done on the broader compliance and
enforcement context, for example, by lob-
bying efforts to ensure that regulatory
authorities are adequately resourced.
3 CONCLUSION
Compliance and enforcement can
mean different things to different people.
Discussion in the workshop tended to focus
on the issues of compliance with regulatory
requirements by regulated entities, and
enforcement actions to promote or secure
such compliance. Some general factors
were identified as supporting the success
of networks, whatever their purpose or
level:
• a champion - someone to spark action
and give the network its drive;
• human interaction and trust between par-
ticipants;
• good information exchange;
• clear common purpose or interest.
In addition to the absence of the
above success factors, a further barrier to
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: BUILDING EFFECTIVE IN-COUNTRY NETWORKS 243
effective in-country networking is that the
bodies that employ people who can best
participate in networks are not always will-
ing to allow these people to invest the time
to make a significant contribution.
In some countries there will also
need to be greater emphasis placed on
building up administrative structures in the
first place, in order to allow for effective net-
working on compliance and enforcement to
subsequently occur. Nevertheless, net-
working could also usefully be undertaken
in respect of such institution building, for
example to support lobbying aimed at
ensuring that institutions are effectively
structured and resourced.
An off-the-shelf approach to pro-
ducing networks is unlikely to be success-
ful. In-country networks need to take
account of local and national needs and
priorities, and the networking context dic-
tated by the level of development, adminis-
trative arrangements, etc. Common suc-
cess factors can however be identified,
such as a champion to give the network
drive or focus, trust between participants,
good information exchange, and a common
purpose or interest.
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244
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS LEADING To COMPLIANCE 245
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS LEADING
TO COMPLIANCE
Facilitators: Tom Maslany
Antonio Oposa
Rapporteur: Ana Maria Kleymeyer
GOALS
• Consider settlement negotiation process and compliance agreements, schedules and
action plans that result.
• Determine the social good behind a law that supports the use of alternative modes and
techniques of environmental compliance.
• Are there themes that can support achievement of positive compliance results through
the negotiation process?
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• How is negotiation used around the
world to achieve compliance?
• What are the barriers to the use of envi-
ronmental compliance negotiations?
• What can INECE, as a world network of
environmental compliance professionals,
do to help address these barriers?
2 PAPERS
Susan Bromm and James Lofton,
Negotiation in Superfund Cases: The Role
of Communities in Site Redevelopment (6th
Conference Proceedings, Volume 1).
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The workshop began with a dis-
cussion of the questions posed by facilita-
tors. These included:
• How is negotiation used around the
world to achieve compliance?
• What are the barriers to the use of envi-
ronmental compliance negotiations?
• What can INECE, as a world network of
environmental compliance professionals,
do to help address these barriers?
Comments from participants led to
broadening the scope of the discussion to
include negotiations for determining envi-
ronmental standards. The facilitators further
specified that the discussion should focus
on sharing experiences of national negotia-
tion, as opposed to international.
Participants shared experiences from
Europe, South Asia, Africa, South America,
Central America, and the United States. The
discussion highlighted differences in gov-
ernment resources necessary throughout
the negotiation process. Specifically, techni-
cal expertise on environmental topics,
human resources necessary for enforce-
ment, the judicial culture in dealing with civil
and criminal cases, and the general accept-
ance of negotiation as a means to resolve
environmental compliance issues.
The next portion of the workshop
focused on how negotiation applies in dif-
ferent contexts, focusing on what elements
are necessary for effective negotiation and
how to overcome common barriers.
Participants highlighted the flexibility of
negotiation in terms of concurrently
addressing multiple issues and including
public participation at the negotiation table.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
The discussion emphasized the necessity
of effective deterrents to strengthen the
negotiation process. In many countries,
companies readily violate environmental
laws despite judicial sanctions - an alter-
native that is not threatening due to minimal
fines or the availability of corruption.
Participants recommended numerous cre-
ative solutions for governments that could
accompany substantive and procedural
reforms to remedy this problem.
3 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the group offered a
number of recommendations for INECE
both to address the above-mentioned diffi-
culties and to strengthen the application of
negotiation as a method for addressing
environmental compliance and enforce-
ment issues. Emphasis was placed on the
art and science of selling the 'social good'
behind the law, and how it may be used to
trigger alternative modes and techniques of
environmental compliance and enforce-
ment. The Workshop resulted in a set of
themes that are designed to achieve posi-
tive compliance results through the negoti-
ation process. Specifically, INECE should
further develop their website to include
more information in order to help practition-
ers prepare for negotiations. The website
could include a chat room or listserv for dis-
cussion or a list of professionals within the
INECE network to answer questions on
negotiation. INECE can facilitate negotia-
tion training through web-based courses,
compiling information on where training is
available, strengthening training programs,
and providing guidance for members on
what kinds of training they need.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR COMPLIANCE INSPECTORS 247
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR
COMPLIANCE INSPECTORS
Facilitators: Markku Hietamaki
Erin Heskett
Rapporteur: Davis Jones
GOALS
• Determine the role of INECE in developing and implementing compliance programs
for inspectors
• Immediate Actions.
• Future Actions.
• Discuss whether INECE can develop a product that will serve inspectors better in
the future.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• Are the circumstances so similar that
general requirements can be set?
a. Environmental Laws
b. Practices (May be deeply rooted
in people or organizations)
• Should we (INECE) have a general
framework under which some countries
could identify their training needs and
other countries could identify their possi-
bilities to give training?
• Should INECE help determine the needs
by regions or country, and how can
INECE help?
• INECE doesn't have many resources, but
does have networks, contacts in Regions.
INECE needs to see how that feature
can be used. How can we start the work?
2 PAPERS
Terry Shears, IMPELS Training and
Qualification of Environmental Inspectors,
available at http://europa.eu.int/
comm/environment/impel/index.htm
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Are the circumstances so similar
that general requirements can be set for
training courses? One possible way to
develop a model inspector training method-
ology would be to use particular countries
to help define a framework for inspector
training, either directly or through regional
networks, and then INECE or the Regional
Network should ask the individual countries
to identify their training needs. This survey
should not attempt to catalogue all needs,
but seek the two to three priority areas in
that country. INECE should then look at the
results and concentrate their activities
where there are the greatest regional or
topical similarities.
Similarly, this survey should also
ask countries with developed programs
what type of training they provide to their
own inspectors and what they could pro-
vide to other countries, either directly or
indirectly by supplying course material.
INECE is in a unique position to bring
together needs and possibilities.
IMPEL is a key regional organiza-
tion which promotes and offers training in
member countries of the European
Commission and ascension countries
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
seeking to join the EC. Inga Larsson stated
that IMPEL only works with specific indus-
tries that fall under the European
Commission's environmental permitting
program. Their training efforts do not
include conservation or endangered
species inspections or enforcement, but
some of the basic skills are the same.
Many developing countries do
have common needs for training and a
common set of qualifications for their
inspectors, but have not yet developed a
training program to implement these con-
clusions. In Europe, there are many differ-
ent countries doing the same thing to
achieve the same ends but conducting
things in very different ways.
George Wamukoya responded that
INECE could use different regional network
approaches as examples for cooperation
on inspector training. In different parts of
the world, regional blocs exist to harmonize
laws and approaches across borders. We
are able to learn from the successes in
other countries in the same region, and
transfer that information into your own pro-
gram. Need to relate training to meet mini-
mum criteria, and need to list that has
received training and met qualifications.
These qualifications may include many fac-
tors including the educational or profes-
sional background of the inspector, their
personality, and their sense of professional-
ism. Training can bring someone up to a
minimum level, but individual inspectors
may need more than a minimum level of
training to truly succeed.
Terry Shears stated that in the EC,
member countries guard certain responsi-
bilities, such as training their own inspec-
tions. IMPEL can suggest key elements or
a common framework for a training pro-
gram, but countries would not be so recep-
tive to IMPEL actually providing the training
as an outside provider. Inga Larsson added
that you cannot always use the same
model across countries. Different countries
may have different administrative struc-
tures, legal requirements, cultures, etc. For
this reason, you cannot always have the
same content in training courses for differ-
ent countries. A framework must establish a
core of common elements, but retain flexi-
bility so actual training courses can be cus-
tomized to suit the audience's specific
needs. Each course will need to be modi-
fied for specific issues in each country.
Erin Heskett used the example of
training for endangered species trafficking
as an example. CITES has a common
framework worldwide due to the common
treaty obligations. However, learning tech-
niques vary worldwide, so any global train-
ing efforts they have done must be modified
for each country or culture to accommodate
different ways people learn.
Santos Carrasco asked how to
address the complexity of multimedia
inspections? How does anyone have all
the necessary competencies to conduct
multimedia inspections? How do you
establish a training program to address
these complexities? Will you implement
training in phases depending on needs? Or
try to develop and implement everything at
once?
Terry Shears responded that
IMPEL serves more as a carrot than a stick
- they can't demand countries do specific
things, or even prioritize between states, but
the EC could. They have recognized that
one course can't provide for all the needs
for diverse issues. You must look at mini-
mum qualifications to bring the inspection
program up to a satisfactory standard.
Member states need to decide individually
how they will meet those standards. David
Geisbacher agreed that specific issues
might need specialized training. General
issues may be common across borders, but
specific legal or regulatory issues don't
always cross boundaries. The focus of
regional or global training should be on
specific parts of the activities that are com-
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR COMPLIANCE INSPECTORS 249
mon.
How can INECE help with inspec-
tor training? David Yitzhak suggested that
as one country develops a course, INECE
could ask that country to share the materi-
al and open up attendance at the course to
other countries in needs. INECE could also
sponsor Train-the-trainer courses for facili-
tators from various countries or regions.
Once we have a general framework for the
course, INECE should then ask other par-
ticipating countries if that framework meets
their needs, and possibly adapt framework.
An example of this type of effort in the
Middle East occurred when Cyprus offered
a course on marine protection and opened
it up to other countries to meet regional
needs.
George Wamukoya suggested that
INECE could be instrumental in developing
a framework with key elements and key
components of inspections. This could
serve as an "IDEAL" or "Principles" for
inspections. Then move into particular
region and address unique aspects of that
region that go beyond the common princi-
ples. INECE's role should be to set general
principles that can then be reduced to a
regional or country approach. It goes from
national policy level to implementation.
In Europe there is a training course
offered in the Netherlands only once a year
with representation from all over the
Region. Now, they have created a regional
advisory council to tailor the course, and
each country has further tailored the mate-
rial to the national level.
Erin Heskett asked if INECE
should convene a working group to develop
a general framework? Markku Hietamaki
responded with questions about funding;
INECE has very limited resources, so we
must think about who would fund this activ-
ity.
David Yitzhak suggested that
INECE begin by taking what is already
done and ask others for comments.
However, someone has to be coordinator
for the review. Davis Jones responded that
INECE could begin with an existing coun-
try's framework and distribute it as a straw
man for international applicability.
Development of various framework laws
has been similar.
Markku Hietamaki suggested that
a group be formed to develop a large-scale
list of competencies and skills required by
inspectors.
• Prepare questionnaire to identify needs
and offerings
• Framework of competencies and skills
• Test the questionnaire in some countries
• Sell the idea to donors and sponsors
• Carry out the questionnaire and assess
the results
• Look for donors, sponsors and those to
do the training
• Organize training, assess the results and
report to donors/EPC/Networks
Markku suggested that to do this,
we would need to ask for more responsibil-
ity from recipients of the training courses.
INECE can collect ideas and make assess-
ment but the recipients must form the
process and outline their needs and specif-
ic concerns.
George Wamukoya offered a com-
promise based on work under CITES. First,
don't assume the audience doesn't know
what inspections are all about. Everyone is
doing something, so we don't have to begin
with a zero knowledge base. Second, IFAW
has done similar work with CITES - they've
already conducted training in different
Regions - INECE should look at those
efforts and the principles that inform those
trainings to help with this effort. Finally,
INECE should focus on the common
threads and investigate how to expand
those trainings (CITES) to bring in holis-
tic/multi-sectoral approach.
For the IFAW training, they were
able to use one model and one needs
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
assessment for other regions. However,
CITES is a specific agreement based on
border activities. By design, 2 or more par-
ties must agree on common activities.
Conventional industrial inspections are free
to vary according to country's ideas and
objectives, so it is harder to find a common
framework.
Markku discussed the Dutch model
for offering training assistance - they
finance the travel costs for inspectors to go
to training. In addition, some countries buy
training courses from different vendors who
customize the course to suit their needs.
INECE could develop a list of providers for
countries that need training to adapt to their
situation, this will help ensure that the train-
ing is not driven by the donor's model.
Regional training is valuable, but how many
donors are ready to finance that type of
training? Can INECE help combine
resources?
Santos Carrasco suggested that as
a conceptual point of view, we should not
assume financing is always outside the
abilities of the country of need. In-country
help may be available and, in some way,
should be expected. If the recipients won't
help themselves, how effective will the
efforts be? If a country can pay, they will
have fewer doubts about service paid for
and provided, and will give the effort more
importance. Countries may want to learn
from the experience of developed coun-
tries, but financing is not always an option.
Markku asked, in those situations,
what is the role of INECE? Bilateral
exchanges don't need an international net-
work - one country provides a service and
the receiving country funds the effort and
gets what they pay for. Santos and Erin
both replied that INECE can provide the
connections between countries, and can
also help spread the course elsewhere.
They can post the proceedings or training
material on the Web, help share the mate-
rial elsewhere, or otherwise make it avail-
able for those that are developing their pro-
grams so they don't have to reinvent the
course.
George Wamukoya emphasized
that we should try to identify a niche for
INECE. INECE is in a unique position to
bring different expertise from all over the
world to add value. Bilateral arrangements
are by nature more restrictive, since the
expertise is only from the donor and recipi-
ent. Don't assume that any general princi-
ples provided by INECE will not be edited
by local needs within their framework.
There is room to blend local needs with
general principles. Markku Hietamaki
agreed that there should be enough local
thinking about how to formulate training. In
too many cases, providers who have a long
history in how to adopt training to local
needs still tend to push the same course
despite saying they will adapt.
4 CONCLUSION
We recognize two different types of
countries that want to use INECE as an
umbrella to get training:
• Countries that can identify their own
needs and finance training (at least in
some way), but need INECE for identify-
ing sources/contacts.
• Countries that cannot identify training
needs due to lack of knowledge of the
minimum standards for inspectors, nor
sources of financing for training. INECE
should provide a mechanism for them to
express their needs, and INECE should
seek sponsors/donors and providers.
INECE can find linkages and support as
it can.
INECE should try to create a model
for training and identifying two different lev-
els of needs, as well as the situations that
fall between. INECE should primarily use
Networks that already exist, rather than indi-
vidual countries going directly to INECE.
However, we need to look at the suitability
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR COMPLIANCE INSPECTORS 251
of each network and see whether it can pro-
vide that service for this audience. Some
networks are not currently able to handle
new roles, so INECE needs to evaluate its
networks to see if they can accomplish this
function before setting the expectation.
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252 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENSES 253
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENSES:
CRIMINAL AND CIVIL
Facilitators: Jose Gonzalez Montero
James Lofton
Rapporteur: John Boyd
GOALS
• Evaluate use of criminal sanctions to enforce environmental requirements;
• Ascertain if and when criminal sanctions are desirable to enforce environmental
requirements.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• Should nations rely exclusively on crimi-
nal enforcement mechanisms for all envi-
ronmental offenses or use administrative,
civil, constitutional and other mecha-
nisms reserving criminal enforcement for
the most serious offenses?
• What is the best mechanism to enforce
environmental requirements?
• Which mechanisms are more important
than others?
2 PAPERS
John C. Cruden and James W.
Rubin, Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement at the United States Depart-
ment of Justice and the Role of Enforce-
ment in Good governance (6th Conference
Proceedings, Volume 2).
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Mr. Hedayetul Chowdhury of
Bangladesh stated that in his country there
is concurrent jurisdiction so that both a
criminal and a civil suit can be brought in
one case. Mr. Antonio Benjamin from Brazil
asked how do we define a civil offense or a
criminal offense? Is it possible to have one
action or omission considered as both crim-
inal and administrative matters? Is it possi-
ble to have triple liability under criminal,
administrative and civil headings? Mr.
Cesar Luna of USA answered that there
are significant differences between the civil
and common law systems; each system
separates cases differently.
Mr. Rolando Alfaro told that in
Guatemala there was only one class taught
annually in environmental law. Now there is
a growing specialization on environmental
law and a growing awareness of the differ-
ences between criminal and civil law
processes. Mr. Peter Lehner of the United
States informed the participants that the
primary difference between civil and crimi-
nal liability is proof of a criminal intent that
will result in a penalty different from the
same set of facts without such criminal
intent. Thus, in a criminal case, the prose-
cution usually attempts to prove that the
accused planned a result. However, it is
possible to have a crime arise from negli-
gence on a specialized and hazardous job.
Dr. Robert Wabunoha of Uganda
spoke of how the courts can decide on a
remedy such as community service. The
prosecutor has discretion in deciding
whether to charge an individual, a corpora-
tion, or the agent of the corporation. Mr.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Sheik Enayet Ullah of Bangladesh voiced
that there can be no universal answer to
the questions because the law and cus-
toms of countries differ. Even criminal and
civil law concepts differ significantly among
countries. In response, Mr. Benjamin
thought that perhaps we should redraft the
first question. The real question deals with
proportionality on two levels, (i) is there a
bad actor or a negligent actor? (intent) (ii)
what is the extent of the damages? (magni-
tude of the damages). We need a range of
enforcement mechanisms so that the
penalty fits the crime.
Mr. Lehner felt each country needs
environmental enforcement mechanisms to
achieve proportionality with respect to the
scope and magnitude of the harm as with
respect to intent. Mr. Benjamin inquired as
to whether it is helpful to add to the criminal
law environmental infractions? Protecting
the environment deserves the ultimate
legal response, but we should not overly
rely on criminal law. Some wild cat miners
will not listen and will not negotiate while
seeking to avoid administrative and civil
sanctions. For such wild cat miners, only
the criminal law will work. Thus in the indus-
trial area, criminal law sanctions to enforce
environmental requirements seems appro-
priate.
Mr. Wabunoha brought up the
issue that one significant problem arises
from the fact that a great deal of environ-
mental damage is poverty related. Mr. John
Cruden of the US stated that there are
three key issues:
• the need to deter;
• proportionality;
• and the need to protect human health.
Mr. Lofton voiced that social con-
cerns grow about the environment, moral
issues increase and come to the point of
criminalizing actions not previously subject
to criminal sanctions. There is a new recog-
nition that environmental issues have a
moral component. Mr. Lehner noted that in
the US it is possible to attach a monetary
penalty in a civil action, depending on the
intent of the defendant. For example, there
may be a sanction of a certain amount of
money damages for each day of violation.
Mr. James said that so long as proportion-
ality is observed, then the full suite of sanc-
tions, including civil and criminal, is appro-
priate. Mr. Benjamin noted that the US per-
mits far more stringent penalties than in
many other countries, so proportionality dif-
fers by country. Mr. Wabunoha cautioned
that a native may not know that he is com-
mitting a crime.
3 CONCLUSION
The twenty participants plus facili-
tators and rapporteur from Latin America,
Bangladesh, Uganda, United States and
the United Kingdom agreed upon the fol-
lowing statement of conclusions and rec-
ommendations;
"We support promoting environ-
mental compliance through the use of all
enforcement mechanisms and options —
administrative, civil, and criminal with the
possibility of penalties, civil damages, and
criminal fines and sentences — to deter
effectively environmental offenses, promote
environmental compliance, protect public
health and the environment, and restore
environmental and public damage. We also
emphasize the importance of environmental
education at all levels, especially in law
schools and training for the judiciary."
The discussion points included
analysis of the differences and similarities
between criminal, administrative and civil
law in common law and civil law jurisdic-
tions, with a focus on the role of criminal
law. It was pointed out that the concepts of
proportionality and deterrence vary marked-
ly between the United States and other
jurisdictions but that protection of human
health and the environment is more nearly
an absolute. It was also pointed out that
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENSES 255
there is full agreement as to the use of all
enforcement mechanisms with respect to
industrial activity, while damage to the envi-
ronment which is poverty related and arises
from a lack of education requires a different
approach from criminal prosecutors.
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256 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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THEME #3
Raising Awareness: The Importance of Environmental Compliance
and Enforcement
Theme #3 includes three panels. Panel 5, Economic Instruments and Voluntary Measures,
explored voluntary compliance mechanisms, including building public support and partner-
ships and encouraging voluntary compliance by industry. Panelists offered a public interest
perspective and considered cost-effective ways to achieve adherence with environmental
requirements through agreement and partnership. Panelists explored governmental
response to private sector environmental management systems, considering the views of
the regulated community toward traditional enforcement approaches. Panel 6, Information
Collection, Standards, Sharing, Access, Credibility and Use, discussed information man-
agement needs and present ideas on data systems that assist enforcement persons. The
panel addressed the management and accessibility of data and information as well as the
issues of public access. Under Panel 7, Evolving Role of the Judiciary in Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement, members of the judiciary presented their views on the role
of the judiciary in deciding environmental disputes. Consideration was given to existing and
innovative methods used to quantify environmental damages.
Included under this theme are the panel presentations and the following papers:
• PROFEPA: The New Vision of the Environmental Audit, Thomas-Torres, Lorenzo
• Citizen Suits in International Environmental Law: The North American Experience,
Knox, John
• The Recognition to Right of Information, Santosa, Mas Achmad
• Performance Rating & Disclosure: An Effective Environmental Policy Tool, Wang, Hua
• Self-Monitoring (of Air Emissions, Discharges to Water and Waste) in Finland,
Hietamaki, Markku
• The Deep Judicial Control of Public Policy, Condition Sine Qua Non for Environmental
Order and Sustainable Development, Dec/en's, Michael
• Preparing Judges for the Evolving Role of the Judiciary, Karamanof, Maria
• The Inseparable Link Between the Cultural and Natural Environment: The Greek
Experience, Kapelouzos, loannes
• Environmental Law Enforcement: The Role of the Judiciary, Anderson, Winston
• UNEP's Judicial Symposia on the Role of the Judiciary in Promoting Environmental
Law and Sustainable Development, Kurukulasuriya, Lai
Also included are the following workshop summaries:
• Summary of Workshop 2A: Encouraging Public Role in Compliance Monitoring and
Impact of Public Access to Environmental Information
• Summary of Workshop 2B: Government Programs to Encourage and Respond to
Public Involvement in Enforcement
• Summary of Workshop 2C: Promoting Voluntary Compliance: Environmental Auditing
and Outreach and Incentives for Private Sector Compliance, Communicating
Enforcement Success to Encourage Voluntary Action
-------
Summary of Workshop 2D: Self-Monitoring Data: How to Ensure Accuracy and Integrity
Summary of Workshop 2E: Environmental Information Systems: Institutional
Requirements for Collection, Management and Access
Summary of Workshop 2F: Information Management and Enforcement: Ensuring
Effective Application at the Working Level
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WOLTERS 259
GERARD WOLTERS (DAY CHAIR)—OPENING COMMENTS
Good morning, a beautiful day today outside and a perfect program in this meeting
room
We started yesterday with a very good plenary session about the role of institutions
and networks in environmental enforcement. These networks have a critical role to play in
any effort to restrain the environmental violations across the globe.
The plenary on regional network experience stressed the public participation as
well the important role governments and parliaments can play. Good governance and clearly
defined environmental requirements are essential for the success of enforcement. Effective
indicators of enforcement can make enforcer's lives easier by providing better communica-
tion with policy makers about the results of enforcement but also for a better planning of
future activities.
We had the first round of workshop for which I already saw the results and I am
very interested in the total reports. For today we again have a very good program and very
good moderators and speakers and Susan Bromm is leading the first panel and she will
provide a statement.
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260
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SESSION #5: ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS AND VOLUNTARY MEASURES 261
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #5: ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS
AND VOLUNTARY MEASURES
Moderator: Susan Bromm
RapporteurWaltraud Petek
1 INTRODUCTION
This panel explored alternative
enforcement mechanisms, including build-
ing public support and partnerships and
encouraging voluntary compliance by
industry. Panelist offered a public interest
perspective and considered cost-effective
ways to achieve adherence with environ-
mental requirements through agreement
and partnerships. Panelists explored gov-
ernmental responses to private sector envi-
ronmental management systems and con-
sidered the views of the regulated com-
munity towards traditional enforcement
approaches.
2 PRESENTATIONS
Susan Bromm introduced the
Panel and the topic of alternative ways for
enforcement to achieve results in environ-
mental protection.
Lorenzo Thomas presented
Mexico's National Program of Environ-
mental Audits, a voluntary program to sup-
port enterprises to comply with environ-
mental laws and to recognize environmen-
tal performance. It is a three-stage
approach starting with a self-evaluation to
identify deficiencies and to find opportuni-
ties for improvement. For this self-evalua-
tion, guidelines were developed by PRO-
FEPA in a participatory process with indus-
try and the public. The second stage is an
Environmental Compliance and Clean
Industry Certificate awarded for compli-
ance with environmental requirements and
the third stage the Environment Excellence
Certificate recognizing companies that go
beyond law requirements. There is a
Committee for ethical, technical, as well as
risk analyses issues and an Advisory
Council for the elaboration of the audit
schemes. The auditors are certified with the
Mexican Crediting Entity; there are now
about 170 auditors. So far, mainly the big
industries participated (oil company, electric-
ity companies) but they were the main pol-
luters. The aim is to get all companies
involved. The program is being extended to
also cover industrial parks, productive
chains, municipalities, tourist destinations
and others like hospitals or airports. The pur-
poses of the Environmental Audits Program
are to create greater conscience and
responsibility for environmental protection,
to encourage an environmental prevention
culture and thus to contribute to a daily
observation of these principles in society.
Lawrence Pratt dealt with frame-
works for considering voluntary agree-
ments in developing countries whereby
firms or industry agree to meet certain
goals and objectives to improve environ-
mental performance and compliance. In his
view, there is a general lack of understand-
ing of the expectations of industry and com-
panies. He pointed at the issues that moti-
vate companies (efficiency, costs, market
position, image, fears) and the ones that
impede companies (lack of information,
existing policy structures). Voluntary agree-
ments can serve to achieve environmental
goals, reduce costs to the State, harness
other forces to advance environmental pro-
tection (market, societal concerns, knowl-
edge) and serve as more efficient means.
He showed areas and conditions where
voluntary agreements can be fruitful instru-
ments to enlarge the toolbox for environ-
mental measures, especially in the "macro"
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262
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
area. Forward looking issues, opportunities
for collective action or certain alignments of
interests can be viable areas for voluntary
agreements as well as areas where action
by one company alone would be self
destructive, but action by all of a sector
would benefit all. Also, areas where a
"prize" or recognition from the State is
given, like a label for sustainable tourism or
in the field of energy efficiency, or where
fear is credible and solutions visible are
fruitful for voluntary agreements. He
appealed for a better understanding of
what motivates companies and to make
more use of the instrument of voluntary
agreements.
Beatrice Olivastri spoke about her
ten years experience in participating in vol-
untary non-regulatory initiative from the
side of an environmental NGO. As regula-
tion making is very expensive and takes a
lot of time, there were searches for alterna-
tives. She stressed that voluntary initiatives
need the platform of regulations and cannot
replace regulations. She presented the cri-
teria and principles developed by NGOs,
industry and government for voluntary ini-
tiatives in Canada. The criteria comprise
the positioning of voluntary non-regulatory
initiatives within a supportive policy frame-
work of laws and regulations, the agree-
ment of interested and effected parties on
voluntary non-regulatory initiatives as an
effective method to achieve environmental
protection objectives, sufficient participa-
tion in the voluntary non-regulatory initia-
tive over the long term, clearly defined roles
and responsibilities plus mechanisms to be
able to fulfill these roles. The principles gov-
erning the design of voluntary non-regula-
tory initiatives comprise equitable participa-
tion of interested and affected parties,
transparency, rewards for good perform-
ance and consequences of not meeting
performance objectives, milestones,
timetables and monitoring mechanisms as
important parts of the agreement. She gave
three examples and reported on the experi-
ences gained with them:
• Accelerated reduction and elimination of
toxics with chemical industry on 117 spe-
cific substances which had questionable
results, but also some success for broad
acceptance by government and industry;
• Recycling management corporation to
collect CFCs used in commercial refrig-
eration which had a regulatory backdrop
in case of non-performance and
• The Province of Ontario's cooperative
agreements' pilot project on voluntary
reduction of pollutants as a complemen-
tary tool to inspections with offers of
technical assistance. She concluded that
voluntary initiatives can accelerate the
pace of environmental protection, but
need built in indicators to measure
results.
3 DISCUSSION
In the discussion, the question of
the cost effectiveness of voluntary meas-
ures was raised. Pratt and Thomas
responded that the objective is to achieve
efficient results and that voluntary meas-
ures can be up to 70% cheaper or not
cheaper for industry, for the state they can
also be more expensive. The second topic
of the discussion was the area of applica-
tion for economic instruments, whether
they are only applied to the "brown" envi-
ronmental agenda (air pollution, waste,
soil) or also to the "green" agenda (national
parks, forestry, biolife). In Costa Rica,
Mexico and Canada they are also used in
the green agenda, especially in forestry, in
Africa for wild life management.
4 CONCLUSION
The presentations and discussions
of the Panel showed that voluntary initia-
tives could serve as a valuable tool to sup-
plement existing regulatory schemes. They
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SESSION #5: ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS AND VOLUNTARY MEASURES 263
may help to achieve faster results in areas
that are difficult to regulate. Finally, they
can increase the flow of information, trust
and credibility between authorities, indus-
try, the public and NGOs.
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264
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THOMAS - TORRES 265
PROCURADURiA FEDERAL DE PROTECCION AL AMBIENTE
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THOMAS - TORRES 271
PROCURADURIA FEDERAL DE PROTECCION AL AMBIENTE
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272 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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KNOX
273
CITIZEN SUITS IN INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW:
THE NORTH AMERICAN EXPERIENCE 1
KNOX, JOHN
Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University, 150 South College Street
Carlisle, PA 17013 USA. Email: jhknox@psu.edu. Tel: 1-717-240-5000.
SUMMARY
This paper evaluates the effectiveness of alternative measures to promote compli-
ance with international environmental law. A citizen directed submissions procedure that
allows the public to trigger international review of states' behavior is favored over tradition-
al methods of adjudication of claims by one state over another. The submission procedure
is evaluated for performance on two separate models of compliance. The paper concludes
that the submissions procedure has yet to be tested thoroughly to make substantive deduc-
tions about its efficacy. However, its record to date indicates that it has the potential to be
effective both as a quasi-supranational tribunal and as a part of a managerial regime.
1 INTRODUCTION
The traditional way to promote
compliance with international law is
through adjudication of claims by one state
that another state is violating its legal obli-
gations. But state-to-state adjudication has
played almost no role in promoting compli-
ance with international environmental law.
Environmental treaties usually do not pro-
vide for compulsory, binding adjudication,
and states almost never invoke the volun-
tary procedures they do include. The ques-
tion is, therefore, how should the interna-
tional community best promote compliance
with international environmental law? The
North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation creates an
innovative submissions procedure, which
allows citizen complaints to trigger interna-
tional review of states' behavior. This paper
first situates the procedure in the context of
two models of compliance, and then evalu-
ates the procedure's potential effective-
ness.
2 SUPRANATIONAL ADJUDICATION,
THE MANAGERIAL MODEL, AND
COMPLAINT-BASED MONITORING
Some scholars argue that states
do not bring environmental claims against
one another because they are vulnerable to
such claims themselves, and do not want to
trigger retaliatory actions or establish unde-
sirable precedents. One way to avoid this
roadblock would be to allow private parties,
such as environmental groups, to sue
states before international tribunals (Wirth,
1994). International adjudication of private
claims against states, or supranational
adjudication, is rare, but it has been estab-
lished in areas such as human rights and
international investment law, and it has
made inroads even in the World Trade
Organization, whose arbitral panels can
receive amicus briefs from private parties.
And, of course, domestic environmental
law such as that of the United States often
provides private parties the ability to bring
"citizen suits" as an integral means of
enforcing compliance. Like traditional
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
state-to-state adjudication, supranational
adjudication promotes compliance, by
allowing impartial review of a state's behav-
ior by a tribunal able to provide authoritative
interpretations of the law. Moreover, supra-
national adjudication is arguably fairer than
intergovernmental adjudication, because it
allows private parties to pursue a claim
directly, rather than waiting for their nation-
al governments to espouse - or, more like-
ly, not espouse - their claim.
But not everyone is enamored with
supranational adjudication, or adjudication
at all, as a way to promote compliance with
international law. In an influential book enti-
tled The New Sovereignty, Abram Chayes
and Antonia Handler Chayes argue that
adjudication is costly, controversial, back-
ward looking, and generally unsuitable for
promoting compliance with complex envi-
ronmental agreements. They urge greater
use of nonbinding mechanisms that man-
age compliance rather than enforce it.
They base their "managerial model" on two
premises: (1) "as a practical matter, coer-
cive economic — let alone military —
measures to sanction violations cannot be
utilized for the routine enforcement of
treaties in today's international system, or
in any that is likely to emerge in the fore-
seeable future"; and (2) states' failures to
comply with their treaty obligations are usu-
ally due to limited capacity or ambiguous
treaty language than to deliberate viola-
tions (Chayes, et al, 1995).
The managerial model seeks to
address the underlying causes of these
problems through cooperative means, such
as nonbinding references to expert bodies
to interpret ambiguities, conciliation to set-
tle disputes informally, and technical or
financial assistance to build states' capaci-
ty to comply. Monitoring states' behavior -
systematically reviewing, assessing, and
reporting on states' compliance with their
obligations - may be the most important
managerial tool, since it identifies obstacles
to compliance so that the proper tools may
be brought to bear on them. Moreover,
drawing attention to the state's behavior
may itself induce the state to comply, to
avoid the opprobrium that attaches to a vio-
lator of international law.
The managerial model has been
criticized, but there is no doubt that states
usually prefer persuasion to enforcement.
International environmental agreements
rely heavily on managerial mechanisms,
and monitoring in particular, to promote
compliance (Oran, et al, 1999). By far the
most popular monitoring mechanism in
international environmental law is self-
reporting, which is now included in most
multilateral environmental agreements. As
a compliance mechanism, self-reporting
has problems, however: reports are often
untimely and inaccurate, and there is usu-
ally no institutional means to review and
respond to them.
Some environmental agreements
have established more sophisticated sys-
tems of review. The Montreal Protocol has
one of the most highly developed and influ-
ential of these procedures. Like other envi-
ronmental agreements, the Montreal
Protocol requires each party to report
annually on its implementation of the
agreement. But the Protocol goes further,
by incorporating a noncompliance proce-
dure administered by an Implementation
Committee of ten state parties, which can
receive information on compliance from
other parties and the Secretariat. The
Committee reports to the Meeting of the
Parties, which may provide assistance,
issue cautions, or suspend specific rights
under the Protocol, in order to bring the
parties into compliance. Compared to
other procedures in international environ-
mental law, the Montreal Protocol
Noncompliance Procedure is innovative
and powerful, and it has been a model for
other agreements. But it has also been crit-
icized for being too much under the control
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275
of governments. States are unlikely to
bring complaints against one another to the
Implementation Committee for the same
reasons that they avoid state-to-state adju-
dication, and the government representa-
tives on the Implementation Committee
may be unlikely to recommend tough sanc-
tions.
Monitoring completely under state
control is likely to be ineffective, since
states are often reluctant to call attention to
shortcomings in their own or others' per-
formance. Monitoring in the field of human
rights has responded to this problem by
allowing independent experts to assess or
prepare reports on state compliance, and
private parties (such as non-governmental
organizations) to trigger the monitoring
process. Human rights procedures illus-
trate four combinations of state control,
independent expert review, and private
party input: (1) self-reporting by monitored
states to independent experts (such as
reports filed under the Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights); (2) reporting by inde-
pendent experts that is triggered solely by
states (such as the rapporteurs appointed
by the UN Commission on Human Rights, a
body of government representatives); (3)
reporting by experts that is triggered by
states but that has a role for private com-
plaints (such as the 1503 procedure of the
Human Rights Commission); and (4) com-
plaint-based monitoring - that, is reporting
by independent experts that is triggered
solely by private complaints.
The most important example of
complaint-based monitoring in human
rights law is the Optional Protocol to the
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which allows any individual subject to the
jurisdiction of a state party to the Protocol
to file a "communication" with the Human
Rights Committee claiming that the state
has violated a right set forth in the
Covenant.2 State control over the monitor-
ing mechanism is limited to deciding
whether to be party to the Protocol. The
independent experts who make up the
Human Rights Committee screen the com-
munications in accordance with set criteria,
consider the admissible complaints and
government replies, and publish their views
on the merits. In comparison to the previ-
ous examples of monitoring, the complaint-
based monitoring mechanisms created by
the Optional Protocol look remarkably like
supranational adjudication. In the words of
Laurence Heifer and Anne-Marie
Slaughter, the Committee not only acts as
"a quasi-judicial monitoring body"; in many
ways it "is behaving more and more like a
judicial arbiter of human rights disputes"
and employing "an increasingly court-like
method of operation (Heifer, et al, 1997)."
The similarities should not be overstated.
Professors Heifer and Slaughter empha-
size that the Human Rights Committee is
not a supranational tribunal in the strict
sense, since parties are under no legal
obligation to comply with the views
expressed by the Committee.
But the lack of binding decisions
does not necessarily mean that the
Committee is less effective than suprana-
tional tribunals in the strict sense. The
effectiveness of a supranational tribunal
cannot depend entirely on whether its deci-
sions are legally binding, because no inter-
national court (and, for that matter, no
domestic court) has the ability to force
states to comply with legally binding deci-
sions. That a decision is considered legal-
ly binding may increase its pull toward com-
pliance, but no more than, and possibly
less than, other factors. Professors Heifer
and Slaughter compare the Human Rights
Committee to the European Court of
Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR), the two most effec-
tive supranational tribunals, and conclude
that "[although the Committee's effective-
ness is nowhere near that of the ECJ and
the ECHR, it is the similarities to, rather
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
than the differences from, its effective
European neighbors that we find most strik-
ing (Heifer, et al, 1997)." They emphasize
the Committee's attempts to take steps to
improve its effectiveness in many ways
characteristic of supranational tribunals -
ways that do not depend on whether its
decisions are legally binding.
Complaint-based monitoring thus
offers one of the chief benefits of suprana-
tional adjudication: the possibility that its
decisions against states will be made effec-
tive even in the absence of a coercive way
of enforcing them. It offers other advan-
tages as well. It prevents states from exer-
cising undue control over the procedure,
since states cannot prevent or control
either the private parties' decisions to file
complaints or the independent experts'
review of the complaints once filed. It
allows claims from a great variety of
sources and thereby provides the experts
reviewing the claims more opportunities to
identify and review instances of noncompli-
ance. And allowing private parties to bring
their complaints of violations of internation-
al law — complaints that otherwise would
not be heard — to an impartial internation-
al body may better comport with the same
ideas of fairness served by supranational
adjudication.
Supranational adjudication and
managerial monitoring are usually seen as
completely different approaches to compli-
ance. But there is no bright line between
adjudication and monitoring. Both review
states' behavior in light of their obligations.
The greater the degree to which a monitor-
ing mechanism allows private parties to
trigger independent expert review of allega-
tions that states have violated international
legal obligations, the more it incorporates
elements of supranational adjudication. At
the same time, however, the monitoring
mechanism may continue to operate in a
managerial context, relying on techniques
of persuasion rather than enforcement.
Both the managerial model and suprana-
tional adjudication could be strengthened if
their proponents recognized the way in
which complaint-based monitoring can
embed a form of incipient or quasi-supra-
national adjudication in a managerial
approach to compliance.
Many commentators have suggest-
ed that the Montreal Noncompliance
Protocol would be more effective if non-
governmental organizations could play a
role in triggering the monitoring mecha-
nism, and if reports were reviewed or pre-
pared by independent experts (Barrett-
Brown, 1993). More generally, greater pri-
vate participation in international environ-
mental supervisory mechanisms seems
necessary to make those mechanisms
more effective and fair. To date, however,
states have been reluctant to introduce the
elements of private-party input and inde-
pendent expert review into international
environmental law. This is not particularly
surprising. Compliance mechanisms
develop slowly over time, and most envi-
ronmental agreements are still in their first
or second decade. States are often slow to
accept private participation in any kind of
compliance procedure. Nevertheless, indi-
viduals' participation in compliance proce-
dures is likely to increase, as part of the
trend throughout international law for indi-
viduals to join states on the international
plane.
3 COMPLAINT-BASED MONITORING IN
NORTH AMERICA
Outside the European Union, the
only current example of complaint-based
monitoring in international environmental
law is the submissions procedure of the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation. The Commission for
Environmental Cooperation is an interna-
tional organization created by the United
States, Mexico, and Canada in the 1993
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277
North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation, the environ-
mental side agreement to the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation and the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation provide a forum for regional
cooperation to address many different
types of environmental problems.^ But they
are particularly designed to address the
concern, expressed loudly during the
NAFTA debate, that by removing barriers to
foreign investment in Mexico, NAFTA would
lure companies to move there in search of
a "pollution haven," thereby contributing to
the degradation of the Mexican environ-
ment and putting pressure on all three
North American countries to lower their
environmental standards in a "race to the
bottom." A key premise underlying this con-
cern was that as written, Mexico's environ-
mental laws were essentially equivalent to
those of the United States, and that the
problem was inadequate compliance with
those laws. The challenge was not to
require Mexico to write stricter standards
into its law, but to assist or induce it to
improve its implementation and enforce-
ment of its standards.
To that end, Article 5 of the North
American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation requires each party to "effec-
tively enforce its environmental laws."
Other provisions in the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
support that obligation. In particular,
Articles 14 and 15 establish a complaint-
based monitoring procedure very similar to
those created by human rights agreements
such as the Optional Protocol to the
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Under Articles 14 and 15, the Secretariat
may receive and review complaints, or
"submissions," from private parties, and
prepare reports, or "factual records." To
lead to a factual record, a submission must
successfully negotiate a four-hurdle obsta-
cle course.
First, it must meet admissibility
requirements set forth in Article 14(1). The
most important requirement is that the sub-
mission asserts a state party "is failing to
effectively enforce its environmental law."
In addition, the submission must be in a
designated language of the state against
which it is directed; it must identify the sub-
mitter; it must provide enough background
information to allow the Secretariat to
review it; it must appear to be aimed at pro-
moting enforcement rather than harassing
industry; it must indicate that the matter has
been communicated in writing to the state;
and it must be from a person.
If the Secretariat decides that a
submission merits requesting a response
from a state party, the submission then
faces the third hurdle: whether, based on
the submission and the response, the
Secretariat believes that a factual record is
warranted. Article 14(3) identifies one cir-
cumstance under which the Secretariat
may not proceed further: if the state con-
cerned advises the Secretariat that the
matter is the subject of a domestic legal
proceeding being pursued by the state, or
the subject of an international dispute reso-
lution to which the state is a party.
Otherwise, the North American Agreement
on Environmental Cooperation gives the
Secretariat no explicit guidance on how to
decide whether a factual record is warrant-
ed. Presumably, however, the Secretariat
should continue to take into account the
factors listed in Article 14(2). In particular,
whether the submission raises matters
whose further study would advance the
goals of the Agreement would seem of key
importance in deciding whether a factual
record is warranted.
If the Secretariat decides that a
factual record is warranted, the submission
faces a fourth hurdle. Under Articles 15(1)
and 15(2), the Secretariat must inform the
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation Council - the governing body
of the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation, composed of the parties'
environmental ministers - of the reasons
why it believes a factual record is warrant-
ed, and it may proceed only if the Council
instructs it to do so. The Council decision is
taken by a two-thirds vote, so the state con-
cerned may not block a factual record.
Nevertheless, any two of the parties, acting
through their representatives on the
Council, may stop the procedure at this
point. The Agreement provides no con-
straints on the factors the Council may take
into account in making their decision.
Although the spirit of the Agreement sug-
gests that the Council may deny the
Secretariat's request only if it disagrees
with the request on the merits, nothing pre-
vents the Council from acting through lower
motives, to protect their states from embar-
rassing reports.
If the Council approves the
request, the Secretariat proceeds to pre-
pare the factual record. The Agreement
does not address the contents of a factual
record. In practice, the Secretariat has
broad discretion to decide what facts are
relevant and should be included. The state
parties have a final point of control over the
procedure, however. When complete, fac-
tual records are submitted first in draft to
the Council, so that the states may "provide
comments on the accuracy of the draft."
The Council then decides by a two-thirds
vote whether to make the factual record
public. (Unsurprisingly, the Council has
approved the publication of the only factual
records prepared to date. Public outcry
would result from a Council attempt to sup-
press a final report relevant to compliance
by one of the state parties with its obliga-
tion to effectively enforce.)
Although it is too early for definitive
assessments of the submission proce-
dure's effectiveness (as of January 1, 2001,
seven years after the North American
Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation's entry into force, 28 submis-
sions had been filed, which had resulted in
two factual records4), the way that the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation has handled its first cases pro-
vide a basis for a preliminary assessment
of the procedure's potential effectiveness.
The following sections first examine it as a
type of emerging or potential supranational
tribunal, relying primarily on a checklist
developed by Professors Heifer and
Slaughter to assess the effectiveness of
supranational tribunals. The paper then
examines the ability of the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation submissions
procedure to take advantage of its mana-
gerial context.
4 THE COMMISSION FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION
SUBMISSIONS PROCEDURE AS A
SUPRANATIONAL TRIBUNAL
The thirteen factors on the
Heifer/Slaughter checklist fall into three cat-
egories: factors within the control of the
states that establish the tribunal; factors
within the control of the tribunal itself; and
factors often beyond the control of either
states or tribunals. Within each category,
the checklist ranks the factors in tentative
order of importance. Where the checklist
overlooks or misjudges characteristics of
the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation procedure relevant to its
potential effectiveness as a supranational
tribunal, this paper modifies the checklist,
adding three new factors to it.
4.1 Factors Within the Control of
States
The first group of factors on the
checklist is those within the control of the
states that establish the tribunal: (a) its
composition; (b) its functional capacity; (c)
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KNOX 279
its independent fact-finding capacity; and
(d) whether its decisions are legally bind-
ing. I add three factors to this list: (e) the
transparency of the tribunal's procedures
and decisions; (f) the ability of states to
control key points in the adjudicative
process; and (g) links to possible coercive
enforcement mechanisms.
4.1.1 Composition
Professors Heifer and Slaughter
suggest that a tribunal will have greater
authority if its members are chosen from
respected jurists, and if its members have
particular expertise in the subject matter of
the tribunal. The Commission for
Environmental Cooperation procedure is
administered by two members of the
Secretariat, who consult a Committee of
Legal Experts composed of three law pro-
fessors from each country, and who may
hire independent experts if necessary. As
a result, the Secretariat seems to have, or
have access to, sufficient legal expertise.
The Heifer/Slaughter model might suggest
formalizing and heightening the role of the
distinguished members of the Committee,
however, to increase the respect accorded
to the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation's decisions.
4.1.2 Functional Capacity
Functional capacity asks whether
the tribunal can attract and resolve a
steady stream of cases. Its ability to do so
depends on whether its rules of procedure
allow it to process its caseload effectively,
and on whether it has sufficient financial
resources. The Commission for
Environmental Cooperation procedures
seem efficient and open: they allow any
resident of North America to file a claim,
regarding enforcement of virtually all
domestic environmental laws. But it will
need additional resources. Two staff mem-
bers probably cannot promptly dispose of
the submissions that will be filed in the next
few years if the procedure remains fairly
popular, much less the number that will be
filed if its popularity grows. As the proce-
dure starts to produce reports on state
compliance, it is likely to attract additional
complaints, which require more resources
to resolve promptly and effectively. But at
the same time, the procedure's success at
reporting on state compliance may make
states more uncomfortable with it. One of
the challenges facing the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation is whether it
will continue to receive the financial support
it needs.
4.1.3 Independent Fact-finding Capacity
To be effective, a tribunal must be
able to elicit credible information on which
to base its decisions. The Secretariat does
have this ability. In preparing a factual
record, the Secretariat is required to con-
sider any information provided by a state
party, but it may also consider any relevant
information that is submitted by interested
persons or developed by the Secretariat or
independent experts. Moreover, Article 21
of the North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation requires state
parties to provide the Secretariat "such
information as [it] may require, including
promptly making available any information
in its possession required for the prepara-
tion of a report or factual record, including
compliance and enforcement data."
4.1.4 Legally Binding Decisions
Procedural decisions of the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation Secretariat - that is, decisions
that determine whether a submission
meets the requirements for moving to the
next stage of the procedure - are binding
on submitters, since they have no choice
but to respect an adverse decision. A
Secretariat decision that a submission jus-
tifies requesting a response under Article
14(2) is binding on the concerned state, in
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
the sense that the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
requires the state to respond to the sub-
mission, if at all, within a set number of
days after a request from the Secretariat.
But the Secretariat's decision that prepara-
tion of a factual record is warranted is not
binding unless the Council approves it by a
two-thirds vote. Moreover, factual records
are never binding. Even if a factual record
establishes that a state party is failing to
effectively enforce its environmental law,
nothing in the Agreement suggests that the
Secretariat or the Council may order the
state to comply by effectively enforcing its
law. Nor does it appear that the Secretariat
can "decide" whether the state has failed to
effectively enforce its environmental law.
The Heifer/Slaughter model might
suggest that factual records should decide
whether a state has effectively enforced its
environmental law, and perhaps even
explicitly decide whether a state has violat-
ed Article 5 of the Agreement. But such
decisions would probably exceed the
states' expectation of the scope of a factual
record. Nor is it clear that such decisions
would make the procedure more effective.
As long as a factual record identifies the
facts relevant to whether a party has effec-
tively enforced its environmental law, it
does not seem enormously important
whether the Secretariat concludes the fac-
tual record by stating its view on whether
the facts indicate that the law was effective-
ly enforced. If the factual record is well
prepared, its readers will be able to draw
their own conclusions as to that ultimate
question. If, on that basis, readers con-
clude for themselves that the law was not
effectively enforced, they will be able to use
the factual record to try to induce the state
to enforce the law more effectively in the
future.
4.1.5 Transparency
If a procedure is not transparent to
the public - that is, if its procedures, docu-
ments, and decisions are not publicly avail-
able - then the public may not be able to
obtain the knowledge necessary to oversee
and support the procedure. On the whole,
the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation procedure receives high
marks for transparency. Submissions,
responses, procedural decisions, Council
decisions, and factual records have gener-
ally been made available to the public
promptly in accordance with the North
American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation and the Guidelines.
4.1.6 State Control
States may establish procedures
that allow them to oversee and second-
guess decisions in individual cases.
Professors Heifer and Slaughter do not
include this factor, perhaps because it is
not present in the tribunals they examine.
But where it is present the factor is particu-
larly important, since the greater the ability
of states to control key points in the adju-
dicative process, the less effective a tribu-
nal is likely to be. States do not control
most of the decision points in the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation submissions procedure. They
have no control over which submissions
are filed, and they cannot prevent the
Secretariat from deciding that a submission
is admissible, merits a response from a
state party, and warrants preparation of a
factual record. Nor can the states control
the content of the factual record itself. But
their control of two key points in the proce-
dure - the decision to authorize the
Secretariat to prepare a factual record and
to make a factual record public - has the
potential to undermine the effectiveness of
the procedure. States could give up this
control by amending the agreement or, in a
less binding step, declare that they will
always vote to affirm a Secretariat recom-
mendation for a factual record and to make
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281
all factual records public. To date, however,
far from giving up this control, states have
been tempted to extend it, both by refusing
to authorize factual records recommended
by the Secretariat and by exercising ongo-
ing oversight of factual record preparation.
Although states have generally resisted this
temptation, if the Council does begin to
micromanage the Secretariat and bring the
procedure under de facto state control, that
would clearly destroy the effectiveness of
the procedure as any type of supranational
tribunal.
4.1.7 Links to Coercive Mechanisms
Even if enforcement mechanisms
are unlikely to be used, as long as they
have any value as a deterrent they may
increase the effectiveness of the tribunal.
Part Five of the North American Agreement
on Environmental Cooperation allows one
state party, with the approval of two-thirds
of the Council, to take a claim that another
state party is engaging in a persistent pat-
tern of failure to effectively enforce its envi-
ronmental law to a panel of independent
experts. Part Five also provides for sanc-
tions to induce compliance with a panel
decision. It is conceivable that a factual
record indicating a failure to effectively
enforce environmental law might contribute
to pressure on a state party to bring a com-
plaint under Part Five. Although the possi-
bility is remote, it may nevertheless con-
tribute to the effectiveness of the submis-
sions procedure.
4.2 Factors Within the Control of the
Tribunal
The second category on the
Heifer/Slaughter checklist includes factors
within the control of the tribunal itself: (a) its
awareness of its "audience" — i.e., the con-
stituency that supports its work; (b) its neu-
trality and autonomy from political interests
— that is, whether it makes decisions on
legal principles rather than seeking merely
to reconcile the parties' competing inter-
ests; (c) whether it proceeds incrementally,
aware of its political limits; (d) the quality of
its legal reasoning; (e) dialogue and cross-
fertilization with other tribunals; and (f) the
form of its opinions.
4.2.1 Awareness of Audience
The main audience for the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation submissions procedure is the
audience of potential submitters. In princi-
ple, this constituency is enormous, since
the procedure is open to any person or
nongovernmental organization in any of the
three countries. In practice, the most
important potential submitters are environ-
mental groups, which have filed the great
majority of submissions. A key considera-
tion for them is whether the Secretariat is
interpreting the procedural requirements
broadly, to allow as many submissions as
possible to be considered, or narrowly, to
exclude most submissions at an early
stage. The Secretariat has taken the first
approach whenever possible. In the longer
run, a more important test may be whether
the Secretariat continues to show inde-
pendence from the Council in deciding
whether to recommend the preparation of
factual records and in preparing the factual
records once approved. This factor thus
depends at least partly on the Secretariat's
neutrality, the next factor on the checklist.
Environmental groups and other
potential submitters are not the only con-
stituents of the submissions procedure.
Members of the public who would never
consider filing a submission may neverthe-
less support the procedure as a way to help
improve environmental protection in North
America. The Commission for
Environmental Cooperation is almost
unique among international organizations
in incorporating a Joint Public Advisory
Committee designed to give the public a
forum within the organization, and each of
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the state parties has a National Advisory
Committee to provide interested members
of the public an additional way to influence
their states' policy towards the Commission
for Environmental Cooperation. The
Secretariat has shown a strong awareness
of this public constituency. It recognizes
the need for public support and has used a
variety of means, including its website, to
provide information about the Commission
for Environmental Cooperation and to pub-
licize Commission for Environmental
Cooperation actions.
4.2.2 Neutrality
The Commission for Environ-
mental Cooperation Secretariat has been
willing, even in the earliest submissions, to
make decisions in politically difficult cases.
It has not shown any particular deference
to states' suggested interpretations of the
Agreement. Conversely, it has dismissed
submissions — even by major environmen-
tal groups — that did not meet the require-
ments for admissibility. In short, the
Secretariat's decisions appear to be
grounded on legal interpretations of the
Agreement rather than on fear of adverse
reactions by, or the desire to curry favor
with, states or submitters.
4.2.3 Incrementalism
Tribunals, especially infant tri-
bunals, must not forget their limits. As tri-
bunals neutrally interpret and apply legal
rules, they should look for ways to make the
rules more acceptable to states and
respond to political signals that they have
gone too far. The Secretariat has been
careful not to cross such political bound-
aries. In particular, it has resisted calls to
push the legal limits set by the North
American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation. Those calls began in the first
two submissions, which alleged that the
United States was failing to effectively
enforce environmental laws as the result of
Congressional action. These two submis-
sions raised a basic question of interpreta-
tion: can a legislative decision to suspend
enforcement of environmental laws through
withdrawal of funding be failure to effective-
ly enforce those laws? A positive answer
would have sent a strong signal to the envi-
ronmental community that the Secretariat
would interpret the scope of the procedure
very broadly, and that it would press the
governments not to relax their environmen-
tal protections. On the other hand, the
states would have seen such a decision as
an unreasonable interpretation of the
Agreement. In the end, the Secretariat
rejected the submitters' arguments.
Although this response disappointed the
environmental community, it avoided a
potentially disastrous confrontation with
states at the outset of the Secretariat's
implementation of the submissions proce-
dure.
4.2.4 Quality of legal reasoning
The Heifer/Slaughter model con-
siders whether decisions are reasoned,
i.e., whether they systematically describe
the opposing legal arguments and explain
why they are approved or rejected. The
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation Secretariat's procedural deci-
sions present the positions of the submitter
and the responding state and carefully
evaluate them in accordance with the terms
of the North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation, in a manner
that resembles judicial review. Although
the Secretariat's early policy was to issue
reasoned procedural decisions only when
dismissing a submission or recommending
preparation of a factual record, the trend
appears to be towards more detailed legal
analysis. By emphasizing the importance
of issuing reasoned decisions, Professors
Heifer and Slaughter may overlook a more
substantive measure of legal quality: Are
the decisions consistent with the agree-
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ment they are construing? To be consid-
ered well-reasoned,, a legal decision must
reach a principled resolution of the issues
before it — i.e., a resolution that informed
observers agree is consistent with the best
(or at least a permissible) reading of the
applicable law. By this standard, the
Secretariat has received generally high
marks from outside reviewers.
4.2.5 Cross-fertilization
Professors Heifer and Slaughter
believe that supranational tribunals can
enhance their mutual authority by referring
to one another's work. To date, no decision
by the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation Secretariat has cited another
complaint-based monitoring mechanism or
supranational tribunal, perhaps because no
such institution has a mandate that over-
laps substantively with that of the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation submissions procedure. But
other bodies do face similar procedural
issues, such as the role of pursuit and
exhaustion of local remedies, and in
addressing those issues the Secretariat
might usefully draw on their decisions.
4.2.6 Form of opinions
This factor concerns whether opin-
ions are presented with concurring and dis-
senting opinions, or as if the decision were
unanimous. Opinions differ on which
approach better promotes compliance. To
date, this factor is not relevant to the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation submissions procedure, since
Secretariat decisions are not made by mul-
tiple decision-makers who may formally
disagree with one another.
4.3 Factors Often Beyond the Control
of States or Tribunals
The final group of factors on the
Heifer/Slaughter checklist are those often
beyond the control of states or tribunals: (a)
the nature of the violations brought to the
tribunal; (b) whether the states subject to
the tribunal have domestic institutions com-
mitted to the rule of law and responsive to
citizens; and (c) the degree to which those
states are culturally and politically homoge-
neous.
4.3.1 Nature of Violations
Professors Heifer and Slaughter
point out that tribunals are more effective at
"policing modest deviations from a general-
ly settled norm" than responding to sys-
temic problems requiring large-scale policy
changes (Heifer, et al, 1997) . They sug-
gest that an important reason for the suc-
cess of the two European tribunals is the
limited nature of the complaints brought to
them. In contrast, the Human Rights
Committee has had much less success in
responding to the gross human rights abus-
es brought to it. It is too early to decide
whether the complaints to the Commission
for Environmental Cooperation are more
similar to the relatively limited complaints
received by the European courts or the
complaints of systemic abuses received by
the Human Rights Committee. Complaints
of failures to effectively enforce laws might
be thought to be relatively minor deviations
from norms that the states themselves
have written into their domestic law.
Conversely, such failures might implicate
problems endemic to the legal system as a
whole, in which case it would be much
more difficult for the submissions proce-
dure to help to cause the systemic changes
necessary.
The alleged violations brought to
the submissions procedure may affect its
potential effectiveness in another way. If
the violations are primarily directed against
only one or two of the state parties, those
states will be less likely to support steps to
make the procedure more effective. As of
January 1, 2001, the first 28 submissions
were divided almost equally, with Mexico
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the subject of eleven, Canada the subject
of nine, and the United States the subject of
eight. But the United States has been the
subject of a disproportionately small num-
ber of submissions in light of the relative
size of the states' populations. And sub-
missions against Mexico and Canada have
generally proceeded farther than those
against the United States. The causes of
this disparity are unclear. It may be that
U.S. environmental groups are waiting to
see whether the procedure gives them
effective remedies beyond those they
already have under domestic law. The dis-
parity may prove to be only temporary, of
course. But if the procedure comes to be
seen as primarily directed against Canada
and Mexico, they may resist supporting the
procedure and instead look for ways to
increase their control over it or otherwise
weaken it.
4.3.2 Domestic Institutions Committed to
Rule of Law
Professors Heifer and Slaughter
emphasize the importance of "domestic
government institutions committed to the
rule of law, responsive to the claims of indi-
vidual citizens, and able to formulate and
pursue their interests independently from
other government institutions." Such insti-
tutions are a necessary condition for "max-
imally effective supranational adjudication,"
since supranational adjudication depends
on the ability of domestic government insti-
tutions to use their power on behalf of the
tribunal, either on their own initiative or as a
result of pressure by private parties (Heifer,
et al, 1997). Each of the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
parties has a system of law that provides
legal rights to individuals and that is inter-
preted by a judiciary nominally independent
of control by other government institutions.
But despite recent attempts at reform, the
Mexican judicial system has been criticized
for being ineffective and under the control
of the executive branch. To the extent these
criticisms are valid, they may cast doubt on
the potential effectiveness of the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation submissions procedure, but
they may also increase the importance of
the procedure to Mexican submitters.
While potential submitters may see envi-
ronmental remedies under U.S. law (and, to
a lesser degree, Canadian law) as so effec-
tive that the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation can add little to them, it may
offer avenues for relief otherwise unavail-
able to those concerned with Mexican
issues. In addition, the procedure may
demonstrate the benefits of objective
examination of environmental issues at the
request of private parties in ways that help
would-be reformers argue for increased
access by private parties to domestic
courts.
4.3.3 Homogeneity
Professors Heifer and Slaughter
say that many observers of the European
supranational tribunals conclude that their
success is due in part to the relative homo-
geneity of the states subject to those
regimes, as opposed to the wide range of
states that participate in global agreements
like the Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights. To the extent that homogeneity is a
factor, it probably cuts against the potential
effectiveness of the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation submissions
procedure. The three North American
states have many environmental concerns
in common, but they also have many differ-
ences in language, culture, and history.
One result of these disparities is that super-
ficially equal burdens weigh on the parties
differently. For example, the parties pay an
equal share of the expenses of the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation, but Mexico's share is a far
higher percentage of its budget for environ-
mental protection than is that of the United
States or Canada.
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285
5 THE COMMISSION FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION
SUBMISSIONS PROCEDURE AS
A MANAGERIAL COMPLIANCE
MECHANISM
At the same time the submissions
procedure is a type of quasi-supranational
tribunal, it remains an integral part of a
managerial approach to compliance. Like
other monitoring mechanisms, it produces
reports on state behavior that rely on the
effect of "sunshine" to induce compliance.
Like other complaint-based monitoring
mechanisms, it avoids many of the prob-
lems associated with excessive state con-
trol by giving key roles to private parties
and independent experts. Most of the fac-
tors discussed above with respect to supra-
national adjudication are also relevant to
the sunshine effect on which monitoring
mechanisms rely for their effectiveness. In
particular, the procedure's ability to obtain
facts, to take into account the complaints of
private actors against states, to act in a
transparent way, and to issue neutral, well-
reasoned reports all make it more effective
in managerial as well as supranational
terms.
A complaint-based monitoring
mechanism may also increase its effective-
ness through its connections with other
managerial mechanisms. The following
sections examine the potential connections
between the submissions procedure and
two other mechanisms: Secretariat reports
under Article 13 of the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation,
and Commission for Environmental
Cooperation cooperative programs.
5.1 Article 13 Reports
Article 13 of the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
authorizes the Secretariat to prepare a
report "on any matter within the scope of
the annual program" without Council
approval, and a report on "any other matter
related to the cooperative functions of the
Agreement" unless the Council objects by a
two-thirds vote. Since the cooperative
functions of the North American Agreement
on Environmental Cooperation include vir-
tually every aspect of environmental law
and policy, the potential scope of Article 13
is enormous. The only issues excepted
from that scope are "issues related to
whether a Party has failed to enforce its
environmental laws and regulations" — in
other words, issues subject to considera-
tion under the Article 14/15 submissions
procedure.
Article 13 is strong in some areas
where Articles 14 and 15 are weak. Article
13 allows the Secretariat to examine envi-
ronmental problems arising from inade-
quate domestic laws, problems that the
submissions procedure has been criticized
for ignoring. Moreover, Article 13 is almost
entirely within the discretion of the
Secretariat. And Article 13 is less inherent-
ly adversarial, since it does not require the
Secretariat to decide between a submitter
and a state with respect to a series of pro-
cedural questions, or issue reports that (at
least conceivably) could help to trigger dis-
pute resolution and trade sanctions under
Part Five of the Agreement.
Article 13 reports will not be supe-
rior to Article 15 factual records in every
case, of course. When the key issue is
whether a law has been effectively
enforced, it may be examined only through
the Article 14/15 procedure. Submitters
may also choose that procedure because it
guarantees that the Secretariat will consid-
er their submissions if they meet the
requirements for admissibility. Article 13
reports and the citizen submissions proce-
dure should therefore be seen as alterna-
tives, which complement one another as
part of an integrated approach to compli-
ance with the North American Agreement
on Environmental Cooperation. Which is
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better suited for examining a particular
problem depends on the nature of the
issues to be studied.
Should the procedures be more
closely integrated? At present, their con-
nection primarily depends on the decision
by a submitter to invoke one or the other, or
both. The parties could amend the North
American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation to give the Secretariat, the
Council, or some combination thereof the
authority to transfer submissions from one
procedure to another. The dangers of such
a course are obvious, however. Increasing
the power of the Council would increase
the ability of the state parties to microman-
age the procedures to avoid embarrassing
reports. Increasing the power of the
Secretariat would decrease the power of
the submitters to decide which procedure
they prefer and would provide an avenue
for state parties to pressure the Secretariat
to transfer undesirable Article 14 submis-
sions to the possibly less confrontational
Article 13 procedure. On the whole, allow-
ing the submitters to decide which proce-
dure to invoke seems preferable.
Nevertheless, the Secretariat could
take several steps to make the Article 13
procedure more accessible to submitters
and to others interested in Article 13
reports. The Secretariat could institute on
its website an Article 13 counterpart to the
Article 14-15 Registry of Submissions,
which might include: (1) Article 13 submis-
sions, including any requests for Article 13
reports from state parties or the Joint
Public Advisory Committee; (2) responses
from the Secretariat to the submitters,
including any explanations of why the sub-
mission did or did not contribute to a deci-
sion to prepare an Article 13 report; (3)
decisions by the Secretariat to prepare an
Article 13 report, including decisions not
based on any outside request; (4) Article 13
reports and documents accompanying
them; and (5) any general guidelines pre-
pared by the Secretariat explaining the fac-
tors it takes into account in deciding
whether to prepare an Article 13 report. An
Article 13 Registry would disseminate infor-
mation about the Article 13 procedure and
as a result facilitate more useful sugges-
tions to the Secretariat about how it might
be used. More generally, it would con-
tribute to the effective use of Article 13 and
its interaction with the Article 14-15 sub-
missions procedure.
5.2 Interaction with Cooperative
Programs
Much of the work of the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation takes place in cooperative
programs, approved by the Council and
carried out by the state parties, the
Secretariat, and working groups. The pro-
grams fall within one of four general areas:
Environment, Economy and Trade;
Conservation of Biodiversity; Pollutants and
Health; and Law and Policy. Since 1995,
the Law and Policy area has included an
ongoing program on "Enforcement
Cooperation," whose purpose is to promote
more effective enforcement in the North
American countries. In 1996, the Council
established a North American Working
Group on Environmental Enforcement and
Compliance Cooperation, composed of
"senior level environmental enforcement
officials designated by the Parties," which
assists in the development and fulfillment of
the Enforcement Cooperation Program.
Currently, the Enforcement
Cooperation Program has no connection
with the submissions procedure. But the
Council could expand the program to pro-
vide closer ties with the submissions pro-
cedure. In particular, the program could
address possible enforcement problems
identified through the submissions proce-
dure. Not every factual record will neces-
sarily benefit from follow-up. But factual
records may identify two types of problems
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287
that seem particularly well suited for further
attention by the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation. First, some
factual records may concern more than one
state party. Submissions may allege inef-
fective enforcement by more than one
state, for example, or may concern a prob-
lem requiring the participation of more than
one state to address. Indeed, one of the
best uses of the submissions procedure
may be to call attention to problems that
require multilateral attention. And when
such attention is needed, the obvious way
to provide it is through the Enforcement
Cooperation Program, which already pro-
vides a forum for addressing trinational
enforcement issues. Second, while some
failures to effectively enforce may be due to
lack of will, it seems likely that many result
in whole or part from lack of financial or
technical capacity. The managerial model
emphasizes that an effective system of pro-
moting compliance includes ways to identi-
fy lack of capacity and to build capacity
where necessary. By linking the submis-
sions procedure with the Enforcement
Cooperation Program, the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation would be able
to identify such cases and ways in which
such capacity might be added.
6 CONCLUSIONS
The Commission for Environ-
mental Cooperation submissions proce-
dure is far too young for final conclusions
about its effectiveness, but its record to
date indicates that it has the potential to be
effective both as a quasi-supranational tri-
bunal and as part of a managerial regime.
The most notable aspect of the procedure
in practice may be the seriousness with
which the Secretariat has taken its quasi-
judicial role. By making well-reasoned,
neutral decisions based on careful interpre-
tations of the North American Agreement
on Environmental Cooperation, the
Secretariat has avoided alienating either
states or submitters. The great challenge
facing the Secretariat is to find a way for
factual records to be useful evaluations of
disputed issues (so that submitters find the
procedure worthwhile), without making fac-
tual records legal judgments rather than
factual reports (so that states do not with-
draw their support). The states face chal-
lenges as well. For the submissions proce-
dure to be successful, they must provide
adequate resources, and must resist the
temptation to micromanage the Secretariat.
If the Secretariat continues to merit the
trust of the state parties and its public audi-
ence, and if the states continue to let the
Secretariat work independently, the sub-
missions procedure should continue to
develop as a valuable way to promote com-
pliance. That the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation procedure has
the potential for success does not, of
course, mean that it will be successful in
practice. Whether it does prove to be suc-
cessful is important in ways that extend
beyond its contribution to the success or
failure of the North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation. By revitalizing
international adjudication of environmental
disputes in a managerial context, the
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation submissions procedure may
provide an example for those seeking to
promote compliance with other internation-
al environmental agreements.
NOTES & REFERENCES
1 A longer version of this paper was pub-
lished as A New Approach to
Compliance with International
Environmental Law: The Submissions
Procedure of the NAFTA Environmental
Commission, 28 Ecology L.Q. 1 (2001).
2 Similar complaint procedures are
attached to many other human rights
agreements, including the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, the Convention Against
Torture, and regional human agreements
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288 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
in Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
See generally Guide to International
Human Rights Practice (Hurst Hannum
ed., 1999).
3 Information about the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation is available
at its website, .
4 See Registry of Submissions on
Enforcement Matters,
(compiling the pub-
lic documents in each case under the
submissions procedure).
5 Barrett-Brown, Elizabeth, Building a
Monitoring and Compliance Regime
Under the Montreal Protocol, Yale J. Int'l
L 519(1991).
6 Chayes, Abram & Handler Chayes,
Antonia, The New Sovereignty:
Compliance with International
Regulatory Agreements 205 (1995).
7 Heifer, Laurence & Slaughter, Anne-
Marie, Toward a Theory of Effective
Supranational Adjudication, 107 Yale L.J.
273(1997).
8 Wirth, David, Reexamining Decision-
Making in International Environmental
Law, 79 Iowa L. Rev. 769 (1994)
9 Sands, Philippe, The Environment,
Community and International Law, 30
Harv. Int'l L. J. 393 (1989).
10 Young, Oran R. ed. The Effectiveness
of International Environmental
Regimes: Causal Connections and
Behavioral Mechanisms, (1999);
11 Victor, David G. et al. eds, The
Implementation and Effectiveness of
International Environmental
Commitments: Theory and Practice
(1998)
12 Brown Weiss, Edith and Jacobson,
Harold K. eds. Engaging Countries:
Strengthening Compliance with
International Environmental Accords
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENCOURAGING PUBLIC ROLE IN COMPLIANCE MONITORING I
289
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENCOURAGING PUBLIC ROLE IN
COMPLIANCE MONITORING AND IMPACT OF PUBLIC ACCESS TO
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (GROUP I)
Facilitators: Carl Bruch
Geoff Garver
Rapporteur: Joost Buntsma
GOALS
Share experiences in promoting public involvement in compliance monitoring and
access to information, discuss some of the challenges in promoting public involvement and
identify opportunities for INECE to support public involvement and access to information.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• What specific experiences do the
participants have with public involvement
in compliance and public access to
information?
• What kind of constraints did they face,
and how were these resolved?
• How can INECE contribute?
2 PAPERS
Carl Bruch and Roman Czebiniak,
Regional mandates and national experi-
ences promoting public involvement in
environmental compliance- and enforce-
ment (6th Conference Proceedings,
Volume 1).
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The public cannot only participate
in official procedures but also, and maybe
more effectively, through the media.
In all the participants' countries, the
public has some form of access to informa-
tion in particular judicial processes. But not
all public organizations have access to gov-
ernmental information. In some countries
they need to be registered, for example, to
be sure they support public purposes. Also,
in some countries those accessing informa-
tion must explain their reasons for seeking
information.
NGOs can play an important role in
making complex information transparent
and accessible to a broader public. The
Web and e-mail are effective instruments,
to promote letter-writing campaigns.
There can be a conflict of interest
between the public and the government in
cases of confidential information. In some
countries, the public can go to court to chal-
lenge a decision of the government to not
give information. There can also be a con-
flict in the case of noncompliance by indus-
try_ implicitly the public accuses the gov-
ernment of insufficient enforcement, so a
negative reaction by government officials is
natural and can create resistance to public
participation. Another concern with allowing
a public role and information is that it can
impede the ability to reach final decisions in
a reasonable amount of time. Too many lay-
ers of review can lead to abuse of process
and undue delays.
Private-public partnerships can be
a powerful instrument when there is a clear
objective. It is easier to do with existing
facilities than with new facilities (NIMBY).
Private-public partnerships can connect
governmental and private information even
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
from different countries. Openness from
both sides is a necessity, as well as estab-
lishment of credibility and trust, which can
take time.
Citizen advisory groups can
demystify the activities of industries
('what's behind the fence'). It can stimulate
industries to think beyond their normal
practices.
4 CONCLUSION
The public role in the permitting
phase generally is well established as well
as access to justice, although comprehen-
siveness of the publicly available informa-
tion in enforcement would benefit from
more attention. Support capacity building,
for example through training courses.
Participants from Ghana, the South
Asian Cooperative Environmental Program,
USA, Bulgaria, Italy, Indonesia and the
Netherlands attended the workshop. After a
short introduction by the facilitator, partici-
pants gave their own experiences with pub-
lic participation and access to information.
All participants underlined the importance
of the public role in compliance monitoring
and the public's access to environmental
information. The public role in compliance
and monitoring can be divided into the citi-
zens' role towards the industry/companies
and their role towards the government.
During the permitting phase, it is a
common interest of the government to
come as close as possible to the public. All
the participants gave examples from their
own country. Nevertheless, in the phase of
enforcement there can be a conflict
between public and government because
of confidential information but also a natu-
ral conflict if the public is seen as challeng-
ing government action or inaction.
The following recommendations for
the co-chairs of INECE could be made:
• Sponsor a side-event on the public role
within environmental compliance and
enforcement during the World Summit for
Sustainable Development (WSSD).
• Keep promoting the role of the public
within compliance and enforcement by:
-developing a methodological basis on
the public role.
-publishing a compendium of case stud-
ies and experiences.
• Provide a platform for the exchange of
regional experiences.
• Support capacity building, through train-
ing courses for example.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENCOURAGING PUBLIC ROLE IN COMPLIANCE MONITORING II 291
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENCOURAGING PUBLIC ROLE IN
COMPLIANCE MONITORING AND IMPACT OF PUBLIC ACCESS TO
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (GROUP II)
Facilitators: Cornelia Quennet-Thielen
J. William Futrel
Rapporteur: Peyton Sturges
GOALS
• Consider what mechanisms can promote public involvement in environmental
compliance monitoring.
• Discuss difficulties of securing access to information, both governmental and corporate,
and utilizing that information after it is obtained.
• Decide what initiatives or processes could help overcome identified difficulties.
1 INTRODUCTION
The session was designed to con-
sider what mechanisms can be used to pro-
mote public involvement in environmental
compliance, discuss those difficulties
encountered by citizens and groups who
attempt to obtain information, both from
government agencies and companies with
compliance or regulatory obligations. The
attendees also considered difficulties in
using information after it is obtained,
whether from traditional sources or from
internet sites, and possible initiatives that
could be implemented, whether by INECE
members or by INECE itself, to help over-
come these difficulties.
2 PAPERS
Carl Bruch and Roman Czebiniak,
Regional mandates and national Experi-
ences Promoting Public Involvement in
Environmental Compliance and Enforce-
ment (6th Conference Proceedings,
Volume 1)
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The discussions began with a
review of existing public information access
mechanisms in various countries, their
strengths and weaknesses, and their rele-
vance to other regions. Examples from the
United States, Canada, and Brazil showed
that legislative solutions designed to
encourage public access are all limited by
exceptions and exclusions that frustrate
actual document production. Ironically, the
lion's share of the use made of these laws,
at least in the United States, is by corporate
entities. The laws, in these instances, can
actually confuse, rather than clarify, issues
for the public at large. For countries without
any information to access laws, these
mechanisms are of little value.
While the attendees agreed that
access to information is essential for
improvement of environmental conditions
and a powerful agent for achieving compli-
ance, they also agreed that there must be a
mechanism to ensure access and controls
on the quality, as opposed to quantity of
information provided. In some cases, par-
ticipants said, responses are of either such
complexity or such length as to make them
unusable by the parties that request them.
The less developed and technically sophis-
ticated the public body, the more significant
is this issue. Mechanisms allowing "inter-
mediary translation" or requiring a govern-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
mental body to write simply could help
address this problem. The group also
observed the inherent conflict of interest
that agencies have that prevent them from
meeting the public's information access
needs
All there was a sense that agen-
cies, NGOs, and information seekers could
use the Internet more effectively alike to
insure that information accessed was
usable. There was also a strong sentiment
that the Internet is for many reasons not a
panacea. From the provider standpoint, it
was suggested that instead of posting
excessive amounts of data on the web,
resources could be better utilized by pro-
viding access "on demand" or only in
response to specific request. From the user
standpoint it was suggested that various
initiatives by NGOs, or other organizations,
perhaps even public, could help organize
and prioritize the information sources so
that access was more efficient. There was
also a consensus that different approach-
es, perhaps including more grass roots ori-
ented outreach, to educating the public was
most effective in many countries and
regions.
3 CONCLUSION
The session concluded with a dis-
cussion of whether INECE could play a role
in solving some of the problems of improv-
ing access to valuable compliance informa-
tion. It was agreed that increased emphasis
on the matter, both technically or web-
based, and more education and outreach
oriented initiatives could be appropriate
projects for INECE to pursue to fill the need
for better information access, information
access systems, and outreach training to
better empower public participation in this
important component of the environmental
enforcement regime.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
293
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
TO ENCOURAGE AND RESPOND TO PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
IN ENFORCEMENT
Facilitators: Patricia Madrigal
Maria Comino
Rapporteur: Frederique van Zomeren
GOALS
• Identify Government programs and implementing methodology in regard to public
participation.
• How do you make an effective progra?
• Identify ways for INECE to assist capacity building.
1 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
1.1 Experience In Programs On
Public Participation In The
Enforcement Process.
Participants from many different
regions, organizations and expertise
attended the workshop and shared their
experiences on public participation pro-
grams. The America's, Africa, Europe,
Middle East and South East Asia were rep-
resented. Participants stressed the impor-
tance of public participation in order to get
better decisions, policies and legislation.
Costa Rica has no experience in
government programs for public participa-
tion, but just recently developed environ-
mental law. Israel developed a "clean law"
in which about 5,000 citizens volunteer to
enforce environmental law. These environ-
mental guards, or clean law trustees, deal
with minor offences (threatened with fines
between 50 and 2,000 USD per case). The
volunteers report to the Environmental
Ministry, then the Ministry fines the violator.
A staff of 15 deals with the complaints. In
1999, 5,000 complaints were issued. In
2001, 30,000 were issued, of which 20,000
were fined. Another 150,000 volunteers
committed themselves not to pollute. Clean
law is a big success. It changes behavior.
Sometimes even violators become environ-
mental guards. In addition to the environ-
mental guards, there are official govern-
ment inspectors. They deal with law
enforcement and severe environmental vio-
lations.
Lithuania has the same sort of sys-
tem in regards to disposal of waste and
waste management. Successful policies
will be rewarded with presents, to promote
compliance in general. The critical point is
that the public or citizen inspectors are not
allowed to check industrial installations.
Another critical factor is that experts in the
environmental department are not environ-
mental specialists but instead they are jour-
nalists.
The United States moved from just
giving information. Many communities have
citizen advisory groups and technical assis-
tance groups. Technical assistance is in the
form of grants to communities to help
develop community opinions, which are
charged to the polluting companies. It helps
towards public confidence. Their own
expertise is used and there is direct influ-
ence and result. Advisory group comments
a) have to prepare public documents to
respond to comments, and can amend
decisions based on community comment
e.g. some issues have no acceptance and
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
b) are not considered successful unless
community is accepting.
There are at least 3 types of public
participation:
• call in complaint;
• offer thoughts on government enforce-
ment action;
• citizen suits - (Note: in Costa Rica, this
includes criminal proceedings, unlike the
States).
Zambia has two programs of dele-
gation of enforcement to the public: 1) ille-
gal hunting (public is invited to become
game rangers, with a permit to arrest
poachers), and 2) environmental law
enforcement and compliance program
under World Bank.
Argentina does not have citizen
enforcement, but it does have injunctive
powers under the 1994 constitutional
amendment. NGOs have standing, if they
are affected. There is an ombudsman:
Eminent damage to the environment needs
to be proved.
UK has regulating industrial plans.
Prior to the issuing of a permit, there is a
right to public participation: usually no reac-
tion, apart from some contentious applica-
tions. If that is the case, then public hear-
ings will be organized, instead of written
comments.
There are judicial reviews to chal-
lenge the environmental agency. NGOs
receive subsidies from the government.
The public has prosecution rights, but it
remains difficult for the public to obtain evi-
dence. There is a pollution hotline and
'spotlight on the environment'.
EU developed the liability directive.
A person who causes harm should recover
the harm. Public authorities have a duty to
assess harm, public rights to statement.
The EU is also developing a directive on
access to justice.
Asian Development Bank has infor-
mation on its website. Grants build in work-
shops. Inspection function people can bring
a complaint, and remedial action can be
taken. There is also good experience with
public hearings.
Bolivia has no public participation
because of poverty in rural areas. When
people become affected by the industry,
then the public will be involved.
1.2 Critical Success Factors And
Lessons Learned: How To
Manage An Effective Program?
Despite the difference in legal,
technical and development level of the
countries participating in the workshop, it
was possible to define some basic princi-
ples that are necessary for developing
effective programs to involve the public.
These principles are:
• environmental education;
• public awareness;
• (regulations on) access to information
and public participation;
• varying information tools (according to
tradition and national system);
• government's willingness to change and
respond to submissions and comments
by the public;
• standing rights for citizens and NGO's.
The government has an obligation
to respond to public comments. If the com-
munity does not accept a plan, then the
government should not proceed.
Governments need to be responsive and
not force on an obligatory rule the commu-
nity does not like. Critical factor is that when
nothing is done with public comments, peo-
ple feel it is useless and never respond
anymore.
Environmental impact assessment
and public participation should be regulat-
ed in legislation. Improvement of the envi-
ronment needs involvement of local munic-
ipalities. Self-government could be used as
a sort of 'in between' solution.
1.3 What Should Be The Public
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
295
Participation Components Of
Projects Under The Draft INECE
Strategic Plan?
The INECE network could be used,
on a case study basis, to review the critical
success factors and lessons learned. A
report with the analyses of the results and
recommendations on principles on involv-
ing the public in enforcement could be used
to create new government programs. This
would be specifically helpful for countries
that do not have experience in public par-
ticipation or do not have frameworks on
public participation. Exchange of best prac-
tices can also be reached through the
organization of regional meetings.
2 CONCLUSION
The Workshop dealt with govern-
ment programs to encourage and respond
to public involvement in enforcement.
Participants from many different regions,
organizations and expertise attended the
workshop and shared their experiences on
public participation programs. The America's,
Africa, Europe, Middle East and South East
Asia were represented. Participants
stressed the importance of public participa-
tion in order to get better decisions, policies
and legislation.
The goals of the workshop were:
• Identify Government programs and
implementing methodology in regards to
public participation.
• How do you make it an effective program?
• Identify ways for INECE to assist capacity
building.
These goals were met through
identifying the critical success factors and
lessons learned.
One of the main difficulties in iden-
tifying the common grounds between the
government programs on public participa-
tion appeared to be the difference in legal,
technical and development level of the
countries participating in the workshop.
Despite these differences, the workshop
was able to define some basic principles
that are necessary to develop effective pro-
grams for involving the public. These princi-
ples are:
• environmental education;
• public awareness;
• regulations on access to information and
public participation;
• varying information tools (according to
tradition and national system);
• government's willingness to change and
respond to submissions and comments
by the public;
• standing rights for citizens and NGO's.
The INECE network could be used,
on a case study basis, to review the critical
success factors and lessons learned. A
report with the analyses of the results and
recommendations on principles on involv-
ing the public in enforcement could be used
to create new government programs. This
would be specifically helpful for countries
that do not have experience in public par-
ticipation or do not have frameworks on
public participation. Exchange of best prac-
tices can also be reached through the
organization of regional meetings.
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296 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: PROMOTING VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE 297
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: PROMOTING VOLUNTARY
COMPLIANCE
Facilitator: Steven Herman
Rapporteur: Paul van Erkelens
GOALS
The session addressed the following questions:
• Does voluntary compliance exist?
• What is the relation between voluntary compliance and the existing environmental laws?
• What different types of voluntary compliance can be distinguished?
• Are environmental management systems and ISO-certification helpful for voluntary com-
pliance?
1 INTRODUCTION
There is much interest in voluntary
compliance programs. The term "voluntary"
is in most cases incorrect. During the ses-
sion there was an interesting discussion
about the definition of voluntary compliance
and the different types in all the participat-
ed countries.
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Voluntary compliance does not
really exist. There is always a "stick" that
brings the company to a way of compliance.
You can define different types of sticks:
• the existing environmental laws, regula-
tions and standards;
• the behavior of other companies in the
same market;
• the risk of bad publicity;
• the need to enter in a new market;
• the possibility of reducing costs.
Some of these items may seem
voluntary, but in reality it always more or
less enforced voluntary. In most of the
cases, it is better to speak of "motivated
compliance".
Sometimes companies go beyond
the limits of the environmental laws. That is
a voluntary process. But mostly there are
strong economic incentives (image, public-
ity).
A certain kind of voluntary process
does exist in the case of agreements
between the government and certain types
of industries to reduce environmental pollu-
tion or to reduce the use of natural
resources without existing environmental
regulations. Such an agreement always
contains an evaluation moment, which
means that in case of lack of results the
government will as yet come with new reg-
ulations.
The discussion made clear that
there is no "voluntary" compliance without
regulations requirements with which all
must comply.
During the discussion, some par-
ticipants made the point that in many
(mostly developing) countries the environ-
mental framework already does exist but
still is very weak. There is not enough
enforcement capacity. And many compa-
nies do not have the right information about
the environmental regulations and what
they have to do. In that case the govern-
ment can stimulate 'Voluntary" compliance
by information and assistance programs.
Public-awareness and the public-pressure
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
also can be stimulated by such an informa-
tion program. Public pressure is important
for "voluntary" compliance and can be used
in a case that lacks enforcement capacity.
Environmental management sys-
tems (EMS) and ISO-certification can help
in compliance programs. Also, other types
of certification (blue flag, eco-tourism, CST,
etc.) can be helpful. They are mostly based
on economic incentives. But all these sys-
tems cannot take the place of environmen-
tal regulation and enforcement by the gov-
ernment. Therefore, it is necessary that
each type of certification needs its own
transparent system of auditing, correction
and enforcement.
Some participants made the point
that there is a difference between large and
small/medium companies. The last group
does have more problems to comply with
the regulations (costs, information, knowl-
edge). Also the enforcement is sometimes
very difficult (many small companies all
over the country). Special programs to
stimulate 'Voluntary" compliance can be
more effective (e.g. in Austria the ECO-
profit program)
3 CONCLUSION
• In most cases the term voluntary compli-
ance is misleading. We can better use
the term "motivated compliance".
• There are several forms of motivation.
The most important are the existing envi-
ronmental laws, regulations and stan-
dards and the bellowing governmental
enforcement. Other forms are economic
incentives such as good publicity, the
behavior of concurrent-companies and
the possibility of reducing costs.
• In many countries there is a lack on
enforcement capacity. In that case the
government can stimulate "voluntary"
compliance programs (information, assis-
tance, built up public awareness and
public pressure).
• Environmental management systems,
ISO-certification and other types of certi-
fication can be very helpful in compliance
programs. But all these systems do not
throw away the need of a good enforce-
ment.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: SELF-MONITORING DATA: How To ENSURE ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY 299
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: SELF-MONITORING DATA:
HOW TO ENSURE ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY
Facilitators: Markku Hietamaki
Krzysztof Michalak
Rapporteur: Davis Jones
GOALS
Determine INECE's role in promoting the use of self-monitoring systems.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• Why is self monitoring useful?
• How good must the data be, and how
should cost of collecting the data be con-
sidered?
• Are there legal barriers or problems to
collecting and/or using the data?
• What methods can be utilized to guaran-
tee the quality of the data submitted?
2 PAPERS
• Markku Hietamaki, Self-Monitoring of Air
Emissions, Discharges to Water and
Waste in Finland (6th Conference
Proceedings, Volume 2).
• IMPEL, Report on Operator Self
Monitoring, available at http://europa.eu.
int/comm/enironment/impel
• IMPEL, Best Practices on Compliance
monitoring, available at http://europa.eu.
int/comm/enironment/impel
• INECE, Source Self-Monitoring,
Reporting, and Recordkeeping
Requirements: an International
Comparison, available at
http://www.inece.org.
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Markku Hietamaki began by
describing the self-monitoring system in
Finland. Monitoring parameters are set forth
in the installation's permit which also pre-
scribes the monitoring methods to be used,
the frequency, etc. The information is col-
lected by the installation and sent into the
agency. New initiatives are in progress to
facilitate electronic submittal of data, includ-
ing data submittal directly and in real time
from the installations internal computer sys-
tems directly into the agency's data bank.
Inga Larsson said that the Swedish
system is very similar to the system Markku
described. Why are installations willing to
self-monitor instead of relying on the regula-
tory agency to monitor them? Through self-
monitoring the facility can demonstrate com-
pliance with their permit and can make deci-
sions about production levels. With this in
mind, industry should quickly get feedback
from monitoring system so they can quickly
resolve problems. If the state is doing all the
monitoring, the information can't get back to
industry quickly enough to stop releases. In
Sweden, there are some limits on how much
information the agency can collect. For
example, they can't collect production data,
so it is hard to do cross checks by compar-
ing production to emissions.
Daniel Geisbacher asked about
laboratories that test the samples? Are
they approved or accredited by the govern-
ment or can any laboratory conduct the
analysis? In Sweden only accredited labo-
ratories can be used.
This raised the question of how
"good" the information needs to be and how
different programs ensure the quality of the
data. One means to achieve data quality is
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
to mandate that all monitoring use the
same methods of collection. Another is to
state the quality of data collected using sta-
tistical representations of uncertainty (con-
fidence intervals). The ED has proposed
defined standards that guarantee repro-
ducibility but not necessarily accuracy.
Therefore, some representation of uncer-
tainty is necessary.
In Australia, pollution-loading fees
are collected per unit of pollution, so the
government needs accurate data to deter-
mine fees. When collecting the data to
determine the loading, installations must
use a laboratory accredited by the national
government, or, if using non-certified labs,
send some split samples to certified labs to
demonstrate the accuracy of the results.
Nonetheless, there are concerns with clari-
ty in applying monitoring requirements.
Inga Larsson cited another reason
for using self-monitoring for collecting com-
pliance data instead of government moni-
toring. In many applications, self-monitor-
ing gets continuous data, regulators can-
not. In Sweden, the system has developed
since the 1940's and has become very
sophisticated. The regulator and the com-
pany can judge and assess uncertainties.
All installations must use the same method-
ology, and the regulatory authority needs to
follow the same procedures to verify the
quality of their own data. Donna Cambell
added that self- monitoring has advantages
for long-term averages and showing rela-
tionships to production.
Erik Forberg said that the way data
is collected depends on what we are going
to do with the data. The accuracy of data
does not only depend on the accredited
laboratory, but the sampling itself is more
critical than laboratory work, and guidance
for the sampling procedures is limited.
Inspections should focus on the procedures
the facility uses to collect the data, not on
sampling ourselves. Davis Jones agreed
that the cost of taking confirmatory sam-
ples make it difficult or impossible for the
government to regularly sample and ana-
lyze the data, so in the United States, com-
pliance inspections also focus more on the
company's procedures than independently
collecting data.
Hans-Roland Lindgren suggested
that self-monitoring requirements be
designed to use mechanisms that industry
is already utilizing for process controls. This
allows them to collect the data the govern-
ment needs in the most efficient way possi-
ble.
Markku Hietamaki raised the issue
of the amount of detail and volume of data
the government needs. The group agreed
that while detailed data should be collect-
ed, the installation could submit a summa-
ry, as long as they keep details and make
the base data available for review. There
are additional things we can do to increase
the compatibility of the data. European
Union legislation is moving to deal with
uncertainty, but industries are going toward
collection methods.
Donna Campbell asked the group if
their programs get all the data collected, or
just information that shows noncompli-
ance? In Sweden, both compliance and
noncompliance is submitted to the agency.
The United States also requires submittal
of both types of information.
Daniel Geisbacher described the
key elements in the Slovak system.
Legislation requires self-monitoring
through the operation permit. Facilities and
the State must use approved laboratories.
All laboratories use the same methods, but
uncertainty still exists due to laboratory or
operator error. Industry has natural incen-
tives to hide upsets, etc. So what are the
motivations for industry to report noncom-
pliance and not hide problems? First, the
state measurements provide cross check.
In addition, the state can use information
requests to gather additional information or
require additional sampling.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: SELF-MONITORING DATA: How To ENSURE ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY
301
Markku Hietamaki moved the con-
versation to verification of submitted data
and the likelihood and consequences of fal-
sifying data. In Finland, there is a long his-
tory with different relationships between the
government, industry and the public. It is
very unlikely that industry will falsify data. If
they get caught, the government is forced
to take very drastic actions which is much
more costly than compliance. One big case
in the pulp and paper industry in 1970's has
led industries to publicize reports, improve
methods, etc. The current system in
Finland has strong monitoring require-
ments, frequent inspections, and, if there
are still problems, the government will step
in and conduct the monitoring themselves
and bill the company.
The transparency of the data col-
lection system is crucial in getting the pub-
lic involved in compliance. Most companies
are more frightened of headlines than
penalties. Making the data public on the
Internet so anyone can view it can be a cru-
cial motivator toward compliance and pollu-
tion prevention. However, production data
and sensitive information should be kept
private. In Finland, the national system
does contain production data and other
industries can access each other's data.
Sweden also has a very open system; all
data is open to the public but competitors
aren't that interested, since process data is
not included.
In Slovak, there is free access to
environmental data directly from industry to
public. The owner of the data provides the
data to the public; the agency does not
serve that function and gets the data as the
public gets it, without redistributing it as
occurs in other countries. By contrast, in
Finland, the agency receives the data,
checks its validity, and then presents it to
the public. Different data come from differ-
ent sources, and there are concerns about
quality and understanding of complex data.
Many big companies agree that it is the
authorities' role to collect and publish data,
not the role of industry.
In Australia, data is available to the
public, but is rarely requested. Companies
submit an annual compliance report to the
agency, which then gets posted on the
Web. There are severe penalties for inaccu-
rate reports.
What are the legal barriers, if any,
to collecting self-monitoring data? Inga
Larrson said that in Sweden there is no
problem if collecting required data, but if
inspectors ask for additional information or
monitoring, that information cannot be used
for prosecution. However, if a legal request
is made the data can be used. Donna said
that the Australian legal protection from
self-incrimination doesn't apply to corpora-
tions, so their information can be used
against them. Erik Forberg said that in
Norway, inspectors can use self-monitoring
data, and can ask for as much additional
information as they need. Daniel said that
in Slovak, they could use the data for cer-
tain penalties such as not meeting condi-
tions of permits. The government generally
uses basic self-monitoring information from
inspections for smaller cases, but collect
their own data to support prosecution.
In Australia, the cost of compliance
monitoring is paid by the operator, which is
part of the "polluter pays" principle. This
does not mean we should ask for expen-
sive monitoring. The government should be
focused only on the needs for verifying
compliance and monitoring, and they
should be appropriate for those needs and
not excessive. To help keep the costs down,
they require limited monitoring during a
long period coupled with a short period of
special monitoring and analysis to support
the quality of regular monitoring.
These are the same principles as
in Sweden; any necessary monitoring
needs to be relevant to the permit.
Continual monitoring may be required for
such things as acidity of effluent from pulp
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302 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
and paper production, but only occasional
monitoring is required for something like
dioxin, which is very expensive to analyze.
In Sweden, the cost to the government is
not an issue since the company pays for
government sampling, too.
Data quality is dependent on the
ultimate use of the data and purpose of col-
lection. If the data is merely an estimate of
pollutant releases, e.g. Pollution Release
and Transfer Registers systems, then emis-
sion factors that may not always produce
quality data may be sufficient. Continuous
emission monitoring requirements are not
necessary, and administrative quality
checking procedures may be sufficient.
4 CONCLUSION
Only northern countries were rep-
resented in the workshop so we were hesi-
tant to come up with action items or deci-
sions for INECE. However, we did agree
that the use of self monitoring is increasing
, but may vary based on needs. Common
definitions must be developed so the inter-
national community can speak with similar
understanding. We also recognized that
data produced by self-monitoring can be
used in different purposes like in Pollutant
Release and Transfer Registry (PRTR) but
also in the compliance monitoring arena.
Self-monitoring should be a part of training
courses organised under INECE's umbrel-
la, and INECE should help distribute and
publicise case studies and examples so
that countries can share experience and
expand existing work to global scale.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS 303
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
SYSTEMS: INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR COLLECTION,
MANAGEMENT, AND ACCESS
Facilitators: Robert Chouinard
Piet Miiskensl
Rapporteur: Michael Stahl
GOALS
• Consider different information systems currently in use, their role in environmental
management, their strengths and weaknesses.
• Discuss implications of expanded public access to compliance and enforcement
information.
• Identify roles INECE can play in sharing information about compliance and enforcement
data systems.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• Do you use or plan to use information
management systems?
•What role can INECE play in information
sharing about such systems?
• To what degree should public access be
featured in such systems?
2 PAPERS
Greert Van Grootveld and Pieter
Van Der Most, Information to Facilitate
Environment Compliance and Enforcement
(6th Conference Proceedings, Volume 1).
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The workshop participants began
by describing systems currently in use and
the strengths and weakness of those sys-
tems. All participants agreed on the need
for systems that were designed to achieve
specific purposes (e.g., data for inspectors,
information for policy makers, etc.); utilize
data that is accurate and timely; and rely on
appropriate and affordable technology.
At the same time, participants
offered a litany of weaknesses in the sys-
tems they are using. Many cited resource
issues as a significant impediment. These
issues included lack of adequate funding to
maintain or upgrade systems, and lack of
trained staff to enter data in a timely and
accurate manner. Another category of
weaknesses focused on the fragmentation
of systems, each serving a specific purpose
but unable to link to other systems to pro-
duce more sophisticated data and enable
more thoughtful analysis. This inability to
integrate data is a serious obstacle to using
data for managing enforcement and compli-
ance programs. The participants felt that the
best way to address and overcome this
obstacle was not to design single compre-
hensive systems but to build links between
current systems that would allow informa-
tion to be organized in more useful ways.
In considering the role INECE
could play in information sharing about
such systems, participants made two spe-
cific suggestions. The first suggestion was
for INECE to collect and disseminate best
practices regarding enforcement and com-
pliance information systems. In this best
practices role, INECE was urged to tailor
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
information to meet both the needs of
developing nations that are in the early
stages of system design, and the needs of
developed nations that may be attempting
to upgrade, modernize, or integrate existing
information systems. These best practices
could be gathered from the actual experi-
ence of various nations and made available
or actively distributed through the INECE
web site or other specialized delivery
mechanisms.
A second suggestion about the
INECE role was to provide an enhanced
"help desk" function to provide quick
responses to requests for particular types
of enforcement and compliance informa-
tion. Agencies could use this function to
post inquiries for which they were seeking
advice from other nations. These inquiries
could include technical advice about
aspects of specific enforcement matters,
issues about maintenance and manage-
ment of information systems, or advice
about improvements or enhancements to
those systems.
The workshops also discussed the
degree to which public access should be
featured in enforcement and compliance
information systems. There was general
recognition that some types of enforcement
and compliance information should not be
made public. Specifically, information per-
taining to ongoing investigations and
enforcement cases should not be shared
with the public. But there was also recogni-
tion of the many benefits possible through
public access to other types of enforcement
and compliance information. For example,
public access to the compliance histories of
facilities, companies, or industries could
motivate those entities to improve their
environmental management and their
efforts to maintain compliance. Also, public
access to data about agency activities and
results can enhance accountability and
build understanding and support among
the public.
4 CONCLUSION
The workshop participants felt that
there was a role for INECE to play in
expanding public access to enforcement
and compliance information. Participants
recognized that INECE could not be pre-
scriptive in designing specific aspects of
public access efforts in individual nations.
Instead, each nation would need to make its
own choices about the nature and amount
of information it could make available to the
public. However, INECE could make a valu-
able contribution by endorsing the concept
of public access to compliance and enforce-
ment information, delineating the benefits of
public access and making nations aware of
those benefits, and organizing expertise
that could be offered to assist nations with
efforts to expand public access.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND ENFORCEMENT 305
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND
ENFORCEMENT: ENSURING EFFECTIVE APPLICATION AT THE
WORKING LEVEL
Facilitator: Kenneth Markowitz
Chris Currie
Rapporteur: Ana Maria Kleymeyer
GOALS
Identify the needs of users of information and develop systems responsive to their
specific tasks, functions, roles, decisions, and problems. Issue recommendations for apply-
ing technology at the working level to lead to more protective, sustainable, measurable, and
cost-efficient decisions.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitator:
• What is a good way to improve between
management and field operation units?
• What methods can be used to ensure
the accuracy of information?
• Is information useful and (accessible) for
managers, inspectors, etc. in order to
enable them to apply it effectively in their
work?
• Are countries using geographic informa-
tion systems (GIS) to make linkages
between data or to assist in environmen-
tal decision-making/priority setting?
• How are attorneys in Central America
managing access to information from the
Ministry of the Environment?
• How can INECE assist information shar-
ing and distribution? Can INECE provide
needs assessment?
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Question 1: What is a good way to
bridge the communication gap between
management and field operation units?
Cesar Luna suggested that we should
begin by defining local information sys-
tems. Mr. Luna asked if there are countries
where companies are not required to turn
over information on environmental perform-
ance? Ana Maria Magroe Silva noted that
the European Union requires information
and inspections. Portugal has been a mem-
ber of the European Union since 1986.
Self-monitoring is required of companies.
Roy Watkinson noted that information/data
extended beyond performance indicators to
the actors in the equation (even those out-
side of the normally monitored sphere).
Feedback is critical to the ground-workers
(individuals either creating, responding to,
preventing environmental problems).
Question 2: What methods can be
used to ensure the accuracy of informa-
tion? One commenter noted the value of
the established quality assurance and
qaulity control procedures. Other ideas
included keeping a log for chain of custody.
Question 3: Is information useful
and accessible for managers, inspectors,
etc. in order to enable them to apply it effec-
tively in their work? Greg Linsin gave the
example that in relation to CFCs, compar-
ing databases to see where differences
and conflicts arise in relation to the same
operators can reveal discrepancies, incon-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
sistencies, and inaccuracy. Mr. Linsin ques-
tioned whether systems could be used to
verify the information coming in. Wolff dis-
cussed the use of numerically integrated
profiling system (NIPS) that can be used for
tasks including comparing imports/exports
for what was entering in the border and for
data mining. Programs (platforms) are
available from the US government
(Customs Services). Ms. Magro e Silva
noted that the same inspector would never
visit a given site twice to allow for different
perspectives. Coordinators read reports to
evaluate both the information and the dif-
ferent stories. Mr. Watkinson noted that
regarding the European Union, use of stan-
dardizing reporting, available through
Brussels (centralized), may be inefficient.
Question 4: Are countries using
geographic information systems (GIS) to
make linkages between data or to assist in
environmental decision-making/priority set-
ting? Dave Pascoe noted that the US is
using GIS as an emergency response tool
in the Great Lakes area (oil spills). GIS
tools can be used to project where the spill
will hit the shore and what species will be
impacted. Resource managers can then
use this information to prevent impact. For
example, they can quickly locate and prior-
itize sensitive habitat areas for protection.
In the long term, GIS can assist in deter-
mining if the environment is improving,
based on work the government and indus-
try has undertaken. Mr. Watkinson raised
the issue of data transparency versus sen-
sitivity by questioning how to maintain sen-
sitive information on a need-to-know basis.
Ms. Miocic noted that in Croatia,
systems exist for military but are not used
for environmental purposes. The Ministry of
the Environment is trying to encourage
information sharing between the ministries
so as to not duplicate cost and work.
However, if the military collects the data
through consultants, should Ministry of the
Environment do it again?
Ken Markowitz argued that data
collection for environmental projects should
be collected in a way that fulfills the intend-
ed purpose. Mr. Linsin noted the need to
ensure that law enforcement officials do not
direct the regulators specifically for criminal
enforcement purposes.
Mr. Cruden noted that publicizing
data informs people and also keeps com-
panies in check (reputation). Tensions
develop from concerns about security
breaches (e.g. access to such information
via terrorism). U.S. is drowning in data
[although it, of course, should be noted that
countries may be lacking data collection
tools and infrastructure to maintain large
databases] nevertheless, not every compa-
ny is providing data. If every company does
not, then the database may be incomplete
or inaccurate. INECE should make recom-
mendations about data-sharing efficiencies
and about how data collection and data-
base maintenance could be best managed.
Wolff gave the example of a petroleum
extractor in Niger Delta region.
Corporations use monitoring systems
effectively, because they recognize the
benefits. However, it is not the same for
governments (Again, this is big business,
what about small/local businesses?). The
majority of information is available - and
examples include information layering for
use by different users, RAMSAR (Wetland
Convention) sites, using satellite imagery of
sites to determine change over time (bene-
fits of small cost). Lilliana Arrieta argued
that this is not the reality for many user
groups who could benefit from efficient
data sharing. Developing countries have no
data. The international environmental com-
munity requires that countries provide
reports, but information is lacking. INECE
could assess what countries could do to
achieve this level.
Question 5: How are attorneys in
Central America managing access to infor-
mation from the Ministry of the
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND ENFORCEMENT 307
Environment? Corruption impacts the
transfer of information. Mistrust by attorney
generals exists as to what the lawyers will
use the information for. These processes
are not carried out in accordance to the
law. Ministry of Environment is under crimi-
nal proceeding, as well as Forestry, etc.
Change in government has led to
increased coordination. In relation to
NGOs, the Attorney General is interested in
improving their relationship. NGOs have an
easier time filing complaints than individu-
als (not international organizations). Many
NGOs currently have filed complaints.
Furthermore, there is a move to use the
NGOs as witness, experts, and information
providers. Ms. Magro e Silva warned that
this is an area to be very careful with. As
the system develops, NGOs play an
increasingly less important role. Careful
with the projects you give to NGOs
because some projects can sidetrack them.
If you give them a project, then they will
shut up. Martinez noted that it is one thing
to have a database on the state of environ-
ment, and another thing to have a database
on a particular topic. Recommendation: in
areas of limited resources, get someone
who's a mover to convince someone with
the money to invest. Or look for where the
information already exists and try to get
access to that.
In the US, programs have started
out at critical sites (high sensitivity, such as
the Chesapeake Bay), then developed from
there. The disconnect between data han-
dlers and data managers has developed
over time (since the information became
housed). Croatia has an obligation to cre-
ate an environmental agency, and having
been given the choice between a large or
small agency chose to develop a small-
scale one. The agency is using experts to
focus on specific problems (e.g. getting
assistance from the EU) and will then build
from there.
Question 6: How can INECE assist
information sharing and distribution?
Determine what is the minimum "type" of
information necessary to begin with. Start
with international requirements (minimum
standards). Information clearinghouse:
• Compile/consolidate location of data
sources.
• Facilitate location of data-information
(bases) for specific needs.
• Organize information
• Encourage/sponsor needs assessment
for information (step before providing
bases; educates/informs)
• Information training on environmental
issues for judges
• Other considerations that arise are in
some countries, inspectors are lawyers,
and in others they are engineers, which
creates information/communication
divides. Not a question of which bases
there are, but what people want to use
databases for. Needs assessment.
Clearly defining what an inspection is,
what an inspector does leads to defining
the parameters of data collection.
• Judges are under-informed of the gravi-
ty/impact of the environmental harms,
providing minimal punishment, which
results in no deterrence.
• Data is not enough. People working in
compliance and enforcement need to
translate the data into the harm.
• Train public prosecutors in environmental
issues (Netherlands). Environmental
workers can help train those within the
judicial (penalties/deterrence) system.
• Returns the need to improve judicial
familiarity with environmental infractions.
• Needs assessment for INECE should
take into consideration the difference
between the development of data/informa-
tion collection systems AND information
sharing (internal and trans-boundary).
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
• Latin America: frameworks exist on the
regional level that provide a basis for
coordinating work (Andean Pact,
Mercosur, Caricom, Central American
group)
3 CONCLUSION
• Devise a questionnaire for the Web site.
What do people/groups need? What are
the critical issues?
• Share information on experiences. Give
examples from other countries. Organize
simply, in a way that countries can
access info & advice from similarly situ-
ated countries (experiences).
INECE could organize a mission
for developed countries to assist with start
up. For example, INECE could lend support
by sending a team of experts to NIS coun-
tries to help organize and develop programs
(note - Armenia receives a significant
amount of help/resources, but does not
know how to use them most effectively).
INECE must consider that obstacles might
be in the government system of the coun-
tries; they will need to develop/plan so that
the "delegation" is well received and that
the support is effective. INECE should fur-
ther consider how to maintain momentum.
If projects are to be effective, they must be
sustainable beyond good ideas and base
funds. For example, coordinating with the
regional organizations (infrastructure)
could assist in maintenance.
Discussion ends focused on assist-
ing developing countries. Has the discus-
sion sufficiently addressed the global
issues? What are the recommendations for
INECE in terms of industrialized country
needs? Those interested in participating in
an informal working group with INECE to
advance these ideas were Roy Watkinson,
Cesar Luna, Evan Wolff.
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SESSION #6: INFORMATION COLLECTION, STANDARDS, SHARING, ACCESS, CREDIBILITY AND USE 309
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #6: INFORMATION COLLECTION,
STANDARDS, SHARING, ACCESS, CREDIBILITY AND USE
Moderator: Terrence Shears
Rapporteur: Paul Hagen
1 INTRODUCTION
This panel discussed information
management needs and presented ideas
on data systems that assist enforcement
personnel. In addition, it addressed the
management and accessibility of data and
information.
2 PRESENTATIONS
Terrence Shears from the Environ-
ment Agency for England and Whales and
Coordinator of the European Network for
the Implementation and Enforcement of
Environmental Law (IMPEL) made intro-
ductions. He observed that information is
the "life blood" of regulatory systems. He
also noted that the European Community is
taking steps to implement the requirements
of the Aarhus Convention.
Ms. Cardenas, who is a Special
Assistant to EPA Regional Administrator
Greg Cook for Region 6, described EPA's
Performance Track Initiative and related
Texas state initiatives aimed at promoting
the use of environmental management sys-
tems. The Performance Track Initiative was
described as a voluntary program that
encourages companies to develop environ-
mental management systems. The national
program is only available to companies that
have demonstrated compliance with envi-
ronmental laws for a period of five years.
The program began in 2000 and goes
"above and beyond" compliance. EPA's cri-
teria for the program is not rigid. For exam-
ple, companies need not be ISO 14001 cer-
tified to participate.
Texas has also initiated a "Clean
Texas Companies" program that also
encourages the use of environmental man-
agement systems. Recent changes to the
EPA and Texas programs now allow com-
panies that qualify for one program to easi-
ly qualify for the other. EPA Region 6 was
the first to conclude a Memorandum of
Understanding with a State to streamline
the application procedures for the Federal
program. Texas has also recently adopted
regulations that promote the use of envi-
ronmental management systems.
EPA has also developed a pilot
program called "E-Plans" that makes facili-
ty information available to emergency
response officials over the Internet.
Through a dedicated website, local emer-
gency responders can access information
on the hazards associated with certain
facilities and can be better prepared to
respond to emergencies. The program has
been modified following the terrorist attacks
on the U.S. last year and currently only
emergency response teams and not the
general public have access to the database
of facility information.
Mr. Santosa founded the Indonesian
Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) and is
currently working on freedom of information
initiatives in Indonesia. He noted that infor-
mation access continues to be quite limited
in Indonesia despite legal authorities that
require the government to disclose infor-
mation to the public. The Constitution,
General Legislation and Environmental
Legislation all provide some mechanisms
for the public disclosure of environmental
information. Specifically, provisions in the
Environmental management Act No.
23/1997 and regulations related to environ-
mental impact assessment establish the
public's right to information.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
However, there are several barriers
to the public availability of environmental
information. These include the absence of
established information management sys-
tems within the government and the lack of
information producing activities within gov-
ernment agencies. Indonesian agencies
also operate under a culture of secrecy.
Recent efforts to improve the situa-
tion include the introduction of the
"Freedom of Information Bill." The Bill
emphasizes "maximum access with limited
exemptions." The proposed legislation is a
comprehensive package that emphasizes:
• Right to know;
• Right to inspect;
• Right to obtain;
• Right to be informed; and
• Right to disseminate.
The legislation also calls for penal-
ties to be imposed on persons who inten-
tionally block access to information. The
prospect for final adoption of the legislation
is unclear.
Other efforts related to expanding
information access to include the promo-
tion of information access in various regu-
latory, legislative and international initia-
tives. Work is ongoing within the Ministry of
Environment on performance indicators.
Information access has also figured promi-
nently in NGO papers and advocacy in the
run-up to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development. Mr. Santosa noted that the
challenge of expanding public access to
information is made more difficult by the
absence of strong public pressure for
change.
Mr. Wang described several per-
formance rating and disclosure initiatives
undertaken in various countries with the
assistance of the World Bank. He reported
that the World Bank had determined that
indigenous enforcement, incomplete
enforcement, informal regulation (often
driven by public expectations in the
absence of government regulations) and
market responses to environmental news
all play a role in the development of suc-
cessful public disclosure initiatives.
External pressure for pollution control can
be brought to bear on polluters by the gov-
ernment, the community and markets. All of
these pressure points are related and are
more effective with robust information dis-
closure programs.
Information disclosure often
enhances the roles markets and the pubic
play in pressuring industry to enhance its
environmental performance. He cited the
U.S. Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and the
"Scorecard" developed by Environmental
Defense (a U.S.-based NGO) as successful
performance reporting and disclosure mod-
els. These programs are generally viewed
as "public-oriented environmental informa-
tion systems." Together, these programs
provide governments, the public and indus-
try with important information on polluting
facilities and pollutant releases. Historic
data is also provided. The databases pro-
vide information on chemical releases but
not necessarily risks to the community, but
instead leave interpretation to the users of
the data.
A second approach to a public dis-
closure strategy can be described as "per-
formance rating and disclosure". The World
Bank had recently assisted Indonesia in the
development of such a program based on a
color rating systems for the environmental
performance of industrial facilities. Facilities
with high ratings are selected for public
praise and recognition for their superior
environmental performance while facilities
with low scores would be identified as large
polluters as a means of building public pres-
sure on the companies. Early results sug-
gest that polluting facilities are sensitive to
this kind of public pressure and have
improved their environmental performance.
Mr. Wang also described the China
"Green Watch" program which is supported
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SESSION #6: INFORMATION COLLECTION, STANDARDS, SHARING, ACCESS, CREDIBILITY AND USE 311
by the World Bank. The Green Watch pro-
gram currently involves two pilot programs
in two Chinese cities: Hohhot and
Zhenjiang. Like the Indonesia program, this
initiative seeks to categorize industrial facil-
ities into an environmental performance
ranking linked to five separate color cate-
gories (Green being the highest environ-
mental performance). These rankings are
made public through media releases. The
results of the program have been positive
and include better communication between
the government and the public, commit-
ments by polluters to enhance their envi-
ronmental performance, and increased
public awareness and participation. The
Chinese government is considering ways to
expand the pilot programs into a broader
national initiative.
3 DISCUSSION
The first question posed for discus-
sion: a representative of the U.S. EPA
observed that the Agency had encountered
problems accessing information available
in other countries on environmental matters
related to pesticides. She asked if the pan-
elists had encountered similar problems.
Ms. Cardenas noted that until
recently, the U.S. had encountered prob-
lems in its efforts to obtain data on emis-
sion sources in Mexico that were believed
to be contributing to air pollution problems
in national parks in the border region. Mr.
Santosa noted that in his experience, it was
often easier to obtain information from gov-
ernments by going through international
institutions that can often obtain a better
response to requests for information.
A second question posed asked
whether legislation is a pre-requisite to infor-
mation access. Mr. Santosa noted that legis-
lation requiring public disclosure was one of
several important tools required to provide
the public with information. In Indonesia, he
views the proposed Freedom of Information
Bill as an important "first step."
4 CONCLUSION
All speakers agreed that the collec-
tion and public dissemination of environ-
mental data can raise public awareness of
environmental problems and can serve as
an important driver in raising the environ-
mental performance of industries.
INECE can serve a vital role to
access the information use and data col-
lection needs of enforcement practitioners
and develop knowledge sharing systems
that are accessible and credible.
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312 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SANTOSA 313
THE RECOGNITION OF
RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Mas Achmad Santosa
Indonesian Center for Environmental Law
Jakarta, Indonesia
otta@attglobal.net
THE RECOGNITION OF
RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Q CONSTITUTION & OTHERS
PEOPLE'S NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY DECISIONS
Q GENERAL LEGISLATION
_ ENVIRONMENTAL
Q LEGISLATION
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314 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT ACT NO. 23/1997
"EVERY BODY'S RIGHT & ACCESS TO
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION WHICH
INCUDES AMONG OTHERS DOCUMENT OF
EtA, ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT, RESULT OF
PERIODICAL COMPLIANCE MONITORING,
THE MONITORING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY'S CHANGE, SPATIAL PLANNING,
AND LICENCES FOR ACTIVITIES WITH
SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
REGULATION NO. 27/1999
ON EIA
The obligation of the proponent & government to
notify/announce the public that the proponent is
going to conduct EIA
The right of the public to obtain all documents
related to ESA process including suggestions,
opinions, comments from the pubic, the
conclusion of the Review Commission, and
decision of the Governor/Minister of
Environment on the environmental feasibility
(after EIA document is accepted)
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SANTOSA 315
MAJOR GAPS OR LACK OF
PROGRESS IN ENSURING
ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL
INFORMATION
LACK OF ADEQUATE INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
NO INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED BECAUSE
NO ACTIVITIES THAT PRODUCE INFORMATION
BUREAUCRATIC CULTURE OF SECRECY
MAJOR GAPS OR LACK OF
PROGRESS IN ENSURING ACCESS
TO ENVIRONMENTAL
INFORMATION
I LACK OF PROCEDURE & MECHANISM TO
ENABLE PEOPLE TO EASILY ACCESS TO
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
) ABSENCE OF STRONG PUBLIC PRESSURE &
DEMAND
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316 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
EFFORTS & INITIATIVES TO
OVERCOME THE MAJOR GAPS
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION BILL
WORKING WITH MOE TO ADOPT THE
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (PI) THREE
PILLARS PREPARED BY THE GLOBAL
ACCESS INITIATIVE PROJECT
THE COMMITMENTS OF THE COALITION
MEMBERS TO EMPLOY INFORMATION
ACCESS OFFICER TO EXEMPLIFY
DEMANDS
EFFORTS & INITIATIVES TO
OVERCOME THE MAJOR GAPS
INTEGRATING THREE PILLARS INTO ON GOING
LEGISLATION MAKING PROCESS
INTEGRATING THREE PILLARS INTO VARIOUS
POSSIBLE INTERNATDNAL INITIATIVES
TO LOBBY KEY DECISION MAKERS TO POSTPONE
THE PASSAGE OF STATE SECRET BILL BEFORE
THE PASSAGE OF FOI BILL
NATIONWIDE PUBLIC CONSULTATION TO GAIN
PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR FOI BILL
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SANTOSA 317
THE FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION BILL
COMPREHENSICE PACKAGE OF RIGHT TO
INFORMATION (RIGHT TO KNOW, RIGHT TO
INSPECT, RIGHT OBTAIN, RIGHT T BE
INFORMED, AND RIGHT TO DISSEMINATE)
THE DEFINITION OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
THE PRINCIPLE OF "MAXIMUM ACCESS-
LIMITED EXEMPTION" (MALE)
THE PUNISHMENT FOR ANYBODY WHO
INTENTIONALLY BLOCKS THE ACCESS
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318 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 319
PUBLIC RATINGS OF INDUSTRY'S ENVIRONMENTAL
PERFORMANCE: CHINA'S GREENWATCH PROGRAM1
WANG, HUA1, BI, JINNAN2, WHEELER, DAVID3, WANG, JINNAN4, CAO, DONG5, LU,
GENFA6, AND WANG, YUAN7
123 Development Research Group, World Bank, 1818 H St., N.W., MC2-525, Washington
DC 20433, USA. Email: hwangl ©worldbank.org. Tel: 202-473-3255
45 Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China
67 School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
SUMMARY
This paper describes a new incentive-based pollution control program in China, in
which the environmental performance of industrial firms is rated and reported to the pub-
lic. Firms are rated from best to worst using five colors — green, blue, yellow, red and black
- and the ratings are disseminated to the public through the media. The impact on rated
firms has been substantial, suggesting that public disclosure provides a significant incen-
tive for industrial firms to improve their environmental performance.
The first two pilot programs in Zhenjiang and Hohhot are presented in this paper.
The evidence to date suggests that public disclosure of environmental performance will be
an important new component of China's system for pollution management. Implementation
should be feasible in most of China, because technical and design issues are not overly
complex, and the costs of design and implementation are not high in China, since most of
the necessary information already exists in the records of provincial and local Environmental
Protection Bureaus. The Zhenjiang and Hohhot experiences have suggested that for a suc-
cessful implementation of disclosure, government support and involvement at all levels of
China are critical, and timing of disclosure is also very important in this context.
1 INTRODUCTION
Public disclosure of firms' environ-
mental performance has been character-
ized as the "third wave" of environmental
regulation, after command-and-control and
market-based approaches (Tietenberg,
1998). Its growing popularity stems from
initial evidence that disclosure has reduced
emissions in North America and Southeast
Asia,2 as well as the perception that it is a
low-cost regulatory option because it does
not require formal enforcement procedures.
The potential for cost saving has particular
appeal for developing countries' environ-
mental agencies, which have very limited
resources for monitoring and enforcement
of pollution regulations.
China's State Environmental
Protection Agency (SEPA) has become
interested in public disclosure because
China's pollution problem remains severe,
despite long-standing attempts to control it
with traditional regulatory instruments.
Chinese regulators have also been influ-
enced by the rapid spread of pollution dis-
closure systems to other Asian countries
after pilot programs were initiated by
Indonesia and Philippines, in collaboration
with the World Bank's Development
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Research Group (DECRG) in 1995 (World
Bank, 1999). At present, environmental
agencies in Thailand, India and Vietnam
are also working with the World Bank and
other institutions to implement disclosure
programs. From the Chinese perspective,
rapid adoption of disclosure in North
America, Western Europe and Australia
has further enhanced its credibility.
As a result, China has begun pilot
experiments with 'third wave" regulation.
Since late 1998, supported by the World
Bank's Information Development Program,
the authors have been working with China's
State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA) to establish
Greenwatch, a public disclosure program
for industrial polluters. Adapted from
Indonesia's PROPER, the Greenwatch pro-
gram rates industrial environmental per-
formance from best to worst in five colors -
green, blue, yellow, red and black. The rat-
ings are disseminated to the public through
the media. Two municipal-level pilot
Greenwatch programs have been imple-
mented, in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province,
and Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Reaction to
the pilot programs has been positive, and
Jiangsu has decided to promote province-
wide implementation of Greenwatch. SEPA
currently plans to launch pilot programs in
other areas, in preparation for nationwide
implementation of public disclosure.
This paper describes China's
Greenwatch program and discusses the
lessons learned to date, including the feasi-
bility and desirability of national adoption.
The remainder of the paper is organized as
follows. Section 2 provides an introduction
to public disclosure as a strategy for pollu-
tion control. In Section 3, we discuss the
role of disclosure in China's approach to
environmental management. Sections 4
and 5 discuss the Zhenjiang and Hohhot
programs, respectively, while Section 6 dis-
cusses the implications of the Greenwatch
experience.
2 PUBLIC DISCLOSURE: THE
"THIRD WAVE" OF ENVIRONMENTAL
REGULATION
The first phase of pollution control
involved applying traditional legal remedies,
such as emissions standards, to the regu-
lated community. Over time, however, it
became clear that these traditional regula-
tory approaches were excessively costly in
some circumstances (Tietenberg 1985) and
incapable of achieving the stipulated goals
in others (Tietenberg 1995). Failures have
been especially common in developing
countries, where legal and regulatory insti-
tutions are often weak (Afsah, et al., 1996).
In response to these deficiencies,
the second phase of pollution control
focused on market-based approaches such
as tradable permits, emission charges,
deposit-refunds and performance bonds
(Hahn 1989;OECD 1989; Tietenberg 1990;
OECD 1994; OECD 1995). In some
instances they have substituted for tradi-
tional remedies, but in most cases they
have complimented them. In the OECD and
Eastern Europe, these approaches have
added both flexibility and improved cost-
effectiveness to pollution control policy.
Pollution charges have also contributed to
improved environmental performance in
developing Asia and Latin America, with
particularly noteworthy examples in China
(Wang and Wheeler, 2000), Philippines
(World Bank, 1999), Malaysia (Vincent,
1993; Khalid and Braden, 1993; Jha et al.,
1999), and Colombia (Arbelaez, 1998).
Even the addition of market-based
approaches, however, has not fully solved
the problem of pollution regulation.
Regulatory systems remain overburdened
by the sheer number of substances to be
controlled. Neither staffs nor budgets are
adequate for the task of regulating all of the
potentially harmful substances that are
emitted by firms and households. In many
developing countries, these difficulties are
compounded by the problems associated
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 321
with designing, implementing, monitoring
and enforcing market-based regulations.
To counter these problems, the
"third wave" of pollution control policy
involves investment in the provision of infor-
mation as a vehicle for making the commu-
nity an active participant in the regulatory
process. The timing of this increasing role
for disclosure strategies seems to emanate
from the perceived need for more regulato-
ry tools (as described above); the falling
cost of information collection, aggregation
and dissemination; and the rising demand
for environmental information from commu-
nities and markets. Rising benefits and
falling costs have enhanced the appeal of
public disclosure as a regulatory tool.
From a conceptual perspective, the
starting point for thinking about information
approaches to pollution control is the
Coase Theorem (Coase 1960). In his land-
mark essay, Coase pointed out that pollu-
tion control situations have a certain sym-
metry. Inefficient pollution imposes costs on
victims, which exceed the costs of control-
ling that pollution, so that the marginal
social benefits of pollution control exceed
its marginal costs. The existence of ineffi-
cient pollution damage therefore provides a
motivation for the victims to take corrective
action, even in the absence of any such
incentives by the polluters.
Recently, economists have learned
that the list of victims can.be very large
indeed, much larger than originally thought.
The list of potential victims includes not
only those harmed directly by the pollution,
but also those who may be disturbed by it
even if they are not directly affected. The
fact that this "nonuse" value of pollution
control can be quite large has become a
familiar result to those conducting contingent
value surveys. The pressure to control pollu-
tion therefore can arise from victims experi-
encing both use and nonuse damages.
One standard precondition for
decentralized processes to work efficiently
is for the decision-makers to have full infor-
mation. In the case of victims taking action
to control pollution, this precondition is not
likely to be met. Information about environ-
mental risks is asymmetrically distributed.
In a typical case the polluters and/or regu-
lators, not the victims, hold the best knowl-
edge about emission profiles. Furthermore,
the polluters are unlikely to share the infor-
mation with victims in the absence of out-
side pressure to do so. In addition, bureau-
cratic inertia and/or legal constraints have
frequently prevented information sharing by
regulators.
In this context, public disclosure
provides a promising compliment to con-
ventional regulation through several chan-
nels. The first is "informal regulation," or
community pressure on polluters. Even
low-income communities have proven will-
ing and able to penalize polluters when
information about their emissions is avail-
able. Abundant evidence from Asia and
Latin America shows that neighboring com-
munities can strongly influence factories'
environmental performance (Pargal and
Wheeler, 1996; Hettige, Huq et al., 1996;
Huq and Wheeler, 1992; Hartman, Huq et
al., 1997). Where formal regulators are
present, communities use the political
process to influence the strictness of
enforcement. Where regulators are absent
or ineffective, nongovernmental organiza-
tions and community groups apply pressure
through a variety of channels, including reli-
gious institutions, social organizations, citi-
zens' movements, and politicians. Although
the channels vary from region to region, the
pattern everywhere is similar: Factories
negotiate directly with local actors in
response to threats of social, political or
physical sanctions if they fail to compensate
the community or to reduce emissions.
Well-informed market agents can
also play an important role in creating pres-
sures for environmental protection. Bankers
may refuse to extend credit because they
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
are worried about environmental liability;
consumers may avoid the products of firms
that are known to be heavy polluters. The
evidence suggests that multinational firms
are important players in this context. These
firms operate under close scrutiny from con-
sumers and environmental organizations in
the high-income economies. Investors also
appear to play an important role in encour-
aging clean production. Heavy emissions
may signal that a firm's production tech-
niques are inefficient. Investors also weigh
potential financial losses from regulatory
penalties and liability settlements.
Numerous studies suggest that stock mar-
kets in both developed and developing
countries react significantly to environmen-
tal news ( Muoghalu et al., 1990; Lanoie and
Laplante, 1994; Klassen and McLaughlin,
1996; Hamilton, 1995; Lanoie et al., 1997;
Konar and Cohen, 1997; Dasgupta, et al.,
1997).
To summarize, recent research sug-
gests that public information about polluters
can operate effectively through community
and market channels that compliment the
effect of formal regulation. During the past
decade, a number of regulatory initiatives
have attempted to exploit this potential to
reduce pollution. In many cases, such pro-
grams have focused on toxic pollutants that
are not covered by conventional regulation.
Examples include the US Toxic Release
Inventory; Canada's National Pollutant
Release Inventory; the UK's Pollutant
Inventory; Australia's National Pollutant
Inventory (Tietenberg and Wheeler, 2001);
and UN-sponsored Pollutant Release and
Transfer Registers in Mexico, Egypt and the
Czech Republic. Recently, the public disclo-
sure approach has also been applied to
water pollutants in Canada, Indonesia and
Philippines, with similar programs planned in
India, Thailand and Vietnam. China's pilot
disclosure programs are unique in breadth,
since they cover all major air, water and toxic
pollutants.
3 INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION CONTROL
IN CHINA
3.1 China's Industrial Pollution Problem
China's industrial growth has been
extremely rapid during the period of eco-
nomic reform. In the 1990's, the output of
the country's millions of industrial enterpris-
es has increased by more than 15% annu-
ally. Industry, China's largest productive
sector, accounted for 47% of its gross
domestic product and employed 17% of the
country's total labor force in 1995. While
industry has helped lift tens of millions of
people out of poverty, its polluting emis-
sions have also produced serious environ-
mental damage. Recent research (Bolt, et
al., 2001) suggests that China's air pollu-
tion problem is the worst in the world (Table
3.1). With over 300,000 premature deaths
per year, China accounts for over 40% of
the total for the developing world, more
than twice the number for South Asia,
which has a comparable population. Similar
percentages characterize other measures
of health damage. In Table 3.2, a translation
of these results to economic costs sug-
gests a GDP loss of 4% annually, over
twice the estimate for India and much high-
er than losses for other major industrial
economies in the developing world.
Chinese industry is a primary
source of this problem. China's State
Environmental Protection Administration
(SEPA) estimates that in 1995, industrial
pollution accounted for over 70% of the
national total, including 70% for organic
water pollution (COD, or chemical oxygen
demand); 72% for sulfur dioxide emissions;
and 75% for flue dust (a major component
of suspended particulates).3 For this rea-
son, SEPA has declared control of industri-
al pollution to be a top priority for Chinese
regulators. During the past decade, con-
ventional regulation has probably saved
millions of lives by holding the growth rate
of total emissions well below the growth
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 323
rate of industry (Dasgupta, Wang and
Wheeler, 1997). However, the continuing
severity of pollution has led the Chinese
government to experiment with public pollu-
tion disclosure as a possible compliment to
existing measures.
3.2 The Role of Public Disclosure in
Chinese Environmental
Management
Public disclosure has two potential-
ly important roles to play in China's system
of regulating industrial pollution: strength-
ening of regulatory institutions and encour-
agement of public participation in regula-
tion. In many cases, Chinese regulators
already have the information needed for
public rating of environmental performance.
Many agencies receive regular, facility-level
reports on EIA status, emissions, pollution
control investments, field inspections and
accidents. Some measures are explicitly
tied to public participation. For example,
EIA reports must include strong evidence
of participation in project assessment by
affected local communities. However, public
disclosure also significantly raises the ante
by pressuring regulators toward more accu-
rate and timely record keeping. With its
credibility on the line in a disclosure pro-
gram, a regulatory agency has a strong
incentive to maintain high internal stan-
dards. This is particularly true for emissions
monitoring, which provides the foundation
for an environmental performance rating
system. Performance-based ratings also
provide a valuable environmental manage-
ment tool for enterprises, which in many
cases have never undertaken a compre-
hensive assessment of their environmental
performance.
The experiences of Hohhot
Municipality and Zhenjiang City suggest
that disclosure also changes the balance of
environmental initiative between the private
and public sectors. Prior to disclosure,
enterprises in both areas generally resisted
regulators' attempts to monitor them more
closely. After disclosure attracted wide-
spread publicity through the news media,
however, companies perceived an impact
on their public image and the market image
of their products. Enterprises that improved
their performance immediately requested
new monitoring reports so that their public
ratings could be improved as well.
Enterprises with poor ratings shifted from
passive resistance to active solicitation of
inspections, as a means of improving their
performance ratings. At the same time,
enterprises with good ratings felt continued
pressure to maintain their environmental
performance to avoid complaints from the
public about backsliding.
3.3 The Feasibility of disclosure
in China
3.3.1 Legal support
Chinese law provides ample prece-
dent for the use of public disclosure to con-
trol pollution. For example, the Constitution
of the PRC states that, "all rights in the
PRC belong to the people. The people
manage state affairs, economic and cultur-
al affairs, and social affairs by various
means in accordance with the law." For
regulation, this principle accords the people
the right to supervise the environmental
work of state authorities, as well as disci-
pline them for illegal behavior. In the
Environmental Protection Law of the PRC,
Article 6 prescribes that, "all units and indi-
viduals have the obligation to protect the
environment, and have the right to impeach
and accuse units and individuals that pol-
lute and damage the environment;" Article
11 prescribes that "the competent adminis-
trative department of environmental protec-
tion under the State Council establishes
monitoring systems, constitutes monitoring
criteria, organizes monitoring networks with
related departments, and strengthens man-
agement of environmental monitoring. The
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
competent administrative departments of
environmental protection under the State
Council, provincial and municipal govern-
ments shall regularly publicize environmen-
tal status reports." Similar provisions appear
in China's Air Pollution Prevention and
Control Law, Water Pollution Prevention and
Control Law, Marine Environment Protection
Law, and Environmental Noise Prevention
and Control Law.
Information disclosure and pubic
participation also feature prominently in
government declarations, as well as inter-
national conventions signed by China. For
example, in the Rio Declaration, signed
during the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in 1992, the
10th principle prescribes that individuals
should have access to government infor-
mation about environmental hazards in
their communities, and should be able to
participate in decisions about regulation of
these hazards. Another example is provid-
ed by the Chinese State Council's Decision
on Several Issues Related to
Environmental Protection, which encour-
ages public participation in environmental
regulation and defines an important role for
the news media in publicizing actions that
damage the environment.
3.3.2 Social support
In the information age, public opin-
ion has proven to be a powerful force in
every society. This force is best mobilized
by the major print and broadcast media,
since their content is easily understood by
the public. Often, in fact, large enterprises
seem more concerned about media pres-
sure than about the authority of govern-
ment regulators. In 1997, for example, the
Chinese Central Television Program dis-
closed non-compliance by some polluters
in the Huai River Basin. As a result, both
the polluters and the local authorities came
under great pressure to improve their per-
formance. Public disclosure of polluters is a
natural compliment to continuing reform of
political and economic institutions in China
and the new emphasis on transparency in
political life and economic management.
Currently, environmental protection seems
to rank high among the concerns of urban
residents. In 1999, the Social Survey
Institute of China (SSIC) surveyed the pub-
lic-agenda priorities of households in
Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou,
Chongqing, Wuhan and other cities. The
survey covered issues related to corrup-
tion, law enforcement, inflation, equity and
environmental protection. Corruption was
the primary concern, followed by environ-
mental protection, with 66% of households
rating the latter as very important. In light of
such findings, it seems clear why public
disclosure of environmental performance
can be a potent force for change.
3.3.3 Technical support
Accurate information provides the
essential foundation for public ratings of
environmental performance. Accuracy, in
turn, depends on the quality of information-
gathering technology, and on the reliability
of record-keeping by the authorities. After
establishment of the national task force on
environmental monitoring 20 years ago,
China has been making significant
progress on this front. At present, there are
over 4,800 environmental monitoring units
in China, employing over 60,000 people.
The current system uses standardized
monitoring equipment, deployed to cover
both the ambient environment and polluting
emissions. Over 3,600 environmental
supervision units, with a working staff of
over 26,000 people, oversee it.
3.3.4 Institutional precedents
Although comprehensive public
disclosure is new in China, the government
has previously recognized truly superior
environmental performance. Since 1989,
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 325
SERA and its predecessor (NEPA) have
maintained a list of enterprises with excel-
lent environmental performance.
Enterprises are listed on the recommenda-
tion of provincial environmental protection
bureaus, after vetting by a national Panel of
Evaluation and Assessment whose repre-
sentatives come from the national agency,
the General Environmental Monitoring
Station of China and other ministries. By
1997 this assessment had been conducted
6 times, and 500 enterprises had been
awarded the title, 'Nationwide Advanced
Enterprise on Environmental Protection.'
Over time, numerous enterprises have
been removed from the list for failure to
maintain standards consistent with the
award. However, over 180 enterprises have
retained their excellent ratings.
4 PUBLIC DISCLOSURE IN ZHENJIANG
4.1 Program Design
Zhenjiang is a city located in
Jiangsu Province, a southeast province
and one of the richest areas in China.
Zhenjiang's disclosure program reflects
design principles that have proven suc-
cessful in previous disclosure programs in
Indonesia and the Philippines. First, the
performance rating system should be sim-
ple and its implications easily understand
and accepted by the public. Second, it
should provide information on both superi-
or and inferior performance. Finally, the rat-
ings should be published in a form that is
easily communicated by the broadcast and
print media. All three principles are respect-
ed by the 5-color rating system (Table 4.1)
of the Zhenjiang Environmental Information
Disclosure Program. The system divides
industrial firms' environmental performance
into five symmetric categorical ratings, with
two (black, red) denoting inferior perform-
ance; one (yellow) denoting compliance
with national regulations but failure to com-
ply with stricter local requirements; and two
ratings (blue, green) denoting superior per-
formance. Because it recognizes three per-
formance levels for firms that comply with
national regulations, the system provides
incentives for continuous improvement.
Even for non-compliant firms, the system
rewards efforts to improve by recognizing
two levels of performance. The Zhenjiang
program uses these incentives to promote
the environmental objectives summarized
in Table 4.2
4.2 Ratings Dimensions
The program's color-coded ratings
are generated by a detailed accounting of
environmental performance, whose major
elements are summarized in Table 4.3. The
ratings system draws on four principle
sources of information: reports on industri-
al firms' polluting emissions; inspection
reports on their environmental manage-
ment; records of public complaints, regula-
tory actions and penalties; and surveys
that record characteristics of the firms that
are relevant for rating environmental per-
formance.
4.2.1 Compliance with Regulations
The rating system incorporates six
dimensions of environmental pollution:
water, air, noise, solid waste, electromag-
netic radiation, and radioactive contamina-
tion. It includes emissions information for
13 regulated air and water pollutants:
chemical oxygen demand, suspended
solids, oil, volatile hydroxybenzene, chromi-
um, cyanide, lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmi-
um, flue dust, industrial dust and sulfur
dioxide. Pollutant discharges are rated by
total quantity and concentration. Solid
wastes are rated in three dimensions: pro-
duction, disposal, and recycling.
4.2.2 Management behavior
This element involves a detailed
accounting of behavior in several dimen-
sions. Environmental management effort is
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
graded with respect to: timely payment of
pollution discharge fees; implementation of
the national Pollutant Discharge Reporting
and Registering Program, the Standardized
Waste Management Measure, and the
Three Synchronizations Program4; and
variables related to internal environmental
monitoring, staff training, and internal doc-
ument preparation. In addition, the rating
system considers the firm's efficiency of
resource use; its technological level (e.g.,
implementation of the national Cleaner
Production Audit Program"); and the quality
of its environmental management system.
4.2.3 Social impact
Indicators in this category include
the firm's record with respect to public com-
plaints, pollution accidents, illegal pollution,
and administrative penalties.
4.3 Ratings Construction
The Zhenjiang rating system uses
a series of yes/no questions to translate its
multidimensional performance indicators
into 5 color codes. Figure 4.1 shows how
this is done, while Table 4.4 provides a
detailed accounting by category. The first
stage of the process involves selection of
industrial firms for rating. Plants that volun-
teer are automatically included, while the
rest are firms classified as large on the
basis of plant size, production value and
reported pollution discharge load. In the
second stage, the Zhenjiang Environmental
Protection Bureau uses its own records to
develop information on the firms' polluting
emissions. The Environmental Protection
Bureau also surveys the firms to gather
information for the indicators of manage-
ment behavior and social impacts.
A distinctive feature of the ratings
process is its "Inform-Respond-Check-
Disclose" reciprocal mechanism, in which
industrial firms can exchange comments
about their ratings with the Environmental
Protection Bureau prior to disclosure. By
reconsidering and rechecking at the firms'
request, the Environmental Protection
Bureau encourages (but is not required to
gain) their acceptance of the final ratings,
as well as promoting a more detailed envi-
ronmental accounting by the firms them-
selves. After setting the ratings, the
Environmental Protection Bureau sends
them to the program's Steering Board for
final checking and ratification prior to public
disclosure. The deputy mayor in charge of
environmental protection leads the Steering
Board, and its members come from the
Environmental Protection Bureau and other
relevant administrative departments and
institutions. Its main responsibility is to ratify
the ratings and transmit them to the firms
and the news media. To ensure accurate
press reports, the Environmental Protection
Bureau invites reporters to a detailed pres-
entation of the program, including an expla-
nation of the rating system and a demon-
stration of the computer program that is
used for ratings development.
4.4 The Experience of Public
Disclosure in Zhenjiang
4.4.1 Pilot Disclosure
The pilot program began in June,
1999, with selection and rating of 101 firms
drawn from several industry sectors (Figure
4.2). During the pilot phase, the Zhenjiang
Environmental Protection Bureau regularly
reported its progress to the municipal gov-
ernment and the media. The firms were
informed of their pilot ratings in 1998. Ten
firms were de-listed during this initial period
because of data quality, leaving 91 firms for
disclosure. The latter accounted for 95% of
polluting emissions in Zhenjiang, as well as
65% of the city's economic output.
Their pilot ratings, displayed in
Table 4.3a, indicated widespread deficien-
cies, with 69% of the firms rated as Yellow,
Red or Black. However, 31 % demonstrated
superior performance even in the pilot dis-
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 327
closure period, and a few even earned the
highest (Green) rating.
4.4.2 Public Disclosure
In May, 2000, the Zhenjiang munic-
ipal government officially recognized the
program and issued a formal "Notice of
Implementation of the Environmental
Information Program in Zhenjiang City."
The municipal government also presided
over the first disclosure at a press confer-
ence on July 26th, 2000. Other participants
included representatives of all 91 rated
firms, the Program Steering Board, and
deputies from the Jiangsu Province
Environmental Protection Bureau and the
Environmental Protection Bureaus of other
cities in Jiangsu. The Steering Board pub-
licly released the ratings, and the firms' rep-
resentatives accepted and commented on
them. For several days after the press con-
ference, local newspapers and TV stations
continually reported the event, the results
of the first disclosure, and promises by
poorly-rated firms to improve their environ-
mental performance.
The results show that many firms
chose to improve their environmental per-
formance during the one-year grace period
between pilot disclosure and public disclo-
sure. The number of superior performers
doubled, from 31% of the rated firms to
62% (Figure 4.3b). The pressure from pub-
lic disclosure clearly reinforced another
program, "One Control and Double
Attainments (OCDA)", that was implement-
ed in Zhenjiang during the period 1998-
2000. The objectives of the latter program
were total emissions within permitted limits
and full compliance with local and national
standards by enterprises in Zhenjiang City.
Industrial environmental perform-
ance in Zhenjiang improved significantly
after combined implementation of OCDA
and public disclosure. As a result, the dis-
closure program Steering Board announced
its support for annual disclosures.
5 PUBLIC DISCLOSURE IN HOHHOT
5.1 Program Design
Hohhot is a city located in Inner
Mongolia Autonomous District, a northern
and poor area of China. The Hohhot public
disclosure program focused on firms that
met three criteria: major contributions to
local pollution; management with some
independence of action; and possible sus-
ceptibility to public pressure for improve-
ment. To maximize the incentive effects of
disclosure, the ratings standards were set
to reveal a broad distribution of relative
environmental performance in Hohhot.
5.2 Ratings Dimensions
Hohhot chose the same color rat-
ing categories as Zhenjiang, ranging from
green (best performance) through blue, yel-
low and red, to black (worst performance).
Specific grading criteria are summarized in
Table 5.1.
5.3 Ratings Construction
In Hohhot, development of the rat-
ings system proceeded in parallel with a
series of meetings to build support for the
concept from government agencies, the
general public and the affected industry
sectors. The assessment work utilized the
data collected by the Environmental
Supervision Station of Hohhot City for the
year 1999. Ratings were developed during
the period December, 1998 to December,
1999, and several review meetings were
conducted prior to official disclosure in
March, 2000. As in Zhenjiang, a pilot rat-
ings exercise was undertaken in consulta-
tion with affected enterprises before the rat-
ings were disclosed to the public.
5.4 The Experience of Public
Disclosure in Hohhot
On March 24, 2000, the
Hohhot City government convened a news
conference to disclose the environmental
performance ratings to the public.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Participants included the program develop-
ment team, other government agencies,
representatives from China's State
Environmental Protection Administration
(SERA), and representatives from the 56
industrial enterprises and 51 other institu-
tions that were rated. Media participants
included Inner Mongolia TV, Hohhot City
Economic TV, The Hohhot Daily, The Inner
Mongolia Daily, The Hohhot Evening News,
Hohhot People's Radio, and the Hohhot
Journalist Station for China's Environ-
mental Daily. Broadcast news programs
featured stories about the disclosure for
several days after the event.
As in the case of Zhenjiang, the evi-
dence suggests that many polluters
responded to the combined effect of pilot
and public disclosure. After public disclo-
sure, large, persistent polluters such as the
Hohhot Power Plant and the Hohhot
Cement Mill repeatedly sent deputies to the
Hohhot Environmental Protection Bureaus
to promise that they would increase pollu-
tion control to improve their ratings. As
Figure 5.1 shows, the 56 industrial enter-
prises rated in Hohhot greatly improved
their environmental performance during the
period 1999 - 2000. Enterprises rated Good
or better increased from 24% to 62%, and
enterprises in the worst (Black) category
decreased from 11% to 5%. As in
Zhenjiang, this improvement undoubtedly
reflects pressure from both the OCDA and
public disclosure programs.
6 LESSONS LEARNED
Experiments with public pollution
disclosure continue to expand in China. After
observing the results in Hohhot and
Zhenjiang, the Environmental Protection
Bureau of Jiangsu Province has decided to
implement disclosure in its 13 municipalities
in the next a couple of years. The evidence
to date suggests that public disclosure of
environmental performance will be an impor-
tant new component of China's system for
regulating pollution. Implementation should
be feasible in most of China, because tech-
nical and design issues are not overly com-
plex. The knowledge and expertise needed
for a disclosure program are available in
almost every city of China. With support from
a national coordination center, there should
be no technical barriers to implementation of
disclosure in the entire country. The case
studies suggest that the costs of design and
implementation are not high in China, since
most of the necessary information already
exists in the records of provincial and local
Environmental Protection Bureaus.
However, it might well be appropriate for
China's highly-varied regions to institute rat-
ings criteria and procedures that reflect their
special circumstances.
The Zhenjiang and Hohhot experi-
ences have suggested a number of impor-
tant lessons for successful implementation
of disclosure. The first is that government
support and involvement at all levels are
critical. The case studies suggest that
involvement of local government leaders is
particularly important. Since most urban
enterprises in China are still state-owned,
successful disclosure depends on strong
administrative and legal support. In the two
case studies, city mayors supported the
program after lobbying from the local
Environmental Protection Bureau and
expressions of support from the central
government. Support from the local media
was critical, as well as public pressure for a
better environment.
Timing is also very important in this
context. In both cities, the experience of pilot
disclosure suggests that many enterprises
will improve their performance prior to public
disclosure if they are informed of their rat-
ings and given sufficient time to invest in pol-
lution control. For public disclosure itself,
intervals of one year between public ratings
may a reasonable balance between the loss
of public pressure over longer intervals and
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 329
the higher cost of developing new ratings
over shorter intervals.
Public disclosure clearly places
unprecedented demands on environmental
agencies' management information sys-
tems. Although there are substantial start-
up costs, the agencies realize large long-
run gains from much more flexible, current
and well-documented information systems.
In this dimension, the pressure for
improved information management under
public disclosure also yields substantial
benefits for the information requirements of
conventional regulation.
REFERENCES & NOTES
1. While the authors helped design the
Greenwatch program in China, those
environmental officers in China's State
Environmental Protection Administration
(SERA), the Zhenjiang Municipal
Environmental Protection Bureau, and
the Hohhot Municipal Environmental
Protection Bureau played the key roles.
Particular thanks are due to SERA
administrator Mr. Xie Zhenghua and to
colleagues in China including Zhang
Liwei, Yu Fei, Zou Shoumin, Zhang
Qingfeng, Zhou Guomei, Cao Dong,
Yang Jintian, Wang Yuan, Chu Guimin,
Qu Xinhua, Yang Yingfeng and Fan
Yongying for their support and collabo-
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330
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Economics and Management, 35 (1), 1-
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-------
WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 331
from Mexican Industry," Journal of
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Market Response to Environmental
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Pollution Policy, Washington, DC,
Resources for the Future.
44. Vincent, J., 1993, "Reducing Effluent
While Raising Affluence: Water
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New Roles for Communities, Markets
and Governments, (New York:
Oxford/World Bank).
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 333
Premsturc
Death
Chronic
Bronchitis
Lower
Respiratory
Infection
Hospital
Admissions
Emergency
Room Visits
Restricted
Activity
Days
Europe
&
Central
Asia
80
200
3,100
100
1,900
369,400
South
Asia
160
400
12,200
240
4,800
752,600
Sub-
Saharan
Africa
60
80
3,500
60
1,100
153,000
Latin
America &
Caribbean
60
230
6,100
130
2,600
431,200
Middle
East&
North
Africa
30
90
2,900
60
1,100
174,600
East Asia
& Pacific
360
1,370
27,200
730
14,400
2,579,900
Developing
Regions
(DR)
750
2,370
55,100
1,320
25,900
4,460,700
World
820
2,620
58,300
1,440
28,200
4,915,600
DR/
World
91%
91%
95%
92%
92%
91%
China
320
1,190
22,500
630
12,300
2,233,100
China/
DR
42%
50%
41%
47%
47%
50%
Source: Bolt, etal. (2001)
Table 3.1: Comparative Health Damage from Particulate Air Pollution
[No. People (in Thousands)]
Country
China
Mexico
Philippines
Pakistan
Turkey
India
Brazil
Egypt
Indonesia
%of
GDP
4.0
2.6
2.2
1.8
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.6
1.3
Source: Bolt,etal. (2001)
Table 3.2: Economic Damage from Particulate Air Pollution
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Compliance Status
Not in compliance
Warning
Compliance
Performance Level
Black
Red
Yellow
Blue
Green
Performance Criteria
Greatly exceeds pollutant emissions standards
set by SEPA and causes serious damage.
Efforts don't meet pollutant emissions standards
set by SEPA, or have a record of serious pollution
incidents.
Meets pollutant emissions standards set by
SEPA, but fails to meet local Environmental
Protection Bureau standards.
Exceeds all emissions standards set by SEPA
and the local Environmental Protection Bureau ;
demonstrates superior environmental
management.
Meets all requirements for Blue, plus satisfaction
of ISO 14000 environmental standards; extensive
use of clean technology.
Table 4.1: Zhenjiang's 5-Color Rating Scheme for Polluters
Green
Blue
Yellow
Red
Black
Promote adoption of clean technology and
advanced environmental management
systems
Create pressure for compliance with
environmental regulations set by SEPA and
local Environmental Protection Bureaus
Table 4.2: Policy Objectives
Category
Emissions of Regulated Pollutants
Management Variables
Social Impact Variables
Variables
Concentration and total load
Management Effort
Efficiency of Resource Use; Technology Level
Environmental Management System
Public Complaints
Pollution Accident Record
Record of Illegal Actions
Administrative Penalty Record
Table 4.3: Elements of the Rating System
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 335
Does the plant
meet discharge
standards?
Yes
Does the plant meet total
amount control?
IF Yes
Does the plant have any
illegal performance or
administrative punishment
NO
Does the plant occur
pollution accident?
No
Does the plant meet
environmental management
requirements?"
„ Yes
Is the number of complaint over 3?
No
Is the utilization rate of solid
waste higher than 80%?
Yes
Is the plant
implementing?
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Does the plant
frequently fail to meet
discharge standards?
Yes
No
Does the plant occur
pollution accident grade _?
Yes
No
Is there any
complaint?
Yes
No
Is the plant using clean
production technology?
No
Yes
Yes
No
Does the plant occur
pollution accident grade _?
Yes
No
Figure 4.1: Ratings Determination in Zhenjiang
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Indicator
1 Discharge meeting the
standard
2 Frequently failing to
meet the standard
3 Control of total pollutant
discharge
4 Illegal pollution
5 Pollution accident
6 Timely payment of
discharge fee
7 Discharge reporting
and registering
8 Outlet control
standardization
9 Implementation of the
Three Synchronizations
and the stipulated
procedures for
construction projects
10 Enviromental
management
1 1 Proper disposition of
solid wastes
12 Public complaints
13 Clean production
15 IS014000
Explanation
For each outlet, either (a) more than 80% of the pollutants
meet discharge standards or (b) on average, the
concentrations of the main pollutants meet the discharge
standards. The disposal rate for hazardous solid waste is
100%.
More than 50% of the pollutants fail to meet standards.
(1) For firms holding a discharge permit, pollution discharge
within the allowed limit;
(2) For other firms, conformity with requirement 1 above
("discharge meeting the standard").
One or more instances of illegal pollution.
Level 1 : One or more pollution accidents, each of which
imposes economic losses between RMB 1,000 yuan and RMB
10,000 yuan each occurrence.
Level 2 (any of the following):
(1) One pollution accident that imposes an economic loss
between RMB 1 0,000 yuan and RMB 50,000 yuan;
(2) Poisoning of employees ;
(3) Pollution-induced conflict between the factory and the
neighboring community;
(4) Some environmental damage.
Level 3 (any of the following):
(1 ) One pollution accident that imposes an economic loss
between RMB 50,000 yuan and RMB 1 00,000 yuan;
(2) Radiation damage to employees; crippling of employees;
(3) Poisoning of neighboring residents
(4) Serious impact on social stability
(5) Serious damage to the environment
Level 4: One pollution accident that imposes an economic loss
of RMB 1 00,000 yuan or more.
For eight months of the year, the discharge fee is paid within
the stipulated twenty-day period. For the rest of the year, the
fee is paid within two months.
Regular reporting and registering for all firms; monthly
emissions reports by firms holding pollutant discharge permits.
Designated emissions outlets should be visible, reasonably
configured, and convenient for monitoring.
(1) Timely completion of the environmental protection pre-
audit;
(2) Ratification of the plant's EIA within the stipulated period;
(3) Full Implementation of the "Management Measures for
Environmental Protection of Construction Projects."
(1 ) Management structure;
(2) Number of environmental protection personnel;
(3) Implementation of systems and regulations such as the
Post Responsibility System for Environmental Protection;
System for the Operation and Management of Environmental
Protection Facilities; System of Reporting Environmental
Performance; and System for Management of Environmental
Protection Documents.
100% residual solid waste disposal and a solid-waste
comprehensive utilization factor over 80%.
Validated complaints about pollution that has significant
environmental impact.
Completion of a clean production audit that meets advanced
international and domestic standards.
ISO 14000 certificate awarded after passage of the
qualification test.
Table 4.4: Explanation of Indicators
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WANG, Bi, WHEELER, WANG, CAO, Lu, WANG 337
The Industry Distribution
Electri c
Power
Electron
Chemistry &
Pharmacy
19%
Paper Mill
Smeltery 4%
Coke Oven
Plant
3% Cement Plant
7% Food
8%
Machinical
Industry
21%
Figure 4.2: Sectoral Distribution of Pilot Firms in Zhenjiang
A. Pilot Internal Disclosure in June 1999
(1998 data)
Yellow
44%
Black Green
11% 3%
B. Formal Disclosure in July 2000
(1999 data)
Yellow
23%
• Black IRed Yellow BBlue 11 Green
Figure 4.3: Environmental Performance Ratings in Zhenjiang
Red Black Green
12% 3% 1%
Black II Red Yellow BBlue m Green
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Table 5.1: Hohhot's Five-Color Rating Scheme for Polluters
Color Rating Formal Criteria:
Black Very Poor Discharges of ashes, SO2 and COD all exceed legal requirements
Red Poor for the three pollutants — ashes, SO2 and COD — discharges of one or
two do not satisfy legal control requirements.
Yellow Good Discharges of ashes, SO2 and COD all satisfy legal control requirements.
Blue Superior Discharges of ashes, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and chemical oxygen
Green
demand (COD) are all less than 60% of the permitted limit.
Excellent Certification by ISO14000.
10.7% 3-6%
19.6%
66.1%
15%
33%
47%
Ratings in 1999 Ratings in 2000
Figure 5.1: Environmental Performance Ratings in Hohhot
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HlETAMAKI 339
SELF-MONITORING (OF AIR EMISSIONS, DISCHARGES TO
WATER AND WASTE) IN FINLAND
HlETAMAKI, MARKKU
Environmental Counselor, Ministry of the Environment of Finland, P.O. Box 380,
Helsinki, FIN-00131 Finland
SUMMARY
The paper discusses compliance monitoring based on self-monitoring. Self-moni-
toring is understood in quite different ways by the environmental protection community. The
paper explains how this procedure is implemented in Finland. Some ideas are provided on
how compliance monitoring based on self-monitoring will be developed in Finland.
Compliance based on self-monitoring can be implemented in different ways and on
different levels. Self-monitoring can be an effective tool only if it is taken into consideration
from permitting to the enforcement of the permits. There should be cooperation between
authorities and operators, but equally important is that the public be given sufficient access
to information collected under self-monitoring procedures. The public must be able to see
that the authorities and the operators have not made any hidden agreements that might
jeopardize environmental protection.
1 INTRODUCTION
Self-monitoring can partly replace
emission measurements made by authori-
ties, and as an extra bonus get operators to
contribute to the development of environ-
mental protection. The legal system must
allow the use of self-monitoring data
against the operator, if the operator reports
that limit values have been exceeded. To be
able to use self-monitoring as a part of
compliance monitoring, there should be
clearly defined limit values, a detailed emis-
sion-monitoring program (including provi-
sions for reporting), and authorities must
periodically check the self-monitoring sys-
tem or use third-party auditors.
Furthermore, authorities must have a sys-
tem where they can compare reports from
one installation with the results from others.
It is also essential that authorities have the
legal right to take actions against those
operators who have exceeded limit values.
To earn the public trust, much of the self-
monitoring procedures, reports and results
must be open to the public.
Finland has implemented
European Community (EC) legislation such
as the Integrated Pollution Prevention and
Control Directive (IPPC Directive) and
other directives. However, environmental
legislation in Finland covers more installa-
tions and, in some cases, limit values are
lower than those in the corresponding
directives. Also, public participation is
broader than the Community legislation
requires. In order to develop administrative
practices, permit writers and inspectors
meet regularly. To implement self-monitor-
ing effectively, it is necessary that limit val-
ues be clearly written. Detailed monitoring
programs are a second condition for imple-
menting self-monitoring. Monitoring pro-
grams must include which pollutants are
measured, how they are measured, and
how the operator can show that the
required quality of the measurements has
been reached. The required quality of the
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
continuous emission measurements (CEM)
should be expressed as an uncertainty. The
operator must report according to an
agreed plan. There are periodical reports
(monthly, yearly) and reports due to the
exceeding of limit values. It is necessary
that the authorities check the monitoring
system, or a third party, such as the auditor
of the quality management system (ISO
9000) or the environmental management
system (like ISO 14000 or EMAS), checks
the system during the periodical audit. The
authorities must have systems that make it
possible to compare information from one
installation with the information coming
from other installations. "Self-monitoring
must be seen only as one, hopefully poten-
tial, means to achieve good environmental
results."
2 GENERAL ASPECTS
If self-monitoring is to work proper-
ly, then all the environmental protection
procedures have to comply with the follow-
ing requirements:
• The emission limit values in the permit
are clear and technically and economi-
cally achievable.
• The permit contains specific require-
ments for emission monitoring.
• The authorities understand the self-moni-
toring system in the plants in question.
• Reporting from the operator to the
authorities is specified.
• The authorities periodically check the
self-monitoring system.
• The authorities have systems that allow
them to crosscheck with other similar
plants.
• The public has access to the relevant
parts of the system and the right to give
an opinion.
National practices may or may not
have an effect on whether the above-men-
tioned conditions are understood differently
in different parts of the world. For instance,
there is no "universal" agreement on the
meaning of technically and economically
achievable permit conditions. When
assessing the usefulness of self-monitor-
ing, one has to look for the results and not
to stick to all small bureaucratic details.
However, this means that there have to be
results on which most of the stakeholders
can agree.
3 PERMITS/LIMIT VALUES
Environmental requirements con-
cerning Finland can be set either on the
European Community level or on the
national level. However, not all require-
ments can be set on these levels, so some
must be determined on the plant level. This
gives a certain freedom to the permit-writ-
ing authorities, but requires much more
skill. On the other hand, the higher the level
that the requirements are set, the less the
local circumstances can be taken into
account.
In Finland, permitting is carried out
on three levels: there are three environ-
mental permit authorities, thirteen regional
environment centers and about 450 munic-
ipalities with local authority. The three per-
mit authorities are responsible for permits
to major installations and the regional cen-
ters to the medium-sized ones. Local
authorities are responsible for the small
installations, for example, power plants
under 50 MW and small operations for agri-
cultural animals.
The European Community legisla-
tion covers the main parts of environmental
protection. However, the Finnish legislation
covers more installations under the permit-
ting procedures than does the Integrated
Pollution Prevention and Control Directive
(IPPC Directive). Some limit values are also
lower than those in the EC directives.
In the permitting procedure, appli-
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HlETAMAKI
341
cations are open to the public and the
authorities can also arrange public hear-
ings. The public and the operator can
appeal to regional Administrative Courts if
they are not satisfied with the permit and its
conditions.
The clear limit values are the first
basic building block of self- monitoring,
because the operator must know exactly
what limit values to monitor. The permit
may also order the operator to measure,
calculate or estimate the emissions of other
pollutants that do not have limit values. In
Finland, for instance, we require that the
operators of large plants must know the
emissions of those pollutants that must be
assessed and reported under the require-
ments of the European Pollutant Emission
Register.
4 EMISSION-MONITORING PROGRAM
The second basic building block of
self-monitoring is the monitoring program.
The program must provide answers to the
following questions:
• Which pollutants are measured?
• How are measurements carried out?
• Which procedures are used to show that
the required quality expressed as uncer-
tainty is reached?
The environmental permit, or a
separate decision (given by a compliance-
monitoring authority) concerning emission
monitoring, must contain a description of
the emission-monitoring system and
detailed monitoring requirements. An oper-
ator must include a proposal for a monitor-
ing program already in the permit applica-
tion. However, in many cases concerning
large installations, such as pulp and paper
mills, the monitoring program is developed
during the permitting procedure or the per-
mit contains requirements, which order the
operator to present in a given time a
detailed monitoring program for the
approval of the competent compliance-
monitoring authority.
5 AUTHORITIES MUST UNDERSTAND
HOW THE SELF-MONITORING
RESULTS ARE PRODUCED
In power plants, the processes and
emissions are straightforward when it
comes to emission monitoring. Low con-
centrations may, however, bring additional
technical problems. However, it is more dif-
ficult to understand process industries,
such as the pulp industry, where there are
several parallel or connected processes. In
these installations, self-monitoring systems
(including measurements and calculation
of results) are rather difficult to understand.
The environmental administration organiz-
es seminars where inspectors can discuss
and exchange information on measure-
ments and procedures to calculate emis-
sions. In the future, we will encourage oper-
ators to include emission monitoring as a
part of their quality control and environ-
mental management systems (e.g. ISO
9000, ISO 14000 and EMAS). This way we
will get independent third party auditing. If
measurements are not included in those
systems, then independent auditing by a
consultant approved by the authorities may
be required.
6 REPORTING FROM THE OPERATOR
TO THE AUTHORITIES IS SPECIFIED
The monitoring program includes
the following reports:
• Immediate reports if limit values are
exceeded.
• Monthly reporting (only for large
installations).
• Annual reporting.
Reporting can be done in several
ways. Some operators must report by
phone if limit values are seriously exceed-
ed. Monthly and annual reports can be
done either in a written or electronic format.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
An installation must report its production
data, fuels, emissions to air, wastewater
discharges and wastes. The environmental
administration has also started to collect
information on the overall energy usage of
an installation. Written reporting forms are
available on the environmental administra-
tion's website or the authorities send them
to the operator. Small and some medium-
sized installations use this option. This
results in a lot of 'paper' work both in the
installations and in the environmental
administration. That is why electronic
reporting has been developed.
The first level of electronic report-
ing utilizes electronic forms. An operator
has a user name and password. Electronic
forms are available on the environmental
administration's website. The operator must
feed in his/her data and send it (via email) to
the environmental authorities. Once the
authorities receive a report, an inspector or
inspectors (if more than one monitors the
same installation) are informed that a new
report has arrived. An inspector checks the
report, takes the necessary actions (like
asking for more information or making a site
inspection), and after approval sends the
data to the database.
The newest procedure in Finland is
that the authorities define the interface
between the operator and the authorities,
and state which kind of data transfer is
allowed. In this way, data production and
transfer can be made more effective. In
other words, the operator must rationalize
his/her data production in the installation so
that, as much as is possible, data produc-
tion is automated and the authorities must
adapt their compliance monitoring so that
the procedures are effective and not tied
any more to the 'paper age'. More and
more emphasis must be put on the first
building blocks of self-monitoring: there
must be clearly defined limit values and
parameters to be monitored and a specific
monitoring program. Otherwise the opera-
tor's systems are only 'black boxes' that
produce data but nobody knows what the
data means.
The Finnish environmental admin-
istration has developed such a system with
one Finnish internationally operating pulp
and Paper Company. The test operation
started in spring 2002. Three different types
of installations are involved and from the
authorities side, one regional environment
center. The system makes it possible to
transfer large amounts of data, including
real compliance-monitoring data, for
instance, not only emission data but also
information on how long a period a single
emission-monitoring device has been out
of operation. In the installation this calls for
a rigid quality system for all data collection
and management.
This system makes it possible to
transfer a lot of data. It is thus very easy to
overload the authorities with data, resulting
in a great danger that the data systems of
the authorities turn into 'data graveyards'
and the inspectors do not concentrate on
the real compliance-monitoring data.
7 THE AUTHORITIES MUST
PERIODICALLY CHECK THE
SELF-MONITORING SYSTEM
The authorities have the main
responsibility for supervising compliance
with the permit conditions. In large and
complex installations monitoring programs
are quite complicated. Although a monitor-
ing program may or may not contain self-
diagnostic components, it is important that
the authorities periodically inspect the mon-
itoring system or a part of it. It could be of
great help if the operator has included the
monitoring program as a part of the quality
management system or the environmental
management system, including, for
instance, the uncertainty assessment (with
requirements set by the authority), in those
systems. In this way the environmental
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343
authorities get an independent third-party
audit. We recommend this kind of proce-
dure in Finland. In Finland the authorities'
inspection reports must be stored in the
VAHTI system. It is also a good practice
that the authorities are present when an
operator carries out parallel measurements
of continuous measurements systems.
8 THE AUTHORITIES HAVE
SYSTEMS THAT ALLOW THEM
TO CROSS-CHECK WITH OTHER SIM-
ILAR PLANTS
However carefully the authorities
have set emission limit values and
approved the monitoring program, it is
important that they can compare data from
one installation with data from others. In
Finland, all permit-writing authorities and
compliance-monitoring authorities are con-
nected to a single nation wide system
called VAHTI, which enables them to
access relevant data such as environmen-
tal permits and reported emissions, waste
and inspection reports. The inspectors who
monitor a specific installation have a
greater right to access files such as letters
sent to the operator and those parts of the
inspection reports that deal with business
secrets. In 2002 about 350 inspectors will
use the system and there are about 400
additional users who can access the
reporting part of the system (excluding the
input part).
During 2002-2003 a new version of
VAHTI will be in use and then also the
municipalities (about 450) will be able to
use it.
9 PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO
RELEVANT PARTS OF THE
SYSTEM AND THE RIGHT TO
EXPRESS AN OPINION
The trust of the public for these
kinds of procedures must be earned.
Emission data and information on the rele-
vant parts of site inspections must be pub-
licly available. The Finnish environmental
legislation has, since the beginning,
allowed broad public participation and also
access to justice. Lately, these have even
been expanded.
10 CONCLUSIONS
Compliance monitoring based on
self-monitoring can be implemented in dif-
ferent ways or on different levels. Self-mon-
itoring can be an effective tool only if it is
taken into consideration from permitting to
the enforcement of the permits. There
should be good cooperation between
authorities and operators, but equally
important is that the public is given suffi-
cient access to information collected under
self-monitoring procedures. The public
must be able to see that the authorities and
the operators have not made any hidden
agreements that might jeopardize environ-
mental protection.
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344 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SESSION #7: THE EVOLVING ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
345
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #7: THE EVOLVING ROLE OF THE
JUDICIARY IN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Moderator: Manuel Rodriguez Becerra
Rapporteur: James Lofton
1 INTRODUCTION
Members of the judiciary present
their views on the role of the judiciary in
deciding environmental disputes.
Consideration was given to existing and
innovative methods used to quantify envi-
ronmental damages.
2 PRESENTATIONS
Mr. Rodriguez opened the panel by
noting the increasing role of the judiciary in
Latin America and South America. He
noted that in Columbia, judges are now
playing a major role in environmental
enforcement and compliance as a result of
Columbia's new constitution in 1991 and
new environmental law in 1993. Also, in
Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Argentina, the
judiciary is playing an increasingly impor-
tant role in environmental enforcement and
compliance. Mr. Rodriquez posed the ques-
tions: Why are some countries doing better
in promoting environmental compliance
and enforcement through judiciaries than
others? What are the enabling conditions
for the judiciary to play a major role in envi-
ronmental enforcement?
Mr. Anderson posed the following
questions: Are there any special roles for
judges, and if so, what is the nature of that
role in environmental enforcement? And
how do we define the judiciary? In the
common law system, there is an independ-
ent judiciary protected by the state's consti-
tution. In the exercise of judicial discretion,
there is the perception that judges lack
enthusiasm for environmental laws for sev-
eral reasons. For example, judges believe
that environmental crimes are morally
ambiguous and they are reticent to stigma-
tize environmental violators as criminals.
This traditional conservatism of common
law judges must be overcome in order to
realize more success in environmental
cases with the judiciary. Regarding the par-
ticipation by civil society, access to courts
has traditionally been a limiting factor.
However, there have been significant legisla-
tive developments in expanding the role of
courts. The second major development is
the effort to sensitize judges to the signifi-
cance of environmental cases. This has
been accomplished through mechanisms
such as the UNEP judicial symposia. Finally,
there has been innovative legislation in cre-
ating non-traditional environmental tribunals
that seem to have great potential.
Judge Decleris asked us whether
we shall continue on the road to a sustain-
able society or whether we will revert to 'the
good old days" before the Rio Summit. Is a
sustainable society an attainable vision? If
it is, guidance and creativity is needed to
attain a sustainable society. The judiciary
will be essential to providing this guidance
and creativity for three reasons:
• governments which are supposed to pro-
tect the environment actually are the
source of conflicting policies;
• the judiciary succeeds better than gov-
ernment in reconciling conflicting poli-
cies; and
• common law was created by judges, so it
is reasonable to expect that judges can
create common law principles of sustain-
able development.
Judge Decleris listed the 12 funda-
mentals of sustainable development, and
closed by stating that, if properly trained,
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
can succeed in achieving the principles of
sustainable development.
Mr. Kurukulasuriya began by
explaining that the UNEP program of envi-
ronmental law is structured on a ten-year
basis. Now, in its third ten-year program,
the UNEP focus in environmental law has
shifted in focus at the global, regional and
national levels. The two major activities are
in promoting the development of guidelines
on environmental compliance and enforce-
ment and second in strengthening the judi-
ciary. Mr. Kurukulasuriya emphasized that
the role of the judiciary includes promoting
the rule of law including national environ-
mental governance and promoting compli-
ance and enforcement of environmental
regulations. The UNEP has focused its
efforts in strengthening the judiciary
through six regional judicial symposia since
1996. These regional symposia have been
successful in fostering judicial dialogue and
exchange of experiences in the field of
environmental law, establishing the basis
for networking among the judiciary, the
legal professional and academics, and pro-
moting more vigorous and effective appli-
cation of environmental law as an instru-
ment for translating sustainable develop-
ment policies into action.
3 DISCUSSION
George Kremlis from the European
Commission stated that the EC will support
the concept of judicial symposia and will
support a judicial network to improve coop-
eration and exchange of experiences in the
environmental arena. He said the
European Court of Justice has become
more environmentally aware. Training ses-
sions for judges have been piloted at the
European Court of Justice and there is dis-
cussion of creating an environmental
chamber in the European Court of Justice
by treaty amendment.
Questions: What are the enabling
conditions for promoting sustainable devel-
opment through the role of the judiciary?
What role can INECE play in this area?
There has been progressive development
in the rule of law. However, there has been
little development in procedure. Are we
addressing procedural problems in environ-
mental law?
Responses: INECE can play a role
in helping to formulate a more systematic
approach in addressing the role of the judi-
ciary in promoting environmental compli-
ance and enforcement. INECE can also
promote an expanded basis for standing for
civil society groups and assist in promoting
judicial awareness of the need for strong
enforcement of environmental cases.
Judges have often used procedural
issues to avoid making decisions in cases,
including environmental matters. As with
the concept of standing, procedural limita-
tions should be addressed so courts are
more accessible and more decisions on the
merits are rendered in environmental
cases.
4 CONCLUSION
The Assumption of a more proac-
tive stance towards environmental protec-
tion can be accommodated within existing
legislative and judicial frameworks. The
judiciary can, and must, play a leading role
in promoting compliance and enforcement
of environmental regulations. INECE
should cooperate with UNEP to build judi-
cial capacity in this regard.
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DECLERIS
347
THE DEEP JUDICIAL CONTROL OF PUBLIC POLICY,
CONDITION SINE QUA NON FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ORDER
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
DECLERIS, PROF. DR. MICHAEL
Hon. Vice President of the Council of State. President, Chamber for Environment and
Sustainability. Fokionos Negri 82, 113 61 Kipseli, Athens, Greece.
email:decleris@environ-sustain.com
SUMMARY
The legislative and administrative branches are held hostage to special interests
and therefore unreliable advocates for sustainable development. In fact, over the last
decade we have witnessed a kind of schizophrenia: Positions talk of protecting the envi-
ronment while they contribute to its destruction. The judicial control of public policies by pro-
fessional judges is the best means for formulating and enforcing general principles of sus-
tainable development. The jurisprudence of the 5th Chamber of the Hellenic Council of
State (the Supreme Administrative Court) provides a characteristic example of the evolving
role of judges in promoting the idea of Sustainability even when the Legislator or the
Administration fall behind. The author summarizes general principles of sustainable devel-
opment developed by the Chamber as well as sustainable public policies it has imple-
mented and their social impact.
1 WHY THE JUDGES
Ten years after Rio, it is a common
conclusion that, while the concept of Sus-
tainability has gained widespread accept-
ance; the actual state of environment has
been constantly deteriorating. We already
have a wealth of literature on Sustainability,
but at the same time we witness a flagrant
failure of public environmental policy.
Hence, the question arises, whether it
would be more realistic to content our-
selves with the limited environmental law of
the Stockholm era and forgo the unattain-
able vision of sustainable development.
The position of this Report is that
no matter how popular the Stockholm envi-
ronmental law is, it is impossible to main-
tain a stable environmental order without
the judicial control of the Sustainability of all
public policies. In other words, the pur-
suance of a self-contained environmental
law is a self-defeating policy. Such a law is
foredoomed to remain a paper law. On the
contrary, an effective judicial control can
both ensure environmental order and
accelerate sustainable development by
shaping its principles and thereby improv-
ing public policy. The role of the Judiciary
can be decisive not so much due to its
coercive potential but rather because judi-
cial decisions are made in a long institu-
tional perspective, there-by having a deep
and permanent influence on public opinion.
Politics is a hostage of vested interests,
incapacitated by bargaining and compro-
mise. Only, judicial decision-making takes
the requirements of the future seriously.
There are three reasons for the
increased role of the Judiciary today.
Despite the fact that after Rio, the State has
assumed the role of the great protector of
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
the environment, it is the political system,
which continues to be its main enemy. It is
the political system that constantly destroys
the environment either through positive
harmful actions or through equally danger-
ous omissions. In terms of positive actions,
one can think of many examples of conflict-
ing policies, i.e., transport policy conflicting
with energy policy, economic policy conflict-
ing with spatial planning, policy on tourism
conflicting with cultural policy etc. Even
when environmental damages are attrib-
uted to private actions, there is always a
public policy failure in the background. For
example, the notorious air pollution in
Athens is in fact the post-effect of combined
policy failures, including bad industrial poli-
cy responsible for the concentration of the
60% of the industrial installations in Athens
area, poor town-planning due to clientelistic
land use policy, as well as incompetent
transport policy neglecting the clean means
of mass transportation. As far as omissions
are concerned, one cannot help thinking
that, ten years after the unanimous voting
of Agenda 21, its instructions for the nec-
essary aid to the poor countries have not
been implemented. Neither the poor have
received their aid, nor did the rich countries
change their consumption patterns.
Therefore, we are justified in ascertaining a
sort of schizophrenia in current politics: on
the one hand, it continues its sentimental
appeals for the salvation of the environ-
ment; while on the other it keeps destroying
it.
The second reason is that the judi-
cial control of public policies, when entrust-
ed to a Supreme Administrative Court, can
indeed succeed in coordinating public poli-
cies better than the government itself. The
failure of politics to deal effectively with the
problems of sustainable development is
due to the notorious reluctance of politi-
cians to shoulder the so-called 'political
cost' resulting from the resistance of inter-
ests vested in the status quo. Such consid-
erations are unacceptable to judges who
hold the view that problems of environment
and sustainable development should be
handled only by the professionals of public
administration using the appropriate policy
analysis methods.
Finally, there is a third reason
favoring judicial control, and this is that sus-
tainable development cannot emerge auto-
matically from commands, prohibitions and
sanctions imposed by legal norms. In fact,
it is a dynamic regime, which will be formed
gradually by instructions of the Agenda '21
type. This has always been the case:
Historically, the best instructions have
derived from the general principles of law
created by judicial case law of the roman
praetors (roman law), or the royal judges
(common law) or the conseil d'etat (droit
administratif), while the law made by legis-
latures is practically a codification of judicial
rulings. Therefore, the role recognized by
this Report for the judiciary is not actually
an institutional innovation. In the last two
centuries, judges shaped the principles for
the protection of human rights; in the pres-
ent century, judges are now needed for cre-
ating the general principles of sustainable
development.
2 THE GREEK EXPERIENCE
The Hellenic experience of the
decade 1990-2000, which I have the honor
to present to you, supports the above posi-
tion. Greece, a country with a great cultural
and natural capital, entered the club of the
privileged countries last among its partners
who pursue systematically so-called 'eco-
nomic growth'. Her zeal to reach the level of
her European partners has driven her so
far as to adopt policies causing significant
harm to the Greek environment in a very
short time. As soon as this became evident
in the late '80s by the abrupt increase of
disputes concerning environment and spa-
tial planning, judges felt the need to take
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DECLERIS
349
the initiative. Following our proposal, a new
Chamber was set up at the Council of State
entrusted with the exclusive jurisdiction on
matters of environment and Sustainable
Development. According to the approved
organizational scheme, the new Chamber
has been equipped with enhanced powers.
The idea permeating the mission of the
Court was to ensure the deep and effective
control of all public policies related to envi-
ronment and sustainable development. To
this effect, the Court assumed and exer-
cised the review of constitutionality of
statutes, the preliminary control of all regu-
latory decrees, plus the power of annulling
illegal governmental decisions and sus-
pending their implementation. In this way,
public policy concerning environment and
sustainable development was brought
under the scrutiny of the Court at all levels.
Without such extensive powers,
the Court would have never been effective
against a Government reluctant to follow a
consistent environmental policy and prone
to clientelistic practices. Owing to these
powers, however, challenged decisions
could be suspended, if necessary, within
hours in order to prevent the tactics of
accomplished facts. In addition to this,
when exercising judicial review of govern-
mental decisions, the Court did not confine
itself to formalities, but proceeded to the
structuring of the actual environmental
problems and ensured their right solutions.
Moreover, through the preliminary control
of the regulatory decrees, the Court was
able to dictate the general principles of sus-
tainable development, and thereby to
adjust public policies to the requirements of
these principles. These general principles
of sustainable development were formulat-
ed in the course of the constitutional control
of statutes performed on the basis of the
relevant rules of International and
European environmental law, both hard
and soft. In fact, the Greek Constitution and
specifically its clause (article 24) Protecting
the Environment, was interpreted in the
light of the Stockholm and Rio principles.
Beyond such creative legal think-
ing, all sixteen judges of the Court felt
themselves responsible for the mainte-
nance of environmental order and were
highly inspired by the idea of sustainable
development. The decade 1990-2000 will
be remembered in Greece as a period of
rare stability and consistency both in the
decisions of the Vth Chamber of the
Council of State and in the expectations of
public opinion. From some quarters, frus-
trated politicians in particular, a complaint
against 'judicial activism' was voiced. It was
unfounded, because sustainability in
Greece is guaranteed by the Constitution
itself. This means that the government has
no political choice to pursue or not sustain-
able development. Sustainability is a funda-
mental legal norm whose guardians are the
courts.
In this Report I shall confine myself
to a general evaluation of the work per-
formed by the Court, as a good example of
what can be accomplished by the deep
judicial control of public policy. Matters con-
cerning the psychology and dynamics of
the Court as a human group will be dis-
cussed in the paper of Justice Karamanof,
a member of the Court from its beginnings,
who handled important cases. Also, mat-
ters concerning the protection of culture
environment will be dealt with in the paper
of former Justice Kapelouzos, who has par-
ticular experience in the field.
First of all, it is important to note
that the Court has acquired its experience
on environmental matters from an ideal
observational standpoint. In fact, the Court
acted as the general headquarters of sus-
tainable development in Greece, having an
overall view of both the actual environmen-
tal process and the public policy making
related to it. More specifically, from the con-
tinuous flow of statutes, decrees and deci-
sions brought before it for review, the Court
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
accumulated a commanding knowledge of
the entire environmental problematique
and of the relevant policy failures. The prob-
lems handled by the Court actually
belonged to two distinct generations; the
Stockholm generation of classical environ-
mental problems, related to pollution,
waste, environmental standards etc, and
the Rio generation of problems concerning
the incorporation of sustainability criteria
into public policy making. It is the latter
which gave the Court the unique opportuni-
ty to develop a system of general principles
of sustainable development. In terms of
numbers, the Court handled more than
15.000 cases in the decade of 1990-2000,
which provides a solid statistical base for
an objective evaluation of the validity of
these principles.
3 THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
All twelve general principles of sus-
tainable development have been formulat-
ed by the Court in the context of a system
of interrelated and inter-dependent ele-
ments. These principles can be enumerat-
ed here in the following order:
• Principle of public environmental order,
meaning that the state bears the primary
responsibility for sustainable develop-
ment while all other so called 'partners'
(market, NGO's etc) have complementa-
ry roles.
• Principle of sustainability, meaning that
all policies, decisions and actions, no
matter whether public or private, should
be designed and implemented in a way
which does not reduce or damage natu-
ral, cultural and social capital. When
there is a doubt about the impact of
human action, the actor should abstain
from it.
• Principle of carrying capacity, meaning
that human intervention must not violate
the carrying capacity of both anthro-
pogenic systems and ecosystems.
• Principle of obligatory restoration of dis-
turbed ecosystems, meaning that envi-
ronment reclamation is an enforceable
obligation.
• Principle of biodiversity, meaning that no
policy benefit can justify the loss of
species.
• Principle of common natural heritage,
requiring the absolute protection of an
inviolable part of wild nature.
• Principle of mild development of fragile
ecosystems, prescribing an increased
protection of such sensitive ecosystems
as forests, coasts, small islands, moun-
tains etc.
• Principle of spatial planning, making it a
fundamental prerequisite for any public
intervention.
• Principle of cultural heritage, giving it the
same protection with natural environment
• Principle of the sustainable urban envi-
ronment, ensuring the best possible con-
ditions of life for human settlements
• Principle of the aesthetic value of nature,
protecting landscape and the morpholo-
gy of geosystems
• Principle of environmental awareness,
ensuring the citizens' rights of informa-
tion, participation in the public decision-
making and easy access to Justice.
From the above general principles, more
principles of lesser scope could be logical-
ly drawn, when necessary.
4 THE SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC
POLICIES
Through the systematic application
of the above principles on all matters
brought before it, the Court has consistent-
ly sought to convert all public policies into
sustainable ones. More specifically, the
Court has ruled that:
• Natural environment with all its ecosys-
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DECLERIS
351
terns is the basic measure of sustainabil-
ity. It constitutes the natural capital,
which should be registered and moni-
tored. No reduction or degrading of natu-
ral capital can be tolerated. On the con-
trary, environment reclamation, where
necessary, is obligatory. Biodiversity is
strictly protected because of the inherent
value of all wild flora and fauna species.
This principle has been repeatedly
applied by the Court either to preserve
rare species of fauna in Greece threat-
ened by extinction, such as the sea turtle
Caretta-caretta, the Monachus seal, the
golden eagle, the gray bear etc. (but
more common species, as well, such as
wolves and foxes) or more generally to
protect the exceptional diversity of flora
and fauna in Greece, as i.e. when the
Court banned air-crops spraying with
phytochemicals.
• Agriculture should be sustainable and
such should be the relevant public policy
as well. Farmland should be delimited
and cannot be converted to building
plots.
• Forests are strictly protected and must
be registered.
• Fishing should be sustainable and tech-
niques that harm marine ecosystems are
prohibited.
• Water Management should be systemic
and include recycling.
• Mining and Quarrying should be sustain-
able, i.e., based on a long-term sustain-
able management of the countries' min-
eral wealth. Irreplaceable natural
recourses (i.e. bauxite) should be pro-
tected. Mining should be harmonized
with forestry and mountain protection
policies.
• Industry should be sustainable. Industrial
installations exceeding the carrying
capacity of an area are prohibited.
Polluting industries are closed down.
• Public works should be sustainable, i.e.
compatible with the local ecosystems,
and subject to systemic impact analysis.
• Energy policy should be sustainable, i.e.
harmonized with other public policies
protecting public health, or cultural capi-
tal, or fragile ecosystems like the small
islands. Energy supply in the latter
should be based on local sources and
renewable recourses, especially wind
and solar energy.
• Urban environment must be sustainable:
Town plans must be rational so that they
combine the functionality of the settle-
ment with the best possible living condi-
tions for people. Building conditions must
not be made worse. The urban environ-
ment is already severely degraded and
can only tolerate measures that improve
it. The further development of the cities
must be checked. The enlargement of
Athens has gone beyond every appropri-
ate limit. Protection is extended to the
natural life-supporting systems in the
cities. Free public areas (squares etc)
are strictly protected. Sustainable traffic
in towns means the use of public trans-
port and not private cars.
• Tourism should be sustainable, i.e. not
exceeding the carrying capacity of the
anthropogenic systems and ecosystems
affected by it. New hotels are banned in
saturated areas, i.e. the island of
Myconos. Founding of new settlements
for purposes of second residence is also
banned, unless existing settlements have
become saturated and their legal
enlargement is also impossible. In no
case is it permitted to create settlements
within fragile ecosystems.
• Sustainable development of such fragile
ecosystems as coasts and small islands
that abound in Greece are of particular
importance in terms of both natural and
cultural capital of the country. These
ecosystems are constantly subject to
heavy pressures. The Courts' jurispru-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
dence on their protection is created: A
spatial plan for each island is required.
Strict control of urban development
encodes the total banning of new settle-
ments on the islands. Development must
be only mild: Intense energy systems are
banned and so are industrial or storage
and technical installations on coasts.
• A central place in the Courts' jurispru-
dence occupies the principle of Spatial
Planning, which is considered as the fun-
damental prerequisite of sustainability. In
the decisions of the Court, spatial plan-
ning is a logical imperative of the princi-
ple of sustainability, and is therefore the
main expression of public environmental
order, which constitutes the generally
obligatory framework within which the
development of private initiative can be
permitted. The Courts' jurisprudence
developing this principle has been fertile
and effective. The Court ruled that it is
obligatory to prepare a national spatial
plan and regional spatial plans. As a
result of the state's compliance to this
ruling, a statute on spatial planning has
finally been voted. The principle of spatial
planning was applied to the construction
of ports and to the execution of port proj-
ects, design of the road network, siting of
waste disposal sites and even prisons.
5 THE SOCIAL IMPACT
The social impact of the above
stated case law of the Court could be sum-
marized as following:
• It put an end to the rapid deterioration of
both the Greek cultural and natural envi-
ronment, which had started in the pre-
ceding years of wild economic growth.
• Many harmful public policies had to be
abandoned.
Subsequent statutes adopted many
rulings of the Court.
• The case law of the Court was support-
ed by mass media. This contributed to
the development of environmental aware-
ness of the citizens and to the strength-
ening of the environmentalist movement
in Greece.
• The scientific structure of the Court's
jurisprudence exposed and discredited
the clientelistc practices of the political
system. Thus, it made their repetition in
the future difficult, at least in several sec-
tor of public policy.
• The interaction of the Court with the
political system is worth of particular
mentioning. Throughout the critical
decade 1990-2000 the political system,
devoted to the pursuance of further eco-
nomic growth and always relying on the
clientelistic practices of the past, was
reluctant to comply with the Court deci-
sions. In fact, at times, it became auda-
cious and attacked the Court: Two years
after the Vth Chamber of the Court had
been instituted, the government tried to
dismantle it but failed. The plenary of the
Council of State declared the relevant
statute unconstitutional and refused to
apply it (1993). Having failed in using
legislative powers against the Court, the
political system didn't hesitate later
(2000) to use the process of constitution-
al revision in order to reduce the protec-
tion of the environment and thereby, indi-
rectly, the powers of the Court. This time
it was the popular outcry that forced the
political system to abandon its plans.
Thus, eventually the Court has consoli-
dated its constitutional role as the inde-
pendent guardian of the environmental
order.
• The Courts' jurisprudence contributed to
the rising of social expectations for quali-
ty of life: Today, all political interventions
to the environment are closely monitored
by a significant number of non profit
organizations which take active part on
their evaluation and —if meaning—take
the cases to the Court.
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DECLERIS 353
6 EPILOGUE
There are two basic reasons why
the deep judicial control of public policy has
been effective in Greece. The first is that
the idea of sustainability is in fact a restora-
tion of the classical Greek values of nature,
order, justice, moderation ('measure') and
grugality. Therefore, the jurisprudence of
the Court was in line with the Greek cultur-
al tradition, which dates thousands of years
back in the Orphic Hymns (X, LXXX, LXII,
LXIII, LXIV). It is the same tradition that has
always placed Law and Justice above the
political system in Greece, no matter
whether monarchical or democratic, and
assigned with the judges the responsibility
of reviewing the political decisions in terms
of their conformity with Law. That is why the
5th Chamber of the Council of State, apply-
ing the law of sustainability in a steadfast
manner against a reluctant political system,
felt comfortable in honoring the long cultur-
al tradition of Greece.
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PREPARING JUDGES FOR THE EVOLVING ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY
KARAMANOF, MARIA
Justice, Councilor of State, Member of the Board of Directors, Chamber of Environment
and Sustainability, Plateia Drosopoulou 2, 152 37 Filothei, ATHENS GREECE
SUMMARY
The author describes the success of the Chamber of Environment and Sustainable
in the Hellenic Council of State. Creating a separate environmental chamber allowed for a
comprehensive overview of sustainability and the development of a common set of princi-
ples. Beyond the structural requirements for the promotion of sustainability the quality,
administrative background, and continuous training of the chambers judges helped insure
its success. Finally, the author notes the vision and leadership of the President of the
Chamber as a major factor contributing to its accomplishments.
1 INTRODUCTION
The innovative jurisprudence of the
5th Chamber of the Hellenic Council of
State developed and matured under partic-
ular circumstances, which played an impor-
tant role in its making. Looking back at the
decade 1990-2000 as a member of this
Court, who took an active part in the for-
mulation of this jurisprudence, I cannot help
feeling that these circumstances deserve
special attention, particularly from those
who seek a deeper understanding of the
enforcement process, or those who might
attempt to repeat a similar experiment in a
different legal and cultural environment.
2 INSTITUTIONALIZING THE NEW ROLE
OF THE JUDICIARY
New ideas are usually born in new
settings. The setting up of the 5th Chamber
of the Council of State in 1991 as a new
institution having overall jurisdiction on
matters of environmental protection and
sustainability proved to be the sine qua non
condition for the evolution of a creative
jurisprudence on these matters. The idea
was conceived and put into effect by its
President, Justice M. Decleris, who envis-
aged the new Chamber as the appropriate
institutional instrument that would allow for:
• comprehensive overview of sustainability
problems arising in every field of public
policy;
• development of a set of common princi-
ples for dealing with these problems;
• transformation of these general princi-
ples into objective and operational crite-
ria permitting their uniform application on
different cases.
While the 5th Chamber was indeed
something novel in terms of competence, it
remained at the same time an integral part
of the Council of State (Conseil d' Etat), the
prestigious Supreme Administrative Court
of Greece, with a hundred years' history in
the effective control of government policies
and the protection of individual and social
rights. So we can say that the 5th Chamber
was endowed from birth with unique quali-
ties: a modern organizational frame ensur-
ing expertise and effectiveness on one
hand, a long tradition of authority and inde-
pendence on the other.
It is often the case with new institu-
tions that, although designed with vision
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and care, they fail to produce the expected
outcome. Fortunately, this has not been the
case with our Court. The secret lies in a
happy combination of a number of factors,
which we will briefly discuss below.
STRAINING FOR THE NEW ROLE
First comes the human factor, in
other words the individual members
appointed to the Chamber from the start.
All of them were experienced judges,
already serving at the Council of State from
ten to twenty years, who were selected by
its President, not so much because they
were familiar with sustainability problems,
but rather on the basis of their creativity,
independence of spirit, steadfastness and
environmental sensibility.
To the surprise of outsiders, these
strong personalities with completely differ-
ent backgrounds, political beliefs and legal
philosophies, collaborated so well with each
other and were so well integrated into the
new Chamber that most, if not all, of its pio-
neer decisions were reached unanimously.
As the problems brought before the Court
became more complex, original and difficult,
requiring a deeper and deeper understand-
ing of the logic of sustainability, the mem-
bers of the Court, far from being discour-
aged or overworked, developed an increas-
ing sense of purpose and commitment.
The members of the.new Chamber
were equipped from the start with the
appropriate methodological tools enabling
them to exercise the deep control required
for sustainability problems, namely they
were introduced to systems methodology.
To judges trained to apply the classical
methods of administrative control (i.e. care-
ful study of the case file, prepared by gov-
ernment officials, and identification of
errors occurring in legal interpretation, pro-
cedure, reasoning etc.), introduction to sys-
tems methodology, though not an easy
task, revealed a completely new dimension
in the exercise of judicial review.
In order to understand the necessi-
ty of this new approach, one must bear in
mind that sustainability is a substantive
notion; therefore, the answer to the peren-
nial question put before the courts, whether
a particular policy or decision is sustainable
or not, has to be a substantive one as well.
Such an answer presupposes thorough
knowledge not only of the file of each case
but of the actual problem, which lies behind
it. The judges entrusted with the task to
solve such a problem, should know it in and
out, better than the administrator who
attempted to solve it in the first place and
whose decision is challenged before the
Court. To do that, a judge should:
• command the systemic techniques of
problem structuring, formulation of opti-
mal policy models and evaluation of
alternative solutions. To that end those
judges of the 5th Chamber who were
unfamiliar with systems methodology
became quickly acquainted with it
through constant training by the
President, himself an expert in the field
since the 60's.
• have a full view not only of the facts of
the case, but also of the scientific prob-
lematique behind them. That was
achieved through close collaboration with
government officials and experts charged
with the design and implementation of
the relevant public policy, as well as
through the practice of seeking expert
opinion on disputed scientific matters.
With the help of the above tools the
judges of the 5th Chamber were in a posi-
tion not only to point out to the government
exactly where its policy under review failed
(e.g. at the stage of design, implementation
or enforcement), but also whether such a
failure was curable or not, and what exact-
ly should be done to correct it. Among the
15.000 decisions issued by the Court in the
decade 1990-2000 many provoked a
strong reaction from adversely affected
pressure groups and interests. It is, howev-
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KARAMANOF
357
er, noteworthy, that virtually none of these
decisions has been seriously challenged
on its merits by specialists in the respective
fields. The most common criticism against
them was that, though substantively cor-
rect, these decisions adopted solutions far
too maximalistic for a world accustomed to
bargain and compromise.
4 SOCIAL SUPPORT
An important factor, which greatly
reinforced the morale of the members of
the Court and increased their dedication to
the value of sustainability, was the attitude
of the general public. Both citizens and the
mass media enthusiastically received deci-
sions on environmental protection, no mat-
ter how strict. Their active support compen-
sated for the often-severe attacks coming
from the lobbies of affected interests.
Environmentalists as well as common peo-
ple, disappointed from government inertia
and clientele politics, found in the Court an
unexpected and reliable ally in their effort to
save the Greek environment, both natural
and cultural.
The 5th Chamber's case law was
the first to introduce the language and ethics
of sustainability into public vocabulary.
Vested with the Court's authority, this lan-
guage awakened the environmental con-
science of the Greek public, who welcomed
the return of its long-forgotten traditional val-
ues. This close interaction between Court
and public proved to be a crucial factor,
whose impact upon the morale of both
should not be underestimated. The impor-
tance of this factor was proven during the
constitutional revision of 2000. An attempt to
revise the famous article 24 of the Greek
Constitution, which guarantees environmen-
tal protection, and thereby to render practi-
cally inactive the jurisprudence of the Court,
met with such an unexpected and strong
public reaction that it proved to be abortive.
5 LEADERSHIP
Last but not least in the list of fac-
tors which determined the course of the 5th
Chamber was the strong presidency of
Justice Decleris. The mark of his personal-
ity has been so deep that it is generally
acknowledged that without him the Court
would not have been the same.
His commitment to the values of justice and
sustainability was so intense that it made
him completely impermeable to pressures
from any direction. He effectively defended
the Court's independence against political
intervention and this made him very popu-
lar to the public, if not to the political system
itself. This spirit of steadfastness was trans-
ferred to all members of the Chamber and
maintained their high morale even through-
out periods of grave conflict.
Besides being a judge, he was a
scholar in a wide range of scientific fields
and an expert in systems methodology,
which allowed him to approach complex
matters in a comprehensive manner. In that
way, he was a live source of information
and education for the members of the
Court, who felt confident in making the
jurisprudential breakthroughs necessary
for sustainability problems.
6 CONCLUSION
The evaluation of the court's per-
formance during the decade 1990-2000
permits us to draw the following conclu-
sions:
• Judicial control of public environmental
policies should be encouraged.
• In view of the nature of environmental
disputes, involving grave conflicts over
economic, social and political issues,
judicial review should be entrusted to
professional judges enjoying life tenure
and a status of independence towards
the government.
• It is also advisable that these judges
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should be recruited from the body of
administrative judges since the latter are
familiar with the exercise of control of the
administration and can easily handle
conflicts with the government. In case
such a body does not exist, special tri-
bunals should be instituted.
1 In order to achieve effective control with
actual impact upon the environment, it is
essential to empower judges with com-
prehensive jurisdiction, i.e. vertical and
horizontal competence on sustainability
matters. This means that governmental
policies should be open to review at all
stages, from their initial design (e.g. con-
trol of constitutionality of laws, prelimi-
nary review of regulatory instruments)
down to the annulment of governmental
decisions and suspension of their imple-
mentation.
• As recommended by Agenda 21, it is
important to ease access to justice by
broadening the concept of locus standi.
• The training of the above judges should
include their initiation into systems think-
ing, which is the unique methodology for
sustainability problems, as well as mod-
ern decision making methods including
problem structuring, optimal modeling
and evaluation.
• Finally, all actors involved in the judicial
control of public sustainability policies
should realize that in the 21st century
the legal value of sustainability stands at
the same level with the fundamental val-
ues of equality and human rights.
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359
THE INSEPARABLE LINK BETWEEN THE CULTURAL AND NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT: THE GREEK EXPERIENCE
KAPELOUZOS, IOANNES B.
Lawyer, Former Associate Councilor, Member of the Board of Directors, Chamber of
Environment and Sustainability. Alkiviadou Street 116, 18532 Piraeus, Greece
SUMMARY
The Hellenic Council of State, the Supreme Administrative Court in Greece), is
leading the effort to protect Greece's "Cultural Environment. Traditional thinking on
Sustainable Development focuses on economic and natural considerations, while ignoring
the importance of culture (i.e. values, religion, ideologies, notions of justice, etc.). The
author discusses the Hellenic Council of State's case law on environmental protection and
finds that it emphasizes the dominant role of culture and its interconnection with nature and
identifies a "Cultural Environment" that the state has a duty to protect. This protection is
grounded in the Hellenic Constitution of 1975 as well as numerous other national and inter-
national instruments. In practice, the Council has lead efforts to effectively enforce this pro-
tection, often at odds with the political branches, thereby reinforcing Greek cultural values
such as justice, moderation and respect for nature.
1 INTRODUCTION
Scholars and practitioners of envi-
ronment and sustainability focus mainly on
a man-to-nature relationship, i.e. on the
impact of human intervention on ecosys-
tems, thus neglecting important interactions
among man-made systems themselves.
The vast majority of publications on
the subject attest to this attitude. Even the
definition of sustainable development pro-
vided by Agenda 21 and its related docu-
ments put an emphasis on what has been
called "Natural Capital," which is being used
as a technical term for ecosystems.
Such a tendency narrows the
scope of sustainability and results in an
under-conceptualization of the situation.
Human-made systems predominate over
the other components of the global system,
namely the biological and the natural.
Given the importance of values in deter-
mining the behavior of man-made systems,
sustainable development has to do more
with the value, educational and justice sub-
systems of society than with the economic
and natural environment ones.
The three parameters of the notion
of sustainability (natural, cultural, social)
advanced by the Hellenic Council of State
provide respective criteria for a more com-
prehensive, therefore more effective, man-
agement of issues of environmental protec-
tion. The concept also stresses the strong
interdependence of these parameters espe-
cially between the natural and the cultural.
In this paper a brief account of the
Hellenic Council of State's jurisprudence
on the protection of cultural environment is
given, first in regard to its legal grounds and
reasoning and second in regard to applica-
tions. Reference is also made to a number
of selected cases that demonstrate the
Court's contribution to the protection of the
Country's cultural inheritance.
2 THE NOTION OF CULTURAL
ENVIRONMENT AND ITS
PROTECTION
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Nothing is more indicative of the
value system of a social complex than the
notion of culture. Being commonly defined
as the set of values and norms proper to a
social system, culture includes world views,
religious, ethical, philosophical and aes-
thetic beliefs, basic concepts, political ide-
ologies, law systems, technical practices,
economic attitudes, etc. Culture is embed-
ded in the minds of people. It is also
embodied in various human artifacts and
customs such as monuments, buildings,
works of art, technology and social events.
These constitute the so-called cultural envi-
ronment.
According to a definition stemming
from the rulings of the Greek Council of
State, "Cultural Environment" includes the
monuments and all other products of
human activity that comprise the historical,
aesthetic, technological and intellectual
legacy of the country. Evidently, protection
of cultural inheritance provides historical
continuity and stability of the man-made
environment, thus safeguarding a country's
cultural identity from constant change.
In the Court's opinion, legal protec-
tion of Cultural Environment means mainly
two things:
• That the State has a duty to perpetuate
the existence of cultural elements.
• That the law may impose restrictions in
order to avoid any damage, alteration or
demolition of those elements.
Let us elaborate on the legal grounds and
reasoning lying behind such an opinion.
3 CONSTITUTION PROVIDES
GROUNDS FOR THE PROTECTION
OF CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT-
LEGAL REASONING
By acknowledging the inseparable
link between the natural and cultural envi-
ronments, the Constitutional of 1975 in
Article 24 avowedly pronounced the need
for the protection of each of them. This
Article demands that the State should take
either preventive and or repressive meas-
ures for their protection. It also provides also
for spatial planning throughout the country.
This provision was given a liberal construc-
tion by the Council of State, thus receiving a
meaning responding to all criteria of sustain-
ability and its underlying philosophy. As a
result, Article 24 of the Hellenic Constitution
became the most effective tool available to
the Judges for environmental compliance
and enforcement.
To be sure both Domestic (e.g. the
Charter of Athens, 1931: the Law on
ancient monuments, 1932) and
International Law (e.g. the European
Cultural Convention of Paris, 1954: NS the
Granada Convention on the protection of
architectural heritage of Europe, 1992, rati-
fied by Greece) provide for the protection of
certain elements of cultural heritage. But
these documents do not allow for as com-
prehensive and interlocking a notion of sus-
tainability as the Hellenic Constitution.
Moreover, the Constitution - ranking at the
highest level in the hierarchy of legal norms
- allows for the invalidation of any other law
or act not conforming to its provisions.
Legal reasoning of the Court
included the following:
• Article 24 of the Constitution protects
Environment in its broad sense, i.e. both
the Natural and the Man-made
Environment.
• Constitutional protection is complete in
the sense that it embraces all the ele-
ments of Environment and the full extent
of them.
• Environment serves the public interests
not only of the present but also of future
generations; it therefore prevails over
other legal entities.
• Constitutional requirements for environ-
mental protection cannot be fulfilled
unless it is integrated in all public policies.
• Protection of Environment is inconceiv-
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KAPELOUZOS
361
able without spatial planning and vice-
versa.
• Constitutional provisions bind all three
branches of Government.
In addition, the Court reached a
number of specific rules pertaining particu-
larly to the protection of Cultural
Environment. These rules are:
• Protection of Cultural Environment
should be a major target of spatial and
city planning.
• Monuments should be protected from
pollution.
• Not only monuments but also their sur-
rounding environment should be given
proper consideration.
• There is a duty of the state to restore
damaged elements of cultural environ-
ment.
• The legal status of protection should be
effective, i.e. it should embody all proper
kinds of control.
• Along these lines the Hellenic Council of
State provided protection to all conceiv-
able elements of Cultural Environment
both with respect to those of "High
Culture" (creations of a global signifi-
cance) and with respect to those of "Folk
Culture" (products of the people). Judicial
control had been carried out across the
full range of the Court's Constitutional
capacities.
4 MANAGING PROTECTION OF
CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT BY THE
COURT CASES
After hierarchically ordering the
objectives of the Master Plan of Athens, the
Court judged that the most basic objective
of all was to preserve the city's cultural
identity. In the same context, the Court
rejected a law providing for such uses of
land and building conditions that were
incompatible with the cultural and historical
significance of places, such as along the
Sacred Road (the road connecting Athens
with the sanctuary of Eleusis) and the
ancient Public Cemetery (the graveyard of
eminent Athenians).
In order to protect monuments
from pollution and any other kind of
offence, the Court opposed the installation
of an air exhaust system (ventilation grid) of
the underground railway next to the Athens
Cathedral. It also denied a Tango Festival,
which was to take place in the courtyard of
Kesariani Monastery on the grounds of the
erotic symbolism of this dance.
The range of protection was broad-
ened extensively (e.g. summertime cine-
mas) as well as spatially. Instances of this
latter category include a) a legal require-
ment for a construction-free zone around
the archaeological site of Delphi, b) pre-
venting the installation of a waste dump
that was in view of the sacred precinct of
Zeus on Mount Hellanium, and c) prohibit-
ing the presence of quarries near the
archaeological site of Ramnus.
With respect to Folk Culture, the
Court considered traditional settlements a
significant part of the Country's cultural
inheritance, stating that their protection
includes not only buildings but also streets
and squares. In the case of the township of
the holy island of Patmos, building was
restricted on plots where previous buildings
had stood.
A number of opinions and rulings
of the Hellenic Council of State manifestly
refer to the unity of the cultural and natural
environment, while others point out the
dual (natural and cultural) character of
some protected elements of the environ-
ment themselves. For instance, in the
Hymmetus regulatory decree, the Court
mentioned "the inseparable link of the aus-
tere and delicate skyline of the mountain
with the cultural capital of the area of
Athens." The Court also referred to the
"venerable Mount Pelion, a mount of impera-
tive significance for Hellenism," in order to
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protect its traditional settlements from con-
struction of private swimming pools. In the
case of Marathon, the Court stressed the
unity of the archaeological site and the natu-
ral environment, including the shoreline,
which was considered to be "a substantive
feature of the location owing to the part it
played in the conditions of the historic battle".
Perhaps the most holistic expres-
sion of the linkage between the cultural and
natural environment can be found in the
case of small islands, especially that of the
Cyclades. The Court pointed out that these
islands constitute fragile ecosystems, while
at the same time they are respected cen-
ters of a national civilization that date back
for millennia having unique features that
need to be protected; therefore, any urban
development on these islands should be
mild and a result of comprehensive plan-
ning that incorporates criteria referring to
all the aforementioned characteristics.
5 COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
As striking as these cases may be,
the respective assaults on environment by
either the legislature or administration are
deplorable. Of the three branches of gov-
ernment in Greece, only the judiciary, par-
ticularly the Fifth Section of the Council of
State, demonstrated compliance to and
enforcement of the needs of sustainability
and environmental protection. In this, the
Court had to battle against a prevailing atti-
tude towards an idea of growth dominated
by the spirit of market economy and its sup-
portive values of accumulation of wealth,
the acquisition of power and the creation of
a society of masses seeking excessive con-
sumption of commodities; a battle that led to
an overt conflict between the Council of
State and the political system which result-
ed in a revision of the Constitution in an
effort to diminish environmental protection.
6 EPILOGUE
Sustainable Development rests on a
set of values such as justice, moderation and
respect of nature that are deeply embodied
in the Greek cultural tradition. In this respect
the Hellenic Council of State's jurisprudence,
apart from its impact on the objects and
structures of the country's cultural heritage,
constitutes itself an active affirmation of the
very essence of sustainability.
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363
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ENFORCEMENT: THE ROLE OF THE
JUDICIARY
ANDERSON, WINSTON
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of West Indies, P.O. Box 64, St. Michael,
Barbados, Tel: (246) 417-4226
SUMMARY
Under the modern scheme for environmental management, courts assume a sub-
sidiary role in enforcement to administrative agencies. But, a number of new and innovative
techniques are available to bolster the role of the courts in environmental protection includ-
ing tort, administrative and criminal law along with conflict of law. In addition, courts play a
role in determining the adequacy of quantification of environmental damage. The article
concludes with a discussion of empirical applications including discussion of four cases.
1 INTRODUCTION
Commentary upon how judges
view their role in deciding environmental
cases presents acute problems for the
young academic. There is the obvious cau-
tion to prudence against presenting a diag-
nosis of the judicial mind to an audience
with real judges in attendance. More cru-
cially, perhaps, there arises the need for to
clarify the sense in which such an exposi-
tion could possibly be meaningful.
The judiciary is, of course, the
guardian of the rule of law. Courts routinely
exercise their constitutional prerogative to
interpret and enforce all of the laws of the
land. The role of the judiciary is to enforce
the law. That is what courts do. In this
sense, therefore, there can be no special
role for the judiciary in ensuring enforce-
ment and compliance with the law in envi-
ronmental cases.
2 COMPARISON WITH ADMINISTRATIVE
BODIES
A more teleological perspective
could allow comment upon the role of the
courts vis-a-vis that of other agencies, in
ensuring environmental law enforcement
and compliance. At first blush, this appears
a more fruitful approach because the legis-
lature is increasing allocating primary
responsibility for environmental regulation
to administrative agencies. In the
Caribbean, for example, the modern era of
environmental law began with the passage
of the framework-type, National Conser-
vation and Environmental Protection Act
1987, of St. Christopher and Nevis. This
was followed in rapid succession by the
Natural Resources Conservation Act 1991
of Jamaica, the Environmental Protection
Act 1992 of Belize, the Environmental
Management Act 1995 of Trinidad and
Tobago, (as replaced by the Environmental
Management Act 2000 ) and the
Environmental Protection Act 1996 of
Guyana.
An essential purpose of this legis-
lation was to overcome the traditional frag-
mentation in environmental regulation by
institutionalizing broad-based environmen-
tal management. The basic function of the
new administrative body is, in the words of
one statute, 'to take such steps as are nee-
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essary for the effective management of the
natural environment so as to ensure the
conservation, protection, and sustainable
use of its natural resources'. Discharge of
this obligation requires the setting of rules
on what can and cannot be done and the
establishing of a coherent system of control
in which the regulating body sets a frame-
work for activities on an ongoing basis, with
a view to conditioning and policing behavior.
Typically, regulatory tools include permits,
licenses, notices, and cessation orders.
Under the modern scheme for
environmental management, then, the
courts assume a subsidiary role in enforce-
ment. Administrative bodies do still have
recourse to use of the criminal law, but only
as a last resort. The criminal law is, after all,
a prime example of remedial control, with
its emphasis on punishing the abuser of the
environment. Administrative regulation
aims to be preventive by, for example, stop-
ping pollution before it occurs. Individuals
do still petition the courts for review of the
action of administrative bodies, but only
when the advantages of the informality and
the relative lack expense of addressing
concerns to the environmental tribunals do
not produce minimum satisfaction.
The complementary role of the
courts has been recognized, perhaps wel-
comed, by the courts themselves. In the
Canadian case of R. v. Consolidated
Mayburn Mines Ltd. the court made clear
that like court orders, administrative orders
deserve to be respected and obeyed. It
made the point that administrative bodies
regulate countless activities in society; reg-
ulation that was essential for the protection
of individuals and groups in the society and
for the prevention of harm to societal inter-
ests. The orders and decisions issued by
administrative bodies thus form an impor-
tant part of the law. Unless these orders
and decisions are respected the orderly
functioning of regulatory justice would suf-
fer. This meant that fidelity to the internal
mechanisms and forums established by the
legislature to enable the individual to assert
their rights. As the Court went on to say:
"It is clear from a review of the
Environmental Protection Act that its pur-
pose is not simply to repair damage to the
environment resulting from human activity,
... but primarily to prevent contamination of
the ... environment. Such a purpose
requires rapid and effective means in order
to ensure that any necessary action is
taken promptly... In the case at bar, the
appellants elected to disregard not only the
order, but also the appeal mechanism, pre-
ferring to wait until charges had been laid
before asserting their position. ... to permit
the appellants to collaterally attack the
order at the stage of penal proceedings
would encourage conduct contrary to the
Act's objectives and would tend to under-
mine its effectiveness."
The House of Lords made statements to
similar effect in R. v. Wicks in the context of
dismissing a collateral challenge to a plan-
ning decision.
3 JUDICIAL PERSPECTIVE IN
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT
In the end, however, not even the
judicial concession of exercising a sub-
sidiary and complementary role to that of
administrative agencies resolves our initial
dilemma. If the court is consigned the sta-
tus of the forum of last resort, its generic
role in, for example, the interpretation of the
criminal law or administrative law, does not
change merely because the case before it
relates to the environment.
At the same time, it would be diffi-
cult to argue, with a straight face, that the
judicial process is an exercise in syllogistic
reasoning where the clearly established
statutes or precedents are applied to the
facts with little or no discretion on the part
of judges. Even without being a fully sub-
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scribed member of the Realism School of
American Jurisprudence, it is clear that
where there are numerous precedents,
many conflicting with each other, there is
no automatic wrong or right answer to a
legal dispute. There are simply a variety of
answers from which the judge has to
choose one. In addition to the numerous
precedents, there are also numerous tech-
niques for interpreting those precedents
and indeed, statutory enactments. It may
therefore be unrealistic to expect judges to
be machine-like and totally neutral. The
good faith exercise of best judgment, as
assisted by counsel, is all that can reason-
ably be asked or expected of the judiciary.
It is in this sense, then, i.e., within
the margin of discretion that the way in
which judicial decision-making has been
exercised that environmental organizations
and environmentalists have sometimes
expressed concern with the judiciary's role
in ensuring environmental enforcement and
compliance. A perception exists, whether
real or imagined, that many of our judges
place a higher value on economic develop-
ment than environmental protection and
that this influences their selection of the
final decision from the variety of possibili-
ties that exist. This perception has been
strengthened by several environmental law
decisions. The anecdotal reports of the
undisguised anger of a Trinidad and Tobago
Magistrate when asked to try a man for
contravention of the Wild Birds Protection
Act whose only crime was, in the words of
the Magistrate, 'trying to feed his family.'
The fact that the first three attempts by
Caribbean nationals to have the courts
review official decisions that, allegedly,
caused unlawful harm to the environment,
were dismissed on the ground that the
applicants lacked standing. The fact that
the first judicial comment upon the work-
ings of an administrative body established
under the modern umbrella-type legislation
was widely cited in the Jamaican Press as
evidence of the Court's preference for com-
merce over the environment.
Lest any Caribbean judge in atten-
dance here should be tempted towards a
citation for contempt, the present writer
hastens to add that the perception of lack of
judicial zeal towards environmental protec-
tion is not confined to the Caribbean judici-
ary. At the international level, persistent
criticism on this score led to the establish-
ment of an Environmental Chamber to the
International Court of Justice, staffed by
judges with particular expertise or interest
in the field. It is therefore somewhat ironic
that the first ruling of the Chamber in the
Gabcikovo-Nygamaros Project case
(Slovakia and Hungary), between was
widely decried by the same critics as huge-
ly disappointing for being anti-environment.
In commenting upon the role of American
Courts in the Search of Environmental
Quality, Professor Joseph Sax of the
University of Michigan Law School, wrote in
1970 that:
• Anyone who enters a courtroom with a
conservation case can first expect resist-
ance from the court itself. The Judge's
principal thoughts are almost sure to be,
"Why did you come to me? Why don't
you take your troubles to the legislature?
What do I know about all this? This is not
a matter for judicial consideration. What
reasons can you possibly give for sug-
gesting that I - a judge - should substi-
tute my judgment for the expertise of an
agency whose business it is to make the
kinds of decisions you are challenging?
Aren't you asking me to serve as a
super-planning agency? And, in any
event, what law was broken by the
defendants?
• I am not here to enforce the good, the
true, and the beautiful, to be the fount of
ultimate wisdom and social conscience. I
am here to enforce the law. What rule is
violated by this highway plan, this dam
project, or this proposal to spray elm
trees with DDT?
• Finally, the judge will ask, "What damage
do you charge has been done to you?
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Where is the broken arm or the broken
contract? I am not a prophet who can
speculate upon the ultimate fate of gulls
and terns. I redress loss; I do not paint
the future rosy.'
Much has changed in the interven-
ing three decades since 1970, particularly
as we have noticed, on the legislative front,
but the impression of a tradition of judicial
insensitivity to environmental concerns per-
sists. At the same time, there has, even in
the view of the most extreme of environ-
mentalists, been a gradual movement,
even if not always in a straight line, towards
placing greater premium upon environmen-
tal security.
In looking at the changing attitude
brought to the weighing process used to
make final decisions on environmental law
enforcement, it is convenient to consider
the branch of law used to enforce the envi-
ronmental standards in question. Thus, the
environmental protection regime is
enforced through the law of tort, through
the operation of administrative law and
through the criminal law.
4 TORT LAW: FROM COMMON LAW
PRINCIPLES TO ENVIRONMENTAL
ACTIONS
The law of tort, such as nuisance
law and Rylands v. Fletcher, are essentially
aimed at protecting individual rights or
rights relating to property. The protection
offered to landowners against unreason-
able injury to their land by the action of
another has obvious environmental impli-
cations, but was not designed to promote
environmental preservation as we under-
stand that notion today.
4.1 Using The Common Law As A
Mechanism For Environmental
Protection
An important debate, which is
ongoing, concerns whether these judge-
made rules ought to be developed so that
they are directly concerned to secure envi-
ronmental protection.
Many of the judges who have considered
this issue have clearly been reluctant to
develop tort law in this way. This reluctance
was exemplified in Boomer v. Atlantic
Cement Co., decided in 1970 by the Court
of Appeals of New York. The Court express-
ly refused to allow private litigation in nui-
sance to be used as a tool to effect broad
control of air pollution. A case in water pol-
lution provided the opportunity for the
House of Lords to made similar indications.
In Cambridge Water Co. Ltd., v. Eastern
Counties Leather pic the House refused to
reform the tort of Rylands v. Fletcher into a
more specific common law rule about the
control of hazardous substances. Lord Goff
rationalized this approach on the ground
that:
•'... as a general rule, it is more appropri-
ate for strict liability in respect of opera-
tions of high risk to be imposed by
Parliament, than by the courts. If such
liability is imposed by statute, the rele-
vant activities can be identified, and
those concerned can know where they
stand. Furthermore, statute can where
appropriate lay down precise criteria
establishing the incidence and scope of
such liability.'
4.2 Standing To Bring Environmental
Suits
A similar reluctance is evident in
the related question of standing to bring
common law actions to vindicate environ-
mental rights. The requirement in most
common law actions, to demonstrate some
sort of proprietary interest or show special
damage, remains a judicially self-imposed
obstacle to environmental actions. After
some indications of willingness by the
English Court of Appeal to relax the
requirement, the fundamental cautiousness
returned in the House of Lords decision in
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Hunter v. Canary Wharf. The House
returned the law of private nuisance to its
original position of protecting only property
rights holders. In the words of Lord
Hoffman :
• "... the development of the common law
should be rational and coherent. It
should not distort its principles and create
anomalies as an expedient to fill a gap."
The basic point, of course, is that
any loosening of the strict requirement for
standing is within the margin of judicial dis-
cretion. Reconfiguration of the way in which
that discretion is exercised may be prof-
itably undertaken, for instance, in relation to
private suits for public nuisances. The well-
known rule, derived from Boyce v.
Paddington Borough Council is that an indi-
vidual can only bring suit without the fiat of
the Attorney General in two circumstances.
First where the interference with the public
right is such that some private right of that
person is at the same time interfered with.
Secondly, where no private right is inter-
fered with, but the person, in respect of his
pubic right, suffers special damage peculiar
to himself from the interference with the
public right.
This requirement to show special
damage was interpreted in an interesting
way in Chandat v. Reynolds Guyana Mines
Ltd. where farmers claimed remedies in
respect of damage to their crops caused by
polluting emissions from the defendant's
bauxite works. The court found that the pol-
lution constituted a public nuisance
because it affected a large number of per-
sons and was widespread in its range and
indiscriminate in its effects. However, these
characteristics warranted action by the
community at large rather than individuals,
none of whom could claim to have suffered
any damage, loss, or inconvenience
greater in quality than the others. Happily,
the more recent decision in Broderick v.
Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica appears to have
allowed a representative action in nuisance
in respect of polluting emissions from a
bauxite plant.
Admittedly, however, nothing in the tenure
of the judgments in Broderick supports the
hope that standing would have been
allowed to individuals whose roof had not
been corroded by the sulphates from the
plant but who simply wished to halt the pol-
luting emissions in order to protect the
atmosphere.
4.3 Conflict Between Private And
Public Law
Another context in which the exer-
cise of judicial discretion has import for the
environment is in the circumstance where
there is a conflict between private law and
public regulation, in the sense that an activ-
ity is lawful under one regime but not the
other.
Private law rights can clash with
many regulatory controls, as for example,
in the case of the award of waste manage-
ment licenses. Budden and Albery-Speyer
v. BP Oil involved a claim in negligence for
alleged injury to children by ingestion of
petrol fumes. The claim was defended by
the two oil companies sued on the basis
that they had complied with the regulations
prescribing the lead content in petrol. This
defense was upheld since to decide for the
children would be to replace the permissi-
ble standard established by Parliament, in
favor of a lower, judicially determined stan-
dard, by way of litigation under the adver-
sary procedure.
Selection of this consideration for
deciding this case on atmospheric pollution
may be compared with decisions on water
pollution. With regard to pollution of water-
courses, it has always been accepted that
the grant of a license to discharge polluting
matter, in no way alters the common law
rights of a riparian owner to sue the dis-
charger.
Similarly, the grant of planning per-
mission may authorize activities that give
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rise to claims in nuisance. In granting a
planning application it must be assumed
that the planning authority has balanced
the impact of the development upon private
interests (e.g. neighbors) with any compet-
ing public interests and concluded that the
public interests in allowing the development
to proceed should prevail.
After some hesitation, the courts
appear to have decided, properly, it is sub-
mitted, that planning approval does not
foreclose upon the separate question of the
right to proceed in nuisance law. The con-
troversial ruling of Buckley J. in Gillingham
Borough Council v. Medway (Chatham)
Dock Co. Ltd raised concerns that any
activities engaged in under a planning per-
mission could not lead to liability in nui-
sance. More recent decisions, however,
seem to have narrowed the effect of the
judgment considerably. In Wheeler v. JJ
Saunders Ltd the view was taken that plan-
ning permission does not act as a defense
to a claim in nuisance; rather Buckley J's
decision went to the heart of the definition
of a nuisance, and the locality doctrine in
particular. The question was whether the
development pursuant to the grant of plan-
ning permission had so changed the nature
of the area that what would have been a
nuisance before the development could not
be considered so now.
5 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: JUDICIAL
REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL
REGULATION
The heavy reliance placed on
'framework' legislation, fleshed out by guid-
ance, regulations and decisions of the
enforcing authorities means that many of
the everyday rules of environmental protec-
tion are made without the scrutiny of parlia-
ment. Similarly, statutory requirements,
such as that the environmental agencies
consult with other authorities or the public,
publish documents, require the environ-
mental impact assessments, are not super-
vised by the legislature. Scrutiny of admin-
istrative regulation must therefore be
undertaken by the courts, which ensure,
through the mechanism of judicial review,
that the authorities perform their duties
properly.
Recent developments in the law
support the thesis that the way in which
judicial discretion is exercised to interpret
legal standards is directly proportional to
the usefulness of judicial review as a mech-
anism for environmental protection. A par-
ticularly vexing issue concerns the judicial
interpretation of the standard applicable to
the question of standing to seek judicial
review.
5.1 The Standing Requirement
In order to have standing to bring
an action for review, the applicant must
demonstrate that he or she possesses a
"sufficient interest" in the matter to which
the application relates. Until recently the
courts over the common law world all
adopted a restrictive interpretation to the
standing requirement. They ruled in a num-
ber of cases that environmental pressure
groups or public-spirited individuals did not
satisfy the Boyce v. Paddington Borough
Council test so as to obtain review. For
example, in R. v. Secretary of State for the
Environment ex p. Rose Theatre Trust, an
interest group specifically formed to defend
the remains of an Elizabethan theatre, was
refused standing. It was held that, as indi-
viduals, none of the group had any special
interest in the matter over and beyond the
general interest of the public. The case
resulted in a great deal of criticism and was
a blow to the notion of environmental litiga-
tion in the public interest. Among other
things, Rose Theatre Trust appeared
unconcerned, or at least not overwhelmed
by the probability that no one could sue in
such a situation thereby leaving the deci-
sion of the Government agency beyond
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possibility of rebuke.
5.2 Caribbean Trilogy
A similar criticism may be leveled
against the first three Caribbean attempts
to seek judicial review of environmental
decision-making. The trilogy began in
March 1993 with Spencer v. Canzone Del
Mare and the Attorney General of Antigua
and Barbuda (Spencer No. 1). The appli-
cant was a Member of Parliament of
Antigua and Barbuda and Leader of the
Opposition. He alleged that the Acting
Chief Town Planner, acting on behalf of the
Land Development Control Authority, had
ordered the defendants to halt all develop-
ment activities at its Coconut Hall site
because the work there was environmen-
tally unfriendly and required an environ-
mental impact assessment, which had not
been done. It was further alleged that the
Prime Minister had improperly written to
the developer allowing the continuation of
construction. The application for declarato-
ry orders and an injunction was dismissed
on the ground that the plaintiff lacked
standing because he had not shown 'suffi-
cient interest' in the matter to be litigated.
In June and August 1996, the High Court of
Barbados considered the standing issue in
Scotland District Association Inc. v.
Attorney General et al. The applicant was a
recently formed corporation whose objec-
tive was to foster and promote the preser-
vation and improvement of the ecologically
sensitive Scotland District. Its application
for a declaration that the decision of gov-
ernment to site a sanitary landfill for the
deposit of waste materials and refuse in the
Scotland District was unlawful was reject-
ed. Although there was not much discus-
sion of the locus standi point, the Court
appears to have agreed with the defen-
dants' argument that members of the asso-
ciation had no individual interest in the mat-
ter and that joining themselves into a com-
pany created no better right than they
enjoyed as individuals.
Finally, Spencer v. Attorney-
General of Antigua and Barbuda et al
(Spencer No. 2), decided in April 1998,
rejected an application from Mr. Spencer
for a declaration that the agreement
between the Government and a private
developer for a tourist development on
Guiana Island was unconstitutional. One
ground advanced by applicant was that the
proposed development was harmful to the
ecology and was contrary to common law
principles that protect the environment. At
first instance, Saunders, J. found that the
applicant had standing but rejected his
arguments on the merits. This decision on
standing was overturned on appeal. In the
view of the Appellate Court, the applicant
had failed the constitutional requirement
that he should have "a relevant interest" in
order to be granted standing.
Admittedly, there are important dif-
ferences between applications by genuine
environmental organizations or pressure
groups to seek judicial review and applica-
tions by professional politicians who may
have other axes to grind. The Court clearly
has an interest in not becoming a forum for
political debate, particularly in circum-
stances where the applicant has access to
Parliament.
However, the broader problem con-
cerns interpretation of the 'sufficient inter-
est' criterion. Parliament was not a possible
venue to the applicants in the Scotland
District case but they were nonetheless
deemed not to have sufficient interest. This
was despite the fact that Barbados has
special legislation in the form of the
Administration of Justice Act 1980, which
specifically allows for litigation in the public
interest. Indeed, even more recent deci-
sions have continued the now ingrained
tradition of a restrictive approach to stand-
ing, requiring, virtually, that the applicants
possess a property interest in the subject
matter of the litigation as a condition prece-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
dent for standing. On the other hand, the
Cayman Islands courts have very recently
pronounced upon the standing requirement
in the context of planning legislation in a
way that should give hope to the green
constituency.
5.3 Should the Boyce Test Apply?
Whether the Boyce v. Paddington
Borough Council test, developed in the
context of a private action for public nui-
sance, is appropriate to determine standing
for judicial review of environmental deci-
sion-making, seems debatable. It appears
entirely reasonable that in nuisance, where
the plaintiff is attempting to recover com-
pensation or to halt damage to an interest
in land, that special loss should be the
measure of compensation and of whether
an injunction is appropriate. But in situa-
tions where the applicant sues to ensure
sound environmental management, the
paramount concern is the vindication of the
public interest. This is reflected in the fact
that the remedy sought tends to be one of
the prerogative remedies rather than an
award of damages. From this it would seem
to follow that the criterion of standing based
on special loss and injury might not neces-
sarily be appropriate to review actions.
The latter considerations appear to
have led to the relaxation of the standing
requirement in some non-Caribbean juris-
dictions, notably, United Kingdom (R. v.
Pollution Inspectorate, ex p. Greenpeace
(No. 2),; R. v. Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, ex p World Development
Movement.) and the United States (Sierra
Club v. Morton; United States v. Students
Challenging Regulatory Agency
Procedures (SCRAP)).
5.4 Relationship Between Judicial
Review And Environmental
Management
It is not being contended that judi-
cial review will necessarily ensure sound
environmental management and conse-
quent elimination of risks to environmental
security. Even if the recent more liberal
approach to standing was adopted in the
Caribbean, there would still remain clear
limitations to what judicial review could
achieve. As Thorton and Beckwith state, in
judicial review actions, the role of the court
is confined to ensuring that public authori-
ties perform their functions properly. The
court cannot substitute its own views on the
merits of a decision for the views of a pub-
lic authority.
The institutional constraints on the
court means that it cannot hope to have
access to the same information. The impor-
tance of the recent trend in liberalizing the
standing requirement is that the courts
themselves are enabled to perform their
role of keeping administrative bodies within
the limits of the powers assigned. Easier
access also comports with international
admonitions, found in Principle 10 of the
1992 Rio Declaration, that governments
should provide 'effective access to judicial
proceedings' for litigation of environmental
issues.
6 THE CRIMINAL LAW
Far from being the epitome of
'black-letter law, the criminal law provides
many opportunities for the exercise of judi-
cial discretion in ensuring minimum condi-
tions of environmental integrity.
6.1 Establishing Violation
For example, the exercise of dis-
cretionary judgment may be critical in rela-
tion to determination of violations. The
weight that a judge places on environmen-
tal protection influences that judge's deci-
sion of such issues as interpretation of
criminal statutes, the need to prove mens
rea, as was so startling demonstrated in
Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. v.
Department of Trade and Industry ('or'
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meant 'and').
Determination of whether a
defense has been made out could also
involve direct judicial decision on the weight
to be placed upon environmental preserva-
tion. Under the Clean Air Act 1964 of
Jamaica, for example, it is a defense to
prove the use of 'best practicable means' to
prevent emissions from industrial works.
'Best practicable means' is expressly
defined to require consideration of local
conditions and circumstances, financial
implications, and the current state of tech-
nical knowledge. The ultimate decision,
then, will involve arbitration of the appropri-
ate balance to be struck between econom-
ic and environmental factors. The judge is
thereby legislatively drawn into deciding
upon the economy vs. environment debate.
6.2
Penalties
Another obvious example of wiggle
room for the exercise of judicial discretion
arises in relation to the determination of
appropriate penalties, given that there are
no mandatory sentences for environmental
offences. A recurrent criticism of Caribbean
environmental law has been that the penal-
ties for infractions are not severe enough to
serve any deterrent effect. When fines were
legislated in the early environmental
statutes, no consideration appears to have
been given to factors such as cost recovery,
market value, or environmental rehabilita-
tion. Nor were mechanisms included for
upward revision in the context of increased
scientific appreciation of environmental
harm or (more dramatically in some coun-
tries) fluctuations in currency valuations.
These are matters that a judge can
do little about. But there has been the fur-
ther observation that first offences normal-
ly attract the most minimal fine possible,
and although available under most environ-
mental legislation, imposition of a custodial
sentence is virtually unheard of. A recent
Magisterial decision in Barbados made
headline news as the first time that anyone
had been convicted for illegal dumping. The
sentence was a reprimand and discharge.
In accordance with increasing
trend of placing greater judicial weight upon
environmental protection, sentencing policy
might benefit from review.
6.2.1 Fines
Where relevant evidence is avail-
able, from the administrative body or else-
where, the size of the fine might be linked to
the extent of environmental harm. Already,
recent statutes have markedly increased
the maximum fines that may be imposed;
under the Coastal Zone Management Act
1998 of Barbados, the equivalent of
US$200,000 might be inflicted.
6.2.2 Imprisonment
Traditionally, imprisonment was not
imposed for environmental offences
because such offences were thought not to
be crimes in the strict sense of the word.
Environmental offences were considered
morally ambiguous because the activity
causing the offence was often undertaken
pursuant to socially productive activities
that employ persons and contributed to the
national economy. The social utility of the
activity made courts reluctant to impose
sentences of imprisonment.
This attitude remains and impris-
onment is, rightly - many commentators
would agree - reserved for the most egre-
gious of environmental offences or where
the accused acted willfully in contempt of
court. So, in The Barbuda Council v. The
Attorney-General (Antigua & Barbuda) et
al, the court imposed a sentence of impris-
onment on a Minister of Government who
had authorized mining of sand in defiance
of injunction imposed by the Court. The
Minister escaped having to do the jail time
compliments of a pardon by the Governor
General at the instance of the Prime
Minister.
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6.2.3 Alternative Sentences
Increasingly, modern environmen-
tal legislation gives courts alternative sen-
tencing options. In addition to fines and/or
sentence of imprisonment, the court is
expressly empowered under the
Environmental Protection Act 1992 of
Belize Act, for instance:
6 To direct the offender to publish the facts
relating to the conviction.
(3 To direct the offender to perform commu-
nity service.
These kinds of sentencing alterna-
tives have been used to good effect in other
jurisdictions. For example, in Canada, envi-
ronmental offenders have been ordered to
issue verbal apologies, publish newspaper
apologies, write books and dissertations
relating to their bad environmental conduct,
and (most importantly for my students) fund
environmental scholarships. My students
have consistently argued the point that that
it is not apparent that these sentencing
options could not be utilized even without
express statutory authorization.
7 ADEQUACY OF QUANTIFICATION OF
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGES
7.1
Introduction
For many decades the issue of
adequate quantification of environmental
damages was largely ignored in Caribbean
jurisprudence. As late as 1983 the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Study of Caribbean environmental practices
noted that the interconnectivity of ecological
assets were not always appreciated in eco-
nomic calculations. UNEP gave the follow-
ing example of an island endowed with
extensive mangrove swamps and which, as
a consequence has a shrimp fishery:
"Unaware that the shrimp fisheries depends
on the existence of healthy mangroves, the
islanders take a decision to destroy them in
order to construct harbors, marinas, tourist
resorts, or even to harvest the mangrove
forest for fuel as has been proposed in
some countries. The consequence may well
be a ruined shrimp industry."
In November 1989 the Caribbean
Conservation Association organized a
Caribbean Conference on Ecology and
Economics in Barbados. The Conference
viewed the absence of environmental
resources from economic calculations as a
case of market failure. It endorsed the need
for action at the policy-making level. It was
agreed that the state should take steps to
reflect environmental costs and benefits in its
macro- and micro-economic interventions.
7.2 Jurisprudence of Ecological
Valuation
7.2.1 Criminal Sanctions
Caribbean environmental regula-
tion relies overwhelmingly on "command
and control" strategies, and primarily the
use of criminal sanctions. Statutorily pre-
scribed deterrents are normally of a finan-
cial nature but these financial penalties are
not generally quantified so as to reflect the
actual loss to the environment. Most
statutes merely stated the fines to be paid
for offences without attempting to place a
precise value on harm inflicted on the envi-
ronment or the cost of environmental reha-
bilitation.
a. Levels of Fines
A recurrent criticism of Caribbean
environmental law has been that the levels
of fines that may be imposed for environ-
mental infractions are much too low to
serve any deterrent effect. When the early
environmental statutes were drafted no
serious consideration was given to factors
such as cost recovery, market value, envi-
ronmental rehabilitation. Nor were mecha-
nisms included for upward revision in the
context of inflation, fluctuations in currency
valuations or increased scientific apprecia-
tion of environmental harm; circumstances
that have attended Guyana, Jamaica, and
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Trinidad and Tobago, among other jurisdic-
tions. Additionally, first offences normally
attract the minimum fine possible. These
deficiencies continue to afflict modern man-
agement frameworks and there continues
to be significant differences in the quantum
of fines for the same environmental
offences as among the different island
states. Failure to impose penalties reflec-
tive of environmental damage has had neg-
ative implications for the rule of law with the
emergence of "continuous offences"
whereby fines imposed following success-
ful prosecutions have been paid but the
offence continues unabated. Environmental
agencies are forced to resume the lengthy,
expensive, and scientifically and psycho-
logically challenging process of prosecu-
tion whilst environmental damage is pro-
longed in the interim, often to an irreparable
degree.
b. Linking Fines To Environmental Damage
The most recent legislative
response to the conundrum of sanctions for
environmental offences has been signifi-
cant upward revisions of the levels of fines
. Prosecutors may offer recommendations
with regard to appropriate financial penal-
ties and it has been canvassed that such
recommendations be based upon the
nature and extent of injury caused to the
environment. In specific instances legisla-
tion itself has sought to link the quantum of
financial penalty to the magnitude of envi-
ronmental harm, albeit in the crudest of
terms. In order to further reduce the eco-
nomic incentive of using the environment
as a free good criminal Courts are increas-
ingly empowered to hold the offender liable
to the Crown for the value of "property
removed or of damage done" to flora and
fauna. This is additional to any other penal-
ty for which the offender is liable. The valu-
ation by the Court is legislated in terms of
the "full market value" of the environmental
damage. An alternative formulation
empowers the Court to impose "additional
fines" to reflect any monetary benefits
accruing to the offender in consequence of
the commission of the offence. Such fines
are in addition to "the maximum amount of
any fine that may otherwise be imposed".
Yet another formula allows fine of "three
times the assessed value of the damage
caused."
7.2.2 Civil Liability
a. Common Law Actions
Nuisance is the common law tort
most applicable to environmental harm but
the torts of negligence, trespass, and
Rylands v. Fletcher may also be applicable.
Caribbean courts adhere to and faithfully
apply common law principles that guaran-
tee a plaintiff "full" redress from the defen-
dant whose liability is established. The
compensation should be "as nearly equiva-
lent as money can be to the plaintiff's loss.
However, although stated in these wide
terms, the traditional interpretation has
restricted the categories of recoverable
loss to injuries to the plaintiff's person and
his property, and have not included not
ecological harm.
b. Statutory Cause Of Civil Action
Civil recovery for environmental
damage may be grounded in statutory pro-
visions and a statutory cause of civil action
enjoys an important advantage over com-
mon law actions. The nature and quantum
of recovery for environmental injuries are a
function of the statutory provisions rather
than interpretation of traditional common
law principles and may therefore include
non-traditional valuation of harm to ecolog-
ical resources.
Myriad examples of statutory caus-
es of action in environmental litigation
abound. There are provisions for civil liabil-
ity in respect of acts of pollution and abuse
of natural resources in contravention of the
provisions of general environmental legisla-
tion instituting comprehensive environmen-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
tal management regimes. Legislation on
extraction of petroleum from the continental
shelf expressly provides that any resulting
pollution causing loss, damage or injury
gives rise to the "absolute liability" of the
operator licensee or lessee. There are
numerous opportunities for civil action
against the state in respect of harm done to
the environment within the boundaries of
private property in consequence of state
action, even if such action was intended to
protect the environment. And statutory
incorporation of the International
Convention on Civil Liability For Oil
Pollution Damage 1992 and the companion
International Convention on the
Establishment of An International Fund For
Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage
1992 allow for recovery of "any damage"
suffered as a result of an oil spillage.
Whether Caribbean courts will take the
statutory provisions at face value and
import recovery for pure ecological harm is
anybody's guess.
c. Civil Awards In Criminal Proceedings
Before leaving the possibilities of
civil awards, note should be taken that
many environmental statutes allow the judi-
cial award of compensatory damages in
criminal proceedings. Under the
Environmental Protection Act 1992 of
Belize, where an offender has been con-
victed of an offence under the Act, the
Court may, at the time of passing sentence
and application of the person aggrieved,
order the offender to pay compensatory
damages to that person. The amount
awarded is by way of satisfaction or com-
pensation for loss of or damage to property
suffered by the applicant as a result of the
commission of the environmental offence.
7.2.3 Administrative Assessment
The imposition of administrative
assessment is often a preferable alterna-
tive to both the criminal process and the
imposition of administrative penalties. As
we have seen, environmental agencies in
many jurisdictions have used powers of
permitting and licensing to achieve broadly
similar objectives. Only in Trinidad and
Tobago, however, is there express statutory
power to impose administrative assess-
ment for conduct causing environmental
harm. Here administrative civil assess-
ments may be made directly by the
Environmental Management Authority
(EMA) or the Environmental Commission
(EC) as part and parcel of the wider regime
for compliance and enforcement. The
assessments follow the service of an
Administrative Order, which specifies the
details of the environmental offence. The
Order may direct remedial work, investiga-
tions and monitoring work to be undertaken
by the person responsible for the violation.
The assessment may take account of com-
pensation for costs incurred by the
Authority to respond to environmental con-
ditions created by the violation of environ-
mental rules, and compensation for dam-
ages to the environment associated with
public lands. The assessment may also
take account of any economic benefit or
amount saved by a person through failure
to comply with applicable environmental
requirements. In determining this benefit
account shall be taken of the nature, cir-
cumstances and gravity of the violation; any
history of prior violations and any good faith
efforts to co-operate with the Authority.
7.2.4 Economic Instruments
Economic instruments are increas-
ingly being used to discourage bad envi-
ronmental conduct and to reward environ-
mentally friendly behavior by internalizing
the environmental cost of environment-
related practices. The theory is that con-
sumer choices in the market place will then
penalize bad environmental processes and
reward more cost-efficient environmental
processes. Although cogent criticisms have
been made of the applicability of market
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concepts in developing countries,
Caribbean states have embraced them
warmly. Environmental agencies have been
specifically obligated to make use of cur-
rent principles of environmental manage-
ment, including the "polluter pays" princi-
ple; the polluter should bear the cost of the
measures to reduce pollution to ensure that
the environment is in an acceptable state .
The principle also requires the polluter to
compensate citizens for the harm they suf-
fer from pollution. Agencies have been
encouraged to seek to incorporate imposi-
tion of product charges where the product
manufacturing process or usage is a signif-
icant source of pollution. Also to be encour-
aged are adjustments of direct government
subsidies, or establishment of tax differenti-
ation or tax incentives, to encourage bene-
ficial environmental activities or to ensure
that pricing reflects environmental costs
more adequately.
The economic instruments used in
the Caribbean contexts are many and var-
ied. They include emission/effluent/pollu-
tion charges or taxes; user fees; product
charges; deposit return schemes; adminis-
tration charges; subsidies; tradable permits.
7.2.5 Emission/Effluent/Pollution
Charges Or Taxes/Product Charges
These are essentially charges to
use the environment and a direct applica-
tion of the polluter pays principle. The
charge is proportional to the level of pollu-
tion discharged that is likely to result in
intolerable harm to the environment. The
development of emission standard is there-
fore fundamental to the process; the charge
may be formulated on a sliding scale to
reflect an incentive to decrease polluting
discharges within or below specified
ranges. Environmental management legis-
lation frequently specifies the obligation to
develop emission standards and criteria.
Standards have been established to deal
with sewerage and trade wastes, as well as
for ambient water and air pollution. Noise
emission standards are also being devel-
oped. Product charges provide an incentive
or disincentive for a better or worse envi-
ronment product and their imposition is
mandated where the product manufactur-
ing process or usage is a significant source
of pollution.
7.2.6 User Fees
User fees are normally imposed to
recover the cost of providing a service.
Typically fees are charged for collection of
garbage , visit to parks, forests, and spe-
cially protected areas, harvesting of marine
and other resources, or viewing wild ani-
mals and endangered species, such as
whale watching; or on cruise ship tourists.
No general attempt is made to link the use
fee to any intrinsic value of the resource;
more surprising is the failure even to
charge what the market is willing to pay.
7.2.7 Deposit Return Schemes
These schemes provide, on the
purchase of a product, for a charge for the
packaging or product, which if returned,
results in the refund of the charge. The
region has a very good history of deposit
return schemes for glass beverage bottles.
Institution of legislative arrangement for the
return of plastic "PET" have not worked as
well. In some jurisdictions this measure
was reflective of protection of local indus-
tries from foreign competition rather than
any desire for waste management. A con-
sequence was the lack of incentives to
facilitate packaging and preparation of
returned PET bottles for recycling. This
resulted in the bottles being disposed of by
retailers in landfills at a cost to society and
the environment. An important objective of
policy-makers is to expand this incentive
framework to achieve broader waste man-
agement objective through recycling and
reuse of such products as tires, plastic
bags, batteries, and cars.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
7.2.8 Refundable Bond System
This system provides for the collec-
tion of a financial sum as security against
activity which could cause special environ-
mental injury; the money being refundable
on proof that the activity in question was
carried out in an environmentally accept-
able manner. The scheme has particular
application to environmental conditions
imposed for conducting developmental
projects where the regulators have been
determining bonds based on a percentage
of the capital value of the project in the
absence of any method of assessing the
value of vegetation, reefs, and other envi-
ronmental assets at risk. Bonds may also
be used to induce satisfactory waste man-
agement practices.
7.2.9 Administrative Charges
This charge, often in the form of a
non-refundable fee, effects cost recovery in
respect of expenditure associated with
management functions. Among existing
charges are those intended to pay for the
administration and enforcement of the per-
mit and licensing system. Administrative
charges are widely employed where costs
are incurred in taking remedial action where
offender fails to act - recovery allowed often
as a civil debt. The notion also has applica-
tion where individual benefits from environ-
mental protection or improvement work and
in the planning context.
7.2.10 Subsidies
A subsidy may take the form of a
grant, loan, or tax incentive. Essentially it is
some form of financial reward offered by
regulators to encourage pollution control or
mitigate the economic impact of environ-
mental regulation. In the latter context, the
individuals, and corporations to meet com-
pliance costs. At various times subsidies
have been given on installation of solar
heaters and gasoline. Regulators are statu-
torily urged to incorporate use of subsidies
to encourage beneficial environmental
activities.
7.2.11 Tradable Permits/Market Creation
A suitable regulatory framework
may cause creation of a market for owner-
ship of environmental 'rights'. Tradable pol-
lution permits is the classical example o
such a market. Regulators issue certain
number of permits which (based on agreed
emission standards and criteria) contain
pollution within acceptable limits. Producers
who keep their emission below their allotted
threshold may sell or lease their surplus
permits to other producers. This can lead to
the trading of these commodities on the
stock market.
The integrity of the system is heav-
ily dependent upon calculations of the net
emission from each permit holder, a rather
elaborate science and inspection and mon-
itoring. Legislative initiatives have called for
the establishment of the infrastructure that
would allow creation of markets in tradable
permits. Requirements for development of
emission standards, award of permits and
monitoring and compliance have been
made and comprise the basic market
requirements. As a rule these are not yet in
place. Further, there is no legislative treat-
ment with the question whether a permit or
license is transferable. Nor is there any indi-
cation that the total quantities of emission
over a stated period of time have been esti-
mated to reflect acceptable ambient condi-
tions, nor with the central question whether
the permit or license is transferable.
The principle of prescription pro-
vides a common law notion with implica-
tions for market creation in tradable per-
mits. Under the common law a polluter may,
after a minimum period of prescription, pro-
vided other stringent conditions are satis-
fied, acquire a right to continue with a pol-
luting activity. This right would appear to be
transferable in similarity with kindred prop-
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ANDERSON
377
erty rights such as easements and profits.
8 EMPIRICAL APPLICATIONS
What emerges to this point is the
picture of a region coming to terms with the
new art of integrating ecological valuation
into its legal and regulatory systems.
However, theory is one thing and practice
another. Although many and varied oppor-
tunities exist to use innovative techniques
to compute environment al values, empiri-
cal applications are rather disappointing.
There is still a predominance of the tradi-
tional notions of the ecosystem as public
goods 'at large'. Not only are such goods
'free' in the economic sense that they are
not perceived to have any market value;
natural resources are also 'free' in the
sense of being outside the traditional cate-
gories of property rights and interests.
There is no known case of the Crown
asserting common law rights for loss to the
biosphere, as distinct from clean-up costs
and related expenditure. For example, the
authorities are curiously silent concerning
whether, in an action for public nuisance,
the Attorney General may recover dam-
ages for environmental degradation as dis-
tinct from an injunction to enforce discon-
tinuance and recovery of associated
administrative expenses.
At the same time the traditional
perspective must now be juxtaposed with
modern notions concerning with the total
value of an ecosystem or environmental
'good'. The objective is not to place an esti-
mate upon the intrinsic value, a rather neb-
ulous concept that some consider objec-
tionable on philosophical grounds, but to
devise techniques and methods of arriving
at the total use and non-use value of the
natural ecosystem. Use values represent
the value of outputs or services that the
ecosystem provides and may be direct, for
example where a coral reef directly pro-
vides for tourism, recreation, a fishing
economy, tourist facilities, mariculture,
Pharmaceuticals, genetic material, aquari-
um and curio trade. Indirect use value may
be provided as, for example, where a coral
reef provides physical protection from
storms, acts as a store of carbon and as a
habitat for marine life. Non-use values
relate to those values not usually market as
goods, such as the value placed upon an
environment free from air and noise pollu-
tion or the ecology of a swampland. The
absence of a market in these services has
led to the development of at least three
innovative techniques for their valuation.
Option value is the value placed on the
environment in its present state, to keep it
for use in the future. Existence or contin-
gency value is the value an individual
places on an environmental good to just
know that it still exists, for example, the
value placed on saving endangered
leatherback turtles. Bequest value is the
value placed by an individual on an envi-
ronmental good for future generations.
These contradictory forces in
Caribbean treatment of the valuation of
environmental harm are evident in several
recent incidents. For present purposes
these incidents are described under the fol-
lowing titles — (a) the M/V Star II Limassol
incident; (b) the Beef Island valuation; and
(c) the Nariva swamp assessment; and (d)
the Broderick case.
8.1 The M/V Star II Limassol Incident.
M/V Star II Limassol provides an
example of the disjuncture between inflic-
tion of environmental damage and recovery
of economic compensation. On 8th April,
1998 the Star II Limassol ran aground at
Holland Bay in the parish of Saint Thomas,
Jamaica. The ship owners and salvagers
sought and obtained permission to drop
cargo in order to raise the vessel, which
was then anchored in the waters of the
Kingston Harbor. Whilst in the Harbor, large
quantities of sugar and other noxious sub-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
stances containing a high concentration of
amphetamine was discharged from the
vessel. The pollutants caused a massive kill
of aquatic animal life and a loud public out-
cry followed. Jamaica's NRCA exercised its
statutory power to "investigate the effect of
any activity that causes or might cause pol-
lution or that involves or might involve
waste management or disposal and take
such action as it thinks appropriate." The
investigation considered the facts of what
had occurred, the quantities and nature of
the pollutants that had been discharged,
their effect upon the marine ecology and
the number of fishers affected. However,
the NRCA Statement of Claim merely
detailed particulars of expenditure on the
investigation and contained the standard
incantation of claim for general damages,
costs, and "any other relief deemed just by
this Honorable Court." There was no
attempt at valuation of ecological damage
to the Saint Thomas coastline or in the
Kingston Harbor. NRCA officials were
deterred by the "sheer novelty" of the
notion that Government could claim for
damage to the marine and coastal ecosys-
tem. They repeated assumed common law
notions that fish in the sea were, res nullius
until reduced into captivity by Government
or fishers and therefore valueless at the
time of their contamination .
8.2
The Beef Island Valuation
The rapid economic growth of the
British Virgin Islands during the 1980s led
to concern for the islands' environmental
infrastructure given that proposed develop-
mental projects bore major implications for
potential terrestrial, coastal and marine
intrusion. There were concerns that the
developmental paradigm posed significant
threats to the integrity of the fragile ecology
of the BVI in general and Beef Island in par-
ticular. An additional complication arose
from the fact that government policies and
initiatives by the European Union and the
Ramsar Secretariat were underway to con-
sider Beef Islands wetlands for inclusion in
the list of "Wetlands of International signifi-
cance." The OECS/NRMU, acting in con-
junction with the BVI and the ED, commis-
sioned a valuation of the total economic
value of Beef Islands' ecological services
so that the economic value of environmen-
tal costs/benefits could be factored into the
development equation. The study would
thereby foster "sustainable development".
The consultant reported in April 1998 and
provided detailed economic ranking of a
fixed set of components, functions and
attributes of Beef Island wetlands in accor-
dance with guidelines in the Ramsar
Protocols. Separate Tables ranked these
wetland characteristics in relation to Beef
Island ponds, lagoons, mangroves, coral
reefs, and sea grass. The ranking ranged
among low (L), medium (M), high (H). The
consultant wisely cautioned the need for
adoption of a precautionary approach to
consideration of development options since
there remained considerable ignorance of
the potential costs and benefits of wetland
use or conversion, nor of their probabili-
ties." Accordingly, adoption was urged of at
worst a "Safe Minimum Standard" (SMS)
decision when considering conversion of
unique wetland resources "as long as the
cost of doing so is not intolerably high." On
the other hand, the lack of specificity in the
rankings in, for example, monetary terms,
and the failure to consider indigenous eco-
logical characteristics other than those doc-
umented in the Ramsar Protocols were lim-
itations to practical integration into the BVI
planning process.
8.3 The Nariva Swamp Assessment
The 6000-hectare Nariva Swamp
is the largest and most diverse freshwater
wetland ecosystem in Trinidad and Tobago
renowned for its unique flora, fauna, and
species of animals. These special ecologi-
cal features attract intense international
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379
scientific research, eco-tourists and local
visitors, and with the accession of Trinidad
and Tobago to the Ramsar Convention in
1992, the Nariva Swamp was designated
as a wetland of international significance. In
Jabar v. The Minister of Agriculture, Land
and Marine Resources the High Court dis-
missed constitutional motions filed by large
rice cultivators that had sought to regular-
ize their occupation and cultivation of crown
lands in the swamp. The rice farmers were
judicially described as "squatters" and
"trespassers" and the right of Government
to declare the swamp a prohibited area was
recognized. This cleared the way for the
Government to undertake an assessment
of the interventions in the wetland for the
purpose of mitigating any adverse impacts
arising from those interventions and
preparing a comprehensive management
plan for the area.
The task of undertaking the EIA
and preparing the management plan was
assigned to the Institute of Marine Affairs
(IMA) which sub-contracted assignments
for which no in-house expertise could be
identified, to outside consultants. The Final
Report was presented to the Government
in 1998 and its recommendations and
implications are still being studied. Of cur-
rent interest was the section of the Report
dealing with the valuation of pollution dam-
age done to the swamp by large-scale rice
farming . The Report cited permanent dam-
age done to the original system both in
terms of user values ("for utilization of nat-
ural products") and non-user values ("the
existing value that individuals may receive
for just knowing that the swamp is there").
Injury to the bequest value was also identi-
fied (the diminished value of swamp being
"there for future generations").
Computation of the use value fol-
lowed fairly standard criteria but for non-
user values, a much more difficult art, was
based upon "non-market" resource use
contingency valuation. This method
involves setting up a hypothetical market
for the "good" being valued. A representa-
tive sample of individuals was then asked
to provide bids (similar to an auction) as to
the appropriate value price of the good.
Once the bids were secured a mean
amount was obtained. The mean price was
multiplied by the estimated population com-
prising the market (the households in
Trinidad and Tobago in order to arrive at the
full social value. In this way the social value
of the swamp was estimated at TT$608m
(US$96.51m). Large-scale rice farming had
produced major negative impacts an esti-
mated1200 hectares of the 6,000 hectares
swamp. Using strict arithmetical calcula-
tions, the environmental damage of the rice
farming was estimated at TT$110.5m.
The Nariva Swamp assessment
clearly produced very speculative valua-
tions. It may be significant that the valuation
exercise was undertaken for government
management processes rather than for civil
liability purposes. It is inconceivable that
the method of computation of the value of
the environmental damage would not raise
constitutional and other challenges in an
action against, say, the rice farmers.
8.4
The Broderick Case
Broderick v. Alcoa Minerals of
Jamaica Inc. represents a typical applica-
tion of common law principles to claims for
redress for environmental harm. The plain-
tiff lived in the parish of Clarendon within a
1.5-mile radius of the defendant's Alumina
plant. The roof of his house was construct-
ed of galvanized sheets and he had to
effect repairs to the entire roof and ceiling
because the zinc sheets had developed
rust holes, through which the rain descend-
ed onto the plyboard ceiling and the latch-
es to which the ceiling was attached. Mr.
Broderick attributed this damage to emis-
sions from the defendant's plant' smoke
stacks and brought an action claiming dam-
ages for nuisance and a mandatory injunc-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
tion. At first instance Theobalds J. over-
came the defendant's arguments, which
noted their efforts to reduce the pollution
and their concern for the environment as
manifested by the vast sums of money
expended to improve it. The Judge awarded
Mr. Broderick J$938, 400 with costs and
granted the mandatory injunction allowing
the defendant six months in which to "com-
plete the necessary structural adjustments
in order to eliminate the nuisance." The
defendants appealed on grounds that are
probably the best Caribbean advertisement
for the limitations of the common law to pro-
vide genuine and comprehensive recovery
for environmental damage and for this rea-
son the grounds are worth setting out in
full. The defendants argued that:
• they operated within worldwide accept-
able limits for emission of air pollutants.
• they used the most modern and efficient
control equipment.
• their powerhouse stacks of 250 feet
high-emitted pollutants at a level higher
than any existing plant in Jamaica.
• the production of alumina was vital to
the economic survival of Jamaica and
had been encouraged by successive
governments for over thirty years.
• the matters complained of flowed natu-
rally from activities authorized by special
mining leases granted under the Mining
Act.
• there was no scientific proof that the sul-
phuric acid emissions from their plant
actually caused the corrosion of the
plaintiff's roof.
• there was no scientific evidence that the
plaintiff's loss had not been caused by
the sulphuric emissions from other plants
and factories in the vicinity or vehicles
passing regularly on nearby roads.
• the estimate of damage should have
been based had not taken account of (i)
storm damage caused the year earlier by
passage of hurricane Gilbert, (ii) the pre-
cise number of zinc sheets that required
repair rather than the floor area, and (iii)
the prices prevailing at the time of loss
rather than at trial.
The Court of Appeal of Jamaica
adopted the view that the care taken by the
defendant and the legislative and econom-
ic arrangements under which the industry
operated were not defenses to an action in
nuisance. The Court was satisfied that
respondent had adduced sufficient "tech-
nological" evidence of a causal link
between emissions of sulphates from the
appellants' operations and the sulphates
which were the corrosive agents in his roof.
In any event, causation was to be deter-
mined on a "commonsense" basis and
there was no requirement to prove to sci-
entific precision to what degree the emis-
sion from the appellants' plant as distinct
from other sources contributed to the dam-
age. It was for the appellants to join other
tortfeasors through third party proceedings
if that was thought appropriate. Moreover,
the method of assessment of the cost of
repairs was not unknown in the construc-
tion industry and as the environmental
damage was of a continuing nature, the
general rule of assessment of damage at
the date of the breach was inapplicable.
The Privy Council has refused to vary this
judgment.
Although a victory for the plaintiff
the relevance of the decision to wider
recovery for environmental injury is rather
doubtful. The mandatory injunction
imposed by Theobalds J. was discharged
on the grounds that the appellants had
taken substantial steps to minimize the
environmental impact of the nuisance , that
an award of damages sufficient to replace
the roof with a highly corrosive resistant
material could suitably remedy the plaintiff.
The cost to the respondent was reduced by
a third to reflect the appellant's success in
relation to the discharge of the injunction.
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381
And most pertinently, the Court gave short
shrift to the incipient claim for broader envi-
ronmental harm. The Court dismissed the
claim by the respondent of harm to his
health and comfort by a malodorous stench
from the appellant's mud lakes because "he
did not suggest in what respect he suffered
in health", and made no attempt to follow
up on the wider issue of biospheric dam-
age.
9 CONCLUSION
It seems clear that Caribbean
jurisprudence is at the cross roads on the
question of environmental management. A
number of new and innovative techniques
are available to bolster the role of the courts
in environmental protection and valuation of
environmental damage. Traditional
approaches that omitted the environment
from economics are now being challenged
by the many legislative provisions and
administrative opportunities that allow for
the accounting of ecological damage. From
this perspective it would appear that the
integration of environment and economics
is a done deal. The only remaining question
concerns the speed with which this recogni-
tion will take hold in those responsible for
statutory interpretation and administration,
and the manner in which integration will be
allowed to proceed. Infiltration/sharing of
these approaches can take many forms:
• Persuasive value of judgments from
other jurisdictions;
• Law journals - articles, etc.;
• Few extra-judicial speeches etc.;
• Judicial symposiums (organized by
UNEP/ROLAC) "Enforcement and
Compliance of Environmental Law in
National Courts: the Role of the
Judiciary" presented to and published in
Caribbean Judicial Awareness sympo-
sium on Environmental Law and
Sustainable Development, April 8-10,
2001, Glencastle Resort Hotel, Castries,
St. Lucia. Symposium Proceedings.
Problem: Judges also restricted by
the actual content of law (legislative provi-
sions) within their jurisdictions). Tension
between sharing these approaches and
constitutional obligation to apply law of
land.
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382 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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KURUKULASURIYA 383
UNEP'S JUDICIAL SYMPOSIA ON THE ROLE OF THE
JUDICIARY IN PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
KURUKULASURIYA, LAL
Chief, UNEP Regional Environmental Law Programme in the Asia-Pacific region, 10th
Floor, Block B, UN Building, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok, 10200 Thailand
SUMMARY
The Law is a powerful tool for addressing global, regional, and national environ-
mental problems. A judiciary well informed of the rapidly expanding boundaries of envi-
ronmental law and law in the field of sustainable development, and sensitive to their role
and responsibilities in promoting the rule of law in regard to environmentally friendly
development, would play a critical role in the vindication of the public interest in a healthy
and secure environment through the interpretation, enhancement and enforcement of
environmental law. UNEP is uniquily qualified to develop judicial capacity and to this end,
hosted several regional judicial symposiums culminating in the Global Judicial
Symposium to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in connection with the WSSD.
1 INTRODUCTION
Orderly responses to global,
regional and national environmental prob-
lems are almost always founded in law.
International environmental law is the prin-
cipal means by which the community of
nations builds and expresses international
consensus on environment and develop-
ment issues. At the national level, law
remains the most effective means for trans-
lating sustainable development policies into
action. A judiciary well informed of the rap-
idly expanding boundaries of environmen-
tal law and law in the field of sustainable
development, and sensitive to their role and
responsibilities in promoting the rule of law
in regard to environmentally friendly devel-
opment, would play a critical role in the vin-
dication of the public interest in a healthy
and secure environment through the inter-
pretation, enhancement and enforcement of
environmental law. UNEP's Judicial
Symposia on Environmental Law and
Sustainable Development had this as its
primary goal.
Since the United Nations
Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) gave political legiti-
macy to the concept of sustainable devel-
opment, there has been a pressing
demand for the further development of
international and national environmental
law to meet the challenges it poses. While
international environmental law moves in
the direction of sustainable development, it
has inspired a number of innovative ideas,
concepts and principles, and facilitative and
enabling mechanisms. The Stockholm
Declaration on the Human Environment of
1972 and Rio Declaration on Environment
and Development twenty years later are
widely regarded as heralding and even
consolidating these new principles and lay-
ing a strong foundation for their further rein-
forcement and wider application. Many of
these principles have since found expres-
sion in major environmental conventions
developed and adopted under the aegis of
the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), and other
International Organizations, in the run-up to
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and following UNCED. At national level,
new laws and regulations have been enact-
ed, and enlightened judges have delivered
several landmark judgments giving shape
and content, and legal effect to these prin-
ciples.
Compliance with and enforcement
of international and national environmental
law is widely recognized as one of the prin-
cipal challenges facing nations in the pur-
suit of sustainable development in the
Twenty-first Century. During the past two
decades, almost all the countries in the
world have enacted environmental legisla-
tion and become parties to a large number
of global and regional environmental con-
ventions, agreements and protocols. The
Judiciary remains a crucial partner for pro-
moting compliance with and enforcement of
international and national environmental
law.
Since its establishment following
the Stockholm Conference on the
Environment in 1972, UNEP has been the
principal body within the United Nations
system that has promoted the development
and implementation of environmental con-
ventions and other legal instruments and
carried out a wide range of capacity build-
ing activities in environmental law, including
the strengthening of environmental legisla-
tion, legal training and information dissemi-
nation. Its current mandate in the field of
environmental law is embodied in what is
popularly called the Montevideo Programme
III, —The Programme for the Development
and Periodic Review of Environmental Law,
adopted by the Governing Council of UNEP
by decision 21/23. This Mandate requires
priority to be given to assist countries,
especially developing countries and coun-
tries with economies in transition, giving
priority to the least developed among them,
with the development, adoption and imple-
mentation of international legal instru-
ments; the provision of technical advice
and assistance, at their request, to enact
national environmental legislation and set-
ting up environmental machinery; and col-
lect and disseminate information and pro-
mote education and training in the field of
environmental law. UNEP's role and
responsibilities in the area of environmental
law have been reaffirmed in Agenda 21, the
Nairobi Declaration on the future role and
mandate of UNEP adopted at the nine-
teenth session of its Governing Council and
endorsed by the Special Session of the
United Nations General Assembly held in
New York in June 1997, the Malmo
Ministerial Declaration adopted at the First
Global Ministerial Environment Forum, and
most recently, at the UNEP Governing
Council's Seventh Special Session held in
Cartagena in February 2002.
These developments demonstrate
the critical importance of the interaction
between international environmental law
and sustainable development and the cen-
tral role that UNEP has been called upon to
play in supporting the efforts of the com-
munity of nations to develop international,
regional and national legal regimes to pro-
mote the goals of sustainable development.
For most of the past three
decades, UNEP has been in the vanguard
of the progressive development of environ-
mental law. This important contribution of
UNEP has been widely appreciated by the
international community and was applaud-
ed by the Secretary General of the United
Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, who in the UN
Reform Proposals placed before the United
Nations General Assembly in 1998,
expressly recognized as one of the most
notable achievements of UNEP, its "contri-
bution to the initiation, negotiation and sup-
port of some of the most important treaties
that have been agreed in the international
field".
It is well known that most of the
major global and several important region-
al environmental conventions and agree-
ments have been negotiated under the aus-
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pices of UNEP. These include the Vienna
Convention and the Montreal Protocol on
ozone depletion, the Basel Convention on
transboundary movement of hazardous
wastes, the Convention on Biological
Diversity, the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants, the
Rotterdam Convention on the Prior
Informed Consent Procedure in regard to
trade in toxic chemicals the Convention on
the control of illegal trade in endangered
species (CITES), and at a regional level,
the ASEAN Haze Pollution Agreement, the
Lusaka Agreement on enforcement opera-
tions directed at illegal trade of wild fauna
and flora and several Regional Seas
Agreements. UNEP has also made a signif-
icant contribution to environmental conven-
tions negotiated under United Nations aus-
pices, such as those dealing with climate
change and desertification. Following deci-
sions of the respective Conferences of
Parties, UNEP provides convention secre-
tariat's for the Biodiversity, Ozone, and
Basel Conventions, CITES, CMS, Lusaka
Agreement, the Chemicals Conventions on
PIC and POPs, and the Regional Seas
Agreements.
An equally important aspect of
UNEP's work in environmental law is
capacity building, originally mandated by a
Resolution of the United Nations General
Assembly [3436 (XXX)] and reaffirmed by
the UNEP Governing Council and by
UNCED. These activities focus on assis-
tance to developing countries and coun-
tries with economies in transition, to
strengthen national legal and institutional
regimes for environmental management
and human resource development in the
area of environmental law and policy.
Under this programme over 80 countries
have been assisted in a variety of ways in
the further strengthening of national envi-
ronmental legislation. Other capacity build-
ing activities include training programmes
at global, regional and national levels, a
computerized environmental law informa-
tion service in partnership with IUCN
accessible world wide through Internet, and
several important environmental law publi-
cations with a distinct practical slant.
Several of these are also now being trans-
lated into and published in national lan-
guages in order to reach a wider audience
that would otherwise have hardly any
access to books and materials on environ-
mental law. The major UNEP publications
include the Register of Environmental
Agreements, two volumes of texts of
International Environmental Agreements,
UNEP's New Way Forward: Environmental
Law and Sustainable Development, pub-
lished to commemorate the Fiftieth
Anniversary of the United Nations, an
Environmental Law Training Manual, sever-
al global and regional Compendia of
National Environmental Legislation and
Environmental Case law, and a Handbook
on Environmental Law.
Since UNCED, the technical advice
programme on Environmental Law of
UNEP has been refocused to respond to
the challenges of strengthening the legal
and institutional framework for sustainable
development. To facilitate even more
focused and effective technical assistance,
the programme is being increasingly
regionalized. Partnership with UN and
other agencies with specialization in envi-
ronmental law and capacity building are
being vigorously pursued with a view to
combining the comparative advantages
and specialized experience of these institu-
tions and avoiding duplication. Regional
focus has been intensified through a Joint
UNEP/ UNDP Programme on Environmental
Law in Africa, the UNEP/SACEP/NORAD
Joint Project in South Asia and the UNEP-
Hanns Seidel Foundation Joint Project for
the Mekong Countries, and expanding pro-
grammes carried out in partnership with
UNEP's Regional Offices and in collabora-
tion with regional partners in Asia and the
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Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean
as well as in the Gulf region and in Central
Asia.
2 UNEP SPONSORED SYMPOSIA ON
THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY
IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
The Judiciary is a crucial partner in
bringing about a judicious balance between
environmental and developmental consid-
erations and thereby promoting sustainable
development. Courts of Law of many coun-
tries have demonstrated sensitivity to pro-
moting the rule of law in the field of sus-
tainable development through their judg-
ments and pronouncements. The many
advantages of securing the active support
and cooperation of the judiciary, within the
framework of its constitutional boundaries,
for international and national efforts to pro-
mote the goals of sustainable development
are self-evident and include:
• Promoting compliance and enforcement
of environmental regulations.
• Balancing environmental and develop-
mental considerations in judicial deci-
sion-making.
• Giving an impetus to the incorporation of
contemporary developments in the field
of environmental law for promoting sus-
tainable development, including access
to justice, right to information and public
participation.
• Networking among judiciaries to
exchange judgements and information
on environmental law and policy, and
international developments in the field.
• Through judicial pronouncements, pro-
moting national policies and strategies
for environmental management in the
context of the respective socio-economic
and cultural realities.
• Promoting the implementation of global
and regional environmental conventions.
• Strengthening the hand of the executive
in fearlessly enforcing environmental reg-
ulations, in the face of improper influ-
ences that could stifle executive action.
Recognizing this fact, and in pur-
suance of the mandate given it by the
Governing Council through the Montevideo
Programmes II (1992) & III (2002), UNEP
provided an impetus to judicial capacity
building in the area of environmental law by
organizing and convening six Regional
Symposia on the Judiciary's role in promot-
ing sustainable development: The first, a
Symposium for Judges from African
Countries - divided into two modules for
anglophone and francophone countries
respectively - was held in Mombassa,
Kenya, in September 1996 under the Joint
UNEP/UNDP/IUCN Environmental Law
Project for Africa. The second, for countries
in South Asia, was organized in collabora-
tion with the South Asia Co-operative
Environment Programme (SACEP), under
the Joint UNEP/SACEP/NORAD
Environmental Law Project for South Asia
and was held in Colombo Sri Lanka, in July
1997. The third Symposium for Judges from
the ten South East Asian countries was
held in Manila, Philippines in March 1999
and the fourth, the Judicial Symposium on
Environmental Law and Sustainable
Development: Access to Environmental
Justice in Latin America was convened by
UNEP's Regional Office for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ROLAC) in January
2000 in Mexico City. A Caribbean Judges
Symposium was convened by ROLAC and
other partner agencies in St. Lucia, in April
2001. The Symposium for Judges from the
Pacific Island States was held earlier this
year in Brisbane, Australia, hosted by the
Office of the Premier of Queensland the
Hon. Peter Beattie. Altogether over sixty
Chief Justices and other senior judges from
around the world have participated in these
judicial symposia.
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During the Regional Judges sym-
posia, several Chief Justices and other
senior Judges expressed their deep appre-
ciation for these efforts to sensitize the judi-
ciaries around the world to developments in
this relatively new area of law, and have
called on UNEP and partner agencies to
give priority to this area of work. It will be
recalled that the International Court of
Justice has also referred with appreciation
to the UNEP Judges Symposia in its
Judgment in the Hungary- Slovak Case
relating to sharing of the waters of the
Danube.
It will also be recalled that UNEP's
Governing Council in its decision 21/23 on
the Programme for the Development and
Periodic Review of Environmental Law for
the First Decade of the Twenty-first Century
(Montevideo Programme III) called on
UNEP to give priority to securing active
judicial involvement in promoting the rule of
law in the area of environmental law and
sustainable development.
The Purpose, Objectives, and
Outputs of the Regional Symposia may be
summarized as follows:
• Provide a Forum for Judges from differ-
ent regions to exchange views knowl-
edge and experience in promoting the
further development and implementation
of environmental law in the region.
• Examine contemporary developments in
the field of environmental law - both
international and national- that have
implications for promoting the goals of
environment and development.
• Review the role of the Courts in promot-
ing the rule of law in the area of sustain-
able development, including an examina-
tion of some of the important judgments.
• Set in train a scheme for regional co-
operation among judiciaries in the South
Pacific Countries, including the collation
and dissemination of information and
material on Environmental Law among
judges from the region.
The following are among some of
the important legal issues that were dis-
cussed at the six Regional Symposia:
• Incorporation of the principle of sustain-
able development, the polluter pays prin-
ciple, the precautionary principle, and the
principle of continuous mandamus in the
corpus of international and national law.
• invocation of the extraordinary jurisdic-
tion of the Supreme Court in environ-
mental matters,
• public participation, including substantive
and procedural matters relating to public
interest litigation.
• the erga omnes character of environ-
mental matters and the problem of apply-
ing inter partes procedures in environ-
mental dispute resolution.
• limits of the concepts of "aggrieved per-
son" and "locus stand" in regard to envi-
ronmental damage.
• inter-generational and intro-generational
equity.
• court commissions to ascertain facts and
an authoritative assessment of the scien-
tific and technical aspects of environ-
ment and development issues.
• interpretation of constitutional rights
including right to life and right to a
healthy environment.
• public's right to information.
• obligation for continuous environmental
impact assessment.
• application of the public trust doctrine in
regard to natural resources and the envi-
ronment, corporate responsibility and lia-
bility.
• approaches to judicial reasoning in envi-
ronment related matters including the
importance of traditional values and
ideas.
• the importance of promoting public
awareness and environmental education
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
at secondary and tertiary levels.
Having regard to the limited time
available at these symposia and the wide
range of issues that could be usefully
addressed, the agreed methodology pro-
vided for the participants to engage in a
dialogue to share experiences, learn of
contemporary approaches adopted by
other regions and also lay the foundations
for regional judicial co-operation in the field
of environmental law. Accordingly, each
delegation was requested to prepare a
Country Report structured along the lines
of a template provided by UNEP, which pro-
vided information on the status of national
environmental legislation, participation in
environmental conventions, the challenges
faced in securing compliance with and
enforcement of environmental law and the
incorporation of contemporary approaches
such as public participation, access to jus-
tice and information, and summaries of
environment-related judgments of the
Courts. These Country Reports were sub-
sequently included in the Reports of the
Symposia. The Country Presentations were
followed by examination of other subjects of
special relevance to countries in the
respective regions through structured dis-
cussions, often led by Panels of external
resource persons and Judges.
The fact that these Regional
Symposia attracted the participation of over
fifty Chief Justices and other senior judges
from around the world and the enthusiastic
support of a considerable number of inter-
national organization within and outside the
United Nations, as well as several national
governments, is itself the most eloquent
testimony to the relevance and importance
of this initiative. The Reports of the sym-
posia are replete with repeated calls from
Chief Justices and other senior Judges for
UNEP and other interested organizations
to redouble their efforts to strengthen the
capacity of judiciaries in the respective
regions to participate actively and on a well
informed basis in carrying out their respon-
sibilities as the final arbiter in balancing
environmental and developmental consid-
erations through the Courts of Law.
The immediate outcome of these
Symposia may be summarized as follows:
• Initiation and fostering of a judicial dia-
logue and exchange of experiences in
the field of environmental law in the
region with sensitivity to the cultures and
traditions of the region.
• Promoting discussion on possible con-
ceptual and procedural advances, which
will facilitate the development and appli-
cation of environmental law jurispru-
dence by the courts and promote compli-
ance with and enforcement of environ-
mental law.
• Establishing the basis for networking
among the judiciaries, the legal profes-
sion and Law Faculties in universities in
the region to share information and
material on environmental law.
• Establishing a basis for developing and
disseminating widely in each region and
beyond, through written and electronic
means, environmental law publications of
particular relevance and importance to
the region, including environmental law
reports.
•Through the above means, promote the
more vigorous and effective application
of environmental law as an instrument for
translating sustainable development poli-
cies into action.
3 WAY FORWARD: A GLOBAL JUDGES
SYMPOSIUM TO BE HELD IN JOHAN-
NESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA IN CON-
NECTION WITH THE WORLD SUMMIT
ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Building on the achievements of
the Regional Judges Symposia that have
been held since 1996 in Africa, South Asia,
Southeast Asia, Caribbean, Latin America
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389
and the Pacific, UNEP will convene a
Global Judges Symposium on
Environmental Law and Sustainable
Development in collaboration with several
partners, including the International
Network on Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement (INECE) in Johannesburg,
South Africa in the week before the World
Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD).
The positive outcome of the region-
al symposia has amply demonstrated the
potential for the world's judges to provide
vital input into the work of the WSSD. The
Global Judges Symposium will therefore
focus attention on the fundamental role that
the judiciary can and does play in ensuring
the implementation of sustainable develop-
ment law at the national level. The judicia-
ry's perspective in this area, given the
unique role it plays in matters of good gov-
ernance and in the functioning of the Rule
of Law, could greatly enhance the work of
the WSSD. Consequently, the Symposium
will examine issues relating to the Rule of
Law and governance in the context of sus-
tainable development law, so as to take full
advantage of the judiciary's vast and varied
experience in this field and to seize the
opportunity to allow this experience to
inform and guide the work of the WSSD.
The Global Symposium aims to
galvanize international cooperation and
donor support for capacity building among
the judiciaries especially in developing
countries. The objective is to foster a better
informed and more active judiciary in sup-
porting and further advancing the rule of
law in the area of sustainable development,
and the incorporation of emerging environ-
mental norms, principles and mechanisms
into contemporary national jurisprudence,
including the principles enshrined in the
Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development.
There has been widespread sup-
port for the idea of a Global Judges
Symposium among Chief Justices and
other senior Judges who participated in the
above Regional Symposia, as well as in
other international forums such as the Joint
UNEP-OHCHR Seminar on Environmental
Law and Human Rights held in Geneva in
January 2002. Such a landmark event
organized under the leadership of UNEP
and INECE and attended by Chief Justices
and other senior judges from around the
world will provide a global perspective to
the importance of the role that the judiciary
plays in promoting sustainable develop-
ment through the Rule of Law and also con-
tribute to:
• Enhancing the profile and the level of
understanding of the different approach-
es that are taken by the judiciary to
implement the vital elements of gover-
nance delineated in Rio Principle 10 (on
access to information, public participa-
tion and access to justice).
• Reviewing the emerging jurisprudence
on environmental law and sustainable
development, including the advances
made in the ten years since UNCED, in
regard to the application of principles
contained in the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development.
• Laying a foundation for a well structured,
coordinated and sustained programme of
support for capacity strengthening of
judiciaries around the world, especially in
the developing countries and countries
with economies in transition, in the area
of environmental law and sustainable
development.
• Developing an inter-agency cooperative
mechanism to pool their comparative
advantages and specializations for imple-
menting a regionalized, country-driven
judicial training programme that is result
oriented and practical.
• Presenting the recommendations of the
Global Judges Symposium on strength-
ening the capacity of the global Judiciary
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
for promoting the rule of law in the area
of sustainable development, to the
United Nations World Summit on
Sustainable Development.
Convening the Symposium in
Johannesburg, immediately before the
World Summit on Sustainable
Development is likely to draw maximum
international attention to this important ini-
tiative and enhance prospects for enlisting
the interest and support of the donor com-
munity for implementing the outcome of the
Symposium, especially in regard to capaci-
ty building.
The overriding objective of the
Global Symposium would be to foster a
better-informed and more active judiciary
advancing the rule of law in the area of sus-
tainable development. This will be achieved
in two ways: through information sharing
and awareness enrichment at the
Symposium especially among judges from
different regions of the world and also
through the triggering of follow up activities
under a plan of action flowing from the
Symposium.
The specific objectives of the
Global Judges Symposium may be the fol-
lowing:
• To examine pronouncements that give
legal validity in contemporary national
jurisprudence to emerging international
principles of environmental law, including
those enshrined in the Rio Declaration of
1992, such as access to justice, the right
to information and public participation in
relevant decision-making and environ-
mental justice.
• To build judicial networks for mutual sup-
port between judges, on matters such as
judicial philosophy and ethics in adjudi-
cating environmental and sustainable
development issues, thus promoting
national enforcement of the law.
• To secure endorsement at a global level
by the judiciary of the critical role that it
plays in balancing environmental and
developmental considerations through its
judgments.
• To ensure global recognition of the
importance of the role of the judiciary in
application of laws effecting sustainable
development.
• To galvanize international cooperation
and donor support for strengthening the
capacity of judiciaries in the field of sus-
tainable development.
• To identify the broad features and ele-
ments of a global programme for judicial
capacity strengthening that is region-spe-
cific and country driven.
The following are some of the prin-
cipal outs that could be expected from the
Global Symposium.
• A set of recommendations for concerted
international action required to sensitize
judiciaries at all levels and in all coun-
tries, but especially in developing coun-
tries and countries with economies in
transition, to the new branch of law in the
field of sustainable development.
• The broad outline of a programme of
action to implement those recommenda-
tions, including a global network linking
judges active in this field.
•The launching of the UNEP Publication,
A Compendium of Summaries of
Judgments from around the World in
Environment-related Cases, (Summaries
of over 200 cases from around the
world).
• Publications of papers, proceedings and
related materials resulting from the
Symposia.
The Regional Judges Symposia
have provided a sound basis in concept
and experience for convening of the Global
Judges Symposium. The Symposium in
Johannesburg will continue this work and,
more importantly, initiate a global pro-
gramme that gives greater coherence and
stability to efforts to build capacity among
judiciary around the world concerning the
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KURUKULASURIYA 391
rule of law in the field of environment and
sustainable development.
UNEP looks forward to working
very closely with the International Network
for Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement (INECE), the World Bank
Institute, IUCN, and other global and
regional partners in the organization and
conduct of the Symposium as well as in
implementing a judicial capacity strength-
ening programme that we expect would be
one of the principal outcomes of the
Symposium. The current focus on the
rationalization of INECE, will provide a
sound basis for INECE and UNEP to work
together at regional and national levels, in
close cooperation with national judiciaries,
in delivering needs-responsive and coun-
try-driven judicial and other capacity
strengthening programmes in the field of
environmental law and policy.
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THEME #4
Case Studies: Visits to the Field
Theme 4 consisted entirely of the field visits around Costa Rica, where participants chose
to participate in one of the Sites Visits. A case study was prepared for each Site Visit, and
they are included in this section:
• Coffee Cooperative: CoopeCafira in San Ramon works to improve the competitive posi-
tion of Costa Rican coffee in the international coffee market by producing a sustainable
coffee. The Sustainable Coffee (SUSCOF) consortium was established in 1999 consist-
ing of 6 coffee cooperatives; CoopeCafira is one of them.
• National Biodiversity Institute: INBio's mission is to promote a new awareness of the value
of biodiversity, and thereby achieve its conservation and use to improve the quality of life.
• Market Based Conservation: FUNDECOR is a non-governmental organization founded in
1991 to protect and increase the Costa Rican forests located in the countryi's central
plateau.
• Ecotourism: The Sarapiquis Neotropical Center is a place where conservation of nature
and eco-development, in combination with sustainable tourism, has become a reality.
• Conservation Easements: With help from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the
Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center (CEDARENA in its Spanish acronym),
first established a conservation easement in Costa Rica eight years ago and now has fos-
tered 60 contracts with private landowners, protecting some 7,000 acres.
• Wildlife Rescue Center: ZOO AVE accepts orphaned, injured and former pet animals at
their Center for Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation (CWRR) located on the Zoo grounds
in La Garita de Alajuela.
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: COFFEE COOPERATIVE 395
SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: COFFEE COOPERATIVE
Guide: Myrtille Danse
Rapporteurs: Myrtille Danse & Lawrence Pratt
1 INTRODUCTION
The coffee cooperative Coope-
Cafira was funded in March 24, 1968, at
which time it represented 195 small and
medium sized coffee farmers. At present
the cooperative includes 2,600 members
and is the owner of different coffee planta-
tions, a coffee mill, a supermarket, and a
warehouse for agrochemical products and
farm equipment required to produce coffee
and other crops. The cooperative is situat-
ed in the center of a medium sized town
called San Ramon, which is located
approximately 80 kilometers west of San
Jose. The case study is focused on the
activities related to the coffee mill.
The coffee mill is situated at the
border of San Ramon in a hilly area. The
plant has a total production capacity of 5.6
tons of coffee and employs approximately
15 people. The mill integrates both wet and
dry coffee milling process, which means
that in the mill the coffee, is processed from
coffee cherry (the fruit from the coffee tree)
to an exportable coffee bean.
The red cherry is changed into a
green-dry-bean by using large de-pulping
machines, fermenting tanks, washing chan-
nels and drying facilities. Drying is done
mostly in a mechanical way (using ovens
and drying machines heated by firewood
and cherry husks) and sometimes in a nat-
ural one (drying platforms using the sun's
energy).
2 COFFEE IN COSTA RICA
Coffee has been one of the princi-
pal sectors driving development in Costa
Rica since the beginning of the nineteenth
century. The sector currently accounts for
approximately 15% of the country's export
income, which correspond to about 3% of
the world trade of Arabica coffee. The
majority of the Costa Rican coffee farms
are small to medium sized (less than 15
hectares). Costa Rica is in a leading posi-
tion in the region in the use modern tech-
nology in coffee cultivation and processing.
Since the 1960's, cultivation techniques
have been modernized and 'traditional' cof-
fee plants have been replaced by higher
yield varieties, that resulted in higher densi-
ties per hectare, ranging from 1600 trees
per hectare in 1955 to 3400 trees in 1980
(Blanco, 1999). The current intensive coffee
production in Costa Rica is characterized
by specific husbandry techniques, such as
high-density planting, pruning, intensive
use of fertilizers and pesticides, and
replanting with high-yielding drought and
disease resistant varieties. The intensive
production and processing methods have
resulted in an average production of 1,610
kg of coffee/ha, which is considerably high-
er than the average production in El
Salvador (920 kg/ha) or Guatemala or
Honduras (690 kg/ha.). Negative side
effects of these production methods are the
significant amounts of pesticides and fertil-
izers used on the plantations and the
impact this has on soil erosion and water
pollution as well as losses in biodiversity.
3 THE COFFEE VALUE CHAIN
Following the coffee chain, the
approximately 77,000 Costa Rican farmers
generally sell their coffee after harvesting
as fresh cherries to small and medium
sized private or co-operative coffee mills
called "beneficios," of which CoopeCafira is
one. Over the last decades the Costa Rican
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
milling process has gone through a number
of important changes. After the Second
World War the properties, mainly owned by
German residents, were expropriated,
causing a significant loss of relatively sim-
ple technology that was used for decades.
However, the high coffee prices of the
1950's made it possible to import new
equipment. The investments resulted in the
construction of coffee mills in which both
the wet and the dry process are integrated,
implying that in the mills the coffee is
processed from coffee cherry to the
exportable coffee bean. The red cherry is
transformed into a green-dry-bean by using
large de-pulping machines, fermenting
tanks, washing channels and drying facili-
ties, the latter mainly being done mechani-
cally (using ovens and drying machines
warmed up by firewood and husk) though
sometimes using solar energy (with drying
platforms).
4 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN
COFFEE MILLING
Costa Rica has 95 coffee mills
located in five different coffee production
areas. The total production capacity of
these coffee mills is approximately 156 mil-
lion kilograms of green coffee (3% of the
world production of Arabica coffee).
Regrettably, when designing and construct-
ing the mills, the environmental effects and
energetic efficiency were not considered
important factors. Because of this, the
milling process has caused (and still caus-
es) severe environmental problems at local
level. Significant environmental impacts
relate to excessive consumption of energy,
water, and firewood, as well as to the pro-
duction of larges volumes of organic waste
(pulp) and highly organically polluted
wastewater.
In the 1990s the growing aware-
ness of the environmental problems
caused by the coffee production as articu-
lated by conservationists and their organi-
zations - resulted in strict environmental
legislation. To prepare the sector for the
legal requirements they had to comply with,
the Costa Rican coffee sector and govern-
mental bodies agreed on a five-year action
plan in 1992. By imposing such a plan -
based on an agreement with the entire sec-
tor - free riding and other opportunistic
effects could be avoided. In accordance
with this plan, the coffee mills have imple-
mented different technical devices that
greatly reduce the mills' consumption of
water and the consequent discharge of
wastewater into the rivers. These included
water-saving depulping equipment, recy-
cling processes of the water used for
depulping and transport of coffee through
the plant, processes to separate pulp and
wastewater as well as ponds to treat the
wastewater.
5 ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE
AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES
In spite of important gains, this
one-time technical adjustment of the pro-
duction process is not a sufficient solution
for the long term.
• There may be a positive effect measured
at the level of river basins but at the level
of the individual cooperative there is no
evidence that the required equipment is
in place and is adequately used.
However, the Ministry of Health requires
each coffee mill to check its water efflu-
ents three times through independent
laboratories to verify if the samples meet
the legal requirements for Chemical
Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological
Oxygen Demand (BOD).
• A cooperative may cause other environ-
mental problems, which have not been
covered by the five-year action plan,
such as deforestation, soil erosion and
soil pollution due to waste deposits.
• The plan caused higher production costs
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: COFFEE COOPERATIVE 397
due to the requirement to create waste-
water treatment systems and the man-
agement of waste flows generated by the
de-pulping process, while the sector
already suffered from higher production
costs in comparison to other coffee pro-
ducing countries in the region.
• It is not guaranteed that by means of the
current continuous improvement program
that companies will reach legally man-
dates levels of compliance nor go
beyond those levels.
• The five-year plan does not provide for a
future-oriented management approach
leading to proactive strategies that inte-
grate economic and environmental inter-
ests.
• Last but not least, the five-year plan
leaves out what happens during cultiva-
tion while the use of agrochemicals at
the farms represents a sensitive issue in
the overseas markets. Costa Rica is
known for its very intensive use of agro-
chemicals. A sustainable coffee would
certainly need a clear and demonstrable
improvement record in this area.
6 RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL
AND COMPETITIVE NECESSITIES
To remedy the above-mentioned
weaknesses and to be able to improve the
competitive position of Costa Rican coffee
in the international coffee market by pro-
ducing a sustainable coffee, the
Sustainable Coffee (SUSCOF) consortium
was established in 1999 consisting of 6 cof-
fee cooperatives, including CoopeCafira.
The consortium works based on a chain-
oriented management approach, which is
aimed at reaching continuous improve-
ments in the subsequent production,
processes of the coffee chain. ISO 14001
was made a central tool to facilitate and
drive learning, change and voluntary com-
pliance— particularly for organizations at
the beginning of launching a program of
continuously improving the quality and
environmental record of its processes and
products.
For this reason, each of the six
cooperative coffee mills established man-
agement systems (EMS) based on the ISO
14001 norms. The system of Cafira was
certified immediately following the 2000-
2001 harvests. Internal control over envi-
ronmental impacts is expected to improve
significantly. However, it is too soon to eval-
uate performance results, or effects on the
competitive position of the cooperatives.
7 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND
ISSUES
• The decision on the part of the govern-
ment to enter into the plan with the entire
industry was a difficult one. It effectively
meant gave coffee mills permission to
reach legally established goals on a
much slower time horizon than that stipu-
lated in the legislation. The decision was
made based on the conclusion that more
environmental improvement could be
made by getting the entire sector to work
together, rather than taken direct
enforcement action. What are the pros
and cons of this type of strategy, for this
sector and others?
• It is not clear whether the markets for
coffee will be willing to reward the mills
for ISO 14001 certified production
processes. How critical is this recognition
(via higher prices, or simply preferring to
buy their coffee over others that are not
certified) to the currently certified plants,
and the sector in general? Would accept-
ance in the market make an important
difference in achieving the more stringent
legally established goals?
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398 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: INBIO 399
SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY INSTITUTE (INBIO)
Guide: Andrea Borel
Rapporteurs: Elena Mateo, Lawrence Pratt, and Claudio Torres Nachon
1 INTRODUCTION
INBio is a government-created
non-profit scientific institution with a mis-
sion to serve the public good. INBio's mis-
sion is to promote a new awareness of the
value of biodiversity, and thereby achieve
its conservation and use to improve the
quality of life. It promotes the wise manage-
ment and use of Costa Rica's biotic wealth
through the development and distribution of
information on species, genes and ecosys-
tems. INBio generates knowledge about
biodiversity. It communicates and promotes
this information in many formats designed
to be responsive to a broad spectrum of
national and international users. INBio's
activities support the spiritual, social and
economic development of Costa Rican
society in equilibrium with the environment.
INBio's mission is carried out through:
• Biodiversity inventory, with emphasis on
our national protected areas
• Search for sustainable uses of biodiversi-
ty by any and all social sectors, and pro-
motion of these uses
• Organization and administration of biodi-
versity information
• Transfer and dissemination of biodiversity
knowledge
INBio's headquarters, and its new
exhibition centre "INBio Parque" are locat-
ed 4km from San Jose in the town of Santo
Domingo de Heredia.
world and, definitely, many more species
than the Planet's temperate and cold
zones. Costa Rica has been considered
one of the most diverse regions and it is
estimated that 6% of all living species are
found here, even though this country com-
prises only 0.01 % of the global territory.
When comparing Costa Rica with
large countries well known for their biologi-
cal resources, such as Colombia or Brazil,
the countries great concentration of biodi-
versity becomes evident. For example, if we
consider the number of species for every
10,000 km2, Costa Rica has 295 tree
species, while Colombia has 35 species
and Brazil, 6.
Out of the 500,000 species esti-
mated for the country, more than 87,000
(17.4%) have been described. Over 79% of
these species are arthropods. Plants com-
prise another important group, of which
some 10,979 (91%) species have been
described. Such data indicate that out of
the entire biodiversity described in the
world, approximately 6% belongs to Costa
Rica. At present, 98.8% of vertebrates
(excluding fish), close to 90% of plants and
60% of fish have been described. However,
out of the most diverse group (arthropods),
less than 20% of species have been
described. The same goes for other inver-
tebrates, excluding mollusks. Groups such
as fungi, bacteria and virus are almost
unknown, since more than 98% of expect-
ed species are yet to be described.
2 BACKGROUND ON COSTA RICAN
BIODIVERSITY
The tropical zones of the American
continent, the Neotropics, contain more
species than other tropical regions of the
3 NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY PROGRAM
The country has made enormous
progress in this direction. During the last
four decades, the National Parks System
has been consolidated and complemented
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
by other types of protected areas; all
together, these represent 25% of the
national territory. The creation of the
Ministry of National Resources, Energy and
Mines (MIRENEM) —now Ministry of
Environment and Energy (MINAE). helped
integrate all activities related to the man-
agement and conservation of the country's
natural resources. Additionally, the concern
that these resources be managed ade-
quately led to national consensus to form a
suitable structure for this purpose, called
the National System of Conservation Areas
(SINAC). SINAC is under the direct respon-
sibility of MINAE, with support and partici-
pation of certain private organizations.
Moreover, Costa Rica has
assumed the task of developing the
National Biodiversity Program, aimed at
conserving most of the country's existing
biodiversity through the sustainable and
equitable utilization of these resources. The
program works according to the following
strategy:
• saving representative samples of Costa
Rica's biodiversity through the establish-
ment of protected wildlands administered
by SINAC — with support of several con-
servation NGOs and the National
System of Private Reserves;
• increasing knowledge about the existing
biodiversity, particularly within the pro-
tected areas. This process is carried out
by universities, the National Museum,
scientists and the National Biodiversity
Institute (INBio), among others;
• searching for sustainable and rational
uses of such biodiversity. Participants in
this search are institutions such as the
Clodomiro Picado Institute, the Tropical
Agronomical Center of Research and
Education (CATIE). INBio and several
universities, among others.
NOTE: This national program is based on
the framework defined at the international
level in "The Global Biodiversity Strategy"
(WRI, IUCN, UNEP, 1992) and the June
1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development ("Earth
Summit"), celebrated in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil.
4 BIOPROSPECTING AND
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
A primary premise to the mission
of INBio is that biodiversity will be con-
served only if the areas protected generate
enough intellectual and economic income
to sustain conservation efforts and to offset
revenue foregone from other potential
uses. One way to generate this kind of intel-
lectual and economic income is through
bioprospecting. An express goal of INBio is
to use bioprospecting to "generate income
from Costa Rica's conservation areas so as
to contribute to Costa Rica's wild land man-
agement costs" as well as to the country's
GNP.
Profiting from biodiversity
resources in this way is conditioned on the
Costa Rican government's assertion of
property rights over the resources.
Intellectual property rights for "improved
genetic and biochemical resources" have
existed for decades. Ownership interests in
unimproved genetic resources, however
traditionally have been understood in the
context of the "common heritage doctrine".
The essence of the common heritage doc-
trine is that wild species are considered
"ownerless, open-access resources".
Bioprospecting involves "wild resources
with commercial potential," placing the col-
lected specimens somewhere in between
an intellectual property rights system and a
property rights system based on the com-
mon heritage doctrine. To accommodate
the type of resource valuable bioprospect-
ing, the Biodiversity Convention affirms a
country's national sovereignty over its bio-
diversity resources.
The Convention also asserts, how-
ever, that source countries are obliged to
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: INBIO
401
facilitate access to their biodiversity
resources, while all countries-owners of
biodiversity resources as well as benefici-
aries-are obliged to share the economic
benefits from biodiversity. It is on this basis
that INBio, vested with the authority over
Costa Rica's biodiversity-rich Conservation
Areas, has been able to halt what had been
a one-way bioprospecting process, and
transform the process into a two-way com-
mercial exchange, allowing Costa Rica as
the source country to profit from its natural
biodiversity resources.
In addition to profiting from facilitat-
ing the commercial transfer of biodiversity
resources in a non-destructive manner,
INBio also is able to profit from the value it
can add to a party's bioprospecting efforts.
The National Biodiversity Inventory and the
trained INBio staff transform haphazard
bioprospecting into an efficient, organized,
and focused endeavour. This type of
arrangement has been captured in contrac-
tual relationships between INBio and par-
ties such as pharmaceutical and biotech-
nological companies interested in utilizing
Costa Rica's biodiversity resources.
Significantly, INBio is "fully empowered by
the Costa Rican government to enter into
contracts and agreements with national
and international institutions and individu-
als".
5 MODEL COMMERCIAL AGREEMENTS
In September, 1991, INBio and
US-based pharmaceutical company Merck,
Sharp and Dohme, Inc. entered into a land-
mark two-year contractual relationship
anchored on sustainably developing Costa
Rica's rich biodiversity resources through
bioprospecting. Under the terms of the
deal, which the parties renewed in 1993
and again in 1996, INBio provided Merck
with "chemical extracts from wild plants,
insects, and micro-organisms" primarily
from Costa Rica's conservation areas.
Using these chemical extracts, Merck
hoped to develop or find clues that would
lead to developing a new medicine. In
exchange, Merck paid INBio an up-front fee
of US$1 million, donated US$135,000
worth of equipment for use in chemical
extraction, and sent two natural products
chemists to set up the facilities necessary
for chemical extraction and to train INBio
scientists in the extraction process. In addi-
tion, INBio would receive a royalty from any
commercially marketable drug developed
from a compound it provided. Although the
percentage of the royalty is confidential, it
is widely believed to be between one and
three percent of net sales. Because drug
development usually takes as long as ten to
fifteen years and costs between US$300 to
400 million, the possibility of a royalty obvi-
ously is considered a long-term, prospec-
tive benefit of the contract.
INBio and Costa Rica benefit in
several other ways from this contract. One
is the relationship with Merck is non-exclu-
sive in that INBio is permitted to enter into
agreements with other pharmaceutical
companies, or other parties interested in
gaining access to Costa Rica's biodiversity.
A second is that ten percent of the up-front
fee and fifty percent of any royalties go to
the Costa Rican government's national
park fund to support conservation efforts.
This aspect of the relationship is significant,
because it implies that conservation of the
biodiversity resources is valuable in the
market. Contracts that create a demand for
species samples also create collection-
related jobs for Costa Ricans. Although less
tangible than the above benefits, this deal
also has generated positive public relations
for Merck; in 1993, the National Wildlife
Federation bestowed its Environmental
Achievement Award upon Merck for its
work toward sustainable development as
represented by its relationship with INBio.
Capitalizing on the positive expo-
sure from its relationship with Merck, INBio
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
has since entered into several contractual
relationships with other companies. The set
of criteria used in the Merck agreement is
the same for every new agreement there-
after: access, compensation, transfer of
technology, and training, and sustainable
uses. If the company does not meet one or
more of these criteria, then the potential
research agreement is not carried out.
Source: Hunter, Christopher J,
Sustainable bioprospecting: Using private
contracts and international legal principles
and policies to conserve raw medicinal
materials, Boston College Environmental
Affairs Law Review, Newton, fall 1997.
6 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND
ISSUES
be replicated in other countries? What
are the legal, physical and other barriers
and opportunities?
• Can bioprospecting agreements and sim-
ilar mechanisms serve conservation
goals in other developing countries? Is it
or could it be a sufficient solution to con-
servation issues in other parts of the
world?
• Could the INBio model of bioprospecting
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: MARKET BASED CONSERVATION (FUNDECOR) 403
SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: MARKET BASED CONSERVATION
(FUNDECOR)
Guide: Marcela Ramfrez
Rapporteurs: Frederique van Zomeren, Carolina Mauri, Lawrence Pratt
1 INTRODUCTION
In the beginning of the 1980's, the
Costa Rican government decided to protect
national primary forest. Instead of regula-
tion, it created market-based incentives.
The government developed a system of
environmental services payment, based on
the economic theory of externalities.
Among others, the system focuses on
water and biodiversity protection. The gov-
ernmental funds improve forest owners'
income through a market forest policy that
acknowledges natural values provided by
forest to society.
The Foundation for the
Conservation of the Central Volcanic
Mountain Chain (FUNDECOR) is a non-
profit organization whose mission is to
maintain and protect forests, biodiversity
and the sustainable use of natural heritage
in the Central Volcanic Mountain Range
(Central Volcanic Conservation Area -
CVCA).
FUNDECOR's strategy for carrying
out this mission is to define objectives and
policies for protection of natural heritage in
the form of national parks, and develop
financially and environmentally sustainable
activities in the buffer zones. This strategy
made it possible for FUNDECOR to rapidly
reduce loss of natural forest during the
1992-1996 period, reducing the rate of
deforestation from 7000 to 1000 hectares a
year. In addition, the foundation became
established as an organization with world-
class standards, dedicated to the design
and implementation of financial and envi-
ronmental technologies that contribute to
the sustainability of development efforts.
FUNDECOR's principal orientation
is in the following areas:
National Parks:
• Formulate management and administra-
tion plans
• Establish and demarcate the boundaries
of park areas
• Improve protection programs and infra-
structure
• Promote financial self-sufficiency, offer-
ing local communities opportunities for
improving and participating in profits
from park-generated activities.
Buffer Zones:
• Sustainable management of forests
• Reforestation, protection and regenera-
tion of forest cover
• Promote the profitability of forest conser-
vation and sustainable logging through
the application of management systems
ensuring that tree planting is successful
and impact from timber extraction is min-
imal
2 FUNDECOR AND MARKET BASED
CONSERVATION IN COSTA RICA: A
GLOBAL INNOVATIVE APPROACH
FUNDECOR had designed a strat-
egy of creating profitable green market
alternatives for forest owners, respecting
and strengthening at the same time the
existing property structure of small-scale
forest dwellings. In doing so, FUNDECOR
has empowered forest owners not only to
take advantage of the new emerging mar-
kets for global commons and increase their
income, but most of all to make their own
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
educated decisions about the forest as an
asset for their future social and economic
development.
This incorporation of informal pro-
ductive activities—of Costa Rican small-
scale forest owners—to the mainstream
local and global economic realms was pos-
sible through the linkages created by FUN-
DECOR between the small forest dwellers
and the local international communities.
These linkages were established at three
levels:
• With the international community via joint
implementation projects designed to
reduce global climate change emissions
or fix carbon in forest resources;
• With the local mainstream production of
clean energy via participation in hydro
electrical production; and
• Third, to global corporations via produc-
tion of sustainable wood to supply
transnational forest industries and
access to global standards like the
Green Seal certification of the Forest
Stewardship Council.
Particularly, FUNDECOR laid the
bases for the creation of a whole new mar-
ket for carbon sinks. The CARFIX project is
recognized as the world's first joint imple-
mentation project for the international trade
of emissions reductions. Likewise, FUN-
DECOR designed and organized the Costa
Rican Office for Joint Implementation
through which the Costa Rican
Government sold US$2.000.000 carbon
offsets to the Government of Norway, an
event that showed the world viability of a
global market for environmental services.
The strategy followed by FUN-
DECOR to preserve the Costa Rican forest
has shown as well that empowering citi-
zens, and particularly forest owners, to take
control of their own development is the best
approach for forest conservation and devel-
opment. Among the activities jointly imple-
mented by FUNDECOR with forest owners,
it is important to highlight the following:
• Preparation of sustainable forest man-
agement plans, transfer of technology,
and provision of technical support to
guarantee the sustainable harvesting of
wood.
• Provides forest owners with an advance
cash flow for their wood production
through an advance wood purchase sys-
tem designed and executed by FUN-
DECOR
• Sells wood production in timber auctions
designed to guarantee the forest owners
the highest market price for their har-
vests.
• Cooperates with investors in hydro elec-
trical production by protecting the water-
sheds in which their projects are located
through the financial compensation of
forest owners that are located in the sur-
roundings of the hydro electrical plants.
• Executes environmental education pro-
grams with elementary and high school
students from public and private educa-
tional centers throughout the country.
• Creates market mechanisms to add
more value to sustainable managed
forests.
• Helps consolidate the property rights of
forest dwellers through the registration of
their lands in the National Property
Registry.
In terms of the people affected by
the initiatives of FUNDECOR, the institution
has subscribed 450 contracts with small
forest dwellers to provide technical assis-
tance to manage their forest under the
strictest standards of environmental sus-
tainability. The total extension of the land
under FUNDECOR's supervision is 40.000
hectares. The direct beneficiaries of
FUNDECOR's projects are approximately
2.600 people, considering that the average
family of forest owners has 5.2 members.
The indirect beneficiaries of FUNDECOR's
activities include 40.000 persons that live in
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: MARKET BASED CONSERVATION (FUNDECOR) 405
FUNDECOR's area of influence, as well as
350.000 international and domestic tourists
that visit the Costa Rican national parks in
the conservation area every year. Other
indirect beneficiaries are the Costa Rican
sustainable forest industry, and the 50% of
the Costa Rican population that lives in the
Central Valley and that benefit from the
water and energy services provided by the
programs designed by FUNDECOR and
implemented in the region by the private
sector.
At the same time, local and foreign
investors in hydro electrical production
have benefited from FUNDECOR's project
to pay the environmental services that for-
est owners provide by feeding the water-
sheds. The producers pay into a fund that
compensates landholders for maintaining
forest cover. This serves a two-fold pur-
pose: preserving the forest and guarantee-
ing the long-term sustainability of private
investments in hydro electrical production.
FUNDECOR has also helped the Costa
Rican State design a system to manage the
payment of these environmental services
provided by privately owned forests. Finally,
because the environmental services of pre-
serving biodiversity and carbon sinks have
a global character, the beneficiaries are
also global and can be quantified as the
total population of the world that benefits
from these two privately produced goods.
3 STARKE'S FOREST MANAGEMENT
FARM
FUNDECOR provides technical
assistance by developing a general forest
management plan. To start with, all trees,
rivers, hills etc. are mapped. Protected
zones were created near rivers (15 meters)
and hills (>30 %, 50 meters) to prevent and
control erosion. Secondly, the different for-
est species were studied. This included
both flora and fauna, in quantity and quali-
ty. Then trees were marked. It is only
allowed to harvest 60 % of the trees with a
diameter of 60 cm or more. Rare species
are also marked, and will not be harvested.
The next step is an assessment of caus-
able environmental damage. Research will
be done on the exact location of the cut tree
and the access roads that need to be built
to transport the wood. Heavy equipment is
used for the transportation, because no
other means are feasible. The whole
process will take approximately 2 months
for 2 technicians and 3 co-workers.
The forest owner receives an envi-
ronmental services payment of 45 USD per
hectare per year. The forest owner only has
to pay 50 USD per hectare to FUNDECOR
once. The price of the wood will be higher
as the wood will be certified by FSC. Every
12 to 14 years there will be a harvest. The
profit is about 1000 USD per m3. The over-
all result is a sustainable forest reservation
and a higher income for the private forest
owners.
4 FUNDECOR's FUTURE
Within the framework of prevailing
currents in sustainable development, FUN-
DECOR stands out as a world leader in the
field of new environmental technologies
and financial mechanisms for conservation
of natural resources and biodiversity.
The key to FUNDECOR's strategy
is creativity in generating markets that
make conservation profitable for the own-
ers of forests. The foundation is also
notable at the world level for its capacity in
conceiving new environmental services
that give substance to the concept of joint
implementation. One example is Project
CARFIX, the first in the world to sell the
carbon-fixing capacity of forest.
Currently FUNDECOR is preparing
to extend its activities to the Tortuguero
Conservation Area, and is designing a
strategy for transfer of its technologies to
the Costa Rican State, particularly to the
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Ministry of Environment and Energy. In
addition, these technologies will be made
available to other private organizations and
NGOs as a means of extending their appli-
cation to new areas of the country.
FUNDECOR also places its knowl-
edge and technologies at the disposition of
other nations interested in replicating these
experiences in the field of conservation and
the development of environmental services.
5 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND
ISSUES
• To many in Costa Rica and elsewhere,
the activities carried out by FUNDECOR
are controversial because they involve
promoting economic activities on sensi-
tive lands. It is at the heart of the fight in
the "conservation versus sustainable
use" debate. To some, these lands
should be in the National Park system
since they are biologically important. Is
what FUNDECOR does a perverse sub-
stitute to the role of the state in protect-
ing sensitive lands? Could it or should it
be a viable complementary strategy?
How and why?
• Much of the income flow to the landown-
ers has come from international sources.
This is appropriate, since the compensa-
tion is in exchange for protection of glob-
al commons (climate change and biodi-
versity protection). However, the local
forests provide a great deal of local value
in terms of scenic beauty, water capture,
local climate control, etc. To date, a
handful of hydroelectric operators are the
only ones compensating landowners for
maintaining forest. What other parts of
local society should be involved in this
type of payment activity? Why, and for
what specific benefit?
How does FUNDECOR enforce their
agreements with the local landowners?
What could be a good sort of agree-
ment? How does FUNDECOR guarantee
to the international partners their mis-
sion? What is the office of FUNDECOR
and how many people are working
there? How does FUNECOR guarantee
that the levels of preservation are kept at
a desired level?
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SUMMARY REPORT OF SITE VISIT: ECOTOURISM
Guide: Enid Chaverri
Rapporteurs: Carolina Mauri, Lawrence Pratt, and Neil Emmott
1 INTRODUCTION
The "Centre Neotropico
SarapiquiS" is a relatively new effort to cre-
ate a place for further conservation of
nature and eco-development, in combina-
tion with sustainable tourism. It was recog-
nized as an important effort, and was offi-
cially name a Public Interest Project" by the
Costa Rican Government in 1997. The
Center is an integrated ecotourism destina-
tion featuring lodging, meals, nature
reserve, museum, botanical gardens, an
on-site archaeological excavation, and a
number of other interesting features.
The SarapiquiS complex is located
at the border of the Tirimbina Biological
Reserve in La Virgen de Sarapiquf, 85 kilo-
meters from San Jose. On this side of the
foothills of the Cordillera Central mountain
range, the Sarapiqui River flows past the
towns and villages of the Sarapiqui region,
creating a superb riverine corridor for a
diversity of wildlife. For centuries, and per-
haps millennia, this region has been home
to a number of different indigenous peo-
ples. More recently, this area has seen fair-
ly rapid growth in environmentally oriented
tourism. The rich wildlife, relatively intact
ecosystems and accessibility to tourists
from different points in the country have
made it an important "ecotourism" destina-
tion.
Centra Neotropico Sarapiqui's, is
modeled on a pre-Colombian village, and
was designed and developed as an eco-
model project using ecological sustainable
technologies (solar energy, use of local nat-
ural materials, and an innovative wetland
waste-water treatment installation, etc...)
2 SARAPIQUIS ECOLODGE
The architecture of the project is
inspired by the indigenous pre-Columbian
construction techniques of the region. The
round palenques (or ranches) are covered
by a traditional thatched roof of palm
leaves. The palenque structure is central to
the SarapiquiS concept: the story of nature
and its relation to mankind.
The ecolodge consists of four
palenque structures. Three contain guest
rooms, and the fourth is the central building
with the lobby, restaurant, bar, gourmet cof-
fee bar, photo gallery, administration, and
gift shop.
The three guest units are divided
into eight spacious and deluxe rooms, joint-
ed within the turret reaching an impressive
height of 18 meters. All the units are locat-
ed in the gardens and orchards of the prop-
erty. Many of the rooms have an outstand-
ing view of the rainforest canopy; while oth-
ers are nestled in the gardens.
3 TIRIMBINA BIOLOGICAL RESERVE
The Tirimbina Biological Reserve
is key to the entire concept of the Centra
Neotropico Sarapiqui.
The 300-hectare Tirimbina Biological
Reserve is one of the last remaining stands
of mid-elevation, premontane rainforest in
northeastern Costa Rica. The reserve is
teeming with the diversity of botanical and
zoological species characteristic of such
ecosystems, and provides an important
component of the biological corredors that
link habitats for regional wildlife. Tirimbina
has been the site of numerous biological
research projects and serves as a living
laboratory for study, as well as an accessi-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
ble day trip from different parts of the coun-
try.
An island with lush tropical vegeta-
tion lies between Centre Neotropico
SarapiquiS and the Tirimbina Biological
Reserve in the middle of the Sarapiqui
River. Varying in size with the volume of the
water rushing off the Barva volcano water-
shed, this island offers an easily navigated
introduction to a tropical forest ecosystem
through a self-guided tour. The river itself is
a rich and vital corridor for tropical wildlife.
A 260m long suspension bridge connects
the Centra Neotropico SarapiquiS to the
Tirimbina Reserve.
Several trails cross the reserve for
access by researchers and visitors. These
trails approach areas of high interest for
wildlife watching or viewing highlights of
rainforest biodiversity. Because it is a pro-
tected area, they are designed to create the
least negative impact possible on delicate
ecosystems. The company of a trained nat-
uralist or other staff member of Centra
Neotropico Sarapiqui'S is required, except
for researchers with permits.
Centre Neotropico Sarapiqui'S
offers field based education in nature histo-
ry for adults and children, emphasizing the
interrelatedness of individual systems and
species in the natural word. The Tirimbina
Biological Reserve is a place for illumina-
tion of some of the mysteries of the rainfor-
est and for experiencing the innate
response of humans to wildness and natu-
ral beauty.
4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK "ALMA
ATA"
The Park "Alma Ata" at the Centra
Neotropico SarapiquiS is the first archaeo-
logical park of its kind in Costa Rica. The
Park is set in the orange orchard of Centra
Neotropico SarapiquiS, where in October
1999, a large exquisite Pre-Columbian
tomb field of at least 600 years old was dis-
covered.
The Park has been developed in
close coordination with Costa Rican
National Museum.
Four major themes are exhibited in
the park :
•Theme 1 :15th century Costa Rica:
Reconstruction of housing, streets and
marketplaces of the indigenous village
• Theme 2 : Pre-Columbian Stone
Sculptures
•Theme 3 : Pre-Columbian Burial Field.
Excavation site in process including
"casita" of archaeologist with exhibition of
tools, materials, etc...
• Theme 4 : Petroglyphs. Reconstruction of
a rocky landscape with petroglyphs.
Extensive information is provided
all along the trails in the park. Landscape
Foundation Belgium, owner of the Centra
Neotropico, has had on staff since May
2000 two very skilled Costa Rican archae-
ologists: Anayency Herrera for the excava-
tion of the tombs, and Javier Artavia for the
reconstruction of the 15*n century village,.
All the works has been done under super-
vision of the National Museum of Costa
Rica.
5 RAINFOREST MUSEUM
A 1000 m2 museum will be open-
ing in April 2002. It will be the largest on-
site-museum of rainforest ecology and pre-
Columbian history of Central America and
will include a 60-seat theater A dynamic
and contemporary audio and visual con-
cept that makes use of state-of-the-art
technology and presentation techniques
will present the main themes of the muse-
um
• Biodiversity
• Sounds of the rainforest
• Pre-Columbian cultures
• Conservation
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: ECOTOURISM 409
• The endangered rainforest
6 SARAPIQUIS GARDENS
The gardens of Centra Neotropico
SarapiquiS are designed to demonstrate
and to reflect the richness of the rainforest.
They also link several aspects of Centra
Neotropico. It is an introduction to the
Tirimbina Forest, illustrating topics present-
ed in the SarapiqufS Museum, and also an
education in botany and horticulture. The
Gardens are comprised of four distinct ele-
ments:
• Plants of historical or economic value,
including medicinal and edible.
• Tropical plants both ornamental and vital
to wildlife.
• Natural botanical succession.
• Reforestation of agricultural land, as a
transition to the Tirimbina rainforest
Each element is expressed by a
different design:
• The first garden is formal, with several
specific themes. It is easily accessible for
casual visits or study.
• Around the main building, gardens are
less formal, with an emphasis on plants
attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.
• In the old orange orchard, the natural
succession of epiphytes, orchids, ferns
and other genera demonstrate a lesson
in tropical ecology.
The orchard remains in use, however
no longer with an emphasis on production.
Grass continues to be mowed, however
epiphytism will have full freedom to develop
(orchids, ferns, etc), eventually destroying
the orchard in a natural way, but giving dur-
ing those years a splendid opportunity to
explain ecology.
The portion of land on the flood-
plain below the buildings is partially culti-
vated for food and is partially under refor-
estation. Fast - growing species are planted
here to prepare a microclimate for later
woody species of a higher biological inter-
est. Special attention is paid to woody
species of the Rubiaceae and
Acanthaceae as research collections will
be used in major research projects of the
National Botanic Garden of Belgium. Part
of the land is used for wastewater treatment
and purifications plants using living plants.
7 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND
ISSUES
• Ecotourism in general generates income
that helps protect endangered ecosys-
tems. This is certainly the case in Costa
Rica. Forest and other sensitive habitat
that would have been destroyed for agri-
cultural use remains intact due to the
value they provide to the tourism sector.
Today, Costa Rica receives more than
1.1 million tourist per year. Nearly all
come with the expectation of seeing
nature and participating in a "natural"
experience in the wild. In response to
this demand, there has been a rapid
growth in tourism infrastructure (particu-
larly hotels and lodges). Increased
demand places increased pressure on
remaining habitat. How should Costa
Rica or other countries take advantage
of demand for protected habitat to build
healthy tourism industries (that create
jobs, income and educational opportuni-
ties for needy rural communities), while
still maintaining the integrity of the
resources tourists want to visit?
• Centra Neotropico SarapiquiS is but one
model being used. Is it a good model? In
what ways yes, and in what ways no?
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410 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
411
SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
Guide: Ana Victoria Rojas
Rapporteurs: Carolina Mauri & Lawrence Pratt
1 INTRODUCTION
Well aware that millions of biodiver-
sity-rich, forested acres lie in private hands,
conservation groups in Latin America are
developing creative ways to encourage
landowners to safeguard the forests they
own. With help from The Nature
Conservancy (TNC), the Environmental and
Natural Resources Law Center (CEDARE-
NA by its Spanish acronym), first estab-
lished a conservation easement in Costa
Rica eight years ago and now has fostered
60 contracts with private landowners, pro-
tecting some 7,000 acres. "Conservation
easements," are self-designed legal agree-
ments in which a landowner voluntarily lim-
its development and other activities on his
or her property. While conservation ease-
ments are still new in the region, they are
growing in popularity.
CEDARENA experts are helping
landowners survey their acreage and
devise a management plan that might, for
example, keep much of the property in
untouched forest, while permitting a few
homes, low-impact farming, or sustainable
logging on another portion. The agreed-
upon plan is written up as a contract and
transferred to anyone who might purchase
the land, right along with the deed to the
property.
2 CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
An increasingly common legal tool
for land owners desiring to maintain certain
portions of their land in an undeveloped
state is the conservation easement, which
is granted to a nonprofit land conservation
organization or a government agency, giv-
ing that grantee the right to enforce the
terms of the easement. The potential posi-
tive income and estate tax benefits of
donating a qualified conservation ease-
ment to an appropriate grantee, or possible
revenues from the sale of an easement for
lands with exceptionally high natural
resource values, make the mechanism one
worthy of consideration for individuals and
businesses. A reduction in property taxes
may also result from the restrictions
imposed by the easement.
A conservation easement is a rela-
tively simple and very flexible legal mecha-
nism by which property owners voluntarily,
and in writing; agree to certain use restric-
tions on their properties. These agreements
may be between two or more individuals or
organizations and may relate to several
properties simultaneously.
Under an easement, landowners
still own and use their land and can sell it or
pass it on to their heirs, with future
landowners bound by the easement's
terms. The grantee remains responsible for
monitoring the property to make sure the
terms are followed.
No zoning ordinances are required
and no governmental intervention is neces-
sary, other than the filing of a simple legal
document with the Civil Registry (this is the
Costa Rican national property registry).
These voluntary use restrictions "run with
the land" until such time as all property
owners involved in the easement mutually
agree to a different arrangement. No modi-
fication or revocation of the agreement can
be binding unless the parties subsequently
file another written document memorializ-
ing the agreed upon change(s) or nullifying
the easement in its entirety. In the event of
sale and/ or subdivision of a property, the
easement is not affected.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Lands of local significance may
also generate funds raised by local land
trusts, which purchase conservation ease-
ments when a landowner is willing to main-
tain land in a natural state, and local donors
ante up adequate funds to conserve a local
natural landmark. Land trusts are thus
uniquely capable of tapping local concern
for maintaining scenic views or protecting
wildlife habitat.
Purchase of conservation ease-
ments by governmental agencies is
increasingly common, although funding is
usually reserved for land that has extreme-
ly high natural resource values.
3 THE EXAMPLE OF MONTEVERDE'S
CONSERVATION EASEMENT
Fore example, many residents of
the Monteverde community are advancing
an initiative designed to provide corridors,
or "stepping stones" of natural habitats
between larger existing protected areas.
This initiative, named Enlace Verde or
"Green Link," was initiated in 1994 during a
Monteverde Town Meeting. Initially, the idea
of easements arose as an option that would
allow private landowners to effectively
determine the zoning of the community
neighborhoods and common areas. A vol-
unteer commission was established, and it
was there that the idea of linking reserves
was incorporated into the plan. It has
evolved into a broadly supported initiative
through which local landowners may dedi-
cate all or discrete parts of their properties
to conservation easements.
At this point, the biological corridor
has become a central focus of many
landowners, and is one point that everyone
has agreed they would like to incorporate
into their easements. During a July 1997
meeting of property owners, it was unani-
mously agreed that by establishing conser-
vation easements to protect the forest cor-
ridor on some ten contiguous properties
bordering or near to the Guacimal and
Maquina Rivers, the community could
make a strong and lasting outward demon-
stration of inner beliefs about the impor-
tance of conserving certain critical areas of
forest for current and future generations.
The Enlace Verde Commission,
and CEDARENA, embrace the opportunity
to be leaders in demonstrating thoughtful
land use planning and conservation of crit-
ical habitats through the use of easements,
as well as the opportunity to demonstrate
through example the inclusion of creative
and positive-focused provisions for moni-
toring and dispute resolution. For example,
monitoring provisions for some properties
will include students from the local high
schools' science programs, and dispute
resolution clauses include mediation and
arbitration channels involving community
members and NGOs rather than the tradi-
tional judicial processes which can be
expensive and drag out for years without
resolution.
4 CONSERVATION EASEMENTS AND
THE AERIAL TRAM
The Tram's developers spent sev-
eral years investigating possible sites to
locate this new concept in conservation-ori-
ented tourism. They selected the current
site because of the extraordinary biological
richness of the area and its proximity to
San Jose (approximately one hour by car
or bus). The site is old growth forest adja-
cent to Braulio Carrillo National Park, and is
located in one of the most important corre-
dors of biological diversity in Central
America. The site is officially located in the
Park's buffer area, however other buffer
areas (those adjacent to the Tram site and
in the surrounding area) are under pres-
sure from agricultural and other less envi-
ronmentally friendly tourism development.
The Tram's developers recognized
the inseparable relationship between the
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: CONSERVATION EASEMENTS 413
health of the ecosystem in which they are
operating and the success of their busi-
ness. With CEDARENA they established a
conservation easement to ensure that a
broad area of primary forest is protected in
perpetuity to simultaneously protect the
natural resources and help ensure the
long-term success of their investment.
5 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND
ISSUES
• Conservation easements have existed in
many industrialized countries for at least
two decades. Only recently have devel-
oping countries begun to use them as
conservation instruments. What are the
necessary conditions for a country to use
this mechanism? How transferable are
the concepts?
• Is there a potential role for conservation
easements in environmental enforcement
and compliance? Either through enforce-
ment of the agreements, or in remedial
actions?
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: WILDLIFE RESCUE (Zoo AVE) 415
SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: WILDLIFE RESCUE (ZOO AVE)
Guide: Carolina Mauri
Rapporteurs: Peyton M. Sturges & Lawrence Pratt
1 INTRODUCTION
Zoo Ave Wildlife Conservation Park
is one of three wildlife projects owned and
operated by the Nature Restoration
Foundation (NRF). It is an officially recog-
nized Costa Rican wildlife rescue center
and premier zoological facility. The park
hosts over 60,000 visitors every year, the
vast majority of which (95%) are Costa
Rican Nationals. Since 1990, Zoo Ave has
worked to preserve native flora and fauna
through wildlife rehabilitation, captive
breeding, and release of native species
and operation of the zoological garden. The
Zoo itself is designed to enlighten and edu-
cate people about the importance of Costa
Rican wildlife to the tropical ecosystems
and their vital role in the global environment
through interactive exhibits, wildlife rehabil-
itation and release of native fauna.
2 RESCUE AND REHABILITATION
PROGRAM
Zoo Ave accepts orphaned, injured
and former pet animals at the Center for
Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation (CWRR)
located on the Zoo grounds in La Garita de
Alajuela.They have also received a number
of confiscated animals at Playa San
Josecito Center for Release in the Golfo
Dulce region. In 1999 alone, they accepted
almost 600 animals. The vast majority of
these animals (77%) were birds, primarily
psitticine species (parrots). The most com-
mon species donated include red-lored
amazons (Amazona autumnalis), crimson-
fronted conures (Aratinga finschi) and
orange-chinned parakeets (Brotogeris
jugularis). Other species of parrots are also
donated including scarlet macaws (Ara
macao) and a variety of other amazon and
conure species. Other birds donated
include a healthy number of owl species
including tropical screech owls (Otus choli-
ba) and ferruginous pygmy owls
(Glaucidium brasilianum) and a variety of
songbirds.
Almost 20% of donations to Zoo
Ave's Clinic are reptiles, primarily green
iguanas (Iguana iguana) and boa constric-
tors (Boa constrictor) and a variety of turtle
species. A great majority of these animals
are wild individuals that have arrived at
someone's house or barn and been caught.
In these cases, the animals are given an
examination and released at appropriate
nearby sites. Animals that cannot be
released immediately for one reason or
another (injury, for example) are placed in
the rehabilitation or reproduction programs.
In addition to public donations, Zoo Ave
receives a number of animals through gov-
ernment confiscations. Each year, around
Easter Week, the government does a mas-
sive nationwide roundup of illegally cap-
tured animals.
The remaining 4% of donations are
mammals including monkeys, sloths and
squirrels. Zoo Ave regularly cares for
orphaned baby howler monkeys (Alouatta
palliata) that are hand fed and cared for
until they are old enough to be released.
These animals require an enormous
amount of care and attention in order to
assure both good health and adequate
socialization with others of their species.
Zoo Ave is fortunate to currently have a
group of babies who are being raised
together. This should assure appropriate
social bonding and a better chance at living
a natural life in the wild. The dedication of
the Zoo staff and consulting veterinarian
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
has produced strong, healthy monkeys
from malnourished orphans.
3 CAPTIVE BREEDING
The NRF has successfully bred
and/or released over 40 species of native
Costa Rican birds, reptiles and mammals.
Breeding efforts are focused on threat-
ened, endangered or otherwise sensitive
species such as the scarlet macaw (Ara
macao), great green macaw (Ara
ambigua), green iguana (Iguana iguana),
and Central American squirrel monkey
(Saimiri oerstedii). All of the animals
housed at the Zoo are provided the room,
appropriate nesting material and nutrition
in order to successfully breed and rear
young. The majority of these young are in
turn released into appropriate habitats.
4 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND
ISSUES
• Zoo Ave is a private, independently
financed effort. If not for the generosity of
the founders, and the patronage of visi-
tors, this type of effort would be unable
to sustain itself financially. How viable a
mechanism is this in other countries?
What alternative mechanisms could be
considered to finance and sustain this
important activity?
• The focus of Zoo Ave is on so-called
"charismatic megafauna" (i.e. big, excit-
ing animals). What are the ethical or
practical considerations in excluding
other endangered species? What type of
an approach should be taken for these
other forms of endangered biodiversity?
5 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
5.1 Captive Breeding and Release
Programs
5.1.1 Captive Breeding of Birds
The scarlet macaw-breeding pro-
gram is designed to provide birds with suf-
ficient genetic variability to establish a rein-
troduced population at the Golfo Dulce
Center for Release site. The NRF's Scarlet
Macaw Conservation Program is currently
underway and 28 birds have thus far been
released. A new breeding facility was con-
structed in July of 1998 and now houses
the potential for 40 plus pairs of breeding
psittacines. The first full year of activity in
the new facility has shown 14 pairs make
an attempt and 8 pairs which have suc-
ceeded in producing young including three
active pairs of scarlet macaws and two
active pairs of great green macaws. The
success of the Breeding Area should only
improve in the years to come. Captive
breeding at Zoo Ave involves a combination
of artificial incubation, hand feeding and
parent reared chicks. In order to encourage
multiple clutching (the laying of more than
one set of eggs), the first eggs of the sea-
son are often pulled from the parents and
chick are hand raised. Subsequent clutches
may also be pulled due to problems or poor
parenting abilities with some birds.
However, efforts are made to leave at least
one clutch per season to the parents. This
encourages a more natural process (and
ultimately produces bigger, stronger
chicks).
Other psittacine species such as
white-crowned parrots (Pionus senilis), yel-
low-naped amazons (Amazona auropalliata),
and aztec conures (Aratinga nana) are also
captive bred in this facility. Chicks are usually
parent raised but may be pulled for various
reasons (such as sickness or poor parenting)
and hand raised. As with all of Zoo Ave's cap-
tive breeding efforts, these chicks are placed
in appropriate specific groups and released
into appropriate habitats.
5.1.2 Captive Breeding of Reptiles
Each year Zoo Ave progress
towards better hatchling numbers and sur-
vival. Zoo Ave hopes to in the coming years
to reproduce every native species in the
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: WILDLIFE RESCUE (Zoo AVE) 417
Zoo successfully. All offspring are immedi-
ately placed on a release course. In the
case of most, this involves staying at the
zoo for a few months to grow up a bit, to
counteract the predation pressures hatch-
lings have in the wild.
The green iguana (Iguana iguana)
breeding program has been very success-
ful. The eggs were artificially incubated
through a variety of methods in order to
establish which is the most successful and
practical. This process established future
protocols that will maximize the iguana-
hatching rate. They will eventually be
released at the Bosque Escondido site, or
on the Zoo grounds.
In addition to iguanas, the Zoo
hatched 39 baby turtles of various species
including mud turtles (Kinosternon scorpi-
oides), Central American Wood Turtles
(Rhinoclemmyspulcherrima), Costa Rican
Sliders (Trachemys ornata), and our exotic
African Spur-Thighed Tortoise (Geochelone
sulcata). Zoo Ave also currently has multi-
ple clutches have Snapping Turtle
(Chelydra serpentina) and Black River
Turtle (Rhinoclemmys funerea) eggs.
Recently one of the Black River Turtles laid
a whopping 12 eggs... a record number
documented for this species. The new
hatchlings of native species are currently
being housed in the turtle kinder where
they are provided shelter and food until
large enough to be released.
5.1.3 Captive Breeding of Monkeys
All four species of native monkey at
the Zoo have been actively breeding. Thus
far both of the free-roaming female-mantled
howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) have
given birth to healthy offspring. Periodically,
males are kept in an open-air enclosure to
which the females are freely able to visit.
While the males are unable to leap out of
the enclosure, the females seem to have no
problem coming and going as they please.
5.1.4 Release and Reintroduction of
At Zoo Ave there are three proba-
ble destinations for donated animals:
Release, Exhibition or Captive Breeding.
Immediate release is realized for those ani-
mals, which come to the Wildlife Clinic with-
out injury and free of behavioral abnormal-
ities (i.e. are not former pets). Other ani-
mals require medical or other care prior to
release. Once these animals are free of
clinical problems, eating on their own and
otherwise healthy, the decision is made as
to their appropriate dispensation.
Some animals are quickly deter-
mined non-releasable because of injury or
behavioral problems. Many of the breeding
parrots are former pets that have not
proven capable of behaving normally in a
group or have plucked their feathers to the
point where they are incapable of flight.
Additionally, some of the raptorial birds on
display here at the Zoo have fractured or
amputated wings and therefore cannot
function in the wild.
Other animals are retained at the
Zoo until release is deemed appropriate
and feasible. Most of the monkeys on dis-
play are former pets or orphaned animals.
Because of the complex social needs and
numerous logistical complications involved
in primate releases, most of these animals
must be housed for a period of time before
being considered for release.
Ideally, all physically and behav-
iorally capable animals are considered as
viable release candidates. Those, which
can be released promptly after clinical or
hand-rearing care is complete, are
released at one of three Zoo Ave sites: Zoo
Ave Wildlife Conservation Park, the Golfo
Dulce Center for Release or Bosque
Escondido Biological Reserve. Other
release candidates are housed appropri-
ately and care for until the appropriate facil-
ities, social groups and permits have been
established.
The Nature Restoration Foundation
(NRF) is the official home of the Scarlet
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Macaw Conservation Project that has the
objective to establish a population of free-
flying, reproducing macaws over the next
ten years. The site is located adjacent to
the recently established Piedras Blancas
National Park, therefore providing access
to appropriate habitat in an area where this
species once thrived. Birds released are
bred and raised at Zoo Ave and transferred
to the site for prerelease screening and
training.
The Center is also the site for vari-
ous other release efforts including the liber-
ation of various birds brought to the Center
for Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation by
private citizens and through government
confiscations during Easter Week and
throughout the year. Monitoring is taking
place on a variety of levels from behavioral
observations of pre-release and released
macaws to point count surveys for all parrot
species living in the valley.
Below is an interesting article on
the release process of Endangered
Species implemented by the Nature
Restoration Foundation (NRF).
5.2 Technical Report on NRF
Activities: Nature Restoration
Foundation's Center for Release,
Playa San Josecito, Costa Rica,
Field Report 1998-2001, by:
Jennifer Hilburn and Katie Higgins
Introduction: In 1998, the Nature
Restoration Foundation (NRF) acquired
property and began construction of cages
and housing for the implementation of its
Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) Conservation
Project. The Playa San Josecito Center for
Release (Centre de Liberation) is one of
three projects owned and operated by the
NRF in Costa Rica. The other two are Zoo
Ave Wildlife Conservation Park in la Garita
de Alajuela located in the Central Valley
and Bosque Escondido Biological Reserve
in the Nicoya Peninsula.
The Center for Release is located
in the Golfo Dulce area of southwestern
Costa Rica (08° 39.73N, 083° 15.30W)
within a 5-km2 valley bordering the 15,000-
hectare Piedras Blancas National Park. The
site is approximately 16 km north of the
small town of Golfito and can only be
reached via a 40-minute boat ride or 7 hour
hike over rough terrain. Rainfall (as report-
ed for Piedras Blancas National Park) is
estimated at 5,500 mm to 6,000 mm with a
peak rainfall in September of 900 mm. The
park and surrounding areas are classified
as wet tropical forest with evergreen vege-
tation. The climate, topography and vegeta-
tion closely resembles that of Corcovado
National Park which is the home of the
nearest extant Scarlet macaw population.
Due to its isolated location, there are few
surrounding human inhabitants, some of
whom are employed by NRF to assist in
construction and maintenance of the
Center and field work including feeding sta-
tion observations, fruit collecting, browsing
and radio tracking.
The Center is in its third year of
existence and in its second year with the
Scarlet Macaw Conservation Project. This
project's long-term objective is to reestab-
lish a third population of scarlet macaws in
Costa Rica. Releases of captive bred, con-
fiscated, and donated birds will be per-
formed over a ten-year period (1999-2009)
with the goal of establishing a free flying,
reproducing population of macaws. As an
extension of Zoo Ave, the Center is also uti-
lized as a Wildlife Rescue Center for the
ACOSA branch of MINAE (Ministerio del
Ambiente y Energia), which is the govern-
ment agency in charge of enforcing Costa
Rica's wildlife laws. Over the past three
years, the Center has been accepting ani-
mals confiscated by MINAE. While animals
are accepted throughout the year, the vast
majority is confiscated during the Semana
Santa (Easter week) holiday period. These
animals receive care, housing and prepara-
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: WILDLIFE RESCUE (Zoo AVE) 419
tion for release back into the wild. In addi-
tion to these functions, a variety of other
conservation projects, studies and commu-
nity activities are already underway, contin-
uing the goals of the NRF to help protect
and conserve native Costa Rican flora and
fauna.
5.2.1 Scarlet Macaw Conservation
Project
Goals: This project proposes to
establish a third, self-sustaining population
of Scarlet macaws within its historic range.
Objectives include: a) the enhancement of
the long-term survival of Scarlet macaw; b)
the provision of long-term economic bene-
fits to the local and national economy
through eco-tourism; c) the promotion of
conservation awareness; and d) the devel-
opment of pre and post-release protocol for
large psitticine birds.
5.2.2 Project Design and
Implementation
Scarlet macaws are considered
endangered throughout its range (CITES
Appendix I). There are currently two recog-
nized Scarlet macaw populations in Costa
Rica, and a few small groups within scat-
tered pockets of habitat (Janzen, 1983).
The first of the two major populations is
found in and around Carara Biological
Reserve (CBR), in the Central Pacific
region of the country. This population con-
tains approximately 330 individuals
(Nemeth pers. comm. 1999, Vaughn 1999).
The second population occurs on the Osa
Peninsula in and around Corcovado
National Park (CNP). Scarce data is avail-
able on this population, although estimates
are between 200-700 individuals (Vaughn
1999). Two of the primary threats to these
populations are habitat destruction and
poaching for the illegal pet trade, specifical-
ly within the country. Due to habitat destruc-
tion, 20% of the original Scarlet macaw
habitat in Costa Rica remained in 1993, the
remainder of which is currently protected
(Marineros and Vaughan 1995).
The NRF and Zoo Ave's decision to
begin the Scarlet Macaw Conservation
Project was based on the endangered sta-
tus of this species in Costa Rica, the con-
tinued existence of protected habitat within
the macaw's native range in which the
species has been extirpated and the pres-
ence of an existing captive population and
source of new genetic material in the form
of confiscated birds entrusted to Zoo Ave.
For the past ten years (1990-
2000), Zoo Ave has been preparing birds
for the Scarlet Macaw Conservation
Project. Preparations have included a
breeding program, extensive health screen-
ings, genetic considerations and an appro-
priate location. By 1998, these preparations
were in place. In November 1998, the first
group of Scarlet macaws was transported
to the Center. On arrival they were placed
as a group in a large flight cage, where they
began to develop flight and landing skills.
Being placed in a large group initiated
many different social behaviors and the
development of complex relationships
between the different members of the
groups. Browsing of cages with many
species of trees containing fruits, flowers
and seeds which are known to be eaten by
two different populations of Scarlet macaws
from Costa Rica to Peru (Marineros and
Vaughan 1995, Munn 1992) allowing the
birds to develop the ability to recognize and
utilize food found in nature. Once the birds
met the pre-release criteria, they were
released in five groups, occurring between
May and December 2000. Currently there
are 21 free-flying macaws around the
Center. Current projects, studies and activ-
ities are underway to continue the develop-
ment of the Scarlet Macaw Conservation
Project.
5.2.3 Development of Pre-Release
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Protocol
Before reintroduction and release
projects can occur, individual animals must
be evaluated to determine their potential fit-
ness for life outside of the captive environ-
ment. We are developing a pre-release pro-
tocol that uses descriptive and comparative
behavior analysis to quantitatively deter-
mine whether a bird is a good release can-
didate. We are using a focal method of
behavioral sampling using instantaneous
recording during ten-minute periods in
order to determine an activity budget of
each release candidate. In addition, we are
taking all frequency data on behaviors such
as flight and copulation. Seven major
behaviors are monitored within the cage,
these are: feeding, socializing, moving,
self-maintenance, breeding, no activity and
any occurrence of non-natural behaviors
such as talking or self-destructive feather
plucking, etc.
These behavior patterns will be
compared to patterns in our free-flying
birds and with the same individual after it
has been released. With this technique, we
hope to track the progression of each
release candidate and compare their suc-
cess or failure outside of the cage with the
behaviors recorded during captivity.
5.2.4 Establishment of Release
Techniques
Something rarely considered is
how to release a bird into its natural sur-
rounding in the least stressful way. At this
point we have released five groups of birds.
The manner of release has varied from
catching and placing the bird on the outside
of the cage to luring and/or waiting for the
bird to walk or fly out of a door located on
the roof of the cage. The latter method has
met with greater success as judged by the
distance moved from the release cage with-
in the first 48-72 hours. This period appears
to be critical, as 5 out of the 6 birds, which
have been "lost" during the project, have
disappeared within the first three days.
During the first release, two birds
were lured (using food) out of the cage. The
birds stayed within 15 m of the cage for the
first three days. One eventually flew away,
and was later returned to the project with
clipped wings, and was placed back in the
cage for future release. The second
release, in which we caught the birds and
transferred them to the outside of the cage,
4 out of 5 birds immediately flew more than
50 m away. Two of these birds flew away,
and were "lost." For the third release, the
birds were allowed to fly out of the cage.
Unfortunately this occurred while workers
where still climbing around on the top of the
cage, and the birds left the cage in
moments of stress. Of the three birds
released, two immediately flew away and
were "lost" and the third remained with the
already released birds. In the fourth and
fifth releases, we again allowed the birds to
come out of the cage on their own, the
majority of the birds sat on the cage for a
short time (10-30 minutes) before flying to
a nearby perch. The perceived stress level,
judged by "panic" reactions from the birds
such as immediate flight, appeared to be
much lower with this more passive tech-
nique. As the initial flights and subsequent
landings have been judged a critical learn-
ing phase for the birds in order for them to
learn the boundaries of the station and their
flying abilities, allowing the birds to take this
step on their own time appears to be impor-
tant to the survival of release candidates.
5.2.5 Development of Post-Release
Protocol
Post-release monitoring involves a
variety of methods including continued
behavior sampling as described above in
"Pre-Release Protocol." Radio telemetry
equipment is used to supplement this pro-
tocol as well as track any birds, which wan-
der from the site. The radio collars are
expected to last for 18 months, giving
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: WILDLIFE RESCUE (Zoo AVE) 421
ample time to observe the behavior of
these birds (Holohill, 1999). In addition to
these methods, routine head-counts are
made at supplemental feeding platforms
provided in and around the site. Individual
birds are identified and accounted for at
least twice each day.
5.2.6 Nest Box Supplementation
Appropriate nesting cavities are a
potential limiting factor for reproduction in
macaw, populations. In studies conducted
in Peru on three large macaw species
(Scarlet macaws, Green-winged macaws
(Ara chloroptera) and Blue and yellow
macaws (Ara ararauna), a high degree of
aggression was observed in and around
nest sites during the breeding season indi-
cating intense competition for low numbers
of appropriate nesting cavities.
Researchers provided artificial nest boxes
to augment available nesting habitat. In
each case, macaws attempted to nest in
the artificial boxes. In one case, a pair of
Blue and yellow macaws successfully
fledged young (Munn, C.A. 1992). Artificial
cavity studies have also been conducted on
the CBR Scarlet macaw population. 12 out
of 33 nest boxes placed between 1995-
1999 were found with a total of 21 chicks
(Vaughan et al. 1999). Nest boxes provided
for the Scarlet Macaw Conservation Project
have been similar in design to those used
in and around CBR. Additional nest boxes
have been designed and placed using
information on nest boxes design from the
Tambopata Nest Box Project in Peru
(Brightsmith, 2000).
In October 1999, seven artificial
nest boxes were built and placed around
the release site. They were placed at vari-
ous heights, positions and on a variety of
tree species. Heights varied between 15 -
35 from the ground. Tree species used
were cedro amargo (Cedrela odorata) - 1
box, gallinazo (Schizolobium parahyba) - 2
boxes, balsa (Ochroma pyramidale) - 3
boxes, and machete gauva (Inga
spectabilis) -1 box.
In January 2001, nine more artifi-
cial nest boxes of a slightly different design
were built and placed around the release
site, again at various heights, positions,
and on a variety of tree species. All these
boxes have been investigated within three
to four days of placement. Thus far, nest
box use has been restricted to exploration
by several release birds. Although occa-
sionally one pair of birds has been
observed sleeping in the box located near-
est to the site (in a large machete guava),
no reproductive attempts have been made.
Monitoring of the nest boxes will
continue throughout the project duration
and will include both observations from the
ground as well as periodic climbing checks.
Data collected will include size and timing
of clutch, hatch dates and subsequent
growth of chicks. Each chick will be banded
and periodically weighed and examined.
Fledging time and survival will be closely
followed. Data analysis will include prefer-
ences and success or failure in reference to
box location and design. At least 30 more
boxes will be built, placed and monitored
during the first ten years of the project.
5.2.7 Community Activities and
Involvement
As part of the pre-project prepara-
tions, in 1998 a Zoo Ave biologist met with
the community to survey interest and reac-
tions from local families. Without exception,
the local people were encouraging and
supportive (pers. comm. Torres, 99). Over
the first three years, the community has
proven to be of great importance in keeping
us abreast of released macaw activity in
the area. Within an approximate 100-km2
area, messages pass from person-to-per-
son by word of mouth (a phenomenon
locally known as the "jungle telephone"). No
matter the location, word of a macaw sight-
ing usually reaches the Center within 2-3
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422
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
days. This communication has assisted in
the retrieval of three lost birds as well as
valuable information on daily and incidental
macaw movements.
The local school (consisting of 9
students ranging in age from 5-16 years)
visited the Center in May 2000 for tours,
games and information on the project. This
"Day in Conservation" successfully interest-
ed the students and has resulted in
requests from neighboring community
schools to participate in similar field trips to
learn more about the work occurring at the
Center.
We have also recently begun work
with a local group of students from the La
Raima Association of Conservation of
Scarlet Macaws. This group formed in 1998
independently from NRFs Scarlet Macaw
Conservation Project and consists of stu-
dents ranging in age from 15 to 20 who are
working on local projects designed to pro-
mote awareness of endangered species in
the area. Each year, this group hosts a fes-
tival that includes puppet shows, food,
games and other activities centered on the
plight of the Scarlet macaw. Staff from the
Center participated in this event in 2000
and is currently collaborating further with
the students on various projects. Such proj-
ects may include planting of known macaw
food trees within and around Piedras
Blancas National Park, and participation by
La Palma volunteers in seasonal MINAE
wildlife confiscations.
The Center is not open to the pub-
lic; however there have been many visits
from people living in the area. Although vis-
itors are not taken to the release cages,
they are able to enjoy seeing many
released birds flying, eating and living a life
outside the caged environment. Tee shirts
and coloring books have been handed out
to the community on a variety of occasions
and will continue to be handed out to visit-
ing schools.
5.2.8 Survey of Food Sources
Two known studies have produced
lists describing natural food sources of the
scarlet macaw. These studies were per-
formed on the CBR population in Costa
Rica and the Manu population in Peru
respectively (Marineros and Vaughan 1995,
Munn 1992). Comparisons of the tree
species in and around the Center for
Release with these studies have been
made to determine availability of natural
food resources. Many key species have
been identified within and around the site.
As birds are released, records are kept of
identified tree species being used as food
sources. Released birds have been
observed eating all of the plant species in
Table 1. Parts eaten include flowers (fl),
fruit (fr), seeds (s), bark (b) and leaves (I).
5.2.9 Native Avifauna Release Projects
Although government confisca-
tions happen throughout the year, MINAE
officials, by far, confiscate the highest pro-
portion of illegal wildlife, during the week
before and two weeks following the Easter
holiday. The week before Easter is officially
considered the week of the saints or
Semana Santa, therefore all government
confiscations brought to the Center during
this period are considered Semana Santa
birds. Beginning during Semana Santa
1998, ACOSA asked the Center to rehabil-
itate and release birds that had been con-
fiscated from the area. In the past three
years, the Center has provided housing
and training for these birds until release. To
date, 285 birds have been released into the
area (Table 2). The pre and post release
methodologies used in these projects are
similar to those of the Scarlet Macaw
Conservation Project.
5.2.10 Release Techniques
Effectiveness of different release
techniques is being evaluated. As Semana
Santa coincides with the presence of
neonates in the wild, the majority of the
birds arrive as either nestlings or fledglings
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: WILDLIFE RESCUE (Zoo AVE) 423
and require extended care.This has creat-
ed a unique opportunity to develop release
techniques using very young birds.
These young birds are housed in
boxes with open tops during the daylight
hours as climate at the Center does not
require artificial heat sources even for
naked chicks. Once the young have
reached fledgling age, they are transferred
to nearby trees during daylight hours and
returned to their boxes only for the night.
This situation encourages young birds to
take their first flights within hours or, at
most, a few days after being placed outside
of the "nest." In effect these birds are being
released during their fledging period, an
appropriate imitation of life in the wild.
Fledglings continue to be fed until weaned
and are provided cages in which to return
to during the night until better able to fend
for themselves. Six of seven red-lore ama-
zons (Amazona autumnalis) released in
June of 2000 using this method are
observed daily foraging on their own within
the site. These birds return nightly to roost
in nearby trees.
5.2.11 Feasibility of Release Ex-pets
Many of the confiscated and donat-
ed birds accepted at the Center are former
pets. This offers the opportunity to assess
the feasibility of releasing such birds. These
birds are often slower to fly, socialize and
eat natural foods. Although they may take
more time, thus far results show that many
are able to re-adapt to a natural environ-
ment. In the last two red-lore amazon
releases (June and July 2000), 35 birds
were released, at least 30 of which were
former pets. This number does not include
the Semana Santa young or birds that were
pulled from the project within the first 48-72
hours of release. These release birds con-
sisted mainly of ex-pets.
Preferences
Nest box augmentation will be pro-
vided throughout the site for a variety of
psittacine species released. Dimensions for
boxes will vary in order to provide adequate
nesting options. To date, 8 nest boxes for A.
autumnalis have been built of balsa wood
from a fallen tree. These boxes vary in
lengths and cavity size. As other trees fall,
more nest boxes will be built and hung.
Other nest box designs such as PVC tub-
ing, hollowed palm trunks and plastic bar-
rels will be used for comparative preference
and success/failure studies.
5.2.13 Non-releasable Birds
Unfortunately, there will always be
birds that are not releasable due to physical
or behavioral reasons. A large "gymnasium"
structure consisting of long, intertwined
perches and trees is being built within a
predator-proof enclosure to house these
retirees. This will provide space for these
birds to live out the remainder of their lives
in an open, natural setting while also keep-
ing them protected. Flight capable non-
releasable birds will be housed in large,
well-vegetated cages.
5.2.14 Native Fauna Conservation
Prc
The NRF is also works on non-
avian projects. To date, three other conser-
vation projects have taken place in Playa
San Josecito. These include a scorpion
mud turtle (Kinostemon scorpiodes)
release project, a spectacled caiman
release (Caiman crocodiles), and conser-
vation efforts with the Central American
Squirrel monkey (Saimiri oersted! oersted!),
a species listed as endangered
(B1+2abcde, C2a (Primate Specialist
Group)) on the IUCN Red List.
5.2.12 Nest Box Designs and
Turtles
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424
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
There are three families of fresh-
water and terrestrial turtles found in Costa
Rica. The semi aquatic mud turtles are
found in the family Kinosternidae, and have
three representatives in Costa Rica. All
three are generally found in swamps, slow
streams, and temporary ponds, and some
individuals travel overland. These turtles
are considered omnivorous, feeding on
land as well as in water. They lay their eggs
in small clutches throughout the year, and
there is no special nest construction or site
(Janzen, 1983). Due to the largely instinc-
tive behavior of these animals, the pre-
release protocol consists primarily of
assessing physical condition rather than
training them to find and manipulate foods,
predator avoidance and other learned
behaviors important to avian and mam-
malian species. On February 9th, 2000,
thirty-one K. scorpiodes were released into
the riverbed flowing through the San
Josecito valley. A system of numbering the
turtles with notches chipped out of the mar-
ginal scutes on the their carapace was
used to identify individuals. As of
September 1, 2000, NRF staff and locals
have found six of the released turtles.
Another 4 sightings have been reported to
the Center, although without individual
identification. These have been found
throughout the valley, and all in good phys-
ical condition.
5.2.16 Caiman
The spectacled caiman (Caiman
crocodiles) is a small species commonly
found in lowland swamps and slow rivers
throughout Costa Rica. Occasionally indi-
viduals are brought to the NRF's Center for
Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation for care.
One such animal arrived in April of 1999
with toxic levels of iron in its blood as a
result of being housed in a metal tub. This
animal remained at the clinic for several
months for detoxification. In January of
2000, blood levels were found to be normal
and it was taken to Playa San Josecito for
release on February 10th, 2000. It was
released in a lagoon located near the
Center. Approximately 3-5 caiman season-
ally occupy this lagoon. Their migratory
nature is unknown at this time. On the night
of July 15th a single caiman was seen hunt-
ing night by two biologists. As this was the
only caiman seen, the probability is that it
was our released animal. On November
2nd, 2000, another caiman was released
into the lagoon.
5.2.17 Central American Squirrel
Monkeys
From 1997-1999 another conser-
vation group was located in the San
Josecito valley. They were working with
mammals. For a variety of reasons, they
were unable to continue their work in the
area, and left at the end of May 1999. When
they left, they abandoned six recently
escaped Central American Squirrel mon-
keys (Saimiri oersted! oersted!). These
monkeys had been confiscated by MINAE
and were all former pets, with 4 of 6 being
very young, incapable of taking care of
them, and bonded with people. The mon-
keys escaped on 22 May 1999. The two
older females were quick to go exploring,
leaving the four young males behind to fend
for themselves. Within two days, the four
monkeys found the Center. As they were
accustomed to living with people, they
immediately became intolerable pests to
the biologists as well as to the caged and
released birds. As there was no cage avail-
able to house them, the staff at the Center
had to find another solution. We began a
program of territorial exclusion. This con-
sisted of feeding the monkeys outside the
station, and acting like a tribe of aggressive
primates when the squirrel monkeys came
into the site. We literally jumped up and
down in threat displays, making grunting
and squealing noises, and shaking branch-
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SUMMARY OF SITE VISIT: WILDLIFE RESCUE (Zoo AVE) 425
es. Within a month the two females and the
four males had re-grouped. Unfortunately
the youngest male monkey died in June of
1999. The additional feeding was terminat-
ed in July 1999. It was approximately one
year of work before the monkeys became
reluctant to enter the station. One of these
five was (for unknown reasons) kicked out
of and excluded from the group in
September of 2000. This monkey retreated
to the station, where it was captured and
returned to Zoo Ave's captive breeding pro-
gram. In December 2000, a male was
brought to the group from Zoo Ave and
introduced. This monkey became instantly
attached to the group, and has been seen
mating or attempting to mate with the two
females. To date the remaining five mon-
keys (including the new addition) are seen
almost daily around the site area. They are
eating on their own, and have established a
territory, including feeding areas and desig-
nated trees for sleeping. They seem to be
reluctant to approach humans, although
they still don't show actual fear of humans.
If the area were more densely populated,
this would pose a more serious problem,
however currently this lack of fear poses lit-
tle threat to the animals. Hopefully, with
time, these monkeys will continue to
become wilder. Although this project was
more or less forced on NRF staff, the suc-
cess of the released animals is encourag-
ing. As this subspecies of S. oerstedi is
endangered, as it is regularly accepted at
the Center for Wildlife Rescue and
Rehabilitation, and as appropriate habitat
exists in the San Jocecito Valley, we are
developing a project to release more indi-
viduals in order to augment this small
released population.
5.2.18 References
Brightsmith, D. (2000) Macaw reproduction
and management in Tambopata, Peru II:
Nest box design and use Rainforest
Expeditions and Duke University.
Holohill (1999) Fred Anderka via email
regarding the life expectancy and range of
the AI-2C model radio transmitter. Canada.
Janzen, D.H. (1983) Species Accounts: Ara
macao (Lapa, Scarlet macaw), in Janzen,
D.H. (ed.) Costa Rican Natural History.
Chicago and London: The University of
Chicago Press. 547-8.
Juniper, T. and M. Parr. (1998) Parrots: a
Guide to Parrots of the World. New Haven
and London: Yale University Press.
Marineros, L. and C. Vaughan. (1995)
Scarlet Macaws in Carara: Perspectives for
Management, in Abramson, J., Speer, B.L.,
and Thomsen, J.B. (eds.) The Large
Macaws Their Care, Breeding and
Conservation. Fort Bragg, California:
Raintree Publications. 445 - 467.
Munn, C (1992) Macaw biology and eco-
tourism, or "When a bird in the bush is
worth two in the hand," in S. Beissinger & N.
Snyder (eds.) New World Parrots in Crisis:
Solutions from Conservation Biology.
Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
47-72.
Nemeth, N. and C. Vaughan. (1999)
Discussions on population estimates and
nestbox utilization of Scarlet macaws (Ara
macao) in Costa Rica.
Stiles, G. and A. Skutch. (1989) Birds of
Costa Rica. Ithaca, New York: Cornell
University Press.
Torres, L. (1999) Discussion with local
Playa San Josecito resident, and Zoo Ave
employee on the change in those living in
the local community over the last 20 years.
Vaughan, C., R. Deward and N. Nemeth.
(1997) Nesting of the Scarlet Macaw (Ara
macao) in natural and artificial nests in the
Central Pacific Conservation Area, Costa
RicaTropical Diversity Origins, Maintenance
and Conservation Symposium and Annual
Meeting, June 16-20San Jose, Costa Rica.
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426 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Vaughan, C., L. Marineros and N. Nemeth.
(1999) Scarlet macaw (Ara macao) nest-
ing ecology and mangement strategies in
Costa Rica. Congress de Ornitologia
Neotropical, October 4-10 Monterrey and
Saltillo, Mexico.
World Conservation Union. (1995) The
World Conservation Union Re-introduction
Specialist Group Guidelines for Re-
Introductions. Gland, Switzerland.
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THEME #5
Constructing Effective Interlocking Networks
at the Country, Region and Global Levels
Theme #5 held one panel entitled "Implementation of International Environmental
Agreements Through the Domestic Legislation of Signatory Countries" which first examined
the new UNEP guidelines for enhancing compliance with multilateral environmental agree-
ments and for combating violations of national laws implementing these agreements. It then
explored how consistent, or inconsistent, is the enforcement of multilateral agreements by
individual countries and offer examples of cooperative efforts. Panelists presented exam-
ples of regional networks that assist domestic implementation efforts, ideas on how to draft
laws that consider domestic capacity and encourage real enforcement at the operational
level. The panelists shared ideas on methodology for the various Secretariats to communi-
cate with INECE and each other for more effective and resource efficient capacity building
and enforcement cooperation.
Included under this theme are the panel presentation and the following workshop sum-
maries and papers:
• MEAs Governing Vessel Operations: The Role and Challenges of Enforcement, Linsin,
Gregory
• Summary of Workshop 3A: Role of Police as Environmental Enforcers: INTERPOL
Training
• Summary of Workshop 3B: Illegal Transfrontier Movements of Hazardous Waste
(International Link to Basel Convention): Establishing the Network/Contact Database
• Summary of Workshop 3C: Development of Sustainable Regional Enforcement and
Compliance Networks: Elements and Examples
• Summary of Workshop 3D: International Targeting on Environmental Crime/Activities
• Summary of Workshop 3E: Enforcing Domestic Programs Implementing International
Agreements
• Summary of Workshop 3F: Designing a Pesticide Forum: Identifying Common Elements
of a Forum as Well as Specific Information Needs for Pesticides
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428 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SESSION #8: IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
429
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #8: IMPLEMENTATION OF
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS THROUGH
THE DOMESTIC LEGISLATION OF SIGNATORY COUNTRIES
Moderator: Donald Kaniaru
Rapporteur: Frederique van Zomeren
1 INTRODUCTION
This panel examined the UNEP
guidelines for enhancing compliance with
multilateral environmental agreements and
for combating violations of national laws
implementing these agreements. It contin-
ued with an exploration of how consistent,
or inconsistent, is the enforcement of multi-
lateral agreements by individual countries
and offers examples of cooperative efforts.
Panelists presented examples of regional
networks that assist domestic implementa-
tion efforts, ideas on how to draft laws that
consider domestic capacity and encourage
real enforcement at the operation level.
2 PRESENTATIONS
Mr. Kaniaru opened the panel dis-
cussion. He introduced the panelists and
announced that information on the UNEP
guidelines is available in three languages.
He thanked the UNEP guidelines team.
The first speaker was Marcia
Mulkey. She started with the statement that
"no matter how good the science, policy
and legislation is, it is worth nothing without
compliance and enforcement". Ms. Mulkey
discussed the national compliance and
enforcement of three international environ-
mental agreements: PIC, IMO and
Antifouling. For effective compliance and
enforcement it is necessary to start with the
development of a unified national position.
Think of capacity and infrastructure and
start a dialogue with effected parties.
Enforcement issues must be discussed at
this stage. Secondly you need to translate
the international agreement into national
law. Provide for information and technical
expertise and a legal authority. Third and
last, you need to promote a culture of com-
pliance: empower governments to ensure a
culture of compliance will be established.
Conclusion: it is a responsibility for the gov-
ernment, private sector and the general
public to reach the international goals.
Governments need to assure enforceability
of international conventions and establish
national procedures that promote a culture
of compliance. The private as well as the
public sector need to participate in the pol-
icy formulation process and compliance
with regulations.
Mr. Andrew Lauterback talked
about the role of Interpol as criminal law
enforcement organization. It is a facilitating
police network that deals with trafficking of
children, drugs and terrorism. Since 1986 it
also deals with environmental crimes, e.g.
illegal trafficking of endangered species.
Forty nations participate in the environ-
mental crimes committee. This committee
is divided by 3 working groups:
• pollution crime,
• illegal traffic of endangered species and,
• illegal traffic of nuclear materials.
One of the important achievements
of the environmental crimes committee is
the development of a database of ecomes-
sages. An ecomessage is a national report-
ed crime, that is addressed to Interpol's
headquarters and which is then sent to an
effected country. It helps to discover links
between different sorts of crimes. Green
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430
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Interpol can and will help to train the train-
er on environmental crimes, help with
capacity building and provide a network for
the exchange of best practices. It will be
useful to build a strong relationship with
other partners as INECE.
Mr. Roy Watkinson presented the
UK overview of environmental enforce-
ment, developments in international coop-
eration and the future needs and roles for
UNER Interpol and IMPEL He explained
some of the definitions in the MEA's, e.g.
what is an environmental crime and what is
enforcement. Environmental crime is a high
profit activity. Also used in organized crime.
There is a need for more criminal investiga-
tion techniques and international initiatives.
The use of scarce tools will be maximized
and overlap prevented. He saw a role of
importance for international cooperation
and organizations, but concluded that
national enforcement is the key. For interna-
tional compliance it is necessary for a
country to have good national regulations
and laws and a working institutional struc-
ture. You need a system of national coordi-
nation, training and public awareness.
Mr. Greg Linsin was the final
speaker. He spoke about a facet of his work
at the environmental crime section of the
Ministry of Justice. He specifically talked
about the implementation of the Marpol
protocol on the prevention of pollution from
ships. By mid 1980's it seemed that the pro-
tocol was successfully implemented. But,
due to prosecutions of shipping companies
in the late 1980's and begin 1990's it
appeared to be a fraud. From 1996 and on
enforcement had serious deficits. Cruise
ships complied as regards the necessary
permits, but also developed ways to bypass
the law in order to save a lot of money.
Prosecution was difficult as many ships vio-
lated the law, while fleeing out to the high
sea where the US has no jurisdiction.
Lessons learned of the MARPOL protocol
enforcement: enforcement in any state
requires coordination among states and
flag, port and coastal states must also per-
form their international obligations.
3 CONCLUSIONS
• Without implementation, environmental
laws mean nothing.
• UNEP's new guidelines will be useful for
improving the current state of implemen-
tation.
• International organizations, such as
INTERPOL, play an important role in fos-
tering cooperation between enforcement
authorities in different nations.
• INECE should encourage both the use of
the UNEP guidelines and international
cooperation in criminal enforcement.
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LINSIN 431
MEAs Governing Vessel Operations:
The Role and Challenges
Enforcement
Gregory F. Linsin
United States Department of Justice
INECEfi* International Conference
Costa Rica April 2002
International Agreement:
MARPOL Protocol
International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution From Ships (MARPOL Convention),
London, 1973
Protocol of 1978 Relating to the MARPOL
Convention (MARPOL Protocol)
United States signed in 1978; Senate ratified
UNCLOS has some application in defining scope
of enforcement and obligations of flag, port and
coastal states
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432 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
United States Compliance With
Obligations Under MAKPQL
Clean Water Act predated MARPOL but riot an
adequate to implement protocol
1980 - act to prevent pollution from ships (APPS)
enacted to satisfy protocol obligations
Coast guard promulgated extensive regulations
implementing MARPOL
Coast guard integrates MARPOL requirements
into vessel inspection regime
Early Enforcement Efforts in United
States Under MARPOL
Deficiencies identified in CO inspections
~ Absence of required logs, disposal records
- Inoperability of required pollution prevention
equipment
Referral of more significant violations to
flag states
Net effect: no significant enforcement
actions
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LINSIN 433
Early Vessel Pollution Enforcement
Cases in United States
Prosecutions resulting from catastrophic
marine casualties
1993 -1997
- Several cruise ship plastics violations
- Inland water oil and plastics discharge
~ Tanker oil discharge on high seas
In sum: serious but apparently isolated
violations
U.S. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
An Illusion Dispelled
In 1996, RCCL operated one of largest
cruise ship fleets in world
Enjoyed positive environmental image
Criminal case developed from proactive
Coast Guard surveillance operation
- One vessel discharge in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Uncovered systematic by-passing of OWS
and falsification of ORB
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434 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
US. v, RCCL - cont'd
Investigation revealed systematic, fleet-
wide violations
- Variety of by-pass mechanisms to discharge oil
- Routine log book falsification to conceal
- Routine discharge of hazardous wastes
Guilty pleas to criminal violations of APPS
and variety of other offenses in 6 districts
$ 27 million dollar criminal fine
Mew Skepticism Regarding MARPOL
Enforcement Needs
Flag state enforcement clearly inadequate
Enhanced Coast Guard inspections
- Data comparison and analysis
- Internal inspection of pipes around OWS
- Holds on vessels to permit inspection
1997 - 2001 several similar prosecutions
2001 Priority boardings of all ships in one
of largest fleets of container ships in world
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LINSIN 435
Challenges of MARPOL Enforcement
Case
Vessels are mobile
Records dispersed around globe
Discharges on high seas
Foreign national crew members
Quasi-military command structure
Owners, operators, charterers, employers
can be difficult to trace
Challenges of MARPOL Enforcement
Regime
Effective enforcement in any state requires
coordination among states;
- Records of inspections, disposals, crew members and
enforcement actions
— Real-time coordination of investigations
Flag, port and coastal states must perform
obligations under UNCLOS
New Annexes being negotiated for air emissions
and ballast water (Invasive species)
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436 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Conclusions
Enforcement must be component of
implementation from day one
Must scrutinize apparent compliance
Globalization of enforcement under
MARPOL
Protection of coastal waters and high seas
dependent on all parties to agreement
Gregory F. Linsin
Environmental Crimes Section
United States Department of Justice
Phone - (202) 305-0327
Fax - (202) 305-0396
gregory ,lmsin@usdoj .gov
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ROLE OF POLICE As ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCERS
437
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ROLE OF POLICE AS
ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCERS
Facilitators: Andrew Lauterback
Peter Lehner
Rapporteur: Robert Chouinard
GOALS
• Determine the role of police as environmental enforcers.
• Discover barriers to cooperation between police and environment personnel.
• Determine necessary investigative, technical and legal tools for effective enforcement of
environmental crimes.
1 INTRODUCTION
The workshop will discuss the
experience of INTERPOL and the National
Environmental Crime Unit that began oper-
ations in The Netherlands in 2000
Workshop participants will evaluate the
unique role of police as environmental
enforcers, methods, analysis of recent
cases and overall results of criminal
enforcement activities.
Questions the facilitators asked:
• What is the appropriate role of the police
in enforcing environmental crimes?
• How can the information be shared?
• What training strategies should be
adopted?
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Criminal enforcement of environ-
mental crimes needs three components:
• Technical expertise provided by the
environmental agency.
• Investigation tools provided by a police
agency.
• Prosecution.
"Police" must be taken in its broad-
est sense and includes traditional national,
state/provincial and municipal police forces
as well as environmental police and some
components of the Armed Services.
Because of different cultures,
police and environment personnel are
strange bedfellows. The police's role is to
bring defendants before the Courts where-
as the role of environmental agency per-
sonnel is to solve the environmental prob-
lems. Also, the importance of environmen-
tal crimes for society must be made to
police agencies since they will in most
cases, attach more importance to violent
crimes, such as murder, rape, etc. than to
environmental crime and establish their pri-
orities accordingly. The same could also be
said for prosecution.
The barriers to sharing information
between the environment and the police
stem from the people involved themselves,
the way the organization and systems have
been established and also from legislation
restricting the exchange of information.
A team approach to environmental
enforcement where the police component
is the coordinator of the actions is a possi-
ble solution. The police can then focus on
it's traditional role for protecting the com-
munity by being the eyes and ears of crim-
inal law enforcement as well as a deterrent
to unacceptable behavior. A team approach
can also ease the problems encountered in
sharing the information.
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438
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Another possible solution to the
problems encountered is the formation of
dedicated personnel to environmental police
units or special environmental units within
traditional police agencies. In the same man-
ner, special environmental prosecutors
would alleviate the problem at that level.
Training at all levels is also neces-
sary to foster better understanding and
cooperation between the different players:
• basic training to the "cop on the beat" so
he can identify the problem and knows
who to call;
• training and networking of prosecutors
involved in environmental cases to give
them tools and support (a good example
is the Central American Environmental
Prosecutors Network);
• training of the judiciary to give them
some knowledge of the science involved
and the effects of environmental crime
on society;
• training focused on interpersonal rela-
tionships and on the understanding of
each other's culture.
3 CONCLUSION
The group established that with the
different cultures represented, the word
POLICE had to be taken in its broadest
sense and include traditional national,
state/provincial and municipal police forces
as well as environmental police and some
components of the armed services. The
group also recognized that regardless of
the country or region, a common theme
prevailed: Police and Environment
Personnel are strange bedfellows: the role
of Police being to bring a defendant before
the Courts and the role of Environment
Personnel being to solve the environmental
problem.
The barriers to cooperation between
the Police and the Environment Personnel
are: the different cultures, the different pri-
orities (the same applies to prosecution),
the sharing of information which is impeded
by the people themselves, the organiza-
tion/system and in some instances by the
law. A proper training strategy should help
overcome most of these barriers.
The groups concluded that any
criminal enforcement action requires that
the evidence you present is in a manner
acceptable to the court and that this role
can best be played by police who are
"investigation specialists".
In the environmental enforcement,
it is essential that the evidence be present-
ed in a manner acceptable to the Courts.
The police, as investigation specialists,
have all the qualities to play that role effec-
tively.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ILLEGAL TRANSFRONTIER MOVEMENTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
439
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ILLEGAL TRANSFRONTIER
MOVEMENTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
Facilitators: Brad May
Silvia Nonna
Rapporteur: Peyton M. Sturges
GOALS
Discuss ways that INECE can improve networking for the control and monitoring
of illegal trans-border shipments of hazardous wastes.
1 INTRODUCTION
This session had two questions
raised by the facilitators: How can we
improve networking in the control and mon-
itoring of Illegal Transfrontier Shipments of
Hazardous Wastes and to what extent can
INECE contribute to this effort?
2 PAPERS
• Ruud MA De Krom, How to Optimize the
Control of Hazardous Waste
Enforcement in Argentina (6*n
Conference Proceedings, Volume 1).
• W. Snells and T. Liebregts, Enforcement
of the Regulation on the Supervision and
Control of Waste Shipments Within, Into
and Out of the European community
(EU259/93): Collaboration on the
Processing of Waste Substances (6tn
Conference Proceedings, Volume 1).
• Maria Eugena Di Paola, Governmental
Coordination and Hazardous Waste
Enforcement in Argentina (6*n
Conference Proceedings, Volume 1).
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
This workshop discussed the
Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-
boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and their disposal and developed a propos-
al to establish a Network/Contact Database
that would enhance environmental enforce-
ment and compliance of Basel Convention
by improving control and monitoring of con-
firmed and alleged cases of illegal trans-
frontier movements of hazardous wastes.
This workshop also explored challenges to
identifying, targeting, and intercepting ille-
gal transfrontier movements; identified
country-specific differences in classification
of illegal hazardous waste; and discussed
possible approaches for the rapid dissemi-
nation of intelligence through effective use
of Web and network/contact database at
the local and regional level.
The group identified several
themes, including the need to encourage
informal exchanges of information and infor-
mation sharing, the desire to harmonize the
definition across countries and regions of
the terms used to describe hazardous
wastes and recycled products, the need to
encourage further training of inspectors and
further education of the public, and the chal-
lenges posed by overlapping treaties and
regulatory requirements.
Most members of the group have
experienced problems involving inadequate
control of hazardous waste shipments,
whether PCBs, contaminated soils, lead
wastes, or various substances masquerad-
ing as useful materials or beneficially recy-
clable materials. Several recounted how
special problems can arise with 'transit"
shipments, where waste transportation
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440 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
modes or waste ownership changes as the
waste moves or is transformed through
complete or partial treatment. Although the
Basel Convention is the broadest most sig-
nificant legal baseline in this arena, it can-
not solve transfrontier shipment problems
in a vacuum. The shortage of confirmed
cases of illegal shipments entered by the
administrative body established under the
convention, as well as the fact that some
major waste producers are not a party to
the convention, suggest more needs to be
done to utilize networking capabilities, both
formal and informal, to raise the degree of
compliance.
3 CONCLUSION
The group concluded that INECE
can play a significant role on the informa-
tion harmonization and dissemination
fronts, as well as contribute to training
needs of customs authorities, because of
its informal networking expertise. In addi-
tion, proven capabilities of INECE might
lend themselves to additional projects
involving creation of various data bases,
including one covering confirmed and set-
tled cases that might even incorporate data
from non-signatory countries, and an
INECE member sources network. It was
even suggested that a database of cases
could provide sufficient information to allow
its use in risk analysis and in developing
illegal shipment profiles.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL NETWORKS
441
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE
REGIONAL ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE NETWORKS:
ELEMENTS AND EXAMPLES
Facilitators: Daniel Sabsay
Ignacio Gonzalez
Rapporteur: Davis Jones
GOALS
Share examples of successful activities that have helped establish and strengthen
regional networks and establish a list of common elements for success.
1 INTRODUCTION
Focused on the role regional/sub-
regional organizations can play in compli-
ance and enforcement of multilateral envi-
ronmental agreements. Participants will:
examine and evaluate current institutional
framework of regional organizations their
linkages at national and international lev-
els; Identity constraints in compliance and
enforcement at regional levels and their
impact at national and internal level; identi-
fy a set of innovative capacities that could
bring about effective compliance and
enforcement; and revolutionize approach to
thought in compliance and enforcement.
2 PAPERS
• Marc Proost, CLEEN: The Need fora
Separate Enforcement Network for
Enforcement of Chemicals Legislation in
the EU (6*n Conference Proceedings,
Volume 1)
• Vaclovas Berinskas, Successful
Implementation of IMPEL Concepts and
Recommendations in Lithuanian
Environmental Protection System (6^
Conference Proceedings, Volume 1).
• Katerina Lacovidou-Anastasiadou and
Anastasia Kotronarou, The IMPEL Food
Project: Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement to Selected Sub-Sectors of
the European Food Industry (6th
Conference Proceedings, Volume 1).
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Robert Glaser began the discus-
sion by describing some key elements he
has found to be crucial to forming a suc-
cessful regional network. First, you must
start networking between people with com-
mon interests and find devoted individuals
to start the work. Those individuals must
create the policy support and find followers.
The next steps are:
• Develop common denominators.
• Establish a Secretariat.
• Get country profiles of each country in
the network.
• Establish exchange programs - create
opportunities for inspectors or other staff
to get to know each other socially; infor-
mal networks are important.
• Look for projects that connect countries,
trans-border pollution, etc.
• Show products to interested managers
and get funding for continued operations.
These steps worked during the
creation of IMPEL and are being used in
the creation of BERGEN, the network of
Baltic States.
Terry Shears spoke further of the
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442
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
IMPEL experience. They initially overcame
skepticism by developing a useful product.
Their first results included documents on
minimum criteria for inspections. This prod-
uct was subsequently adopted as a stan-
dard for the European Union, and now
IMPEL has to implement through training
and reports on commonalities between
countries.
Terry continued by saying that net-
works can't be inwardly focused. It is not
enough to produce reports for the members
of the network. Rather you must advertise
to a wider audience and make the products
of the network useful to a wide range of
users. Daniel Geisbacher reinforced the
need for support and funding to start a net-
work and questioned how it could be done
without outside support.
Pavel Sremer said that strengthen-
ing of networks could be achieved by shar-
ing information. How have existing net-
works facilitated that exchange without
releasing confidential information? Robert
Glaser agreed that confidentiality between
countries can be difficult, but is a necessity
for an honest flow of information. However,
everyone must understand that there will
be some restrictions on information due to
confidentiality concerns.
Daniel Sabsay stressed that the
network must find transferability in their
work. Robert replied that the country pro-
files should include an assessment of the
member countries' needs so that the net-
work can focus on transferable products
that respond to the needs of the member
countries.
Sladjana Miocic discussed the
importance of starting a secretariat. The
network should be careful selecting the
individuals that will staff the secretariat. The
network should clarify goals and objectives
early on to avoid frustration and confusion.
It should also be advertised; if it is not well
known that you are in the process of start-
ing a network and secretariat, it is very hard
to generate support. In addition, you need a
clearly defined purpose and mission to
show to supporters or potential supporters.
Maria Di Paola asked how to main-
tain a network once it is started? What is
important to keep a network alive?
Waltraud Petek replied that the network
must be beneficial for the participants in
order to survive. To demonstrate the bene-
fits, the network must involve the right peo-
ple, including multiple people from each
country to spread the interest. The work
must not overburden individuals, but
spread work so that more people are
involved. Create results that directly benefit
each country. An example in Europe
occurred when a company complained that
other countries treated the company better
and threatened to leave. IMPEL discussion
showed otherwise, and that the govern-
ments required the same standards in
whichever country. The managers where
able to respond to the company and show
that the company would be treated equi-
tably across the region. The network should
look for activities that will engage lots of
people, such as the work on cement kilns
that drew people from all over Europe. A
regional network can also help compare
requirements among nations to ensure that
no one country offers economic advantage,
a particular necessity in the European
Union.
The European situation does not
always apply worldwide. For example, the
Council of Environmental Cooperation
(CEC) represents the network for North
America. The borders of USA, Canada, and
Mexico are not as open, and there is not so
much interchange possible since each
country sacrificed some autonomy to join
the European Union. Nonetheless, the
CEC was set up with strong, principles of
cooperation and a network was formed
from that framework and was built with
some expectation of sustainability.
Joseph Milewski asked what
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL NETWORKS 443
resources are required to maintain a net-
work. Terry Shears replied that he is the
only IMPEL staff. But human resources are
more important than money and can be
drawn from member countries' staff.
People's time and enthusiasm are more
important than funds. The network has no
budget, therefore the member countries
supply the rotating staff and fund specific
projects as they see fit.
Marie Di Paola stated that in Latin
America, particularly South America, differ-
ent characteristics make the development
of a sustainable network more difficult.
Dissimilar situations, both economic and
institutional make regional harmonization
difficult despite a common language and
culture. Chile and Bolivia are associated
countries but vastly different. However,
everyone recognizes the need to create a
level playing field in the region. There is a
need to determine what profile they want
for MERCUSOL? Is the goal to develop a
common market similar to NAFTA, or to
solely focus on environmental issues only?
Is MARCOSUR just about interaction?
Now it is just at the governmental level, and
does not include NGOs.
In May, they will hold a meeting
and will explore existing ways of interacting
to optimize relationship and work in Latin
America. However, they need more analy-
sis and a common environmental protocol.
No current decisions have been made and
they are beginning to take baby steps.
Robert Glaser added that the south looks
north for economics. But, the northern
countries are saying no to trade without
environmental protections. An excellent use
for regional networks is to create a push for
countries to improve their environmental
management in preparation for trade with
other regions.
Geoff Garver suggested that the
development of cooperation on enforce-
ment and environmental protection can
flow directly from economic integration.
There are similar challenges linking the
United States and Mexico, but certain princi-
ples have emerged. There is recognition of
sovereignty concerns and that states have
to make their own laws internally. But there
must be mechanisms for cooperation in
some areas and work on common
approaches.
Beatrice Olivastri asked if regional
networks are set up to deal with new or
evolving issues such as the Cartagena pro-
tocol for trafficking genetically modified
organisms. Are there international/regional
solutions? There do not appear to be
regional efforts to control this cross-bound-
ary issue. NGO's can be better suited than
governments to keep up with emerging
issues.
Yvan Lafleur stressed that as net-
works are formed, they should maintain
their focus. Many groups spread their
resources too widely and begin to tackle
issues beyond enforcement. Problems may
be regulatory or legislative and there is no
role for enforcement; regional enforcement
networks cannot do everything. There must
be networks at other levels and dealing
with other issues, but all networks must
flow down to operational level.
According to Ignacio Gonzalez, the
CEC enforcement group has institutional-
ized the network. It is more than just net-
working; it has formed permanent working
groups and an annual agenda that includes
a review of ongoing projects and identifica-
tion of environmental concerns for integrat-
ed work. During the development of the
annual agenda, common environmental
problems in each country are identified and
the workgroups decide how to cooperate
on those problems. In this way, new prob-
lems are brought to table and the group
decides how to best address. Projects are
then delegated to various task forces to
implement. The overarching enforcement
working group reviews and oversees the
projects, and prioritizes between projects
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
where resources are limited.
Antonio Benjamin turned the con-
versation to the role of INECE in developing
Regional networks. He said that the group
was discussing two different aspects of the
same problem and the answers are differ-
ent. First, how can INECE regionalize out-
reach? There is no other way than to work
with regional institutions already in place.
INECE does not have the resources to rein-
vent existing work or organizations, so we
must work with existing institutions such as
MERCASUR or the parties to the
Amazonian treaty. The institutions must be
willing to work with INECE and support co-
proposals that carry more clout than pro-
posals from single organization.
We should also look at how we our-
selves work more in network. There is no
global answer for the entire world.There are
different levels of development, ease of
travel, etc. However, there is a common
recognition of the importance of enforce-
ment in region.
With this in mind, INECE should
approach existing organizations to incorpo-
rate enforcement into their mission rather
than creating a separate network. This also
has benefits because policy makers need
to hear about enforcement, and if we are
part of their organization we can more eas-
ily inform them. Maria DiPaola agreed that
existing institutions are the policy makers,
and they don't have a knowledge base
about enforcement. We should sell the idea
as a positive aspect of their work that they
need.
Antonio Benjamin contrasted the
development of NAFTA to current trade
agreements such as the ANDEAN treaty
and agreements being developed in Africa.
NAFTA was a fairly mature agreement to
which environmental enforcement was
added as an afterthought. It may be work-
ing well, but it could be better incorporated
into the terms of the agreement. As the rest
of the world is developing similar agree-
ments, INECE can help get enforcement
issues into the agreements earlier in the
process and in a more coordinated way.
Maria Comino asked how existing
networks deal with divergent cultures and
languages. For example, in the Asia/Pacific
region, there are three continents with mul-
tiple languages leading to huge communi-
cation problems. Sub-Regional groupings
may be effective, but integrating them up to
regional groupings and further up to INECE
is very difficult. Terry Shears responded
that if you can find and use one common
language, it helps tremendously. (English
or other) INECE uses English, but the NIS
countries use Russian. They are develop-
ing a glossary and translations to common-
ly define terms to standardize the discus-
sions.
Yvan Lafleur agreed that language
has been a major issue in the CEC. In
North America, if the network only uses
English, they lose Mexicans. If the meet-
ings are held in Spanish, you loose both the
Canadians and the Americans. Now they
are working in all three languages (but not
always for meetings). All publications are in
three languages. This is very difficult in
three languages, could it become impossi-
ble with more? Any network should push
for translation of all information into all rele-
vant languages.
Networks need to decide how to
include all stakeholders including NGO's
and industrial groups. Whether they are
included in the membership or not, they
should be part of the formation of the scope
and design of the network, since it does
directly affect them. Aid banks should also
be involved to take advantage of their expe-
rience enforcing environmental manage-
ment systems and checking on the due dili-
gence of a company or project. Banks are
now doing checks on environmental and
social issues prior to issuing loans. They
must make decision on level of risk in com-
pany and beginning to collaborate with the
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL NETWORKS 445
various ministries of environment to find out
if the company has risks. Banks often offer
training to problematic companies. This is
one example of collaboration between pri-
vate sector and public.
3 CONCLUSION
Maria DiPaola concluded that we
have more questions than answers in
developing networks. While trying to build
or enhance enforcement and compliance is
a big job, and we are always dealing with
how to handle scope. What are the con-
cepts that we need to consider when we
design scope of network, who are the
actors, what are the main issues, and what
are the goals? Some key factors for sus-
tainable networks are:
• The scope and goals should be focused,
well defined, and widely publicized.
• All key stakeholders should be involved
with developing the scope, even if they
are not to become "members" of the net-
work.
• The network should focus on common
elements and needs among the states.
• It should develop products that generate
interest among members.
• The products must be well advertised to
increase participation.
• The scope and membership should be
flexible enough to shift as member's
needs change.
• All participating countries must con-
tribute, in some part, to the network's
success.
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446 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: INTERNATIONAL TARGETING ON ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME/ACTIVITIES 447
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: INTERNATIONAL TARGETING ON
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME/ACTIVITIES
Facilitators: Greg Linsin
Roy Watkinson
Rapporteur: Neil Emmott
GOALS
To consider issues including:
• Measures to build national capacity to investigate domestic violations and crimes, as
needed to fulfill national obligations under multilateral environmental agreements
(MEAs).
• Interagency cooperation between environment and customs ministries to control imports
and exports.
• International cooperation to address common problems including transborder pollution
spillover from one nation to another.
• Damage to ecosystems shared by two or more nations.
• Illegal trafficking across national borders.
1 INTRODUCTION
Participants were asked to reflect
on the different stages, states and mecha-
nisms for working in this area. This was to
provide a basis for comparison of what
tools and systems are available from bod-
ies such as UNEP, identification of gaps,
and consideration of possible priorities for
INECE.
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
This workshop considered issues
including: measures to build national
capacity to investigate domestic violations
and crimes, as needed to fulfill national
obligations under MEAs; interagency coop-
eration between environment and customs
ministries to control imports and exports
and international cooperation to address
common problems including transborder
pollution spillover from one nation to anoth-
er, damage to ecosystems shared by two or
more nations, and illegal trafficking across
national borders.
The group noted that the following
four issues affect the level of motivation for
implementation of MEAs:
• The construction of the MEA in question.
Some agreements are "rich", for example
in the sense that they may include a
funding mechanism to help parties to
comply. Others, however, are "poor", e.g.
the Basel Convention, with little provision
for compliance assistance. In addition,
some MEAs include a specific enforce-
ment element, such as CITES, whereas
others, such as Basel, do not.
• Shared international interest. In respect
of some MEAs, the prevention and pun-
ishment of violations will be of interest to
countries beyond the one where the vio-
lation is detected. For example, CITES
violations will normally be of concern in
the country of origin, which will be con-
cerned about its loss of wildlife, plus the
country of destination, which is con-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
cerned to prevent illegal trade. In con-
trast, in the area of pollution from ships,
there will clearly be concern on the part
of the country affected by the pollution,
but not necessarily from the flag state.
• The level of peoples' concern about the
topic of the MEA. In this regard a meas-
ure such as CITES may have an advan-
tage over the Basel Convention, as
wildlife is a more public-friendly topic
compared to hazardous waste ship-
ments.
• Economic issues. There is generally a
need to have a better understanding of
the economics of non-compliance. The
costing of illegal activity affecting the
environment is still at a very early stage.
If the topic were better understood, there
may be a greater incentive to secure
compliance and counter illegal activities,
and also a greater ability to focus on pri-
ority areas. There is also concern that
profit from illegal activity goes partly to
support other criminal activities, such as
drug trafficking and terrorism. So greater
knowledge of and focus on this topic
would inform enforcement activities and
also persuade policy-makers of the need
for more action.
Identification of illegal activities is
often dependent on access to technology.
For example, the USA has a forensic labo-
ratory for analysis of samples associated
with suspected incidences of illegal trade in
products derived from wildlife. Similar
resources do not exist in other countries,
although access to the US facility is possi-
ble.
Training cannot be too theoretical if
it is to be successful. Illustrations of real
investigations, prosecutions, etc. should be
built into training programs.
Positive examples of NGOs sup-
porting MEAs were cited. For example, the
Environmental Investigation Agency placed
an advertisement for a fictional company
requesting the supply of CFCs. This led to
a number of offers that, if taken up, would
clearly have involved illegal trade.
Coordination and communication:
Effective enforcement is usually reliant on a
free-flowing exchange of information. The
Secretariats of MEAs, and organizations
such as UNER need to be clear whom they
should be interacting with at the national
levels. Increasing collaboration with INTER-
POL is also required.
3 CONCLUSION
By and large, all of the tools and
techniques for criminal enforcement
already exist and are being employed in
conventional criminal enforcement. The
question is: what are the barriers to this
being replicated in environmental crime? Is
there just insufficient interest? Is, for exam-
ple, global trade a greater priority. Or is it
simply a question of resources that needs
to be tackled?
Further to the above, what can
INECE do in this area? The following possi-
bilities were noted:
• Provide information and education on
what enforcement tools are available and
how they can be used.
• Develop materials for case studies and
best practice studies.
• Facilitate resource sharing and training.
• Build networks.
• Contribute to greater knowledge on the
scale of environmental crime and its eco-
nomic implications.
• Look into the activities of multinationals
that transgress around the world develop
innovative ways of funding enforcement
programs.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENFORCING DOMESTIC PROGRAMS
449
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ENFORCING DOMESTIC
PROGRAMS THAT IMPLEMENT MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL
AGREEMENTS (MEAS)
Facilitators: Claudio Torres
Robert Wabunoha
Rapporteur: Ana Maria Kleymeyer
GOALS
Find modes by which INECE can contribute in the area of implementing MEAs.
1 INTRODUCTION
This workshop discussed policy
and institutional requirements to ensure
appropriate and comprehensive transposi-
tion of the requirements of MEAs in nation-
al legislation, incorporation of additional
requirements in inspectors schedules and
the mobilization of adequate resources for
increased or new enforcement burdens.The
workshop also discussed the need for shar-
ing information about the requirements of
international agreements, strengthening
capacities of enforcement agencies in over-
seeing the implementation of MEAs at the
national level and strengthening involve-
ment of enforcement agencies in co-opera-
tion among the Parties to various interna-
tional agreements.
2 PAPERS
• Winston Anderson, Domestic Programs
for Implementing MEAs: Establishing
MEA Implementation Mechanisms (6th
Conference Proceedings, Volume 2).
• Marcia E. Mulkey and Keith E. Chanon,
National Compliance and Enforcement of
International Treaties, published in this
volume of the 6th Conference
Proceedings.
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Several themes surfaced during
the discussion. The first, focusing on the
Convention for International Trade of
Endangered Species, highlighted the diffi-
culties that signatories have at the ground
level in implementing international treaties.
Such difficulties arise due to lack of com-
munication between the legislators who
create regulations to implement the agree-
ments and the enforcers who carry out the
task. Notably, the NAFTA signatories have
had more success dealing directly with
other officials from the neighboring country
than in carrying their work out through their
top-level government officials. Conflicts
with domestic laws and regulations as well
as with other international commitments
create obstacles that make implementation
exceedingly difficult or, at times, impossi-
ble. The lack of communication between
the policy makers and those who carry out
enforcement results in a failure to imple-
ment MEAs.
Although countries suffer from diffi-
culties in implementation, it is noteworthy
that the success Uganda has enjoyed from
effective coordination at the ground level
has contributed to the formation of interna-
tional agreements based on these positive
results. Also, success is somewhat greater
with bilateral agreements and internal proj-
ects. In these areas, national regulations
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450 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
are carried out with greater communication
and understanding throughout the various
levels of government and at the borders as
a result of greater collaboration and prioriti-
zation among decision-makers and
enforcers.
3 CONCLUSION
Participants raised various key rec-
ommendations for ways that INECE can
contribute in the area of implementing
MEAs. One area needing support is train-
ing and capacity building in environmental
agreements and issues. The groups who
could benefit from such training include
judges and other members of the judiciary,
legislators, customs agencies, and mem-
bers of civil society. Additionally, INECE
should explore ways to enable a private
right of enforcement for individuals and
NGOs, as well as increased access to jus-
tice and information. Finally, it was also rec-
ommended that INECE champion a robust
indicators project to provide information
and support training programs that would
assist with needs of developing countries.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: DESIGNING A PESTICIDE FORUM
451
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: DESIGNING A PESTICIDE FORUM:
IDENTIFYING COMMON ELEMENTS OF A FORUM AS WELL AS
SPECIFIC INFORMATION NEEDS FOR PESTICIDES
Facilitators: Marcia E. Mulkey
Marco Gonzalez
Rapporteur: Keith Chanon
GOALS
• Identify common elements of a forum as well as specific information needs for pesticides
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• Who are the key actors or stakeholders?
• What are the priority information needs?
• What are the existing institutional and
electronic information networks?
2 PAPERS
• Background information on the U.S.-
Mexico Pesticide Inspector Exchange
Program that has resulted in the training
of over 60 pesticide inspectors in both
countries
• Fact sheet on the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) - United
Nations Environment Programme
Chemical Information Exchange Program
which will provide training to chemical
managers in Central America and
Mexico in using the Internet to access
needed information and in promoting a
regional exchange of information on pes-
ticides
3 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
With the majority of participants
representing the Central America region
and the United States, discussions focused
on the establishment of a Pesticide Forum
for Central America. After all participants
shared their experiences and interests
regarding pesticides, four short presenta-
tions were given on existing regional pro-
grams. Marco Gonzalez provided a sum-
mary of Comisi'on Cebtro-american de
ambiente y Desarolla's pesticide related
activities, Adele Cardenas (EPA) described
the accomplishments of the U.S.-Mexico
Pesticide Inspector Exchange Program,
Roberto Morales summarized U.S. Agency
for International Development regional
environment program, and Keith Chanon
(EPA) presented information on the EPA-
UNEP project to train chemical managers
in the region on using the Internet to
access chemical information.
Substantive discussions addressed
the wide-range of pesticide issues of impor-
tance in Central America. Due to the need
for understanding these issues regarding
pesticides, time was not sufficient for dis-
cussing the detailed requirements of a func-
tioning Pesticide Forum. Rather, the group
agreed to first focus on identifying the
important stakeholders that are involved or
affected by the use of pesticides in the
region and to identify the priority informa-
tion needs of the region.
As pesticide issues span across
the environment, health, and agriculture
sectors and affect numerous stakeholder
groups, it is clear that compliance and
enforcement activities are an important
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
component to overall pesticide manage-
ment. Nonetheless, a number of other pri-
orities surfaced that demonstrate the com-
plexity of regulating pesticides and educat-
ing users and the general public about their
risks as well as the benefits that can be
attained through investments in sustainable
alternatives. Having identified the important
stakeholders and the priority information
needs of the region, additional efforts are
needed to further define the scope and
operationalization of the Pesticide Forum.
Key Stakeholders Involved in
Pesticide Activities:
• Non-governmental organizations
• Academia
• Industry
• Commodity groups
• Farmworkers
• Community organizations
• International organizations
• General consumers
Priority Information Needs of the
Central American Region:
• Information on alternative sustainable
agricultural practices (i.e., organic agri-
culture, integrated pest management,
non-synthetic pesticides);
• Market information required for domestic
sales and export of foods;
• Information and guidelines for inspections;
• Farmworker safety information; and
• Information for developing enforceable
regulations
Participants also identified numer-
ous issues and challenges in strengthening
overall pesticide management practices
and for promoting the adoption of alterna-
tive sustainable agricultural practices.
While Central America hosts some
small-scale projects to promote the devel-
opment and use of alternative sustainable
agriculture practices that do not rely solely
on synthetic pesticides, the group recog-
nized that large-scale efforts to promote
alternatives and the exchange of techno-
logical information is needed. To facilitate
this cultural transformation, information
exchange and awareness raising activities
are needed to highlight the environmental,
health, and economic benefits associated
with sustainable practices. This education
effort must target all stakeholder entities,
including government and the general pub-
lic. A central function of the Pesticide
Forum could be to provide information on
the wide range of alternative practices
available to farmers within the region.
The multi-dimensional market in
pesticides involves the international trade
of pesticides as products, the international
trade in foods containing pesticide
residues, and the international migration of
farmworkers who apply pesticides in more
than one country. These aspects directly
and indirectly impact pesticide use prac-
tices. The international trade in pesticide
products necessitates national capacity to
monitor and enforce import and export con-
trols. National and international food safety
standards necessitate enforceable domes-
tic regulations. Lastly, the migration of farm-
workers requires that countries collaborate
in educating and training this population
group to assure their protection and that of
their families.
A central aspect of the internation-
al market in pesticides involves the price of
agricultural commodities and strategies for
gaining market share. The market price of
pesticides will likely influence the manage-
ment practices chosen by the farmer. As
commodity prices fall, the farmer may seek
alternative pest control strategies that are
less costly. This can either result in the
farmer adopting non-chemical control
methods or reverting to using older, lower
cost pesticides that may pose greater risks
to the environment. Also, in some coun-
tries, government subsidies and policies of
financial lending institutions encourage
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: DESIGNING A PESTICIDE FORUM 453
pesticide use.
International consumer demand
can also drive decisions at the farm level.
Specifically, the growing demand for pesti-
cide free produce and expectation that
growers follow sustainable agricultural prin-
ciples introduces new market forces. To
attract this growing consumer sector, farm-
ers will inevitably need to adopt sustainable
agricultural practices. Certification schemes
(e.g., organic certification) will undoubtedly
influence the decisions of growers in their
choice of using certain types of pesticides.
The Pesticide Forum should play a
role in providing growers with up-to-date
information on market trends and require-
ments as well as information needed to
develop regionally harmonized regulations.
Enforceable regulations are critical
for assuring the safe use of pesticides. In
Central America, there is an undeniable
need for technical information that will
assist countries in establishing and imple-
menting effective regulations. In this area,
the Pesticide Forum can be used for dis-
seminating needed information in addition
to facilitating the harmonization of
approaches to pesticide regulation
throughout the region. The experience and
input from the compliance and enforcement
community will greatly improve the effec-
tiveness of newly established regulations.
A critical tool for the compliance
and enforcement of pesticide regulations is
the use of inspections. Inspections of farms
and pesticide manufacturing and formulat-
ing facilities will help assure compliance.
Therefore, information and training for
inspectors will strengthen capacity in the
region. A possible activity that can be facil-
itated through the forum is the expansion of
the U.S.-Mexico Pesticide Inspector
Exchange Program. The program would
enable inspectors from Central America to
receive training in Mexico and the U.S.
As a sub-population that can incur
high levels of pesticide exposure, it is
important to provide farmworkers with
proper education and training on the safe
handling and use of pesticides. In this area,
the Pesticide Forum can provide basic
information and training resources. For
example, information and materials from
existing training programs in Costa Rica,
Guatemala, and the joint U.S.-Mexico
Worker Protection Program can be shared
and disseminated through the forum.
4 CONCLUSION
The group agreed that additional
work and consultation is required in order
to prioritize and narrow the issues for inclu-
sion in the Pesticide Forum and to establish
links with existing regional networks.
Moreover, the operational design of the
forum and its integration into the INECE
network needs to be addressed.
Participants agreed to participate in future
consultations to further develop the
Pesticide Forum.
From the workshop discussions, it
is clear that pesticides present a complex
set of issues and problems that cannot be
addressed through any single means.
Changes must be made at the government,
industry, grower, and consumer levels.
While enforceable legal requirements are
an important element, in the context of
Central America, the group emphasized
the need to promote a cultural shift toward
the adoption of sustainable agricultural
practices. This will require the participation
of all stakeholder entities.
The Pesticide Forum should
become a valuable tool for facilitating the
adoption of alternative pest control strate-
gies. The participants of the workshop rec-
ognized that further work is needed to
define the scope and design of the forum
and committed to participate in the continu-
al design and development of the forum.
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454 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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THEME #6
Sustainable, Effective Regional Networks
The final Theme included Panel 9 "Reports of Regional Meetings and Workshops" in which
designated spokespersons shared the findings of the Regional Workshops and presented
elements for incorporation into the strategic plan of INECE and a work program for the
Region and panel 10 where the co-chairs and Director of the INECE Secretariat shared
The INECE Strategic Vision" which included presentation and discussion of the Strategic
Plan as charted with the input and recommendations made during the Conference.
The regions that reported were:
• Africa
• Asia & Pacific
• Central America & Caribbean
• Europe
• North America
• South America
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456 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SESSION #9: REPORTS OF REGIONAL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS 457
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #9:
REPORTS OF REGIONAL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
Moderators: Tony Oposa
Wout Klein
Rapporteur: Davis Jones
1 INTRODUCTION
Each Region presented results
from the previous day's Regional Workshop
that included:
• What are the critical environmental
challenges important to your region?
• What are the institutional challenges that
make it difficult to address the environ-
mental problems?
• Identify the different environmental net-
works that currently exist in the region
and challenges those present?
• The region's thoughts on environmental
enforcement indicators?
• What projects proposed in the INECE
draft strategic plan are most important to
the region.
Below is a recap of each regions
report with concluding statement from Mr.
Klein and other comments.
2 SOUTH AMERICA
Reported by Antonio Benjamin,
Brazil
Six countries were represented
and two international organizations attend-
ed the meeting.
2.1 Critical Environmental Challenges
• Environmental effects of illegal mining.
• Inadequate management of hazardous
and non-hazardous wastes.
• Poverty.
• Air pollution in large cities.
• Desertification.
• Deforestation.
• Deterioration of biodiversity.
• Water pollution (groundwater, freshwater,
marine / industrial, urban, etc. sources).
2.2 Critical Institutional Challenges
• Poor access to information.
• Lack of citizen participation.
• Low priority of environmental issues in
policy and political agenda.
• Lack of institutional coordination among
different state institutions (horizontal and
vertical).
• Weak institutional capacity.
• Low allocation of public and private
financial resources.
• Weak enforcement and compliance sys-
tems and lack of indicators.
2.3
2.3.1
Regional Networks and
Challenges
Partners (Non-exhaustive List)
Immediate viability
• Fundacion Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales (FARM)
• Planeta Verde
Viability to be explored
• Secretariat Amazonian Cooperation
Treaty
• Community of Andean Nations
(Environment Committee)
• Common Market of the South (MERCO-
SUR) (Sub Group 6)
• Forum of Environmental Ministers of
Latin America and the Caribbean
• Economic Commission for Latin America
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
• United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP)
• Inter-American Development Bank
(IADB)
• The World Conservation Union-South
(UlCN-Sur)
•CAP
2.3.2 Information Exchange
• UN System websites
• www.medioaambiente.gov.ar
• www.farn.org.ar
• www.worldbank.org.ar
• www.cvg.com.ve
• www.minsostenible.gov.bo
2.3.3 Enforcement Indicators
Information
• North American Free Trade Agreement-
CCA (NAFTA-CCA),
• Economic Commission for Latin America
and Caribbean (ECLAC), Forest
• INECE website
• More linkages
• Professional discussion space
2.4 Enforcement Indicators
Note 1: The group is not sure about
the definition or scope of indicators
Examples of some indicators expe-
riences (existing/in process):
• Bolivia: Performance indicators with the
support of the World Bank.
• Colombia: Institutional performance (effi-
cacy and effectiveness of public policies
is being development).
Note 2: We need indicators and
they should reflect regional needs and per-
spectives.
Note 3: Check the NAFTA indicators.
Note 4: INECE could add linkages
to existing forest indicators and NAFTA -
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (CEC) indicators and ECLAC
study (see 3.b).
2.5 Priority Projects for INECE
(See strategic plan for detailed
description)
• Goal 1: INECE indicators 1.A.1
• Goal 2: Strategy 2. B to reach 2. D
• Goal 3: Strategy 3.A
• Goal 4: Strategy 4 .C
3 AFRICA
Reported by Jonathan Allotey,
Ghana
Only 5 countries were represented
out of 53 African countries, therefore this
is not necessarily representative of region.
3.1 Critical Environmental Challenges
• Balancing environmental and develop-
mental issues;
• Effective utilization of resources (human
& N.R.) or the lack thereof;
• Poverty Reduction;
• Awareness/availability of information/dis-
semination;
• Lack of capacity;
• Lack of technology to control small &
medium enterprises;
• Application of ethics;
• Lack of capacity to comply (especially
small & medium enterprises);
• Low political will/priority;
• Political interference.
3.2 Critical Institutional Challenges
• Lack of institutional capacity;
• Clear legal/institutional framework for
environmental compliance and enforce-
ment;
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SESSION #9: REPORTS OF REGIONAL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
459
• Inadequate resources (financial, human,
technical);
• Lack of co-operation/collaboration;
• Dependence on external resources;
• Language constraints;
• Lack of common objectives/priorities;
• Overlap/duplication of functions;
• Absence of critical mass/stability of tech-
nical staff.
3.3 Regional Networks and
Challenges
• Partners with existing networks (regional,
sub-regional) e.g. Capacity Development
and Linkages for EIA in Africa
(CLEIAA), Network For Environment And
Sustainable Development In Africa
(NESDA), Basel Convention Centre,
United Nations Environment Programe
(UNEP);
• Work through intergovernmental group-
ings (e.g. Southern African Development
Community (SADC), Common Market
for Eastern and Southern Africa
(COMESA), EAU, Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS),
Intergovernmental Authority on
Development (IGAD), Magreb Union,
African Union, Economic Community for
Central African States.
3.3.1 Key Contacts
• CLEIAA
•NESDA
• Basel Convention Centres
• UNEP Collaborative Centres
• Intergovernmental Organizations
3.3.2 Advantages of Existing Networks
• Better potential due to existing frame-
work;
• Could be budgeted for by regional group-
ings.
3.3.3 Information Exchange
• Create regional web page on INECE
site;
• Create a portal on INECE site to connect
to Environmental Information Systems
(EIS) Africa;
• Engage persons to update INECE Africa
site;
• INECE Africa site to capture laws; judg-
ments, and other information;
• Utilize INFORTERRA focal points on
country database support.
3.3.4 Other Instruments/network
Improvements
• Modalities to operationalize the net-
works;
• Need for Civil Society/NGOs and govern-
ment structures to compliment each
other in selling the INECE Africa idea;
• Need to assist countries without internet
service;
• Need to identify contact persons in min-
istries of Environment/NGOs of member
states through UNEP;
• Material production and distribution.
3.4 Enforcement Indicators
• Participate in development of INECE
indicators project;
• Application of INECE indicators in
African setting.
3.5 Priority Projects for INECE
• Harmonization of legal
instruments/frameworks on environmen-
tal compliance and enforcement;
• Information exchange/dissemination/
awareness;
• Resource sharing;
• Capacity building;
• Regional meeting of environmental com-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
pliance and enforcement officials to pre-
pare for Kampala Council of Ministers
meeting (To strategize on harmonization
of legal framework for environmental
compliance and enforcement);
• Review of legal framework for environ-
mental compliance and enforcement
using UNEP/OUTCH Law Project as
demonstration;
• Creation of INECE Africa Portal in collab-
oration with Environmental Information
Systems (EIS) Africa;
• Develop Africa section of INECE
Newsletter and dissemination to African
countries distribute environmental com-
pliance and enforcement awareness
material for Africa;
• Develop Best Practice Manual for Africa;
• Evaluate available databases on existing
resources (Training Needs Assessment)
for posting on INECE Africa website;
• Develop framework for resource sharing
protocol;
• Capacity Building;
• Training
• Development of materials (manuals)
for environmental compliance and
enforcement
• Institutional development
• Provision of equipment and materials
3.6 Comments on INECE Strategic
Plan
Strategic plan is acceptable but
needs to address Africa's PRIOR TY
ISSUES, namely:
• Biodiversity related conventions;
• Pollution related conventions (e.g.
Basel/Stockholm, Rotterdam conven-
tions).
4 EUROPE
Reported by Neil Emmott, England
4.1 Critical Environmental Challenges
GLOBAL:
• Climate Change
REGIONAL:
• Availability and Quality of Water;
• Waste including Waste Shipments;
• Resource Consumption Management;
• Environmental Impact of Transport and
Agriculture;
• Historic Pollution Legacy;
• Sustainable Economic Rebuilding (e.g.
Balkan).
4.2 Critical Institutional Challenges
• Effective Legal Framework and
Regulations;
• Effective Institutional Structures;
• Adequate and Efficient Resources;
• Policy Coherence;
• Communication, Co-Ordination and Co-
Operation between Authorities and
Countries;
• Transparent Procedures and
Administrations.
4.3 Regional Networks and
Challenges
• IMPEL - (15 EU MEMBER STATES)
• AC-IMPEL - (12 ACCESSION STATES)
• NISECEN - (12 COUNTRIES IN EAST
EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA)
• BERGEN - (8 BALKAN COUNTRIES)
Improved Cooperation Between
European Networks
• Merger of Impel and AC-lmpel;
• Regular Meetings between the Four
(Three) Network Coordinators;
• Joint Meetings on Selected Issues;
• Experts Exchange/ Study Tours;
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SESSION #9: REPORTS OF REGIONAL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS 461
• Joint Projects;
• Electronic Exchange of Information;
• Pan European Contact List.
4.4 Role of European Networks in
INECE
• The needs specified by developing coun-
tries should drive the INECE agenda.
• The European networks can supports
the activities within this agenda by:
• Technical Support
• Building Networks
• Geographic Cooperation (e.g.
Mediterranean).
4.5 Priority Projects for INECE
• need to develop criteria for
selection/adoption of projects;
• need to focus more on projects with
practical outputs;
• need to avoid duplication with ongoing
work (MEAs, Rio updates, etc.);
• need to reflect priorities of developing
countries;
• need to separate substantive projects
from the maintenance of INECE;
• European networks could contribute to
e.g. minimum criteria for
inspection/inspectors, distance learning,
building of other networks, and dissemi-
nation of information/publications.
5 CENTRAL AMERICA
Reported by Patricia Madrigal,
Costa Rica
Approximately 30 people from the
region attended the session.
5.1 Critical Environmental Challenges
• Integrated water management;
• Toxic substances and pesticides;
• Trafficking of environmentally controlled
substances and animals;
• Forest protection;
• Transfrontier pollution;
5.2 Critical Institutional Challenges
• Strengthen links between INECE and the
Region.
• Strengthen institutions on technical and
legal aspects of compliance and enforce-
ment.
5.3 Regional Networks and
Challenges
Regional networks:
• CCAD Central American Environmental
Commission with 4 areas of focus
• Harmonization of environmental stats
• Increase Capacity for implementation
• Application of International conventions
Harmonization of environmental
instruments (audits, ElAs, certification)
• Red de fiscales ambientales
• Asociacion Mesoamericana de
• (Coming soon) University Network for
Environmental Law Education (w/CCAD)
• E-Law
In-Country Networks
• Guatemala: Red de Informacion y
Investigacion Ambiental
• Honduras: Alliance of NGOs for
Protected Areas
• Nicaragua: Red de Unidads Ambientales
Sector, Red de Desarrollo Sostenible,
Foro Nacional de Segunded Quimies
• Costa Rica: FECON, Asociacion
Costaricense de Derecho Ambiental
• Panama: Red de Unidades Ambientales
Sectonales
• Belice: none identified
The region discussed not to have
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
one person be the only contact with INECE
but to form a committee with representa-
tives from each country, and to prepare an
action plan for INECE.
5.4 Priority Projects for INECE
• Harmonization of environmental enforce-
ment mechanisms;
• Training- Enforcement manual in
Spanish;
• Common guidelines on inspections;
• Preparation of didactic material;
• Training for police/army on environmental
enforcement (smuggling of wildlife, trans-
border issues);
• Access to justice and public participation
for national and trans-border complaints,
for issues of human rights;
6 NORTH AMERICA
Reported by Geoff Garver, United
States
Mexico was not well represented
so this should not be taken as regional
agreement.
6.1 Critical Environmental Challenges
• Key sectors: Energy and Agriculture
• Biodiversty Issues:
• loss of species and overall numbers
• habitat destruction - forests and other
• over fishing-managed fisheries and ille-
gal
• invasive species
• coral reef destruction
• Water Issues:
• quantity/allocation
• wetland loss
• intensive agriculture
• deposition of pollutants(including air pol-
lutants)
• vessels pollution
• Air Issues:
• Long-range transport
• Ozone depletion
• Climate change
• Hazardous Waste and Toxic Materials:
• pesticide control and management
• illegal drug labs
• terrorism issues
• Management of GMOs and Biotech
• Border Issues:
• Transboundary movement of materials
• Border as a shield
6.2 Critical Institutional Challenges
• Capacity Issues: Lack of resources and
intra-regional differences in capacity;
• Language and cultural differences;
• Reacting to shifting policies and political
environments;
• Creating links between agencies w/differ-
ent missions and mandates (e.g. pollu-
tion control vs. resource management;
resource use vs. resource protection);
• Federal-subnational dynamics;
• Bureaucratic impediments;
• High data management needs, esp.
w/technically complex issues;
• Making informal networks last (e.g.
through institutionalization);
• Maintain political and public support for
enforcement;
• Ensure accountability is assured w/new
or alternative approaches;
• Ensuring public participation.
6.3 Regional Networks and
Challenges
• General:
• Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (CEC), Environmental
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SESSION #9: REPORTS OF REGIONAL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS 463
Working Group-North American
Wildlife Enforcement Group (EWG-
NAWEG)
• AFour Sisters® (sub-regional)
•The World Conservation Union (IUCN)
• International Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA)
• Specialized:
• Pesticide Technical Work Group
•BECC
• Law Enforcement Coordinating
Committee (LECC'S)
• Association of Natural Resources
Enforcement Trainers (ANRET)
• U.S. Networks:
• The National Association of Attorneys
General (NAAG)
• Environmental Crime Policy Comm.
• Clean Water Network (NGO)
6.4 Priority Projects for INECE
• Support a sustained regional network
linked to existing sub-regional networks,
filling any gaps, and facilitation enforce-
ment projects of joint interest (e.g.
regional enforcement initiative, e.g. agri-
culture sector, with INECE facilitating
tracking).
• Support creation of contact lists/directory
of enforcement/compliance network for
North American region including techni-
cal experts (with summary of expertise).
• Facilitate training courses within the
region (e.g. this need expressed for Vera
Cruz, Mexico), and facilitate and track
follow through.
• Keep North America region informed of
relevant training and other activities in
other regions.
• Enforcement indicators: North America
region supports INECE's overall efforts in
this regard.
7 ASIA AND PACIFIC
Reported by Tony Oposa, The
Philippines
The Asian and Pacific group con-
sisted of 16 representatives spanning the
globe from Israel and Jordan to the Peoples
Republic of China and Australia. The group
did not report out on each of the directed
questions, but did list their priority activities
for the Region and INECE:
• Create a database of regional members,
including biographical sketches;
• Commit to meet next year, possibly in
Bali, Indonesia on 17 April 2002, in order
to:
• Establish a regional group with a
record of accomplishments.
• Share case studies with a focus on
lessons learned.
• Focus on key environmental issues in
the region.
• Canvas INECE to support regional net-
works, as suggested in goal 2D3 of the
strategic plan.
7.1 Key Issues Include:
• Public information on Enforcement and
Compliance mechanisms;
• Voluntary compliance;
• Effective governance;
• Inclusion of green, blue and brown
issues;
• Inclusion of multi-stakeholders, including
parliamentarians, judges, and Civil
Society, in regional participation efforts;
• Contacting representatives of countries
missing from this INECE meeting.
8 SUMMARY FROM CO-CHAIR
Reported by Wout Klein,
Netherlands
These are not a summary of the
sessions already presented, but do repre-
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
sent some common themes among the
regions that may be helpful in focusing
INECE's attention and activities.
8.1 Critical Environmental Challenges
• Biodiversity.
• Water, waste, and pollution issues.
• Energy and climate seem more North
American and European.
• Agriculture, including forestry.
8.2 Critical Institutional Challenges
• Capacity, capacity, capacity.
• Political priority and public interest.
• Procedures and legal harmonization.
• Indicators.
8.3 Regional Networks and
Challenges
There appear to be three levels of
networks:
• Well established (North America,
Europe).
• Fragile networks (South America, Africa,
Central America, Southeast Asia).
• Absent (Mediterranean, Middle East,
Central Asia, China).
Should one continue to strengthen
existing networks or build where there's
nothing?
8.4 Priority Projects for INECE
• Networking, contacts, information
access.
• Training, good practices, material distri-
bution.
• Indicators, applicable in developing coun-
tries.
8.5 Questions
The following questions or com-
ments were raised from the floor.
Bill Futrell spoke as a representa-
tive from the NGO networks. The group
was unanimous about the conference's
success, and agreed conferences should
continue to be held. It built on the Oaxaca
conference and it is doubtful that a Central
or Eastern Europe conference would have
had the same effect. The groups did wish
to communicate to the secretariat on efforts
to engage NGOs more actively. 15 NGOs
were invited but did not attend, similar to
some representatives from developing
countries. INECE should devote a newslet-
ter or website to tell members what the net-
work can get for NGOs. NGOs have capa-
bilities for citizen enforcement that govern-
ment agencies don't always have. INECE
should carefully examine the role of citizen
enforcement.
Maria DiPaola from Argentina
spoke of FARN's program in Latin America
that links intentions for regional networks in
the region with possibilities. They have
established an E-dialogue with people from
different Latin American countries with
interesting comments about the definitions
of enforcement, lack of compliance assis-
tance in Latin America, and sharing experi-
ences of participants. This has been com-
bined with distance learning courses from
the World Bank and an upcoming confer-
ence in Buenos Aires in May to build knowl-
edge and exchange experience and to help
build a network.
Ms. DiPaola stressed that it was a
fascinating conference. She charged the
group to think globally, but act locally and
logically. Efforts should begin with domes-
tic laws, but expand to ME As and coopera-
tion with neighboring countries to fight
crime. Networking is important as shown
by European examples where neighbors
are ready to help develop good practices
and provide training to implement those
practices. But for future conferences,
INECE should ensure that people from all
parts of the world are represented, from the
public, NGOs and governments.
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SESSION #9: REPORTS OF REGIONAL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS 465
Jose Pablo Gonzalez from Costa
Rica announced the formation of the
International Network of Environmental
Public Prosecutors created at breakfast. It
will begin with U.S. and Central America but
will work within the framework of INECE
and will advertise through INECE and get
members.
Michael LeRoy-Dyson from New
Zealand stated that he was humbled by
experiences he's seen. He stressed that
material that is produced by INECE for
capacity building should be simple publica-
tions for use in front line. He asked for a
show of hands to get an idea of represen-
tation from different groups showing:
• Law: about 20%
• Administrative Policy: about 20%
• Federal: 30-40%
• Provincial/state government: 5%
•NGO:10%
• Front line enforcement, inspection, 35%
Carl Brunch from ELI stressed the
role of good governance and how INECE
has become a key proponent on the world
stage. But civil society and NGOs have an
important role with information, involve-
ment and access to justice. INECE can do
a lot to highlight good governance at the
WSSD, and work with NGOs as they devel-
oping indicators of good governance (see
www.access.org).
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466 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: AFRICA REGIONAL MEETING 467
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: AFRICA REGIONAL MEETING
Facilitators: Group
Rapporteur: Jonathan Allotey
GOALS
• Improve environmental enforcement and compliance through improved networking.
• Learn to cooperate better within each country and then within the region.
• Gain knowledge of environmental issues.
• Identify key environmental players within countries and the region so that we are better
able to share our resources, including technical skills and lessons learned.
1 INTRODUCTION
Critical Environmental Challenges
• Balancing environment and development.
• Effective utilization of resources (human
and natural).
• Poverty (reduction eradication).
• Public awareness-availability of informa-
tion and dissemination (sharing).
• Lack of capacity to comply with
good practices by small and medium
enterprises.
• Political priority misplaced and interfer-
ence.
Critical Institutional Challenges
• Lack institutions and capacity.
• No clear institutional and legal framework
for ECE Duplication in some situations.
• Inadequate resources (financial, human,
technical).
• Dependence tendency on external
resource and institutions.
• Lack of common objectives/priorities.
• Overlapping and duplication of functions.
• Absence of critical mass of technical
staff thus affecting Stability of technical
staff.
• Lack of cooperation between institutions
and donor countries.
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Network Challenges
2.1
Partnership with existing networks
(at regional, sub-regional)
• CLEIAA (Capacity Development and
Linkages for environmental impact
assessment in Africa) Dr. P. C. Acquah
• NESDA - Network for Sustainable
Development in Africa - Abu Bamba
• Basel Convention Centers
• UNEP collaborating Centers
• Center for environment and Development
for the Arab Region and Europe
(CEDARE),
• IMESCAR
• Inter-governmental Authority on Drought
and Development (IGADD)
Work through and with intergovern-
mental groups such as Southern African
Development Cooperation (SADC), East
African Community (EAC), Economic
Community of West African States (ECOW-
AS), Economic Community for Central
Africa States (ECCA), MAGREB
Union-North Africa, Intergovernmental
Agency on Drought and Development
(IGADD), African Union, AMCEN, EIS-
AFRICA - Information
An advantage of using existing
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Networks/Frameworks is that regional
grouping could budget for activities and
work at regional level but use sub-regional
groups as vehicles for achieving objectives.
2.2 Information Exchange
• Create regional web page on INECE site
• Create a portal on INECE site to connect
to EIS-AFRICA website
• Engage persons to update INECE Africa
site
• INECE Africa site to capture laws, judg-
ments, other parameters.
• Use INFOTERRA Focal Points on coun-
try database support.
2.3 Other Instruments/Network
Improvement
• Modalities to operationalize the net-
works.
• Need for Civil Society/NGOs and
Government institutions to complement
each other to promote/(sell) INECE
Africa network.
• Need to assist countries without internet
service
• Need to identify contact persons in envi-
ronment ministries and agencies, NGOs
of member states through UNEP
• Materials production and distribution.
2.4 Priority Regional Needs
• Harmonization of Legal
Instruments/frameworks on
Environmental Compliance Enforcement
• Information
exchange/dissemination/awareness
• Resource Sharing
• Capacity Building
2.4.1 Priority Projects/Activities:
Harmonisation
• Regional Meeting of Environmental
Compliance Enforcement officials to pre-
pare input into African Ministers on the
Environment meeting to be held in July
in Kampala Uganda. The aim of the
meeting is to prepare strategy.
• Review of existing legal framework for
Environmental Compliance Enforcement
and undertake harmonization using
UNEP/Dutch Law Project as example -
demonstrating case study.
• Participate in development of INECE
indicators project
• Application of INECE indicators in
African Setting
2.4.2 Information Exchange
Dissemination
• Creation of INECE Africa Portal in collab-
oration with Environmental Information
Systems-AFRICA
• Develop Africa Section of INECE
Newsletter and its dissemination to
African countries.
• Develop, produce and distribute
Environmental Compliance Enforcement
awareness material
• Develop Best Practice Manual for Africa
2.4.3 Resource Sharing
• Evaluation and development of databas-
es on existing resources.
• Training needs assessment.
• Framework for a Resource Protocol
• Capacity Building
• Training in Environmental Compliance
Enforcement
• Development of materials (manuals)
for ECE
• Institutional Development
• Provision of equipment and materials
2.5 Time Frame
Five (5) years
2.6 Comments On Inece Strategy
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: AFRICA REGIONAL MEETING 469
Strategic Plan needs to address
Africa's PRIORITY ISSUES, namely:
• Biodiversity Related Conventions
• Pollution related conventions (eg. Basel,
Stockholm, Rotterdam etc.)
3 CONCLUSION
Within different phases of enforce-
ment there can be a conflict between pub-
lic and government because of confidential
information but also a natural conflict if the
public is seen as challenging government
action or inaction.
The following recommendations for
the co-chairs of INECE could be made:
• Sponsor a side event on the role of the
public within environmental compliance
and enforcement during the World
Summit for Sustainable Development
(WSSD).
• Keep promoting the role of the public
within compliance and enforcement by
developing a methodological basis on
the public role; publishing a compendium
of case studies and experiences.
• Provide a platform for the exchange of
regional experiences
• Support capacity-building, through train-
ing courses for example.
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470 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ASIA & PACIFIC REGIONAL MEETING 471
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ASIA & PACIFIC REGIONAL MEETING
Facilitators: Lai Kurukulasuriya
Maria Comino
Atonio Oposa
Rapporteur: John A. Boyd
GOALS
• Improve environmental enforcement and compliance through improved networking.
• Learn to cooperate better within each country and then within the region.
• Gain knowledge of environmental issues.
• Identify key environmental players within countries and the region so that we are better
able to share our resources, including technical skills and lessons learned.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• What is meant by the term "networking"?
• What are the existing regional networks?
• How can we improve regional
networking?
• What can we accomplish in the next
couple of years?
Mr. Oposa suggested that network-
ing needs to start at home and grow
through national and regional networks. Mr.
Kurukukasuriya suggested that we need to
move from networks consisting mainly of
addresses to organic networks. Ms. Comino
suggested that we describe briefly the net-
works that currently exist in the region and
improve networking within countries.
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
According to Mr. B. Sengupta, India
faces several environmental problems
including air and water pollution, hazardous
waste disposal, waste management, solid
waste disposal, ground water pollution, as
well as maintaining its national forests. The
judiciary is active, pollution is declining, and
the amount of such pollutants as nitrates
and heavy metals is being reduced. Mr.
Phung Van Vui told of how Vietnam faces
many environmental problems ranging from
pollution to lack of human and financial
resources. Mr. Hua Wang of the Peoples
Republic of China told of how the problems
of China are similar to those just noted for
India and Vietnam. Mr. Mas Santosa states
that Indonesia confronts blue, green and
brown environmental issues, most of which
are caused by a lack of good governance.
To improve environmental compliance and
enforcement, Indonesia will need to rely on
Civil Society, government, Parliament,
NGOs.
According to Mr. Islam Heydayetul
Chowdhury, Bangladesh faces many differ-
ent environmental problems including air
pollution from vehicles, industry and brick
laying, solid waste disposal, waste water,
arsenic in water, and lack of facilities to
deal with environmental problems. Mr.
Prasaniha Dias Abeyegunawardene told of
how Sri Lanka has lost a great deal of its
wetlands and forests due to a lack of suffi-
cient institutional capacity. Mr. Narayan
Belbase of Nepal and the Ford Foundation
office in India told of how Nepal's problems
fall under six headings:
• deforestation;
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
• loss of biodiversity;
• loss of soil;
• water pollution;
• solid waste management;
• and ineffective coordination of environ-
mental management.
Mr. Sadhu Sapkota of Nepal thinks
that Nepal needs to control illegal logging
and deal effectively with threats to its
endangered species. Ms. Donna Campbell
told of the significant environmental prob-
lem caused by Australia's waste manage-
ment. Australia has substantially solved its
point source pollution problems but now
must deal effectively with diffuse sources of
pollution such as runoff of waste from vehi-
cles. Australia also faces significant prob-
lems arising from its dry climate. Dr. Lssa
Ababneth feels that Jordan's water man-
agement is perhaps its most significant
environmental problem. Mr. Ben David
Izhak informed the participants of Israel
who, like its neighbor to the east, faces sig-
nificant water resource problems.
Resolving the marine pollution problems of
the Gulf of Aqaba has provided a significant
opportunity for Israel to cooperate with
Egypt and Jordan. In the Pacific, New
Zealand confronts environmental problems
concerning air pollution, waste disposal,
disposal of waste in the context of values
held by its indigenous peoples, water pollu-
tion including disposal of PCBs, and soil
conservation, according to Mr. Michael
Leroy-Dyson. Ms. Maria Camino of
Australia: since Australia has such a dry cli-
mate, Australia needs to attempt a com-
plete water cycle approach, including use
of effluents.
Mr. Lai Kurukulasuriya's descrip-
tion of existing regional networks included
the South Asian Association for Regional
Environmental Assessment Association
(SAREAA), South Pacific Regional
Environmental Association for Regional
Cooperation Program (SPREP),
Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), South Asian Cooperative
Environmental Program (SACEP) based in
Columbo, the Asian Development Bank,
International Union for the Conservation of
Nature (IUCN), International Centre for
Integrated Mountain Development (ICI-
MOD)Dr. Ababneth noted the Regional
Center for Environmental Health Activities
(WHO) in Amman, Jordan. Mr. Sengupta
pointed out that India deals effectively with
environmental network problems by having
State officials meet quarterly to discuss
common problems. India also meets peri-
odically with representatives of its neigh-
bors to deal with environmental issues. Mr.
Belbase noted that IUCN has regional
offices which foster associations that deal
with the preparation of environmental
impact assessments. Mr. Enayet Ullah
stressed the importance of local networks
that deal with such significant issues as
waste disposal.
Dr. Wang suggested that a website
could help improve regional networking
with thousands of individuals. Mr. Oposa
suggested that we all create biographical
sketches so that we are better able to work
together as a regional network. Mr. Boyd
suggested that this regional network should
meet annually at a low cost, environmental-
ly significant site so that we can discuss
environmental issues of common concern.
Mr. Oposa indicated that an exchange of
views he recently had with a representative
of Bangladesh on a recent ban of plastic
bags in Bangladesh was very important
and helpful to him. Mr. Kurukulasuriya sug-
gested that a regional environmental web-
site should be linked to significant other
environmental websites, including govern-
ment offices and the offices of NGOs. This
could be accomplished through an
improved INECE website. Mr. Boyd sug-
gested that significant environmental laws,
such as those dealing with water and air
pollution, could also be referred to on these
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: ASIA & PACIFIC REGIONAL MEETING 473
websites to assist with compliance and
enforcement efforts.
Ms. Campbell emphasized the
importance of focusing on compliance and
enforcement issues, rather than the collec-
tion of laws. Mr. Chowdhury stressed the
importance of sharing experiences in the
enactment of new environmental legisla-
tion. Mr. LeRoy-Dyson suggested that the
group attempt to find themes that would be
of common interest such as dealing with
governance, air pollution and waste man-
agement. Mr. Santosa indicated that
Indonesia needs to learn more about how
to decentralize the enforcement of environ-
mental laws. Mr. Belbase suggested that
funds might be sought for such purposes
from international funding sources for
future regional meetings. Mr. LeRoy-Dyson
recommended that the group focus on
issues related to obtaining voluntary com-
pliance. Mr. Oposa suggested that each
member of the group nominate another to
join the group at the next regional meeting.
Mr. Boyd suggested that the group might
focus on how to improve compliance and
enforcement in a particular country in the
region, perhaps in the country where the
group was meeting. Mr. Oposa suggested
that the group would need a secretariat to
facilitate future such regional meetings. Mr.
Wang suggested that the existing INECE
secretariat could provide necessary mini-
mal secretariat and financial support and
Mr. Santosa suggested that the group
should be a meeting of the network and
should include members of parliament and
the judiciary so that opportunities for suc-
cess would be enhanced.
Mr. Enayet noted that many region-
al countries are not represented at this
meeting and that the group should try to
reach out to those missing countries. Mr.
Oposa suggested that the group could
attempt to develop techniques to assess
existing capacity and gaps in such capaci-
ty. Experts could be invited to assist in this
effort and in developing indicators to meas-
ure success and failure. Mr. Kurukulasuriya
stressed the importance of taking into
account parallel efforts by other regional
bodies such as SACEP. Our focus should
be on networking, gaining knowledge from
such networking, and then sharing our
knowledge with others. Mr. LeRoy-Dyson
suggested that the development of easy to
read publications could be considered as
one outcome of our efforts so that our
knowledge would be shared broadly in the
region. Mr. Oposa suggested that the next
regional meeting of the group could be held
on or about 18 April 2002 and the group
suggested that Ms. Comino and Mr. Oposa
should be the coordinators for the 18 April
2002 meeting, which might be held in Bali,
Indonesia, and carry out other ad hoc tasks
for the network.
4 CONCLUSION
The Asian and Pacific group, con-
sisting of 19 representatives spanning the
earth from Israel and Jordan to the Peoples
Republic of China and Australia, agreed
upon the recommendations to create a
database of regional members, including
biographical sketches; and commit to meet
next year, perhaps on 18 April 2002, in
order to:
• establish a regional group to assist each
other in environmental implementation,
compliance and enforcement;
• share case studies with a focus on les-
sons learned;
• focus on key environmental issues in the
region;
• canvas INECE to support regional net-
works in Asia;
Other issues for consideration include:
• public information on Enforcement and
Compliance mechanisms;
• voluntary compliance;
• effective governance;
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474 S|XTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
• inclusion of green, blue and brown
issues;
• inclusion in regional participation efforts
of multi-stakeholders, including parlia-
mentarians, judges, and Civil Society,
• contacting representatives of countries
missing from this INECE meeting.
The discussion included a country-
by-country analysis of environmental and
networking problems at the local, national
and regional levels. A short list of significant
regional intergovernmental bodies and
NGOs was prepared. The discussion of
ways to improve networking included the
need to establish a website, to prepare
easy-to-read publications on enforcing
national and local laws and on developing
opportunities for more face-to-face con-
tacts.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN REGIONAL MEETING 475
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
REGIONAL MEETING
Facilitator: Group
Rapporteur: John Milewski
GOALS
• Strengthen the link between INECE and Central America through regional networks.
• Strengthening environmental management institutions on technical and legal aspects of
compliance and enforcement.
1 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The need for collective cooperation
between the Caribbean and the Central
American countries was recognized, espe-
cially in the run-up to the World Summit for
Sustainable Development in September
2002. This is the beginning of a process, to
be completed by September, a plan for how
the wider region can cooperate.
Superimpose the issue of climate change
and it becomes clear that the social and
economic problems of the region are get-
ting worse. Where are the areas for cooper-
ation among the regional interests?
In the round of introductions the fol-
lowing issues were raised, and included the
need for cooperation among countries that
are neighbors in the hurricane belt, many
issues that can only be solved through
cooperation. The examples of disaster
management systems as well as protected
areas were also raised. Cooperation
among donors in the region could also be
useful. The two sub-regions have more to
gain from cooperation. Can encompass
sectors like freshwater management tech-
niques and information sharing on resource
management. Cooperation among local
agencies in the countries is important.
Different structures of agencies were dis-
cussed. Solar energy was suggested as a
means of reducing environmental impact of
energy on societies. The establishment of a
regional climate change center was men-
tioned. Technical and human capacities to
deal with environmental problems are
required. The importance of the initiative
was stressed by all as well as the need to
focus on solutions. How can the countries
learn from each other?
A question arose as to whether
there were other thematic areas that
require discussion in case they would lend
themselves to cooperation. The need to
define an inter-regional collaborative agen-
da will be fleshed out in the discussions.
Nelson Andrade, UNEP regional
seas programme, presented on the
sources of land based sources of pollution
in the greater Caribbean region. He
explained the processes within which the
region has established the program. Legal
instruments such as the Cartagena
Convention are important. The geographic
region encompasses great diversity.
Convention of Cartagena focuses on oil
spills, in Caribbean Area and SPAW protec-
tion of marine flora and fauna. 80 % of pol-
lution of marine areas comes from terrestri-
al sources. Industrial waste from beverage
companies, domestic sources etc., con-
tributes to pollution. Focus on sources such
as black waters was recommended. It was
suggested that it was necessary to reduce
quantity of pollutants through improvement
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476
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
in technology and improve management
practices of agricultural areas. The Protocol
has mechanisms to apply standards appro-
priate to the region. Countries cannot sign
and apply everything in protocol but focus
on what is applicable. Two types of residual
waters were mentioned:
• waters that have reefs, grasses or man-
groves, reproductive areas, protected
areas.
• less sensitive waters that have greater
capacity of dilution and where humans
are not exposed.
An explanation was given to the
permissible limits of the contents of effluent
with regards to BOD, pH, fats and oils, fecal
coliforms and other parameters for Type I
and II waters. Ratification means that stan-
dards need to be met due to the compro-
mise made by each country. There is a
timeframe to apply standards but can ask
for extension of time if they cannot meet the
compliance date in the calendar of imple-
mentation.
The National Environmental Plan
of each country should guide us to know
what is found in waters to be able to moni-
tor. Baseline information is important for
monitoring to take place. Control of Non-
specific agricultural sources should be
executed, and other specific future sources
to focus on include chemical industries etc.
It is preferable to focus on sources of pol-
lutants instead of the pollutants them-
selves. Challenges include national/local
implementation such as finance, technical
and institutional capacity formation, etc.
Projects and activities of support are
underway through UNEP and these
include more appropriate technologies for
treatment and collection of residual waters,
integrated management of watersheds,
evaluation of contaminated bays, assess-
ment of improved management of agricul-
tural practices in Wider Caribbean Area
due to agrochemical such as pesticides
found in the Caribbean originating from
Colombia and other south American
Caribbean countries. A Web site to be con-
tacted is www.cep.unep.org
Carlos Fuller (Belize) presented on
climate change for the two regions. Both
regions have valuable resources under
threat from sea level rise, flooding, and ero-
sion. Warmer sea temperatures could affect
fisheries and reefs. Biodiversity, health and
agriculture could be affected.Technical per-
sonnel in both regions have recognized the
threats. Both have been proponents of the
Framework Convention on Climate
Change. Both have been seeking its full
implementation. They have many similari-
ties in their demands to the Kyoto Protocol
negotiations. All have welcomed the Clean
Development Mechanism. Mutual interests
are shared, yet there have been little com-
mon positions. Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) negotiates within Alliance of
Small Island States, while Grupo Campinas
de Recursos Hamanos aligns with Latin
America. The question of self-identification,
of finding alliances and common interests,
and also recognition of common problems
has arisen. Roles of SICA and CARICOM
are important. National level coordination is
also not quite as well formed as could be.
Sharing of information does not always
occur. Those that have effective information
sharing allow for better preparation for
negotiations. Each country should have a
national policy on climate change that cov-
ers all sectors. One mechanism that could
work would be through national climate
change committees that could inform and
disseminate information and expertise. The
committees could also cooperate with other
countries committees.
Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
System (MBRS): Marine biodiversity is
under pressure regionally. Fish and verte-
brates populations are not well known. It is
difficult to coordinate countries using water
resources. MBRS is an effort for multi-disci-
plinary coordination. Pamphlets circulated
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN REGIONAL MEETING 477
show the problems and how it will be dealt
with. It involves declaration as a Natural
Heritage Site covering the largest Barrier
reef in the New World. It contains diversity
of corals, manatee etc. It originated from
the Tulum declaration where the Prime
Minister of Belize was signatory to the con-
servation of reef systems and supports
MBC to compliment management of reef
systems. Other countries like Honduras,
and Guatemala are participating in this
effort through regional projects. Workshops
in the region were carried out in the form of
consultations to start the project.
Objectives focus on strengthening Marine
Protected Areas, establishing standard
monitoring systems, sustainable use of
resources and environmental awareness.
Environmental Information Systems are to
be established, providing a database for
the region to access. Priority areas are
establishing biodiversity monitoring, identi-
fy spawning areas, sustainable tourism etc.
Education, environmental management
and public awareness campaigns include
incorporation of school curricula as part of
the project, school fairs on coastal
resources of MBRS and synergies to be
established in the region. Fifteen-year proj-
ects requiring cooperation from all partici-
pants of this workshop with 15 priority
areas plus 8 more transboundary areas
included in this project since terrestrial
impact is received on the reefs through
spawning areas. Climate change can have
an impact on MBRS but we need to include
all other ecosystems including mangroves,
rivers etc. The focus is on wetlands since
we cannot cover terrestrial area. We aim to
establish coordinating mechanisms in the
Caribbean in mgmt of Coral Reefs, capaci-
ty building, and monitoring of coral reefs.
MBRS could be a sub-regional node for the
Monitoring of coral reefs. Hoi Chan will
serve as a demonstration site for the man-
agement of marine parks containing coral
reefs. For this to happen, regional coopera-
tion through the preparation of a
Memorandum of Understanding would
need to occur.
List of projects, including projects
of MBRS in Excel, with parameters to be
monitored: Espen Ronneberg highlighted
the manner in which Small Island
Developing States have utilized information
management for sustainable development
especially in the field of climate change. He
gave details of the negotiating process and
the difficulties and constraints faced by
SIDS and other small delegations. The
emerging process using SIDSNet and the
plan for phase 2 of SIDSNet was explained,
in particular the use of closed virtual dis-
cussion spaces for elaborating and negoti-
ating position papers for the group. In addi-
tion, SIDSNet will provide a virtual library of
all relevant SIDS documents. He stressed
that there must be a commitment to be well
informed, a commitment to cooperate and
to take responsibility for carrying out the
work. It is necessary to clearly articulate
concerns and constraints so as to convince
the international community of the serious-
ness of purpose of the regions and of the
countries. An example of an attempt to
explain and evaluate climate change
impacts was described. Should the two
regions decide to cooperate, they must uti-
lize existing mechanisms and also build on
their respective expertise. A number of
issues and modalities questions will need
to be decided upon, but these are the finer
details. The important issue is to decide to
cooperate and to begin the process.
Al Binger explained the process for
the next day. 6 areas should be looked at.
• Sharing of knowledge across region
(mechanisms).
• Longer term establishment of capacity -
language barrier and sharing of expert-
ise and information between regions.
• Development of new knowledge to tackle
the issues, and the emerging issues -
compliance.
• Information exchange: look at lessons
from SIDSNet, all must contribute to
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
cooperate. Joint purchasing of technolo-
gies, best practices.
• Political cohesion: educate the politicians
and the public.
• Resource mobilization: accountability,
transparency, dealing with donors.
Three presentations were made by
the sub-regions, which summarized the
environmental management structure and
policy frameworks, along with the pro-
grammes currently in existence.
Marco Gonzales of the Central
American Commission on Environment
and Development (CCAD) presented on
the Central American Integration process
and in particular CCAD and the structure of
that organization. He also outlined the
membership (Belize, Guatemala,
Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaraga, Costa
Rica and Panama, with Mexico as perma-
nent observer). He explained that CCAD is
an institution of SICA which was created in
1991 by an International Treaty known as
the Tegucigalpa Protocol. Other systems
and subsystems in SICA include the
Central American Parliament, the Central
American Court of Justice, the Central
American Bank of Economic Integration,
the General Secretariat of SICA and a Civil
Society Consultative Council. There are
also various Subsystems, such as the
System of Central American Economic
Integration, the Central American
Commission on Environment and
Development and the Social Integration
System.
Mr. Gonzales then focused on the
structure and work programme of CCAD.
He also provided a summary of the role of
the organization which was to inter alia
promote a regional environmental regime,
establish an environmental cooperation
regime for pollution prevention and control,
and prioritize the issues related to the
import and management of toxic and haz-
ardous materials and waste and to act as
Secretariat for the Regional International
Agreements on Environment ratified by the
7 countries. He also described a Central
American environmental action plan which
had as it key points:
• Reduction of Water, Soil and Air Pollution
• Follow up and promotion of the imple-
mentation of Multilateral Environmental
Agreement and enhancing the 7 coun-
tries capacity to do that.
• To cluster the 25 or so MEAs, which are
ratified by the Central American coun-
tries to facilitate the follow up of these
treaties.
• Create Cluster on treaties on Multirateral
Agreements on Air, Chemicals and
Conservation
• Promote the needed mechanisms, insti-
tutional arrangements and legal reforms
to do that.
Mr. Gonzales also provided an
example of regional cooperation in the
form of a Regional Center for Training and
Transfer of Technology for Central America
and Mexico. Activites in the training center
include: Inventories of PCB, Recycling of
Car Batteries, Promotion of safe incinera-
tion in Cement Kilns. Envisioned Actions
include support for the countries in request-
ing GEF funding for the POPs Convention
Enabling Activities and National Action
Plans. Other activities include facilitation of
the establishment of a partnership with the
Global Environmental Facility executing
agencies chosen by the countries seeking
the best comparative advantages and
ensuring that in the preparation of propos-
als for funding there is a regional coordina-
tion component included in each country's
proposal.
Mr. Byron Blake of the Caribbean
Community Secretariat made a presenta-
tion on the Caribbean integration process.
He also outlined the membership (Antigua
& Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica,
Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia,
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN REGIONAL MEETING 479
St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Suriname
and Trinidad & Tobago). He explained that
the Community was goverened by the
Conference of Heads of Governments.
Under the Conference, a body called the
Community Council of Ministers which is
responsible for the agenda of the heads of
government and the Work Programme of
the Central Secretariat, which is based in
Georgetown, Guyana. He then explained
that under the Community, there are three
councils of Ministers that cover the work of
the central secretariat and these are the
Council for Trade and Economic
Development (COTED) under which the
sustainable development unit is situated
and the trade and economic development
business of the community is overseen, the
Council for Human and Social
Development (COHSOD), where this coun-
cil is responsible for such activities as com-
munity development, health, education and
youth, sports and labour and the Council
for Foreign and Community relations (COF-
COR) which deals with the external rela-
tions of the community.
He then focused on the work of the
sustainable development unit of the
Secretariat which had the primary aim of
assisting the Member States to develop
environmental management and sustain-
able development policy frameworks. He
also detailed some of the areas of work of
the unit, which included sustainable human
settlements, coastal and marine resources,
comprehensive disaster management and
science and technology. Mr. Blake also
explained that a lot of the work of the
Community was also carried out by a num-
ber of specialized institutions many of
which are autonomous and had their own
governing structures. A few of these include
the Caribbean Disaster Emergency
Response Agency (CDERA), the
Caribbean Environmental Health Institute
(CEHI), the Caribbean Law Instutite (CLI)
and others.
Mr. Blake then focused on a num-
ber of specific projects that the sustainable
development unit was involved in, in which
there were a number of collaborative
opportunities available with Central
America. These include:
• The Caribbean Climate Change Center
• Development of a Management regime
for the Caribbean sea
• Development of a mechanism for the
enhancement of participation and bene-
fits to be derived from Multilateral envi-
ronmental agreements
• The work of CDERA
Mr. Gonzales also provided an
example of regional cooperation in the
form of existing regional agreements with
the Government of Mexico. Activites under
this regional cooperation in the environ-
ment include pesticides management,
coastal and marine resources manage-
ment, GIS training and its use in sustain-
able development, development of pollution
registers and inventories of PCB.
Envisioned actions include support for dis-
aster management projects and activities,
student exchanges and project develop-
ment.
The final presentation was given by
Mr Orlando Cabrera Rodriguez from the
Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism
Looking back through the agenda
we know where we have come in the elab-
oration of our concerns and resources.
What is needed is not the particular prob-
lems, but rather the mechanisms to
address those problems. What would con-
stitute an agenda for cooperation between
the regions? We need to know what are the
ongoing activities, of course non-exhaus-
tive, but nevertheless get a view of what our
infrastructure for cooperation might be.
• First is sharing of knowledge, and the
mechanism for doing so in priority areas.
Limited human and financial resources
warrant such cooperation.
• Second is the development of new
knowledge to assist us with sustainable
development. Pollution is especially a
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
worry, derived from our necessary agri-
culture for the economies. Better man-
agement and utilization of existing natu-
ral resources. Political leaders need to
hear of the possibilities for the better
choices to be made.
• Political cohesion is the external part of
the agenda, for our leaders to affect the
donors. Improving response to our
needs.
•Technology development is the fourth, so
that we can share the quality control;
cover joint acquisition and use, as well
as for deployment and development.
• Resources mobilization is very neces-
sary, but would require greater accounta-
bility and management on our part.
• Information exchange for compliance and
best practices.
• Cooperation on public education and
awareness.
• Cooperation with the media.
A schematic over the structural
arrangements of each region was
described. For SICA the use of CCAD was
helpful, as the Caribbean does not have
such a mechanism. Challenge for the
region, and could be established through
the CARICOM machinery. But this could be
costly and may require certain mandates.
Working groups are now being
asked to look beyond ongoing activities.
Look at what the collaboration will entail,
matching up specific needs. We must make
an inventory of projects, or ongoing plans.
Each group should have a facilitator and
rapporteur.
An important item missing is the
issue of linking environment and health, on
prevention and not mitigation. Many of the
cures are actually being developed as a
part of this six part agenda, as the impacts
on whole ecosystems may be addressed.
So a focus on the causes can lead us to a
discussion on health as a sector. Early pre-
vention is better than late cure. Where does
the issue of health fit in, is it a separate
issue or one to keep in focus in each of the
discussions? Are all working groups going
to look at all the 6 areas.
The preliminary agenda is for the
working groups. Each group should make
the decision on priorities, explaining the
rationale to the larger groups. Additional
items can be raised in your group.
There are broad issues of cooper-
ation, therefore, do we want the working
groups to look at all institutional arrange-
ments? One group could look at that, with
another looking at experiences and best
practices by another.
What is missing is a need for a
careful elaboration with conceptual clarity
before we go to working groups. Over the
last days the terminology has not been
entirely clear, for example sustainable
development as opposed to environmental
management. Collaboration at the regional
level needs to look at sustainable develop-
ment in the post-Rio and the acceptance of
this as a symbol is non-threatening to most
groups or countries.
One of the challenges has been to
define an agenda for a group of people like
this, focus the work yet not prohibit creative
flows. We can adjust, because we all have
individual perspectives. This is collabora-
tion on the mechanisms to get there. This is
not limiting but rather an attempt to get the
groups to work on this.
Based on the six areas we could
group them into four groups:
• Capacity and technology group together.
• Information exchange. Useful document
is the Belize Declaration, which talks
about different levels, consultation, coop-
eration and collaboration.
• Foreign policy consultation will be differ-
ent than cooperation in international
negotiations. Need to duplicate the suc-
cesses. Need a mechanism for the pre-
vention of replication of failures.
Identification of experiences is also
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN REGIONAL MEETING 481
important since we have the two sub-
regions together. Some countries have
not ratified Cartagena Protocol. These
issues should be considered in the work-
ing groups.
• Third group could be on an agenda for
collaboration. Could include issue of rati-
fication of key conventions. Proposal is
possible. I think it is not perfect but a
start. A thematic list and looking at the
instruments. Information exchange and
best practices, existing networks
Capacity, technology and resources.
Agenda for collaboration, thematic
issues. Legal instruments are important,
and should not be ignored. May be cov-
ered by all the groups.
4 CONCLUSION
Ideas for cooperation have been
outlined. Needs a new paradigm for collab-
oration in fields like education and public
awareness. Also necessary is cooperation
at the level of international negotiations. A
suggestion is that the higher level political
cooperation can be used such as a minis-
terial meeting. The program of activities will
have to be accepted at that level. There
could be such an endorsement at a meet-
ing in July or August. Having the Caribbean
Sea as the uniting force is a useful way to
look at the issues. The issue of transporta-
tion routes of oil-tankers requires investiga-
tion with modeling of current and routes as
well as including meteorological data.
This is not going to reinvent the
wheel and find the processes that already
are in place. Liaise with Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission Caribbean.
The Chairman will make a summary of the
meeting and the process so as to inform
the WSSD process of the interest and con-
cerns of the two regions. The participants
have worked very well in putting together a
tangible and credible agenda for the com-
mon interests and challenges.
The time has come for the regions
to build their alliances. Set up observer sys-
tem for CCAD and CARICOM to work
together in each organizations and institu-
tion. This will bring together the tremendous
capacities that there are in the regions.
There will be a political element and the
Ministers will have to get together. But at
least there is a good basis for action and a
new working relationship. We need to have
an effective use of resources.
The involvement of the Belize
Government and the Ministry was recog-
nized and applauded. The personal interest
of the DPM was noted. Marco Gonzalez
and Albinger were also congratulated for
their commitment. It is fortunate that the
Belize Ministry is a dedicated and profes-
sional team. The synergies of the meeting
were such that there was no need for sep-
aration of the stakeholders and internation-
al organizations. It is necessary for us all to
consider compromises of sovereignty and
priorities if cooperation is going to function
and become a vital part of our cooperation.
Next Steps:
• Prepare an action plan to be submitted
by INECE.
• Identify a temporary liaison ideally for
each country of the region, who will par-
ticipate in the preparation of the action
plan, and liaise with the country.
• Volunteers are: Jose Cardona, (Belice);
Helio Zamora (Nicaragua), Rolando
Alfaro (Guatemala); Patricia Madrigal
(Costa Rica); Lucia Chandeck (Panama).
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482 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: EUROPE REGIONAL NETWORK MEETING 483
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: EUROPE REGIONAL
NETWORK MEETING
Facilitators: George Kremlis
Krzysztof Michalak
Rapporteurs: Machteld Brokerhof
Ladislav Miko
GOALS
All regional meetings will address the following issues:
• Critical environmental challenges.
• Critical institutional challenges.
• Network challenges:
• Partners: Identify existing regional networks for INECE to partner, including key con-
tacts, relevant strengths, geographic range.
• Information exchange: Explore elements of effective Regional Web page on INECE
site, the maintenance of country contacts and database support, the development of
best practices and a system to assess information management needs.
• Other instruments and network improvements.
• Enforcement indicators:
• Identify any existing projects on enforcement indicators that are occurring on national
or regional level in your region, and note any organizations or individuals who might
be interested in participating.
• Discuss key needs within the region for indicators.
• Discuss the proposed methodology and solicit comments and suggestions.
• INECE proposed projects:
• Review the list of proposed INECE projects for regional linkages.
• Prioritize regional needs.
• Identify potential regional partners to help carry out projects, and/or to work with
INECE on projects.
1 INTRODUCTION Europe & Central Asia.
• BERGEN: 8 countries in the Balkan
At the beginning of the meeting region.
George Kremlis noted that this was a
unique opportunity for the 4 existing net- 2 CRITICAL ENVIROMENTAL
works in the European region to meet for CHALLENGES
the first time:
• IMPEL: 15 EU Member states. On a global level it is obvious that
• AC-IMPEL: 12 Accession Countries. tne climate Chan9e is an important issue.
_ _ , . ,_ On a regional level the meeting identified
• NISECEN: 12 countries in Eastern a a
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484
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
the following challenges:
• Availability and quality of water.
• Waste including waste shipments.
• Resource consumption management.
• Environmental impacts of transport and
agriculture.
• Historic pollution legacy.
• Sustainable economic rebuilding (e.g. in
the Balkan area).
3 CRITICAL INSTITUTIONAL
CHALLENGES
The following challenges were
identified:
• Effective legal framework and regulations
(up-to-date and upgraded).
• Effective institutional structures.
• Adequate and efficient resourcing (quan-
tity and quality).
• Policy coherence.
• CCC (communication, co-ordination,
cooperation) between authorities and
countries.
• Transparent procedures and administra-
tions.
4 NETWORK CHALLENGES
Regarding the 4 networks (in the
future 3 when AC-IMPEL will be integrated
with IMPEL) within the European region
further initiatives will be undertaken to
improve the mutual cooperation. The sug-
gestions include:
• Regular meetings between the network
coordinators (every 3 months?).
• Joint meetings of all network participants
on selected issues.
• Experts exchange programmes and
study tours.
• Joint projects and mutual invitations for
projects of the separate networks (a la
carte), e.g. the possibility of participants
from NISECEN and BERGEN at the
European (AC-)IMPEL conference in
2003 (Maastricht).
• Electronic exchange of information
(reports, website links, e-mail).
• A Pan-European contact list.
George Kremlis stated that the
European Commission is willing to stimu-
late and facilitate these initiatives.
5 LIST OF INECE PROPOSED
PROJECTS (INCLUDING
ENFORCEMENT INDICATORS)
All the participants agreed on the
fact that the needs that are being specified
by developing countries should drive the
INECE agenda. The European networks
can support the activities within this agen-
da especially concerning technical assis-
tance and sharing the experiences of build-
ing networks. There should also be more
attention for geographic cooperation like for
instance in the Mediterranean region.
• Regarding the list of proposed projects,
the meeting came up with some general
remarks:
• Criteria should be developed concerning
the selection and adoption of projects.
• There is not enough focus on projects
with practical outputs.
• Duplication with ongoing work (e.g. MEA
Secretariats, RIO updates, etc.) should
be avoided.
• The priorities of developing countries
should be more reflected in the work pro-
gramme.
• Substantive projects needs to be sepa-
rated from the "maintenance" of INECE.
The contribution of the European
networks to the work programme can be
found in:
• Minimum criteria for inspections and/or
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: EUROPE REGIONAL NETWORK MEETING 485
inspectors.
• Distance learning.
• Building other networks.
• Dissemination of information/
publications/etc.
6 CONCLUSIONS
Within the European continent a
variety of environmental and institutional
challenges were identified. These chal-
lenges will be faced in a positive and prac-
tical way by closer cooperation between the
existing networks. The expectations regard-
ing the input and output of INECE focusses
on the assistance that Europe can provide
to other regions based on the needs of
these regions and the available knowledge
in Europe. Furthermore the regional meet-
ing pointed out some crucial points of inter-
est regarding the development of the list of
proposed projects that may enable the
Executive Planning Committee and the
Secretariat of INECE to refine the strategy
and multi annual work programme.
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486 S|XTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: NORTH AMERICA REGIONAL NETWORK MEETING 487
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: NORTH AMERICA REGIONAL
NETWORK MEETING
Facilitators: Geoffrey Garver
Christopher Currie
Rapporteur:Claudio Torres Nachon
GOALS
• Improve environmental enforcement and compliance through improved networking.
• Learn to cooperate better within each country and then within the region.
• Gain knowledge of environmental issues.
• Identify key environmental players within countries and the region so that we are better
able to share our resources, including technical skills and lessons learned.
1 INTRODUCTION
Over twenty representatives of the
North America region met to discuss sever-
al issues regarding environmental law
enforcement and compliance.
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
The participants identified the fol-
lowing Critical Environmental Challenges
for North America:
Key Sectors: Energy and agriculture
Biodiversity Issues:
• loss of species and overall numbers.
• habitat destruction- forests and others.
• over-fishing: managed and illegal fish-
eries.
• invasive species.
• coral reefs destruction.
Water issues:
• quantity/allocation.
• wetland loss.
• intensive agriculture.
• deposition of pollutants, including of air
pollutants.
• vessel pollution.
Air issues:
• long range impacts of poor air quality,
• ozone depletion.
• climate change.
Hazardous waste and toxic materi-
als:
• pesticide control and management.
• illegal drugs laboratories.
• terrorism issues.
Management of GMOs and other
Biotechnology
Border issues:
• transboundary movement of materials.
• border as a shield.
The participants then moved to
identify the Critical Institutional Challenges
of North America for Effective Enforcement
and Compliance:
• Capacity issues: lack of resources and
intraregional differences in capacity
• Language and cultural differences
• Reacting to shifting policies and political
environments
• Creating links between agencies with
different missions and mandates
(e.g. pollution control vs. resource man-
agement; resource use vs. resource
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
protection)
• Federal-subnational dynamics
• Bureaucratic impediments
• High data management needs, especial-
ly with technically complex issues
• Making informal networks last (e.g.
through institutionalization)
• Maintain political and public support for
enforcement
• Ensure accountability is assured with
new or alternatives approaches
• Ensuring public participation
Immediately the participants pro-
ceeded to point out Examples of North
American Networks for Enforcement and
Compliance in three subdivisions:
• General:
• Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (CEC)
• "Four sisters" (Subregional)
• The World Conservation Union (IUCN)
• International Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA)
• Specialized:
• Pesticide Technical Working Group
•BECC
• Law Enforcement Coordinating
Committee (LECC)
• ANRET
• US Networks:
• National Association on Attorneys
General (NAAG)
• Environmental Crime Policy
Commission
• Clean Water Network (an NGO)
3 CONCLUSION
The participants elaborated on a
set of Proposed INECE Projects for North
America:
• Support a sustained regional network
linked to existing sub-regional networks
filling any gaps and facilitating enforce-
ment projects of joint interest (e.g.
regional enforcement initiatives, e.g. agri-
culture sector with INECE facilitating
tracking)
• Support creation of contacts lists/directo-
ries of enforcement/compliance networks
for North America region, including tech-
nical experts (W/Summary of expertise)
• Facilitate training courses within the
region (e.g. need expressed for Veracruz,
Mexico), and facilitate and trace follow
through.
• Keep North America region informed of
relevant training and other activities in
other regions.
• Enforcement indicators: North America
region supports INECE's overall efforts in
this regard.
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SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: SOUTH AMERICA REGIONAL NETWORK MEETING 489
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP: SOUTH AMERICA REGIONAL
NETWORK MEETING
Facilitators: Antonio Benjamin
Daniel A. Sabsay
Rapporteurs: Maria Di Paola
Adriana Bianchi
Isabel Martinez
GOALS
• To analyze a future regional network in South America, its goals, priorities, and actions .
• To identify regional elements for INECE strategic plan.
• To consider the 6tn INECE conference statement.
• To identify existing relevant networks to engage.
• To recognize critical environmental challenges.
• To recommend specific project needs.
• To explore enforcement indicators and assessment methodology.
• To communicate ways to benefit from technology on the Web.
1 INTRODUCTION
Questions presented by facilitators:
• What are the critical environmental chal-
lenges in South America?
• What are the critical institutional chal-
lenges in South America?
• What are the challenges of a Regional
Network in South America?
• What is the opinion of the participants
about INECE proposal projects?
List of participants:
• Argentina: Mari'a Di Paola, Silvia Nonna,
Daniel Sabsay
• Bolivia: Patricia Garcia, Hernan Zeballos
• Brazil: Antonio Benjamin
• Colombia: Manuel Rodriguez
• Paraguay: Victor Valdovinos
• Venezuela: Rebeca Erebrie, Santos
Carrasco
• WBI: Adriana Bianchi
• Programa de las Naciones Unidas para
el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA): Isabel
Martinez
2 DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• We identified critical environmental chal-
lenges as:
• Environmental effects of illegal mining.
• Inadequate management of hazardous
and non hazardous wastes.
• Poverty.
• Air pollution in large cities.
• Desertification.
• Deforestation.
• Deterioration of biodiversity.
• Water pollution (groundwater, freshwa-
ter, marine/industrial, urban, etc.
Sources).
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
• Critical Institutional Challenges that exist
are:
• Poor access to information.
• Lack of citizen participation.
• Low priority of environmental issues in
policy and political agenda.
• Lack of institutional coordination
among different state institutions (hori-
zontal and vertical).
• Weak institutional capacity.
• Low allocation of public and private
financial resources.
• Weak enforcement and compliance
systems and lack of indicators.
• Network challenges
• Partners (non exhaustive list).
• Immediate viability.
• Fundacion Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales (FARN).
• Planeta Verde.
• Viability to be explored
• Secretariat Amazonian Cooperation
Treaty.
• Community of Andean Nations
(Environment Committee).
• Mercosur (Sub Group 6).
• Forum of Environmental Ministers of
Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Comision Economica Para America
Latina y el Caribe (ECLAC)
• United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP)
• Inter-American Development Bank
(IADB)
•The World Conservation Union (UICN)-
Sur
• Corporation Andina de Fomento (CAF)
• Information exchange — UN System
websites
• www.medioambiente.gov.ar
• www.farn.org.ar
• www.worldbank.org.ar
• www.cvg.com.ve
• www.minsostenible.gov.bi
Enforcement indicators information
— North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA)- North American Commission on
Enviroment Cooperation (CEC), Economic
Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC), Forest
• INECE website
• More linkages
• Professional discussion space
Examples of some indicators expe-
riences (existing/in process):
• Bolivia: Performance indicators with the
support of the WB
• Colombia: Institutional performance (effi-
cacy and effectiveness of public policies
is being developed)
• Note 1: The group is not completely sure
about the definition or scope of indicators
• Note 2: We need enforcement indicators
and they should reflect regional needs
and perspectives.
• Note 3: Check indicators in different
countries and regions (NAFTA experi-
ence)
• Note 4: INECE could add linkages to
existing forest indicators and NAFTA-
CEC indicators and ECLAC study (see
proposal of INECE 3.b.)
3 CONCLUSION
The participants agreed about the
following prioritization on INECE Strategic
Plan (proposal projects):
• Goal 1: INECE indicators 1.A.1.
• Goal 2: Strategy 2.B. to reach 2.D.
• Goal 3: Strategy 3.A.
• Goal 4: Strategy 4.C.
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SESSION #10: THE INECE STREATEGIC PLAN 491
SUMMARY OF PLENARY SESSION #10: THE INECE STRATEGIC PLAN
Facilitators: Durwood Zaelke
Rapporteurs: Ken Markowitz
1 INTRODUCTION
This Panel of the INECE CO-chair present-
ed and discussed a future vision for INECE,
including strategic planning as charted with
the input and recommendations made dur-
ing the conference.
2 PRESENTATIONS
Charles Sebukeera: I wish to
emphasize the importance of regional net-
works, while we can and do learn a lot from
each other at meeting like this, it is at the
regional level where we share similar cul-
tures and problems that we can gain the
most. INECE needs to continue to explore
ways that will both support the needs of
individuals and individual countries as well
as important regional initiatives. This has
been a very good session of practitioners
working together. We are not all at the
same level of abilities and needs but
INECE is there for all of us. I think the future
of INECE is in regional networks and gen-
eral meeting like this if the regional net-
works deliver.
Sylvia Lowrance: While this is my
first time as co-chair of an INECE confer-
ence, I have followed the development of
INECE with great interest. I have enjoyed
the energy that everyone has brought to
the discussions and the wealth of ideas. It
is now important that we put this into the
next steps of the Strategic Plan. In the next
months it will be extremely important for us
to focus our energy on developing this
Strategic Plan that address the needs of
this diverse group- from inspectors to
judges from countries that are just starting
on the path of building the capacity to
implement sound environmental manage-
ment to countries that are looking for other
approaches to try.
INECE is a network of practitioners
with less emphasis on the broader policy
making. We are an informal network of
enforcers, inspectors, judiciary, police, etc.
As such, these meetings are the icing on
the cake for our network. The projects that
we do to support capacity building, such as
the indicators project and training pro-
grams, is the cake. However the bread and
butter of INECE will be the capacity build-
ing that is a result of our regular communi-
cation- group to group and individual to
individual. The INECE website and regional
meeting will be our most important deliver-
ables in enhancing this important commu-
nication.
Gerard Wolters: INECE is a net-
work of enforcement practitioners that need
to meet. This conference was a good one
but we need to focus on regional meetings
and activities that support capacity build-
ing. We co-chairs will direct the Secretariat
to focus in that direction.
We accomplished a lot this week.
Most of you were able to stand the tempta-
tion to go on extra side trips. The visits that
we did conduct this week were a very good
idea to have in the program. We learned
how our host country Costa Rica is doing in
environmental protection and some
aspects of their activities in enforcement.
We talked with a lot of participants this
week and heard some very good contribu-
tions to the direction of INECE. The strate-
gic project and the co-chair statement are
very well suited for use in your local net-
work when you are at home again. Please
use it in your local networks to emphasize
the importance of enforcement and the
importance of enforcement networking.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
3 DISCUSSION
Challenges for INECE
• develop capacity building to meet the
range of development across our mem-
bership
• encourage and support the development
of regional groups and specialty groups
• develop a more sustainable funding
base
• keep the product development and deci-
sion of the INECE transparent through
the use of the INECE website
General Accomplishments at the
Sixth INECE Conference
• We had participants from countries and
international organizations engage in a
rich discussion about the profession of
ensuring good governance and rule of
law.
• We discuss important activities that
INECE can carry out or support in the
future
• We gained valuable input for the devel-
opment of a multi-year strategic plan for
INECE
• Even though our days were full, we
found time to have additional discussion
on indicators and other areas of interest.
• Specific practitioners recognize the need
to meet and discuss their specialized
interests. This included NGO's , the judi-
ciary, and inspectors
• Many individuals were able to make
connections with others to support
immediate capacity building needs.
• We have added to the library of informa-
tion on environmental compliance and
enforcement with the production of
Volume 1 of the proceedings. Volume 2
will capture the reports from each of the
workshops, the special discussions on
regional network development, and addi-
tional proceeding from the plenary ses-
sions
• We build on the importance of INECE as
a contributor to the goals of our individ-
ual countries and organizations at the
World Summit on Sustainable
Development.
What is the direction for each of us
as we leave this conference?
• Continue to provide your thoughts on
the strategic plan and current projects
such as indicators
• Work to support regional networks in
you area and specialized practitioner
subgroups
• Strengthen the support for INECE and
regional environmental
compliance/enforcement networks in
your country and organization and the
importance of these networks
Sustainable Development and the dis-
cussions in Johannesburg in August
2002
4 CONCLUSION
What do we do in the next weeks as:
Co-chairs
• Seek financial support for the current
proposed INECE projects
EPC members
• Keep the interest of the INECE
Conference participants up on the proj-
ects of INECE
• Refine the listing of the general mem-
bership of INECE
• Working through the workgroup process
contribute to the development of the
Strategic plan and indicators proposal
INECE members at large
• Circulate Press statement and back-
ground material to you local press
• Circulate Co-chair Conference
Statement to all interested parties in
your functional and geographic area
• Comment on INECE proposed work
products through the INECE website
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SESSION #10: THE INECE STREATEGIC PLAN 493
Be an ambassador for INECE in the dis-
cussion in your country relating to
WSSD
STAY INVOLVED
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494 SlXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 495
EVALUATION OF THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
1 INTRODUCTION
The INECE Secretariat conducts
an evaluation to provide information to edu-
cate the Conference sponsors and plan-
ners about the participants' perceptions, in
order to improve the effectiveness of future
events and to help shape the INECE
Strategic Plan.
At the conclusion of the
Conference, participants were requested to
complete a comprehensive questionnaire
on the Conference program, materials, and
organization and to provide narrative
remarks. The questions addressed general
issues such as the value of the Conference
in "meeting its purpose and goals," "effec-
tiveness of structure" and "usefulness of
program to the participant's work." It also
addressed specific panels and workshops.
For example, "was the discussion in the
workshop on Development of Sustainable
Regional Networks valuable, or what was
the quality of the case study for the
Ecotourism Site Visit?"
The questionnaire consisted of 102
questions that asked participants to assign
a rating of 1 through 5:1=Excellent, 2=Very
Good, 3=Good, 4=Fair, and 5=Poor. Of the
170 participants at the 6th INECE
Conference, 117 persons completed ques-
tionnaires. The average rating for most
questions ranged between Excellent and
Very Good, and no question was rated
below Good.
Additionally, the Secretariat received a sig-
nificant number of written comments, which
provided further support that the partici-
pants considered the 6th International
Conference on Environmental Compliance
and Enforcement well organized, produc-
tive and worth their time and energy. These
written comments were carefully consid-
ered in formulating the recommendations
and conclusions presented at the conclu-
sion of this report.
Overall, the participants were
enthusiastic about the substantive sessions
both in terms of the quality of the discus-
sions and the value to their work. Several
innovations offered at this Conference were
well received by the participants, including
the development of a Conference
Statement, the on-site Internet Cafe, and
the day devoted to the six Site Visits. On
average, participants rated the Site Visits,
the Conference Organization and the
Conference Staff the highest.
Participants were asked to evalu-
ate the "appropriateness of INECE's [three]
goals" ~ the effectiveness of INECE's insti-
tutional capability and endeavors; the effec-
tive cooperation and networking at the
national, regional and global levels; and the
ability to raise awareness around environ-
mental compliance and enforcement.
Their high evaluations — 97% rated the
goals from Excellent to Good — demon-
strate strong support for INECE to focus its
strategic planning on these objectives.
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
2 VALUE OF THE PURPOSE AND GOALS OF THE CONFERENCE
TO THE PARTICIPANTS
2.1 Appropriateness of the INECE Goals
Overall Ratings on the Appropriateness of the INECE Goals
Average Rating = 1.79
Average Ratings on the Appropriateness of INECE's Goals
Raised awareness of the
importance of
environmental compliance
and enforcement
Effective cooperation and
networking at the national,
regional and global levels
Effective compliance and
enforcement institutional
capability and endeavors
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 497
2.2 Success in Achieving Conference Purposes
Overall Ratings on the Success in Achieving the Conference Goals
Average Rating = 2.13
Average Ratings by Respondents on the Success of Achieving the Conference Goals
Foster exchange of expertise/learning through active participation
Encourage ongoing international exchange & regional networking
Serve all people involved in the design of environmental
compliance & enforcement programs
Increase institutional capacity to enhance existing/new
environmental compliance & enforcement programs
Form partnerships among those working in compliance &
enforcement
Develop the role that INECE will play at WSSD
Confirm direction INECE partnership will adopt in the future
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00 1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
2.3 Participants
The 6th INECE Conference was attended by 170 environmental enforcement and
compliance officials from over 80 countries and organizations. Table 1 shows the number
of participants by geographic region and the number who responded to the questionnaire
by region. Table 2 shows the number of participants who responded to the questionnaire
according to the type of organization they represented.
Table 1. Geographic Regions Represented
REGIONS
Africa
Asia & Pacific
Caribbean
Central & Eastern Europe
Central America
International
North America
South America
South Asia
West Asia/Middle East
Western Europe
Unspecified
TOTAL:
Participants
No.
7
6
1
14
37
21
34
11
6
3
30
0
170
%
4.1%
3.5%
0.6%
8.2%
21 .8%
12.4%
20.0%
6.5%
3.5%
1 .8%
17.6%
0.0%
100%
Respondents
No.
6
5
0
12
17
5
27
8
5
3
21
8
117
%
5.1%
4.3%
0.0%
10.3%
14.5%
4.3%
23.1%
6.8%
4.3%
2.6%
17.9%
6.8%
100%
Table 2. Organization Type
Type
International NGO
Mational Government
State/Province/Region
Municipal/Local Government
Mongovernmental
Other
Unspecified
TOTAL
No.
8
62
4
1
10
9
23
117
%
6.8%
53.0%
3.4%
0.9%
8.5%
7.7%
19.7%
100.0%
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 499
Overall Ratings on Diversity of Conference Participants
Average Rating = 2.18
Average Ratings on Diversity of Conference Paricipants
Mix of experience
Organizations represented
Countries represented
Number of individuals in
attendance
8.07
5.00
4.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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500
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
2.4 Structure of Conference
Overall Ratings on the Structure of the Conference
Average Rating = 1.86
Average Ratings on the Overall Stucture of the Conference
Length of the Conference
Opportunity to strengthen
regional networks
Site Visit options
Balance between Plenary
Sessions and Workshops
Optional Pre-Conference
Workshop on Principles of
Environmental Compliance
and Enforcement
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 501
2.5 Usefulness of Conference
Overall Ratings on the Usefulness of the Conference
Average Rating = 2.04
Very Good
43%
Fair
4%
Average Ratings on the Usefulness of the Conference
Overall usefulness of the
Conference
Extent to which the
Conference content matched
the announced objectives
Focus of the Conference on
what you specifically needed
to team
Extent to which you have
acquired information that is
new to you
Relevance of the Conference
to your current work
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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502
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
3 SPECIFIC CONFERENCE PLENARY THEMES AND TOPICS -MONDAY MORNING
INECE hosted ten plenary sessions during the conference, each having two to four
speakers and a moderator. Each speaker provided a presentation of 15-20 minutes, fol-
lowed by discussion among all the Conference participants.
3.1 Panel 1 -The Role of Institutions and Networks in Environmental
Enforcement
Overall Ratings of Panel 1
Average Rating = 2.13
Very Good
Usefulness of theme contents
Mix of topics on panel
Opportunity for discussion
5.00
Average Ratings of Panel 1
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 503
3.2 Panel 2 -The Regional Network Experience
Overall Ratings of Panel 2
Average Rating - 2.11
Average Ratings for Panel Z
Opportunity (or discussion
Mix of topics on panel
Usefulness of theme contents
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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504
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
3.3 Panel 4 - Raising Awareness and Measuring Results
Overall Ratings of Panel 4
Average Rating = 2.14
Very Good
Average Ratings for Panel 4
Usefulness of theme contents
Mix of topics on panel
Opportunity for discussion
2.28
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION
505
4 DAY ONE —WORKSHOPS - MONDAY
AFTERNOON
Three groups of workshops were
held on three separate days, the first group
being held on Monday under Plenary
Theme 2: Ensuring Effective Environmental
Enforcement Through Institutional
Capability and Performance Assessment.
The second group of workshops was held
on Tuesday under Plenary Theme 3:
Raising Awareness: The Importance of
Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement (see Section 6). The third
group of workshops was held on Thursday
under Plenary Theme 5: Constructing
Effective Interlocking Networks at the
Country, Region and Global Levels (see
Section 9). Each workshop had two facili-
tators to guide the discussion among
Conference participants, and a rapporteur
to record their progress.
Participants gave very high ratings
to the "value of the discussions" following
Tuesday morning workshops: Encouraging
the Public's Role in Compliance Monitoring;
Government Programs to Encourage and
Respond to Public Involvement in
Enforcement; Promoting Voluntary
Compliance; Self-Monitoring Data;
Environmental Information Systems; and
Information Management at the Working
Level.
Evaluation Respondents' Ratings on Whether Their Expectations Were Met
by Day 1 Workshops
Average Rating = 2.17
Excellent
23%
Evaluation Respondents' Ratings on the
Value of Discussion for Day 1 Workshops
Average Rating = 2,45
4.1 Under Day One, six workshops were held:
• 1F: Environmental Offenses
• 1E: Training Programs for Compliance Inspectors, Investigators and Legal
Personnel
• 1D: The Negotiation Process Leading to Compliance
• 1C: Building Effective In-Country Networks for Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement
• 1B: Administrative Enforcement Mechanisms: Getting Authority and Making
It Work
• 1A: Measuring Success Through Performance: How to Define Enforcement
Indicators?
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Average Ratings on Whether the Discussion for Day One Workshops was Valuable
1F: Environmental Offenses
1E: Training Programs
1D: The Negotiation Process
1C: Building Effective In-
Country Networks
1B: Administrative
Enforcement Mechanisms
1AII: Measuring Success
Through Performance
1AI: Measuring Success
Through Performance
5.00
4.00
3.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
Average Ratings on Whether Participants' Expectations Were Met During Day One Workshops
1 F: Environmental Offenses
1E: Training Programs
1D: The Negotiation Process
1C: Building Effective In-
Country Networks
1B: Administrative
Enforcement Mechanisms
1AI1: Measuring Success
Through Performance
1AI: Measuring Success
Through Performance
2.48
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 507
5 DAY TWO—SPECIFIC CONFERENCE PLENARY THEMES AND TOPICS
-TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON
5.1 Panel 5 - Economic Instruments and Voluntary Measures
Overall Ratings on Panel 5
Average Rating = 2.13
Excellent
25%
Very Good
44%
Good
26%
Usefulness of theme contents
Mix of topics on panel
Opportunity for discussion
5.00
Average Ratings of Panel 5
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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508
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
5.2 Panel 6 - Information: Collection, Standards, Sharing, Access, Credibility
and Use
Overall Ratings of Panel 6
Average Rating = 2.21
Excellent
26%
Very Good
39%
Good
28%
Usefulness of theme contents
Mix of topics on panel
Opportunity for discussion
Average Ratings of Panel 6
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 509
5.3 Panel 7 -The Evolving Role of the Judiciary in Environmental Compliance
and Enforcement
Overall Ratings of Panel 7
Average Rating = 2.06
Average Ratings of Panel 7
Usefulness of theme contents
Mix of topics on panel
Opportunity for discussion
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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510
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
6 DAY TWO —WORKSHOPS -TUESDAY MORNING
Evaluation Respondents' Ratings on the
Value of Discussion for Day 2 Workshops
Average Rating = 1.97
Very Good
47%
Evaluation Respondents' Ratings on Whether Their Expectations
Were Met by Day 2 Workshops
Average Rating = 2.14
6.1 Under Day Two, six workshops were held:
• 2F: Information Management
• 2E: Environmental Information Systems
• 2D: Self-Monitoring Data: How to Ensure Accuracy and Integrity
• 2C: Promoting Voluntary Compliance: Environmental Auditing and Outreach and
Incentives for Private Sector Compliance
• 2B: Government Programs to Encourage and Respond to Public Involvement in
Enforcement
• 2A: Encouraging Public Role in Compliance Monitoring
Average Ratings on Whether the Discussion for Day Two Workshops was Valuable
2F: Information Management
2E: Environmental Information
Systems
2D: Self-Monitoring Data
2C. Promoting Voluntary
Compliance
2B: Government Programs
2A: Encouraging Public Role
1.SS
i.96
4.00
3.00
2.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION
511
Average Ratings on Whether Participants' Expectations Were Met During Day Two Workshops
2F: Information Management
2E: Environmental Information
Systems
2D: Sell-Monitoring Data
2C: Promoting Voluntary
Compliance
2Bi Government Programs
2A: Encouraging Public Role
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
Additionally, the following workshops received especially high ratings for their value
and meeting participant's expectations, ranking consistently in every aspect between
Excellent and Very Good: Environmental Information Systems; Government Programs to
Encourage and Respond to Public Involvement in Enforcement; and Information
Management: Ensuring Effective Application at the Working Level.
7 DAY THREE —SITE VISITS -WEDNESDAY
For the first time, INECE offered participants the opportunity to spend a full day in
the field learning about different enforcement related projects of the host country. The Site
Visits were all well received (average rating=1.59), as were the case studies. The highest
ranked Site Visit was the Conservation Easement (1.35), followed by the Coffee
Cooperative (1.56), the National Biodiversity Institute (1.51), the Ecotourism site (1.63), and
the Market-Based Conservation Project (1.70).
Overs* fiatng cl Site Visits
Overall Ratings on the Quality of the Presentation and Tour
Average Rating = 1.53
; Good
/ 14%
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Overall Ratings on the Usefulness of the Field Visit
Average Rating = 1 .57
Overall Ratings on Quality ot Case Studies
Average Rating = 1.65
Excellent
49%
Very Good
33%
Good
16%
Poor Fair
0% 2%
7.1 Under Day Three, participants were given the opportunity to go on
one of six field visits:
• Wildlife Rescue Center
• Market-based Conservation
• National Biodiversity Institute
• Ecotourism
• Conservation Easements
• Coffee Cooperative in San Ramon
Average Ratings for the Quality of the Case Studies for the Site Visits
Wildlife Rescue
Market-Based
Conservation
InBIO
Ecotourism
Conservation
Easement
Coffee Cooperative
5.00
2.27
1.72
1.41
4.00
3.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 513
Average Ratings lor the Quality of Presentation and Tour for the Site Visits
Wildlife Rescue
Market-Based
Conservation
InBIO
Ecotourism
Conservation
Easement
Coffee Cooperative
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
Average Ratings for the Usefulness of the Site Visits
Wildlife Rescue
Market-Based
Conservation
1.64
1.54
Coffee Cooperative
5.00
4.00
3.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
8 DAY FOUR -SPECIFIC CONFERENCE PLENARY THEMES AND TOPICS —THURS-
DAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON
8.1 Panel 8 - Implementation of International Environmental Agreements
Overall Rating of Panel 8
Averge Rating = 2.16
Usefulness of theme contents
Mix of topics on panel
Opportunity for discussion
5.00
Average Ratings of Panel 8
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION
515
9 DAY FOUR WORKSHOPS -THURSDAY MORNING
During the Thursday mid-day workshops, participants gave high marks to "the
value of the discussion" and "whether the participant's expectations were met." The fol-
lowing workshops in particular stood out: The Role of Police as Environmental Enforcers;
Development of Sustainable Regional Networks; and Designing a Pesticide Forum. One
Conference participant went on to say that he has "almost never been in such a well-mod-
erated workshop" as the Role of Police as Enforcers.
The following Workshops received especially high ratings for their value and meet-
ing participants expectations, ranking consistently in every aspect between Excellent and
Very Good: The Role of Police as Environmental Enforcers; Development of Sustainable
Regional Networks; and Designing a Pesticide Forum.
Evaluation Respondents' Ratings on the
Value of Discussion for Day 4 Workshops
Average Rating = 2.11
Evaluation Respondents' Ratings on Whether
Their Expectations Were Met by Day 4 Workshops
Average Rating = 2.21
Very Good
9.1 Under Day Four, six workshops were held:
• 3F: Designing a Pesticide Forum
• 3E: Enforcing Domestic Programs
• 3D: International Targeting on Environmental Crime
• 3C: Development of Sustainable Regional Networks
• 3B; Illegal Transfrontier Movements of Hazardous Waste
• 3A: The Role of Police as Environmental Enforcers
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Average Ratings on Whether the Discussion for Day Four Workshops was Valuable
3F: Designing a Pesticide
Forum
3E: Enforcing Domestic
Programs
3D: International Targeting on
Environmental Crime
3C: Development of |
Sustainable Regional
Networks
38: illegal Transfrontier
Movements of Hazardous
Waste
3A: The Role of Police
5.00
1.67
1,71
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
Average Ratings on Whether Participants' Expectations Were Met During Day Four Workshops
3F: Designing a Pesticide
Forum
3E: Enforcing Domestic
Programs
3D: International Targeting on
Environmental Crime
3C: Development of
Sustainable Regional
Networks
38: Illegal Transtrontier
Movements of Hazardous
Waste
3A: The Role of Police
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 517
10 REGIONAL MEETINGS -THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND FRIDAY MORNING
The Regional Networks are an area in which many Conference participants feel
INECE can and should be involved: "I think supporting development of regional networks
should be an INECE priority." Another participant said, "Very important is the focus on
regional networks/activities and on developing country needs."
Overall Ratings of the Regional Meetings
Average Rating = 2.09
Excellent
34%
Very Good
41%
South America
North America
Europe
Central America
Asia
Africa
5.00
Average Ratings on the Appropriateness of the Regional Meeting Goals
12.86
12.43
1.62
1.78
1.77
1.54
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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518 S|XTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Average Ratings on the Success of the Regional Meeting Formats
South America
North America
Europe
Central America
Africa
4.00
2.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
Average Ratings on the Opportunity for Discussion During the Regional Meetings
South America
North America
Europe
Central America
1.64
4.00
3.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 519
Average Ratings on Whether the Regional Meetings Led to Prospects for the Future
South America
North America
Europe
Central America
1.64
5.00
4.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
11 DAY FIVE - PLENARY SESSIONS- FRIDAY
11.1 Reports of Regional Meetings and Workshops, and Presentation of
Conference Statement
The day five plenary sessions covering the reports of Regional Meetings and the
presentation of the Conference Statement, were commended for: the usefulness of the
Meeting & Workshop Reports; the opportunity available for discussion; the appropriateness
of the Conference Statement, and the consistency with which the Conference Statement
reflected the purpose and goals of INECE.
Overall Ratings of Panel 9
Average Rating = 1.83
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
11.2 Closing Plenary Session
Average Ratings for Panel 9, Including Conference Statement
Do you feel the Conference
Statement reflects INECE's
purpose/goals?
Evaluate the appropriateness
of the Conference Statement
Opportunity for discussion
Usefulness of theme contents
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
Overall Ratings for Panel 10
Average Rating = 1 94
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION 521
Average Ratings of Panel 10
Overview of Conference
Usefulness of theme contents
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
12 EXHIBITS
VROM and the USEPA were given high marks for their exhibits, in terms of the
value of topics displayed, whether the exchange of information was useful, the quality of the
exhibit material, and the availability of those materials.
Table 3: Average Ratings in four categories for the exhibits provided by various
organizations
Table 3: Average Ratings in four categories for the exhibits provided by various organizations
UNEP
CEC
IFAW
VROM
USEPA
World Resources
Institute
Regional Tables
Were the topics of
interest to you
2.05
2.17
2.27
1.95
1.72
2.02
2.24
Productive
exchange of
information
2.12
2.36
2.19
1.92
1.82
2.16
2.40
Quality of the
exhibit material
2.06
1.94
2.09
1.76
1.69
1.92
2.27
Availability
of materials
2.15
2.15
2.12
1.80
1.84
2.20
2.28
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
13 ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFERENCE
In terms of Conference logistics and organization, participants gave great marks to
the Conference site in San Jose, Costa Rica (1.44), the schedule (1.70), the Conference
staff availability and service (1.40), the cultural event (1.96), the food (1.64), and having
contact with the EPC (1.83). In particular, participants remarked that the Conference was
a "triumph organizationally" and "very well managed." Others described the Secretariat
staff as "super," "outstanding," "excellent and kind." One participant commented, "In gen-
eral it was warm and welcoming, serious and hardworking without being humorless or
cranky."
The Internet Cafe offered computers with Internet access and helped participants
to stay in touch with their home countries. One person commented, "Having a room full of
terminals was absolutely critical to my comfort and ease here."
Average Ratings for Organization of Conference
Average Rating = 1.60
Average Rating for Organization of the Conference
Availability of Conference
Stalf
Contact with Executive
Planning Committee:
Food and beverage service
Pueblo Antiguo cultural event
Service desk
Schedule (workshops, free- \
time, other):
City Location
3.00
Average Rating
POOR (5) FAIR (4) GOOD (3) VERY GOOD (2) EXCELLENT (1)
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION
523
14 SECRETARIAT RECOMMENDATIONS 14.2
Participants showed their optimism
and support for INECE through their
detailed comments on how to make the
next Conference even better. Based on the
results from the questionnaires and the
narrative comments, the Secretariat makes
the following recommendations.
14.1 Greater Representation from
Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Regional diversity is critically
important to the success of a truly interna-
tional conference. INECE has learned from
the participants that there is room to
improve the number of countries represent-
ed and how INECE can better service "all
people" involved in the design of environ-
mental compliance and enforcement pro-
grams. Various participants commented on
the need to have more participants from
Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In gener-
al, there was substantial support in the
comments section for increasing the focus
on developing countries:
"Fill in what the developing coun-
tries need. Do not present 'best practice'
but 'good practice' or minimum criteria."
"It is important for INECE to understand the
REAL limitations of 3rd world countries and
share information on instruments and
enforcement tools that are affordable and
sustainable in smaller, poor countries."
One recommendation for increasing diver-
sity in future events is to provide a separate
budget for travel funds and seek donor
funding earlier in the planning process and
to coordinate VISA issues in advance with
the host country. While the visa issues
were very challenging for Costa Rica, every
participant ultimately succeeded in reach-
ing the Conference. Furthermore, the
Secretariat suggests revising the partici-
pant nominations selection process to rely
more heavily on the Regional Networks.
Tailor Regional Meetings Toward
Level of Network Development.
The format of the European region-
al meeting received a 2.69 rating, and the
appropriateness of the goals and the
prospects for future collaboration of the
North American regional meeting received
a 2.88 and 2.63 rating respectively. These
lower ratings for these meetings may have
resulted from trying to impose a similar for-
mat over all the regional meetings, without
adequate consideration to the current level
of development of an enforcement network
within the regions. The secretariat suggests
having each region plan its own meeting
for the next Conference.
14.3 Consider Regional and Topical
Conferences in the Future.
Many participants commented in
favor of greater emphasis on regional and
topical conferences in the future.
Specifically, regional meetings could focus
on items of specific interest, could empha-
size alternative or region-specific modes of
compliance, and would allow greater partic-
ipation from others in the region. Similarly,
topical conferences could serve to network
enforcement practitioners and build capac-
ity among persons allied by a specific
enforcement component such as prosecu-
tion or a subject matter such as wildlife
enforcement.
14.4 Next International Conference in
Two Years.
Most participants favored having
another International Conference in two
years rather than four. One participant rec-
ommended holding the regional meetings
earlier in the Conference to allow for more
regional networking. Of the participants
who provided comment on the subject,
67% prefer another Conference in two
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
years, whereas 23% suggested the next
Conference be held in four years and 1%
suggested three years.
14.5 Limit Number of Participants to
Fewer than 200.
Several persons remarked that
they felt the size of this year's conference
(approximately 170) created a more inti-
mate atmosphere that allowed for meaning-
ful networking and knowledge sharing.
14.6 Include More Time and Clearer
Guidelines for Discussion.
Many participants requested more
time for discussion. Some participants
remarked that establishing clearer guide-
lines for discussion could lead to stronger
conclusions and recommendations in the
workshops. Others requested that the
Conference offer more in terms of practical
experiences, case studies, and "what
works vs. what does not" scenarios.
14.7 Greater Involvement of NGOs
and Civil Society.
Numerous participants also sug-
gested broader participation by NGOs and
civil society groups.
15 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the participants
expressed strong support for the organiza-
tion and outcomes of the 6th International
Conference on Environmental Compliance
and Enforcement. The meetings were use-
ful, well conducted and relevant to real
work. Participants expressed optimism that
the relationships formed and strengthened
in San Jose will lead to significant enforce-
ment and compliance results through
enforcement cooperation, such as the
Prosecutor's Network, Asian Regional
Network and the Indicators working group
that were formed. These evaluations
demonstrate a strong interest in expanding
the INECE network and continuing to rein-
force the broad spectrum of participants.
Notably, the participants strongly supported
the INECE goals and the experience led
most participants to request additional con-
ferences with regional and thematic focus.
These and other recommendations are
being incorporated into the INECE
Strategic Planning process.
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PARTICIPANTS
525
PARTICIPANTS
Dr. Issa Ababneh
Director
Ministry of Health and Environment
Abunuseir
PO Box 540261
Amman
Jordan
Tel: 962-656-66147
Fax: 962-656-66147
Email: dr_issa_ababneh@hotmail.com
Dr. Alao Akala
Head of Legislation and Studies Service
Ministry of Environment, Housing and
Urban ism
Boite Postal 01-3621
Cotonou
Benin
Tel: 229-315-596
Fax:229-315-081
Email: p.focalben@firstnet.bj
Lie. Rolando Alfaro Arellano
Asesor Juridico
Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos
Natu rales
7a. Avenida y 10a Calle Zona 1
Sexto Nivel, Oficina 605
Guatemala
Tel: 502-220-4482
Fax:
Email: ERAA@ns.umg.gt
Mr. Jonathan Allotey
Acting Executive Director
Environmental Protection Agency
P.O. Box M-326
91 Sralets Road
Accra
Ghana
Tel: 23-32-166-2693
Fax:23-32-166-2690
Email: JAIIotey@epaghana.org,
epaed @ af ricaonline.com.gh
Mr. Mario Amador
Director de Desarrollo
Costa Rica
Dr. Winston Anderson
Senior Lecturer
U.W.I.
P.O. Box 64
St. Michael
Barbados
Tel: (246) 417-4226
Fax:(246)424-1788
Email: wanderson@caribsurf.com, wan-
derson @ uwichill.edu.bb
Ms. Lilliana Arrieta Quesada
Lawyer
UNDP
Apdo. 5117-1000
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: (506) 3821567
Fax: (506)2239329
Email: liliarrieta@hotmail.com
Dr. Michael Axline
Professor of Law
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide
(ELAW)
1221 University of Oregon, School of Law
1101 Kincaid Street
Eugene OR 97403-1221
United States
Tel: 1-541-346-3826
Fax: 1-541-346-1541
Email: maxline@law.uoregon.edu
Mr. Antonio Azuela
Investigador
Circuito Mario de la Cueva
Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacan
Mexico City Mexico 04510
Mexico
Tel: 52-55-5622-7400 ext. 301
Fax:
Email: lacueva@servidor.unam.mx
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Dr. Sc. Robert Baert
Inspector-General
Environment, Nature and Land
Development Administration
Bellatistraat 14-18
Brussels B-1040
Belgium
Tel: 32-25-53-8183
Fax: 32-25-53-8085
Email: milieu-inspectie@lin.vlaanderen.be
Dr. Richard Bagine
Deputy Director
Kenya Wildlife Service
Langata Road
PO Box 40421
Nairobi
Kenya
Tel: 254-2-506169
Fax: 254 2 504133
Email: Research@kws.org
Dr. Rodrigo Barahona Israel
President
Barahona-lsrael and Associates
19th Street, 10-12 Avenue, No 1035
POBox 1754
1000
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-223-8463
Fax: 506-233-8256
Email: rodbaris@racsa.co.cr
Mr. Pieter Beelaerts van Blokland
Chairman
National Coordination Committee on
Environmental Enforcement
Oudwijk 37
Utrecht 3581 TH
The Netherlands
Tel: 33-30-251-2518
Fax:33-30-212-9715
Email: p.beelaerts@planet.nl
Mr. Narayan Belbase
Program Officer
The Ford Foundation
55 Lodi Estate
New Delhi 110003
India
Tel: 91-11-461-9441
Fax:91-11-462-7147
Email: N.Belbase@fordfound.org
Karim Ben Amar
Consultar Internacional
Ecodys SA
San Francisco de Heredia
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-262-0308
Fax: 506-262-0308
Email: ecodys®costaricanet.ee, karbe-
na@caramail.com
Mr. Yitzhak Ben David
Deputy Director General for Enforcement
Ministry of the Environment
P.O. Box 34033
Jerusalem 95464
Israel
Tel: 972-2-6553820
Fax: 972-2-6553823
Email: izhak@environment.gov.il,
cypkh@environment.gov.il
Mr. Antonio Benjamin
Public Prosecutor for Sao Paulo
Lawyers for a Green Planet Institute
RuaBage, 139/194
Sao Paulo 04012-140
Brazil
Tel: 55-11-3119-9700 (office)
Email: planet-ben@uol.com.br
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PARTICIPANTS
527
Mr. Yevhen Berezhny
Chief Specialist of the Secretariat
Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of
Ukraine
12/2 Grvshevsky Str
Kiev 40008
Ukraine
Tel: 38-04-429-32464
Fax: 380.44.229.8383
Email: eugen@expert.cabmin.kiev.ua
Mr. Vaclovas Berzinskas
AC-IMPEL Lithuanian National
Coordinator
Lithuanian State Environmental Protection
Inspection
Juozapaviciaus Str.9
Vilnuis LT-2005
Lithuania
Tel: 37-02-723-756
Fax: 37-02-722-766
Email: v.berzinskas@nt.gamta.lt
Ms. Adriana Bianchi
Senior Institutional Development Specialist
The World Bank Institute
1818 H Street, NW
Room J4-085
Washington DC 20433
United States
Tel: 1-202-473-6371
Fax: 1-202-676-0977
Email: abianchi@worldbank.org
Mr. Jorge Blanco
Costa Rica
Mr. Giancarlo Boeri
Director
National Environmental Protection Agency
(AN PA)
Via Vitaliano Brancati 48
Rome 00144
Italy
Tel: 39-6-50072863
Fax: 39-6-50072938
Email: Boeri@anpa.it
Mr. Andy Bowcott
Manager
Environment Canada
23rd Floor
10 Wellington Street
Hull Quebec K1A OH3
Canada
Tel: (819)994-7669
Fax:(819)997-0199
Email: andy.bowcott@ec.gc.ca
Mr. John Boyd
Principle Sector Specialist
Asian Development Bank
2011 Kalachuchi, DMV
Makati Metro Manila 1220
Phillipines
Tel: 632-819-0838
Fax:632-819-0838
Email: johnboyd@pacific.net.ph
Ms. Machteld Brokerhof
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning &
the Environment (VROM)
Rijnstraat 8, 2515 XP The Hague
P.O. Box 16191, 2500 BD The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-70-3391196
Fax:31-70-339-1300
Email: machteld.brokerhof@minvrom.nl
Ms. Susan Bromm
Deputy Director, Office of Site
Remediation
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
MC2271A
Washington DC 20460
United States
Tel: 1-202-564-5110
Fax: 1-202-564-0094
Email: bromm.susan@epa.gov
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SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Carl Bruch
Senior Attorney
Environmental Law Institute
1616 P Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington DC 20036
United States
Tel: 1-202-939-3240
Fax: 1-202-939-3868
Email: bruch@eli.org
Mr. Zigfrids Bruvers
Deputy State Secretary
Ministry of the Environment
25 Peldu Str.
Riga LV -1494
Latvia
Tel: 371-70-26401
Fax:371-78-21062
Email: zbruvers@varam.gov.lv
Mr. Joost Buntsma
Ministry of Public Works and Water
Management
P.O. Box 20906
Den Haag 2500 EX
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-70-351-8067
Fax:31-70-351-9078
Email: j.j.buntsma@dgw.minvenw.nl
Ms. Donna Campbell
Executive Director
Environment Protection Authority
59-61 Goulburn Street
Sydney South NSW 1232 2000
Australia
Tel: 612-9995-6103
Fax:612-9995-5951
Email: campbelld@epa.nsw.gov.au
Ms. Adele Cardenas
Special Assistant to the Regional
Administrator
US EPA
1445 Ross Ave., Suite 1200
Dallas Texas 75202
United States
Tel: 1.214.665.7210
Fax: 1.214.665.6648
Email: cardenas.adele@epa.gov
Mr. Jose Cardona
Legal Counsel
Ministry of Natural Resources, the
Environment and Industry
Belmopan
Belize
Tel: 501 8 20804
Fax: 501 8 22333
Email: joseamir@hotmail.com
Mr. Santos Carrasco Rodriguez
Environmental Consultant
Calle Sicilia, Edif. El Mirador
Piso 4, Apto 5-4, Los Olivos
Puerto Ordaz
Venezuela
Tel: 58-286-962-8619
Fax:58-286-962-8619
Email: santoscarrasco@cantv.net
Ing. German Castillo
Jefe
Ministerio de Agruicultura y Ganaderia
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: (506) 260-6277
Fax: (506) 260-6722
Email: gcarranza@protecnet.go.cr, prota-
gro@sol.racsa.co.cr
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PARTICIPANTS
529
Mr. Giovanni Castillo
Ing.
Direccion Sectorial de Energia
Calle 25, avenidos 8 y 10
PO Box 126-2120
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-257-3662 ext 211
Email: dse@minaedse.cr.unep.net, gcastil-
lo@dse.go.cr
Mr. Rolando Castro
Environmental Law Associate
Environmental and Natural Resources
Law Centre (CEDARENA)
P.O134
San Pedro
San Jose 2150
Costa Rica
Tel: (506) 283 7080
Fax: (506) 224 1426
Email: rcastro@cedarena.org
Ms. Lucia Chandeck Cummings
Attorney
Autoridad Nacional de Medio Ambiente
(ANAM)
Curundu Ave. Ascanio Villalaz, Edit. 500
Balboa Ancon C0843
Panama
Tel: 507-232-6601
Fax: 507-232-5683
Email: l.chandeck@anam.gob.pa
Mr. Keith Chanon
International Program Officer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (7506C)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington DC 20460
United States
Tel: 703-305-5306
Fax:703-308-1850
Email: chanon.keith@epa.gov
Mr. Robert Chouinard
Head of Investigations
Ministry of Environment
5199, rue Sherbrooke Est
Bureau 4780
Montreal Quebec H1T 3X3
Canada
Tel: 1-514-873-2896, ext 327
Fax: 1-514-873-9988
Email: robert.chouinard@menv.gouv.qc.ca
Hedayetul Chowdhury
Director General
Bangladesh Department of Environment
House #4, Flat #501, Road #36
Gulshan - 2
Dhaka 1207
Bangladesh
Tel: 88-02-811-2461
Fax:88-02-911-8682
Email: hedayet@doe-bd.org
Ms. Maria Comino
Environmental Lawyer
Healthy Rivers Commission
Level 18
15Castlereagh St.
Sydney 2000
Australia
Tel: 61-2-9225-2304
Fax:61-2-9232-5973
Email: cominom@hrc.nsw.gov.au
Mr. Marco Cordero
Costa Rica
Mr. Roberto Cordero Cordero
Abogado y Notario
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-228-2958
Email: racordero@racsa.co.cr
-------
530
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Ms. Olga Corrales
International Consultant
100 N 25E del Parque La Amistad
Rohmaser Pavas
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: (506) 296-6994
Fax: (506) 220-2021
Email: ocorrales@amnet.co.cr
Mr. John Cruden
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Room 2718
Washington DC 20530-0001
United States
Tel: 1-202-514-2718
Fax: 1-202-514-0557
Email: john.cruden@usdoj.gov
Ms. Mariela Cruz
Msc. in Environmental Law
Center for Environmental Law and Natural
Resources
PO Box 7-3060-1000
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: 3931803
Fax: 2241426
Email: antigua@racsa.co.cr
Mr. Christopher Currie
Habitat Coordinator
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Canada
200 Kent Street
Mail Station 13W116
Ottawa Ontario K1A OE6
Canada
Tel: 1-613-998-5675
Fax:1-613-941-2718
Email: curriec@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Ms. Loredana Dall'Ora
Ministry of Environment and Land
Protection
Via Cristoforo Colombo 41
Roma 00147
Italy
Tel: 39 0657225976
Fax: 39 0657225990
Email: loredall@yahoo.com, affari.inter-
nazionali@svs.minambiente.it
Ms. Ruzan Davtyan
Chief Specialist
Ministry of Nature Protection
35 MOSKOVYAN ST
Yerevan 375002
Armenia
Tel: 374-153-1861
Fax:374-153-8187
Email: ruzikdav@rambler.ru
Ms. Michele de Nevers
The World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W., J-4079
Washington DC 20433
United States
Tel: 1-202-473-8607
Fax: 1-202-614-0779
Email: mdenevers@worldbank.org
Mr. Michael Decleris
Hon. Vice President of the Council of State
Chamber for Environment and
Sustainability
Fokionos Negri 82
Athens 11361
Greece
Tel: 0108817977
Fax: 0108215946
Email: derrikou@yahoo.com,
decleris@environ-sstain.gr
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PARTICIPANTS
531
Ms. Maria Di Paola
Director on Research and Training
Fundacion Ambiente y Recursos
Maturates (FARN)
Monroe 2142. Piso 1
Buenos Aires 1428
Argentina
Tel: 5411 47837032
Fax: 5411 47873820
Email: medipaola@farn.org.ar
Mr. Prasantha Dias Abeyegunawardene
Deputy Director-Programmes
South Asian Cooperative Environment
Programme (SACEP)
10, Anderson Road
Colombo 00500
Sri Lanka
Tel: 94-15-96442
Fax:94-15-89369
Email: pd_sacep@eureka.lk
Mr. Lisandro D'Leon Mairena
Procurador Nacional
La Defensa Del Medio Ambiente y los
Recursos Naturales
Km. 4 1/2 Carretera a Masaya
Managua
Nicaragua
Tel: 505-267-5690
Fax:505-267-1774
Email: pdelma® ibw.com.ni
Mr. Neil Emmott
EU and International Relations Manager
The Environment Agency
Rio House, Waterside Drive, Aztec West
Bristol BS324UD
United Kingdom
Tel: 44-14-546-24096
Fax:44-14-546-24319
Email: neil.emmott@environment-
agency.gov.uk
Mr. Sheikh Enayet Ullah
Project Director, Bangladesh
Environmental Management Project
Ministry of Environment & Forests
E-16 Agargoan, Shere Bangla Nagar
Dhaka 1207
Bangladesh
Tel: 88-02-8126193
Fax:88-02-8120946
Email: enayetullah@doe-bd.org
Mr. Toleris Epaminondas
Director
Ministry of Environment, Physical
Planning and Public Works
11 Alexandras Av.
Athens GR-11473
Greece
Tel: 30-10-641-2371 (0-1)
Fax:30-10-645-1914
Email: eype-ypehode@ath.forthnet.gr
Ms. Rebeca Erebrie Valbuena
Corporate VP of Environmental Affairs
Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana
Calle Guri, Edf. SEDE
Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana,
Altavista
Puerto Ordaz Bolivar 301
Venezuela
Tel: 58-286-966-1510
Fax:58-286-966-1919
Email: rerebrie@cvg.com
Ms.Yannye Fallas
Ministerio de Ambiente y Energia
Av. 10-12, C.1
San Jose
Costa Rica
Fax: 506 233 2334
Email: yani-fallas@hotmail.com
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532
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Erik Forberg
Special Advicer
Norwegian Pollution Control Authority
Stromsveien 96
8100dep
Oslo 0032
Norway
Tel: 47 22 57 34 00
Fax: 47 22 67 67 06
Email: erik.forberg@sft.no
Mr. J. William Futrell
President
Environmental Law Institute (ELI)
1616 P Street, N.W., Suite 200
Washington DC 20036
United States
Tel: 1-202-939-3852
Fax: 1-202-939-3868
Email: futrell@eli.org
Ms. Patricia Garcia Salaues
Lawyer
Ministerio de Desarrollo Sostenible y
Planificacion
LaPaz
Bolivia
Tel: 5912-233-0540
Fax:5912-233-0540
Email: surioste ©coord.rds.org.bo,
Patriciagarciasa @ Yahoo. Com
Mr. Geoffrey Garver
Director
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation
393, rue St-Jacques West
bureau 200
Montreal Quebec H2Y 1N9
Canada
Tel: 514-350-4300
Fax:514-350-4314
Email: ggarver@ccemtl.org
Mr. Daniel Geisbacher
Ing, PhD
Slovak Inspectorate of the Environment
Karloveska 2
Bratislava SL-84222
Slovak Republic
Tel: 42-12-654-26950
Fax:42-12-654-23181
Email: geisbacher@sizp.sk
Mr. Jo Gerardu
Inspector for International Affairs
VROM
VI/AL I PC 500
POBox 16191
The Hague 2500 BD
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-70-339-2536
Fax: 31-70-339-1985
Email: Jo.Gerardu@minvrom.nl
Mr. Dener Giovanini
General Coordinator
RENCTAS (National Network to fight traf-
ficking of wild animals)
Brazil
Tel: 55-61-368-8970
Email: dg@renctas.org.br
Mr. Robert Glaser
Consultant
The Regional Environmental Center for
Central and Eastern Europe
Asserlaan 7
Middelburg 4334 EP
The Netherlands
Tel: 31 118625810
Fax: 31 118617591
Email: tops@zeelandnet.nl
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PARTICIPANTS
533
Ms. Nino Gokhelashvili
Senior specialist
Ministry of Environment of Georgia
68a Kostava St
Tbilisi 380071
Republic of Georgia
Tel: 995-323-34082
Fax: 995-323-33952
Email: ngokhelashvili@hotmail.com,
gmep @ access.sanet.ge
Ms. Marcia Gonzalez
Environmental Law Consultant
Urbanizacion ParqueValle del Sol, casa
4N. Pozos
PO Box 1611-1260
Plaza Colonial Escazu
Costa Rica
Tel: (506)2824851
Fax: (506)282 5712
Email: marciagonzalez@hotmail.com
Mr. Jose Gonzalez Montero
Chief Environmental Prosecutor
Judiciary Power
Edificio Tribunales de San Jose
PO Box 23-1003
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-295-3401
Email: jpgonzalez@poder-judicial.go.cr
Ing. Javier Gonzalez
Latin American Business Manager
Westrade Inc.
Avenida La Reforma 13-70
Zona 9
01009
Guatemala
Tel: 502 361 8801
Fax: 502 331 1860
Email: jgonza@duwest.com
Mr. Ignacio Gonzalez
Program Manager
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation
393 St. Jacques , Bureau 200
Montreal Quebec H2Y1H9
Canada
Tel: (514) 350-4324
Fax: (514) 350-4314
Email: gonzalez@ccemtl.org
Dr. Marco Gonzalez Pastora
Director
CCAD/SICA
Blvd Orden de Malta #470
Antiguo Cuscatlan
El Salvador
Tel: 503-289-6131
Fax:503-289-6127
Email: prolegis@sgsica.org;
magonp @ sgsica.org
Mr. Fernando Gutierrez Pimentel
Fiscal Superior del Tercer Distrito Judical
Ministerio Publico de la Republica de
Panama
Villa Mercedes 103
David Chiriqui 842
Panama
Tel: 507-775-8150
Fax:507-775-8150
Email: ffgpcond@chiriqui.com
Ms. Sylvia Lowrance
Deputy Assistant Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, MC 2201A
Washington DC 20460
United States
Tel: 1-202-564-2450
Fax: 1-202501 3842
Email: lowrance.sylvia@epa.gov
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534
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Steven Herman
Former AA for OECA of EPA
1350 I Street, N.W.
Suite 700
Washington DC 20005
United States
Tel: 202-789-6060
Fax: 202-789-6190
Email: sherman@bdlaw.com
Mr. Erin Heskett
Deputy Director
International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW)
411 Main Street
Yarmouth Port MA 02675-1843
United States
Tel: (508) 744-2192
Fax:(508)744-2189
Email: eheskett@ifaw.org
Mr. Markku Hietamaki
Environmental Counselor
Ministry of the Environment, Finland
P.O. Box 35
GOVERNMENT
Helsinki FIN-00023
Finland
Tel: 358-9-1991-9703
Fax:358-9-1603-9453
Email: Markku.Hietamaki@vyh.fi; HIETA-
MAKI @vyh22.vyh.fi
Lie. Ana Sofia Huapaya
Coordinadora Zona Norte
Ministerio del Ambiente y Energia
Apartado 10104-1000
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: 506 256 8467
Fax: 506 233 2334
Email: sofab@minae.go.cr
Mr. Davis Jones
Environmental Scientist
US Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Mail Code 2254A
Washington DC 20460
United States
Tel: 202-564-6035
Fax: 202-564-0073
Email: Jones.Davis@epamail.epa.gov
Mr. Donald Kaniaru
Director
United Nations Environment Program
P.O. Box 30552
Nairobi Gigiri Road
Kenya
Tel: 254-2-623507
Fax: 254-2-624249
Email: donald.kaniaru@unep.org
Mr. loannes Kapelouzos
Lawyer
Chamber for Environment and
Sustainability
Alkiviadou 116
185 32 Peiraias
Athens
Greece
Tel: 30-01-041-71842
Fax:30-01-041-70581
Email: ibkapelouzos@hotmail.com
Justice Maria Karamanof
Council of State
Plateia Drosopoulou 2
15237Filothei
Athens
Greece
Tel: 3010106418220
Fax: 3010108817977
Email: kgiavassoglou@cchbc.com, derrik-
ou@yahoo.com
-------
PARTICIPANTS
535
Mr. Wout Klein
Project Manager
Korte Voren 5
7241 HR Lochem
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-573401756
Fax:31-573401675
Email: wout.klein@minvrom.nl
Ms. Ana Maria Kleymeyer
Washington DC
United States
Email: anamaria.k@worldnet.att.net
Mr. Leonid Korovin
General Director
Regional Public Organization "Ecology
and Business"
19830, Lermontova Street 12-1-21
St. Petersburg 198320
Russia
Tel: 7-812-430-6860
Fax:7-812-430-9305
Email: korovinl@sovintel.spb.ru
Mr. George Kremlis
Head of Unit
European Commission
200 Rue de la Loi
Brussels B-1049
Belgium
Tel: 32-2-29-665-26
Fax:32-2-29-910-70
Email: Georges.Kremlis@cec.eu.int
Prof. Eva Kruzikova
Director
Institute for Environmental Policy
Hradebni 3
Prague 11 000
Czech Republic
Tel: 420-2-2482-6593
Fax: 420-2-2482-6593
Email: iep@ecn.cz
Mr. Lai Kurukulasuriya
Chief, Regional Environmental Law
Programme
United Nations Environemnt Programme
(UNEP)
10th Floor, Block B, UN Building
Rajdamnern Nok Avenue
Bangkok 10200
Thailand
Tel: 66-22-88-1877
Fax: 66-22-80-3829
Email: kurukulasuriya@un.org
Mr.Yvan Lafleur
Chief
Environment Canada
Canada
Tel: 819 953-4383
Fax:819-953-3459
Email: Yvan.Lafleur@ec.gc.ca
Ms. Inga Larsson
Head of the Chemical Industry Section
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Naturvardsrerket
Stockholm SE-10648
Sweden
Tel: 46-8-698-1142
Fax:46-8-698-1222
Email: ingabirgitta.larsson@environ.se
Mr. Andrew Lauterback
Senior Criminal Enforcement Counsel
U.S. EPA
1 Congress Street
JFK Federal Building
Boston MA 02203
United States
Tel: 1-617-918-1724
Fax:1-617-918-0724
Email:
lauterback.andrew@epamail.epa.gov
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536
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Peter Lehner
Chief
Network Attorney General
120 Broadway
26th Floor
New York NY 10028
United States
Tel: 1-212-416-8450
Fax:1-212-416-6007
Email: peter.lehner@oag.state.ny.us
Mr. Michael LeRoy-Dyson
Compliance and Enforcement Leader
Auckland Regional Council
21 Pitt St, Newton
PO Box 92 012
Auckland 1001
New Zealand
Tel: 649 3794420
Fax: 649 366 2155
Email: michael.leroydyson@arc.govt.nz
Mr. Amir Levin
Chief
Ministry of the Environment
Kanfel Nesharim 5
P.O. Box 34033
Ramla 95464
Israel
Tel: 972-26553745
Fax: 972-26553752
Email: AmirL@environment.gov.il,
cypkh@environment.gov.il
Mr. Hans-Roland Lindgren
Director
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Blekholmsterassen 36
SE 106 48 Stockholm
Stockholm SE-10648
Sweden
Tel: 46-8-698-1128
Fax:46-8-698-1504
Email: hans-roland.lindgren@natur-
vardsverket.se, hans-
roland.lindgren@environ.se
Mr. Gregory Linsin
Special Litigation Counsel
United States Department of Justice
602 D Street, NW
Washington DC 20004
United States
Tel: 1-202-305-0327
Email: gregory.linsin@usdoj.gov
Mr. James Lofton
Senior Counsel
U.S. Department of Justice
1425 New York Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20005
United States
Tel: 1-202-514-2445
Fax: 1-202-514-2583
Email: jim.lofton@usdoj.gov
Mr. Cesar Luna
Attorney, Environmental Policy Consultant
Bournazian & Luna
110 West C Street
Suite 812
San Diego CA 92101
United States
Tel: (619) 702-6330
Fax: (619) 702-3464
Email: cesar@bournazian-luna.com
Ms. Patricia Madrigal Cordero
President, Costa Rican Environmental
Law Association
Costa Rican Environmental Law
Association
P.O. Box20-1017
San Jose 1017
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-231-0024
Fax:506-231-0024
Email: patmadri@racsa.co.cr
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PARTICIPANTS
537
Ms. Ana Magro e Silva Rodrigues
Eng./ Inspector for the Environment - Int.
Affairs
Ministry for the Environment and Land-
Use Planning and CITIES
Rua de " O Seculo" N° 63
1249-033
Lisbon 1200-433
Portugal
Tel: 35-12-1321-5504
Fax:35-12-1343-2777
Email: amagro@clix.pt, amagro@ig-
amb.pt
Mr. Kenneth Markowitz
President
Earthpace
1367 Connecticut Ave, NW
Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
United States
Tel: 1-202-249-9600
Fax:1-202-249-9610
Email: kjm@earthpace.com;
ken@inece.org
Ms. Isabel Martinez Vilardell
United Nations Environment Programme,
Regional Office for Latin America and the
Caribbean
Boulevard de los Virreyes 155
Colonia Lomas de Virreyes
Mexico City 11000
Mexico
Tel: 525 202 4841
Fax: 525 202 0950
Email: imartinez@rolac.unep.mx;
isabel_martinez44 @ hotmail .com
Mr. Tom Maslany
Director, International Enforcement and
Compliance Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, MC2254-A
Washington DC 20460
United States
Tel: 202-564-4111
Fax: 202-564-0073
Email: maslany.thomas@epa.gov
Ms. Carolina Mauri
Lawyer
EcoConsulta
P.O. Box 4743/1000
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-232-7566
Email: caromauri @racsa.co.cr
Mr. Juan May Montero
Technical Director
International Regional Organization for
Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA)
Calle Ramon Belloso, fin Pje. Isolde, Col.
Escalon
(01)61
San Salvador
El Salvador
Tel: (503)263 1124
Fax: (503)2631128
Email: jmay@ns1 .oirsa.org.sv,
dtsv@ns1.oi rsa.org.sv
Mr. Bradley May
Head
Environment Canada, Ontario Region
4905 Dufferin Street
Downsview Ontario M3H 5T4
Canada
Tel: 1-905-824-5945
Fax: 1-416-739-4903
Email: Bradley.May@ec.gc.ca
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538
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Richard McDonald
Special Agent
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 520
Arlington VA 22203
United States
Tel: 1-703-358-1949
Fax: 1-703-358-2271
Email: richard.mcdonald@fws.gov
Mr. Adrian Meza
Nicaragua
Mr. Krzysztof Michalak
Administrator
Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD)
2, rue Andre Pascal
Paris, Cedex 16 75775
France
Tel: 33-1-45249600
Fax:33-1-45249671
Email: krzysztof.michalak@oecd.org
Dr. Ladislav Miko
PhD
PHARE
EMS Prague, Blanicka 28
Prague 2 CZ-19000
Czech Republic
Tel: 420 2 2201 3403
Fax: 420 2 2225 3631
Email: Ladislav_Miko@ems-phare.net
Mr. Joseph Milewski
Environmental Protection Specialist
Inter-American Development Bank
1300 New York Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20577
United States
Tel: 1-202-623-2197
Fax: 1-202-623-1786
Email: josephm@iadb.org
Ms. Sladana Miocic
Assistant Minister
Ministry of Environmental Protection and
Physical Planning
Gajeva 30a
Zagreb 10 000
Croatia
Tel: 385-91-187-7005
Fax:385-91-459-1888
Email: s.miocic@mzopu.hr
Mr. Dennis Mora
HEAD, GENERATION PROJECTS
COMPANIA NACIONAL DE FUERZA Y
LUZ S.A. (CNFL)
PO Box 10026-1000
San Jose Costa Rica 1000
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-2964608
Fax: 506-2963950
Email: dmora@cnfl.go.cr
Mr. Roberto Morales Juarez
Environmental Advisor
US Agency for Internqtional Development
(USAID)
1 a. Calle 7-66 Zona 9
Plaza Uno Building
Guatemala City 01009
Guatemala
Tel: 502-332-0202
Fax: 502-332-0523
Email: rmorales@usaid.gov
Ms. Marcia Mulkey
Office Director
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
MC7501C
Washington DC 20460
United States
Tel: 1-703-305-7090
Fax: 1-703-308-4776
Email: mulkey.marcia@epa.gov
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PARTICIPANTS
539
Dr. Piet Muskens
Deputy Regional Inspector
Ministry of Housing Spatial Planning and
Environment (VROM)
Schimmelt 28
PO Box 850
Eindhoven 5600 AW
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-40-256-2944
Fax:31-40-246-0902
Email: piet.muskens@minvrom.nl,
pjwm.muskens@hetnet.nl
Mr. Richard Nadeau
Director of Operations
Fisheries and Oceans
200 Kent Street, 12th Floor N., 176
Ottowa Ontario
Canada
Tel: 613-991-6355
Fax:613-9937493
Email: nadeauri@DFO-MPO.GC.CA
Dra. Silvia Nonna
Lawyer
SECRETARIA DE RECURSOS
NATURALESI
San Martfn 459
Buenos Aires 1004
Argentina
Tel: 54-11-4348-8210
Fax:54-11-4348-8355
Email: snonna@medioambiente.gov.ar
Ing. Fernando Ocampo Aguilar
Representante
Organismo Internacional Regional de
Sanidad Agropecuaria
Rohrmoser, de Plaza Mayor
100 mts. al Este y 100 Norte, Apdo. 3628-
1000
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-296-8222
Fax: 506-232-9943
Email: representante@oirsa.or.cr
Ms. Beatrice Olivastri
Chief Executive Director
Friends of the Earth Canada
260 St. Patrick Street
Ottawa Ontario K1N5K5
Canada
Tel: 1-613-241-0085, Ext. 26
Fax: 1-613-241-7998
Email: beatrice@magma.ca
Mr. Antonio Oposa Jr.
A. Oposa and Associates
Suite 6-J Westgate Tower, Investment
Drive
1780 Alabang
Muntinlupa City
Philippines
Tel: 632-809-6122
Fax:632-809-3176
Email: oposa@axti.com
Ms. Krystyna Panek-Gondek
Deputy Director
Chief Inspectorate for Environmental
Protection
Wawelska ul. 52/54
Warsaw PL-00922
Poland
Tel: 48-22-825-9775
Fax: 48-22-825-6376
Email: kpanek@pios.gov.pl
Mr. Dave Pascoe
Manager
Environment Canada
4905 Dufferin Street
Downsview Ontario M3H 5T4
Canada
Tel: 1-416-739-5897
Fax: 1-416-739-4903
Email: dave.pascoe@ec.gc.ca
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540
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Ms. Julie Pelletier
Senior Policy Analyst
Environment Canada
23rd Floor, 10 Wellington Street
Hull Quebec K1A OH3
Canada
Tel: (819) 953-2295
Fax:(819)997-0199
Email: julie.pelletier@ec.gc.ca
Dr. Waltraud Petek
Deputy Director General
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry,
Environment & Water Management
Department 1.1
Stubenbastei 5
Vienna A-1010
Austria
Tel: 43-1-51522-2123
Fax:43-1-51522-7122
Email: waltraud.petek@bmlfuw.gv.at
Mr. Lawrence Pratt
Associate Director
Central American Institute for Business
Administration (INCAE)
La Garita de Alajuela
PO Box 960-4050
Alajuela
Costa Rica
Tel: (506) 437-2200
Fax: (506) 433-9606
Email: prattl@mail.incae.ac.cr
Ms. Cornelia Quennet-Thielen
Deputy Director General
Federal Ministry for the Environment,
Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
Alexanderplatz 6
Berlin D-10707
Germany
Tel: 01888305-2205
Fax:01888305-3336
Email: quennet.cornelia@bmu.de
Ms. Maria Rivas Leclair
Lawyer
Ministerio del Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales (MARENA)
km 12 1/2 Carretera Norte
Ministerio del Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales
Managua
Nicaragua
Tel: 505-233-1277
Fax:505-233-1277
Email: rileclair@yahoo.com
Mr. Carlos Rodriguez
Vice-rector
Tropical Center for Research and Training
(CATIE)
Turrialba
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-558-2612
Fax:506-556-6166
Email: cmrodri@catie.ac.cr
Mr. Manuel Rodriguez Becerra
Professor (Also President of National
Environmental Forum)
Universidad de los Andes
Bogota
Colombia
Tel: 571-610-0136
Fax:571-530-4772
Email: mcrod®cable.net.co
Dr. Ulrich Roettger
Project Coordinator
Centre Agronomico Tropical de
Investigacion y Ensenanza (CATIE)
Apdo:8-4190
San Jose 1000
Costa Rica
Tel: 506 296 5715
Fax: 506 2320735
Email: catiegtz@amnet.co.cr
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PARTICIPANTS
541
Mr. John Rothman
Senior Attorney
U.S. EPA
811 York Street, #307
Oakland CA 94610
United States
Tel: 1-415-972-3923
Fax: 1-415-947-3570/1
Email: rothman.john@epa.gov
Dr. Daniel Sabsay
Executive Director
Fundacion Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales (FARM)
Monroe 2142
Buenos Aires 1428 Buenos Aire
Argentina
Tel: 54-1-783-7032
Fax:54-1-787-5919
Email: info@farn.org.ar
Ms. Marlene Salazar A.
Subdirectora
Ministerio de Ambiente Y Energia
Av. 10-12, C.1
San Jose
Costa Rica
Tel: 506 256 8467
Fax: 506 233 2334
Email: marsa007@hotmail
.com; marsa007 @ minae.go.cr
Ms. Ligia Sandoval de Nuila
Abogado y Notario
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales (MARN)
Alameda Roosevelt y 55 Ave. Norte
Torre El Salvador, Editf. IPSFA 3er. Nivel
San Salvador
El Salvador
Tel: 503 260 8900
Fax: 503 260 3117
Email: medioambiente@mam.gob.sv,
ligianuila@hotmail.com
Mr. Mas Santosa
Senior Counsel/Board Member/Founder
Indonesian Center for Environmental Law
Dempo ll/2i Jakarta Selatan
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta 12120
Indonesia
Tel: 62-21-726-2740
Fax:62-21-726-9331
Email: otta@attglobal.net, poetry®
attglobal.net
Mr. Sadhu Sapkota
Under Secretary (Law)
Ministry of Local Development, HMG
Kha 1/651, Ghattekulo Dillibazar,
Kathmandu, Nepal
Kathmandu
Nepal
Tel: 977-1-418002
Fax:977-1-522045
Email: sapkota@col.com.np
Mr. Charles Sebukeera
Director Information & Monitoring
National Environment Management
Authority
1 Colesville St., 6th Floor
Communications House
P.O. Box 22255
Kampala, Uganda
Tel: 256141 251064
Fax: 256-41 257521
Email: csebukeera@nemaug.org
Dr. Babu Sengupta
Member Secretary
Central Pollution Control Board
Parivesh Bhawan
C.B.D. Office Complex, East Arjun Nagar
New Delhi 110032
India
Tel: 91-11-221-7078
Fax:91-11-221-7079
Email: bsg1951 ©yahoo.com
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542
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Terence Shears
EU and International Relations Adviser
Environment Agency for England and
Wales
Rio House, Waterside Drive, Aztec West
Almondsbury Bristol BS32 4LJD
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 1454 624449
Fax:+44 1454624319
Email: terence.shears® environment-
agency.gov.uk
Mr. Mukti Shrestha
Secretary
Ministry of Population and Environment
His Majesty's Government, Singha Durbar
Kathmandu
Nepal
Tel: 97-71-241587
Fax:97-71-242138
Email: drmnshrestha@hotmail.com,
mope® wlink.com.np
Ms. Albena Simeonova
Vice President
Green Justice Federation
Borovets str N3 ap.10 Strelbiste
Sofia 1408
Bulgaria
Tel: 35-92-980-9599
Fax:35-92-951-5884
Email: greenlaw@bgnet.bg,
ealbena @ yahoo.com
Mr. Peter Sinkamba
Executive Director
Citizens for a Better Environment (CBE)
67 AFCOM, Obote Avenue
P.O.Box 23202
Kitwe Copperbelt Province
Zambia
Tel: 26-09-779-7514
Fax:26-02-231-440
Email: cbezambia@hotmail.com
Ms. Francine Solera Meneses
Lawyer
Ministry of Environment and Energy
(MINAE)
Calle 25, Avenidas 8 y 10, 5 Piso
San Jose 126-2120
Costa Rica
Tel: 506-257-3662 ext 211
Fax: 506-257-2434
Email: fsolera@dse.go.cr
Mr. Pavel Sremer
Deputy Director
Czech Environmental Inspectorate
CIZP, naBrehu267/1a
Prague 19000
Czech Republic
Tel: 420-2-83891564
Fax: 420-2-83892662
Email: sremer@cizp.cz
Mr. Michael Stahl
Director
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW (2221 A)
Washington DC 20460
United States
Tel: 1-202-564-2280
Fax: 1-202-564-0027
Email: stahl.michael@epa.gov
Dr. Dato Steenhuis
Procureur-Generaal
P.O. Box1794
Leeuwarden 8901 CB
The Netherlands
Tel: 3158-2342575
Fax:3158-2342180
Email: b.scholten@cjib.minjus.nl,
btscholten @ hetnet.nl
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PARTICIPANTS 543
Mr. Peyton Sturges
BNA
Washington DC
United States
Email: pcsturges@earthlink.net,
PSturges @ bna.com
Ms. Pam Teel
International Activities Specialist
USEPA
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Room 31282
Washington DC 20004
United States
Tel: 202-564-6424
Fax:202-565-2412
Email: teel.pam@epa.gov
Lie. Lorenzo Thomas Torres
Director General
PROFEPA
Blvd. Picacho al Ajusco, No. 200, 7 Piso
Col Jardines de la Montana, Deleg Tlalpan
Tlalpan, Distrito Federal 14210
Mexico
Tel: 52-55-449-6345
Fax:52-55-615-2043
Email: lthomas@correo.profepa.gob.mx
Mr. Claudio Torres Nachon
Director
Centra de Derecho Ambiental e
Intergracion Economica del Sur
Primo Verdad # 23 Centra
Xalapa Veracruz 91000
Mexico
Tel: 52 2288 182388
Fax: 52 2288 182028
Email: dassurct@prodigy.net.mx
Mr. Victor Valdovinos-Cangas
Asesor del Gabinete del Ministro
Secretan'a del Ambiente
Avda. Madame Lynch 3.500
Asuncion
Paraguay
Tel: 59-52-128-3403
Fax:59-52-128-3403
Email: waldovi@rieder.net.py,
vvaldovi@hotmail.com
Mr. Paul van Erkelens
Chairman
Waterboard of Regge and Dinkel
PO Box 5600
Almelo 7600 GA
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-54-683-2618
Fax:31-54-683-2678
Email: P.A.E.vanErkelens@wrd.nl
Ms. Frederique van Zomeren
Policy Advisor
VROM
PO Box , I PC
The Hague NLGX
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-70-339-4568
Fax:31-70-339-1306
Email:
frederique.vanzomeren@minvrom.nl
Ms. Clarisa Vega Molina
Abogada y Notaria
Ministrerio Publico
Col. 3 Caminos, 1a calle No 3802
Tegucigalpa MDC
Honduras
Tel: 504-221-5620
Fax: 504-221-5620 ext 228
Email: Clarisa® Ferrera.sdnhon.org
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544
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Lambert Verheyen
DRS.
Province of Northern Brabant
Noord Brabantlaan 1
P.O. Box 90151
Hertogenbosch 5200 MC
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-73-681-2850
Fax:31-73-681-2830
Email: Ydegens@brabant.nl
Mr. Phung Vui
Director
Vietnam National Environment Agency
67 Nguyen Du
Hanoi
Vietnam
Tel: 84-4-822-3193
Fax:94-4-822-3189
Email: pvui@svr1.han.unep.net,
dthang @ nea.gov. vn
Dr. Robert Wabunoha
Senior Legal Counsel
National Environment Management
Authority
P.O. Box 22255
Kampala
Uganda
Tel: 256-41-251064/5/8
Fax:256-41-257521
Email: rwabunoha@nemaug.org; rwabuno-
ha@hotmail.com
Mr. George Wamukoya
Executive Secretary
Centre for Research and Education on
Environmental Law (CREEL)
P.O. Box 45801
Nairobi 00100
Kenya
Tel: 254-2-742261/2/3
Email: creel9@hotmail.com
Mr. Hua Wang
Environmental Economist
The World Bank Institute
1818HSt., N.W.
Washington DC 20443
United States
Tel: 202-473-3255
Fax:
Email: hwangl ©worldbank.org
Mr. Roy Watkinson
Environmental Crime Policy Manager
Environment Agency
Rio House, Aztec West
Waterside Drive, Bristol
B5124UD
United Kingdom
Tel: 44-14-54-624400
Fax:
Email: roy.watkinson@environment-
agency.gov.uk
Mr. Evan Wolff
World Resources Institute/ISCIENCES
6011 Execcutive Boulevard
Suite 400
Rockville MD 20852
United States
Tel: 1-301-254-8592
Fax: 1-301-231-5020
Email: wolff@isciences.com
Mr. Gerard Wolters
Inspector General
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and
the Environment (VROM)
Rijnstraat 8
P.O. Box 16191, 2500 BD
The Hague 2515 XP
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-70339-4621
Fax:31-70339-1298
Email: Gerard.wolters@minvrom.nl
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PARTICIPANTS 545
Mr. Doug Wright
Vice-President
Resource Futures International under con-
tract to Enforcement Division of
Environemnt Canada
Suite 602, 55 Eglinton Avenue East
Toronto Ontario M4P 1G8
Canada
Tel: 416 487-2700, ext. 26
Fax:416487-2637
Email: dwright@rfigroup.com
Mr. Durwood Zaelke
President
Center for International Environmental
Law (CIEL)
1367 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 300
Washington DC 20036-1860
United States
Tel: 1-202-785-8700
Fax: 1-202-785-8701
Email: dzaelke@ciel.org
Mr. Helio Zamora
Director Environmental Instrument
Application
Ministry of the Environment and Natural
Resources (MARENA)
Km. 13 Carretera Norte
P.O. Box 5123
Managua
Nicaragua
Tel: 505-263-2830x219
Fax: 505-263-2620
Email: helioza@hotmail.com
Mr. Krzysztof Zareba
Chief Inspector
Inspectorate for Environmental Protection
ul. WAWELSKA 52/54
WARSAW 00922
Poland
Tel: 48 22 825 33 25
Fax: 48 22 825 04 65
Email: kpanek@pios.gov.pl
Mr. Hernan Zeballos
Natural Resources Superintendent
Ministry of Sustainable Development
Av. 6 de Agosto 2577
P.O.Box 1512
La Paz
Bolivia
Tel: 59-12-243-1431
Fax:59-12-243-0975
Email: zeballoshernan@hotmail.com
Mr. Daniel Ziegerer
Senior Scientific Officer
Swiss Agency for the Environment,
Forests and Landscape
Berne CH-3003
Switzerland
Tel: 41-31-323-4561
Fax:41-31-323-0349
Email: daniel.ziegerer@buwal.admin.ch
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546 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
-------
PARTICIPANTS (BY COUNTRY) 547
PARTICIPANTS
AFRICA
Benin
Ghana
Kenya
Uganda
Zambia
Uganda
Kenya
Dr. Alao Akala
Mr. Jonathan Allotey
Dr. Richard Bagine
Mr. Charles Sebukeera
Mr. Peter Sinkamba
Dr. Robert Wabunoha
Mr. George Wamukoya
Head of
Legislation and
Studies Service
Acting Executive
Director
Deputy Director
Director
Executive Director
Senior Legal
Counsel
Executive
Secretary
Ministry of
Environment, Housing
and Urbanism
Environmental
Protection Agency
Kenya Wildlife Service
National Environment
Management Authority
(NEMA)
Citizens for a Better
Environment (CBE)
National Environment
Management Authority
Centre for Research
and Education on
Environmental Law
(CREEL)
ASIA & PACIFIC
Australia
Australia
New Zealand
Philippines
Indonesia
Vietnam
Ms. Donna Campbell
Ms. Maria Comino
Mr. Michael LeRoy-Dyson
Mr. Antonio Oposa Jr.
Mr. Mas Santosa
Mr. Phung Vui Director
Executive Director
Environmental
Lawyer
Compliance and
Enforcement
Leader
Senior
Counsel/Board
Member/Founder
Director
Environment
Protection Authority
Healthy Rivers
Commission
Auckland Regional
Council
A. Oposa and
Associates
Indonesian Center for
Environmental Law
Vietnam National
Environment Agency
CARIBBEAN
Barbados
Dr. Winston Anderson
Senior
Lecturer
U.W.I.
CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE
Armenia
Ukraine
Ms. Ruzan Davtyan
Mr. Yevhen Berezhny
Chief
Specialist
Chief
Specialist of
the
Secretariat
Ministry of Nature
Protection
Secretariat of the
Cabinet of Ministers of
Ukraine
-------
548
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Lithuania
Latvia
Slovak Republic
Republic of Georgia
Russia
Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Croatia
Poland
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Poland
Mr. Vaclovas Berzinskas
Mr. Zigfrids Bruvers
Mr. Daniel Geisbacher
Ms. Nino Gokhelashvili
Mr. Leonid Korovin General
Director
Prof. Eva Kruzikova Director
Dr. Ladislav Miko PhD
Ms. Sladana Miocic
Ms. Krystyna Panek-Gondek
Ms. Albena Simeonova
Mr. Pavel Sremer
Mr. Krzysztof Zareba
AC-IMPEL
Lithuanian
National
Coordinator
Deputy State
Secretary
Ing, PhD
Senior
specialist
General
Director
Director
PhD
Assistant
Minister
Deputy
Director
Vice
President
Deputy
Director
Chief
Inspector
Lithuanian State
Environmental
Protection Inspection
Ministry of the
Environment
Slovak Inspectorate of
the Environment
Ministry of Environment
of Georgia
Regional Public
Organization "Ecology
and Business"
Institute for
Environmental Policy
PHARE
Ministry of
Environmental
Protection and Physical
Planning
Chief Inspectorate for
Environmental
Protection
Green Justice
Federation
Czech Environmental
Inspectorate
Inspectorate for
Environmental
Protection
CENTRAL AMERICA
Guatemala
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Belize
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Lie. Rolando Alfaro Arellano
Mr. Mario Amador
Ms. Lilliana Arrieta Quesada
Dr. Rodrigo Barahona Israel
Karim Ben Amar
Mr. Jorge Blanco
Mr. Jose Cardona
Ing. German Castillo
Mr. Giovanni Castillo Ing.
Mr. Rolando Castro
Asesor
Juridico
Director de
Desarrollo
Lawyer
President
Consultar
Internacional
Legal
Counsel
Jefe
Ing.
Environmental
Law Associate
Ministerio de Ambiente
y Recursos Naturales
UNDP
Barahona-lsrael and
Associates
Ecodys SA
Ministry of Natural
Resources, the
Environment and
Industry
Ministerio de
Agruicultura y
Ganaderia
Direccion Sectorial de
Energia
Environmental and
Natural Resources Law
Centre (CEDARENA)
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PARTICIPANTS (BY COUNTRY) 549
Panama
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Panama
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Nicaragua
Ms. Lucia Chandeck
Cummings
Mr. Marco Cordero
Mr. Roberto Cordero Cordero
Ms. Olga Corrales
Ms. Mariela Cruz
Mr. Lisandro D'Leon Mairena
Ms. Yannye Fallas
Ms. Marcia Gonzalez
Mr. Jose Gonzalez Montero
Ing. Javier Gonzalez
Mr. Fernando Gutierrez
Lie. Ana Sofia Huapaya
Ms. Patricia Madrigal
Ms. Carolina Mauri
Mr. Juan May Montero
Mr. Adrian Meza
Mr. Dennis Mora
Ing. Fernando Ocampo
Aguilar
Mr. Lawrence Pratt
Ms. Maria Rivas Leclair
Attorney
Abogado y
Notario
International
Consultant
Msc. in
Environmental
Law
Procurador
Nacional
Environmental
Law Consultant
Chief
Environmental
Prosecutor
Latin American
Business
Manager
Fiscal Superior
del Tercer
Distrito Judical
Coordinadora
Zona Norte
President,
Costa Rican
Environmental
Law
Association
Lawyer
Technical
Director
HEAD,
GENERATION
PROJECTS
Representante
Associate
Director
Lawyer
Autoridad Nacional de
Medio Ambiente
(ANAM)
Center for
Environmental Law and
Natural Resources
La Defensa Del Medio
Ambiente y los
Recursos Naturales
Ministerio de Ambiente
y Energia
Judiciary Power
Westrade Inc.
Ministerio Publico de la
Republica de Panama
Ministerio del Ambiente
y Energia
Costa Rican
Environmental Law
Association
EcoConsulta
International Regional
Organization for Plant
and Animal Health
(OIRSA)
COMPANIA
NACIONAL DE
FUERZA Y LUZ S.A.
(CNFL)
Organismo
Internacional Regional
de Sanidad
Agropecuaria
Central American
Institute for Business
Administration (INCAE)
Ministerio del Ambiente
y Recursos Naturales
(MARENA)
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550
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Costa Rica
Honduras
Nicaragua
Mr. Carlos Rodriguez
Dr. Ulrich Roettger
Ms. Marlene Salazar A.
Ms. Ligia Sandoval de Nuila
Ms. Francine Solera
Meneses
Ms. Clarisa Vega Molina
Mr. Helio Zamora
Vice-rector
Project
Coordinator
Subdirectora
Abogado y
Notario
Lawyer
Abogada y
Notaria
Director
Environmental
Instrument
Application
Tropical Center for
Research and Training
(CATIE)
Centra Agronomico
Tropical de
Investigacion y
Ensenanza (CATIE)
Ministerio de Ambiente
Y Energia
Ministerio de Medio
Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales (MARN)
Ministry of Environment
and Energy (MINAE)
Ministrerio Publico
Ministry of the
Environment and
Natural Resources
(MARENA)
INTERNATIONAL
United States
United States
Phillipines
United States
United States
Sri Lanka
United States
Canada
Canada
El Salvador
Kenya
United States
Belgium
Dr. Michael Axline
Ms. Adriana Bianchi
Mr. John Boyd
Mr. Carl Bruch
Ms. Michele de Nevers
Mr. Prasantha Dias
Abeyegunawardene
Mr. J. William Futrell
Mr. Geoffrey Garver
Mr. Ignacio Gonzalez
Dr. Marco Gonzalez Pastora
Mr. Donald Kaniaru
Ms. Ana Maria Kleymeyer
Mr. George Kremlis
Professor of
Law
Senior
Institutional
Development
Specialist
Principle Sector
Specialist
Senior Attorney
Deputy
Director-
Programmes
President
Director
Program
Manager
Director
Director
Head of Unit
Environmental Law
Alliance Worldwide
(ELAW)
The World Bank
Institute
Asian Development
Bank
Environmental Law
Institute
The World Bank
South Asian
Cooperative
Environment
Programme (SACEP)
Environmental Law
Institute (ELI)
Commission for
Environmental
Cooperation
Commission for
Environmental
Cooperation
CCAD/SICA
United Nations
Environment Program
European Commission
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PARTICIPANTS (BY COUNTRY) 551
Thailand
United States
France
United States
Guatemala
United States
United States
United States
Mr. Lai Kurukulasuriya
Mr. Kenneth Markowitz
Mr. Krzysztof Michalak
Mr. Joseph Milewski
Mr. Roberto Morales Juarez
Mr. Peyton Sturges
Mr. Hua Wang
Mr. Durwood Zaelke
Chief, Regional
Environmental
Law
Programme
President
Administrator
Environmental
Protection
Specialist
Environmental
Advisor
Environmental
Economist
President
United Nations
Environemnt
Programme (UNEP)
Earthpace
Organisation for
Economic Co-operation
and Development
(OECD)
Inter-American
Development Bank
US Agency for
Internqtional
Development (USAID)
BNA
The World Bank
Institute
Center for International
Environmental Law
(CIEL)
NORTH AMERICA
Mexico
Canada
United States
United States
United States
Canada
United States
Canada
United States
United States
United States
Canada
United States
Mr. Antonio Azuela
Mr. Andy Bowcott
Ms. Susan Bromm
Ms. Adele Cardenas
Mr. Keith Chanon
Mr. Robert Chouinard
Mr. John Cruden
Mr. Christopher Currie
Mr. Steven Herman
Mr. Erin Heskett
Mr. Davis Jones
Mr. Yvan Lafleur
Mr. Andrew Lauterback
Investigador
Manager
Deputy
Director, Office
of Site
Remediation
Special
Assistant to the
Regional
Administrator
International
Program Officer
Head of
Investigations
Deputy
Assistant
Attorney
General
Habitat
Coordinator
Deputy Director
Environmental
Scientist
Chief
Senior Criminal
Enforcement
Counsel
Environment Canada
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
US EPA
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Ministry of Environment
U.S. Department of
Justice
Department of
Fisheries and Oceans
Canada
Former AA for OECA of
EPA
International Fund for
Animal Welfare (IFAW)
US Environmental
Protection Agency
Environment Canada
U.S. EPA
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552
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
United States
United States
United Stales
United States
United States
Mexico
United States
Canada
United States
United States
Canada
Canada
Canada
Canada
United States
United States
United States
Mexico
Mexico
Mr. Peter Lehner
Mr. Gregory Linsin
Mr. James Lofton
Ms. Sylvia Lowrance
Mr. Cesar Luna
Ms. Isabel Martinez Vilardell
Mr. Tom Maslany
Mr. Bradley May Head
Mr. Richard McDonald
Ms. Marcia Mulkey
Mr. Richard Nadeau
Ms. Beatrice Olivastri
Mr. Dave Pascoe
Ms. Julie Pelletier
Mr. John Rothman
Mr. Michael Stahl
Ms. Pam Teel
Lie. Lorenzo Thomas Torres
Mr. Claudio Torres Nachon
Chief
Special
Litigation
Counsel
Senior Counsel
Deputy
Assistant
Administrator
Attorney,
Environmental
Policy
Consultant
Director,
International
Enforcement
and
Compliance
Division
Head
Special Agent
Office
Director
Director of
Operations
Chief
Executive
Director
Manager
Senior Policy
Analyst
Senior
Attorney
Director
International
Activities
Specialist
Director
General
Director
Network Attorney
General
United States
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of
Justice
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Bournazian & Luna
United Nations
Environment
Programme, Regional
Office for Latin America
and the Caribbean
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Environment Canada,
Ontario Region
US Fish & Wildlife
Service
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Fisheries and Oceans
Friends of the Earth
Canada
Environment Canada
Environment Canada
U.S. EPA
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
USEPA
PROFEPA
Centre de Derecho
Ambiental e Intergracion
Economica del Sur
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PARTICIPANTS (BY COUNTRY) 553
United States
Canada
Mr. Evan Wolff
Mr. Doug Wright
Vice-
President
World Resources
Institute/ISCIENCES
Resource Futures
International under
contract to Enforcement
Division of Environemnt
Canada
SOUTH AMERICA
Brazil
Venezuela
Argentina
Venezuela
Bolivia
Brazil
Argentina
Colombia
Argentina
Paraguay
Bolivia
Mr. Antonio Benjamin
Mr. Santos Carrasco
Rodriguez
Ms. Maria Di Paola
Ms. Rebeca Erebrie
Valbuena
Ms. Patricia Garcia Salaues
Mr. Dener Giovanini
Dra. Silvia Nonna
Mr. Manuel Rodriguez
Becerra
Dr. Daniel Sabsay
Mr. Victor Valdovinos-Cangas
Mr. Hernan Zeballos
Public
Prosecutor
for Sao Paulo
Environmental
Consultant
Director on
Research and
Training
Corporate VP of
Environmental
Affairs
Lawyer
General
Coordinator
Lawyer
Professor (Also
President of
National
Environmental
Forum)
Executive
Director
Asesor del
Gabinete del
Ministro
Natural
Resources
Superintendent
Lawyers for a Green
Planet Institute
Fundacion Ambiente y
Recursos Naturales
(FARM)
Corporacion
Venezolana de
Guayana
Ministerio de Desarrollo
Sostenible y
Planificacion
RENCTAS (National
Network to fight
trafficking of wild
animals)
SECRETARIA DE
RECURSOS
NATURALESI
Universidad de los
Andes
Fundacion Ambiente y
Recursos Naturales
(FARN)
Secretaria del
Ambiente
Ministry of Sustainable
Development
SOUTH ASIA
India
Bangladesh
Mr. Narayan Belbase
Hedayetul Chowdhury
Program Officer
Director
General
The Ford Foundation
Bangladesh
Department of
Environment
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554
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Bangladesh
Nepal
India
Nepal
Mr. Sheikh Enayet Ullah
Mr. Sadhu Sapkota
Dr. Babu Sengupta
Mr. Mukti Shrestha
Project Director,
Bangladesh
Environmental
Management
Project
Under
Secretary
(Law)
Member
Secretary
Secretary
Ministry of Environment
& Forests
Ministry of Local
Development, HMG
Central Pollution Control
Board
Ministry of Population
and Environment
WEST ASIA/MIDDLE EAST
Jordan
Israel
Israel
Dr. IssaAbabneh
Mr. Yitzhak Ben David
Mr. Amir Levin
Director
Deputy
Director
General for
Enforcement
Chief
Ministry of Health and
Environment
Ministry of the
Environment
Ministry of the
Environment
WESTERN EUROPE
Belgium
The Netherlands
Italy
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
Italy
Greece
United Kingdom
Greece
Dr. Sc. Robert Baert
Mr. Pieter Beelaerts van
Blokland
Mr. Giancarlo Boeri Director
Ms. Machteld Brokerhof
Mr. Joost Buntsma
Ms. Loredana Dall'Ora
Mr. Michael Decleris
Mr. Neil Emmott
Mr. Toleris Epaminondas
Inspector-
General
Chairman
Director
Hon. Vice
President of the
Council of State
EUand
International
Relations
Manager
Director
Environment, Nature
and Land Development
Administration
National Coordination
Committee on
Environmental
Enforcement
National Environmental
Protection Agency
(AN PA)
Ministry of Housing,
Spatial Planning &
Environment (VROM)
Ministry of Public Works
and Water Management
Ministry of Environment
and Land Protection
Chamber for
Environment and
Sustainability
The Environment
Agency
Ministry of
Environment, Physical
Planning and Public
Works
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PARTICIPANTS (BY COUNTRY) 555
Norway
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
Finland
Greece
Greece
The Netherlands
Sweden
Sweden
Portugal
The Netherlands
Austria
Germany
United Kingdom
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
Mr. Erik Forberg
Mr. Jo Gerardu
Mr. Robert Glaser
Mr. Markku Hietamaki
Mr. loannes Kapelouzos
Justice Maria Karamanof
Mr. Wout Klein
Ms. Inga Larsson
Mr. Hans-Roland Lindgren
Ms. Ana Magro e Silva
Rodrigues
Dr. Piet Miiskens
Dr. Waltraud Petek
Ms. Cornelia Quennet-
Thielen
Mr. Terence Shears
Dr. Dato Steenhuis
Mr. Paul van Erkelens
Ms. Frederique van Zomeren
Mr. Lambert Verheyen
Mr. Roy Watkinson
Special Advicer
Inspector for
International
Affairs
Consultant
Environmental
Counselor
Lawyer
Council of State
Project
Manager
Head of the
Chemical
Industry
Section
Director
Eng./ Inspector
for the
Environment -
Int. Affairs
Deputy
Regional
Inspector
Deputy Director
General
Deputy Director
General
EUand
International
Relations
Adviser
Procureur-
Generaal
Chairman
Policy Advisor
DRS.
Environmental
Crime Policy
Manager
Norwegian Pollution
Control Authority
VROM
The Regional
Environmental Center
for Central and Eastern
Europe
Ministry of the
Environment, Finland
Chamber for
Environment and
Sustainability
Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency
Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency
Ministry for the
Environment and Land-
Use Planning and
CITIES
Ministry of Housing
Spatial Planning and
Environment (VROM)
Federal Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry,
Environment & Water
Management
Federal Ministry for the
Environment, Nature
Conservation and
Nuclear Safety
Environment Agency
for England and Wales
Waterboard of Regge
and Dinkel
VROM
Province of Northern
Brabant
Environment Agency
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556
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
The Netherlands
Switzerland
Mr. Gerard Wolters
Mr. Daniel Ziegerer
Inspector
General
Senior Scientific
Officer
Ministry of Housing,
Spatial Planning and
the Environment
(VROM)
Swiss Agency for the
Environment, Forests
and Landscape
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EPC MEMBERS
557
MEMBERS OF THE INECE EXECUTIVE PLANNING COMMITTEE
Dr. Peter Acquah
P.O. Box CT3541
Airport Residential Area
Accra
Ghana
Ms. Jacqueline Alois! de Larderel
Director
United Nations Environment Program
39-43 Quai Andre Citroen
Tour Mirabeau
Paris Cedex 15 75739
France
Mr. Antonio Benjamin
Public Prosecutor for Sao Paulo
Lawyers for a Green Planet Institute
RuaBage, 139/194
Sao Paulo 04012-140
Brazil
Mr. Fred Campbell
Valuation Consultant of property tax
Government of Montserrat, E. Caribbean
The dept. of Inland Revenue
Brades
Montserrat, West Indies
Mr. Jose Campillo Garcia
Attorney General for the Environment
Carretera Picacho al Ajusco No. 200, 8 Piso
Fax:52-55-26-15-20-41
Col. Jardines de la Montana, Deleg. Tlalpan
Mexico City, D.F. CP 14210
Mexico
Ms. Helena Cfzkova
Advisor to the Deputy Minister
Czech Environmental Inspectorate
New Town Hall
Prokesovo nam. 8
Ostrava 702 00
Czech Republic
Tel: 233 21 762887
Fax: 233 21 762887
Email: pcacquah@hotmail.com
acquah@africaonline.com.gh
Tel: 331-44-371441
Fax:331-44-371474
Email: j.aloisi@unep.fr
Tel: 55-11 -3119-9700 (office)
Email: planet-ben@uol.com.br
Tel: 664-491-9670
Fax: 664-491 2453
Email: fsantac@hotmail.com
Tel: 52-55-26-15-20-95
Email: jcampillo@correo.profepa.gob.mx
Tel: 420-69-628-2362
Fax:420-69-611-8798
Email: Helena_Cizkova@env.cz
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558
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Ms. Maria Comino
Environmental Lawyer
Healthy Rivers Commission
Level 18
15 Castlereagh St.
Sydney 2000
Australia
Tel: 61-2-9225-2304
Fax:61-2-9232-5973
Email: cominom@hrc.nsw.gov.au
Mr. Christopher Currie
Habitat Coordinator
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent Street
Mail Station 13W116
Ottawa Ontario K1A OE6
Canada
Tel: 1-613-998-5675
Fax:1-613-941-2718
Email: curriec@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Mr. Hashim Daud
Director of Enforcement
Department of Environment Malaysia
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Campus
Locked Bag No. 24; 43600 UKM BANGI
Selangor
Malaysia
Ms. Michele de Nevers
The World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W., J-4079
Washington DC 20433
United States
Tel: 603-8926 1500
Fax:603-8926 1700
Email: hd@jas.sains.my
Tel: 1-202-473-8607
Fax:1-202-614-0779
Email: mdenevers@worldbank.org
Mr. J. William Futrell
President
Environmental Law Institute (ELI)
1616 P Street, N.W., Suite 200
Washington DC 20036
United States
Tel: 1-202-939-3852
Fax:1-202-939-3868
Email: futrell@eli.org
Dr. Marco Gonzalez Pastora
Director
CCAD/SICA
Blvd Orden de Malta #470
magonp @ sgsica.org
Antiguo Cuscatlan
El Salvador
Tel: 503-289-6131
Fax:503-289-6127
Email: prolegis@sgsica.org;
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EPC MEMBERS 559
Mr. Markku Hietamaki
Environmental Counselor
Ministry of the Environment, Finland
P.O. Box 35
vyh.fi; HIETAMAKI@vyh22.vyh.fi
GOVERNMENT
Helsinki FIN-00023
Finland
Mr. Donald Kaniaru
Director
United Nations Environment Program
P.O. Box 30552
Nairobi Gigiri Road
Kenya
Mr. George Kremlis
Head of Unit
European Commission
200 Rue de la Loi
Brussels B-1049
Belgium
Dr. Paul Leinster
Director
Environment Agency
Rio House, Waterside Drive, Aztec West
Almondsbury Bristol BS32 4UD
United Kingdom
Mr. Sirithan Pairoj-Boriboon
Director General
Ministry of Science, Tech. & the Environment
Fax: 66 2 298 2129
92 Soi Phahol Yothin 7
Phahol Yothin Road, Sam Sen Nai, Phayathai
Bangkok 10400
Thailand
Mr. Manuel Rodriguez Becerra
Professor/Pres. of Nat'l Environmental Forum
Universidad de los Andes
Bogota
Colombia
Tel: 358-9-1991-9703
Fax:358-9-1603-9453
Email: Markku.Hietamaki®
Tel: 254-2-623507
Fax: 254-2-624249
Email: donald.kaniaru@unep.org
Tel: 32-2-29-665-26
Fax:32-2-29-910-70
Email: Georges.Kremlis@cec.eu.int
Tel: 44-1454-62-4065
Fax:44-1454-62-4319
Email: paul.leinster@environment-
agency.gov.uk
Tel: 66 2 298 2121-2
Email: sirithan.p@pcd.go.th
Tel: 571-610-0136
Fax:571-530-4772
Email: mcrod®cable.net.co
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560
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Ken Ruffing
Acting Director
Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD)
Andre Pascal
France
Mr. Charles Sebukeera
Director Information & Monitoring
National Environment Management Authority
1 Colesville St., 6th Floor
Communications House
P.O. Box 22255
Kampala, Uganda
Tel: 331 45249310
Fax: 33 1 45 24 78 76
Email: kenneth.ruffing@oecd.org, 2, rue
Paris, Cedex 16 75775
Tel: 256141 251064
Fax: 256-41 257521
Email: csebukeera@nemaug.org
Dr. Babu Sengupta
Member Secretary
Central Pollution Control Board
Parivesh Bhawan
C.B.D. Office Complex, East Arjun Nagar
New Delhi 110032
India
Mr. Eugene Shannon
Principal Geologist
African Development Bank
BPV316
01B. P. 1387
Abidjan BPV316
Cote D'lvoire
Mr. John Suarez
Assistant Adminstrator
U.S. EPA
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W
Mail Code 2201A
Washington DC 20460
United States
Mr. Bie Tao
Deputy Director
State Environmental Protection Administration
No. 115 Xizhimennei Nanxiaojle
Beijing 100035
People's Republic of China
Tel: 91-11-221-7078
Fax:91-11-221-7079
Email: bsg1951 ©yahoo.com
Tel: 225-20-20-5558
Fax: 225-20-20-5033
Email: e.shannon@afdb.org
Tel: 1-202-564-2440
Fax: 1-202 501 3842
Email: suarez.john@epa.gov
Tel: 86-10-6615-1774
Fax:86-10-6615-9814
Email: bietao@public.gb.com.cn
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EPC MEMBERS
561
Dr. NizarTawfiq
Deputy Director General
Meteorology and Environmental Protection
Agency
P.O. Box1358
Jeddah 21431
Saudi Arabia
Mr. Gerard Wolters
Inspector General
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment (VROM)
Rijnstraat 8
P.O. Box 16191, 2500 BD
The Hague 2515 XP
The Netherlands
Mr. Durwood Zaelke
President
Center for International Environmental Law
(CIEL)
1367 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 300
Washington DC 20036-1860
United States
Tel: 966-2-651-8887
Fax:966-2-651-1424
Email: nizartawfiq@sps.net.sa
Tel: 31-70339-4621
Fax:31-70339-1298
Email: Gerard.wolters@minvrom.nl
Tel: 1-202-785-8700
Fax:1-202-785-8701
Email: dzaelke@ciel.org
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562 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND CONFERENCE SUPPORT
563
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND CONFERENCE SUPPORT
Durwood Zaelke, Director
INECE Secretariat
1367 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
phone: 202.249.9607
fax: 202.249.9608
e-mail: dzaelke@ciel.org
Machteld Brokerhof
Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment
VI/BZ IPC 530, P.O. Box 16191
2500 BD The Hague, The Netherlands
phone:+31-70-3393969
fax:+31-70-3391299
e-mail: machteld.brokerhof@minvrom.nl
Richard Emory
U.S. EPA, Mail Code: 2254A
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
Phone:202-564-7138
fax: 202-564-0073
e-mail: emory.richard@epa.gov
Jo Gerardu
Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial Planning
and the Environment
VI/AL IPC 500, P.O. Box 16191
2500 BD The Hague, The Netherlands
phone: 31703392536
fax: 31703391985
e-mail: jo.gerardu@minvrom;nl
Davis Jones
U.S. EPA, Mail Code: 2254A
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
phone: 202-564-6035
fax: 202-564-0073
e-mail: jones.davis@epa.gov
Thomas Maslany
U.S. EPA, Mail Code: 2254A
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
phone: 202-564-4111
fax: 202-564-0073
e-mail: maslany.thomas@epa.gov
CONSULTANTS
Kenneth J. Markowitz
President
Earth Pace LLC
1367 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
phone: 202.249.9600
fax: 202.249.9610
e-mail: ken@earthpace.com
http://earthpace.com
Marcy J. Markowitz
Vice President
Earth Pace LLC
1367 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
phone: 202.249.9600
fax: 202.249.9610
e-mail: mjm@earthpace.com
Catherine Spangler
Earth Pace LLC
1367 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
phone: 202.249.9600
fax: 202.249.9610
e-mail: cspangler@earthpace.com
Carolina Mauri
Legal Advisor and Partner
EcoConsulta
SJO1000
P.O. Box025216
Miami FL 33102-5216
phone: 506-293-4298/506-239-2284
fax: 506-293-4298
e-mail: caromauri@racsa.co.cr
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564 SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
565
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Sixth International Conference
on Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement in San Jose, Costa Rica was
made possible by the personal and finan-
cial contributions of many organizations
and individuals. An Executive Planning
Committee (EPC) to the International
Network of Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement, INECE, whose membership
is listed in the Proceedings, provided lead-
ership and direction in the design of the
program, selection of the speakers and
topic experts, and identification of individu-
als from a range of nations who would be in
the best position to share practical experi-
ence in environmental compliance and
enforcement to improve or develop domes-
tic compliance and enforcement programs
and to engage in ongoing networking,
capacity building and enforcement cooper-
ation.
The Conference could not have
been a success without the active and
meanful contributions of the participants,
as well as the cooperation of their organi-
zations who allowed these experts to come
together for an entire week to combine
knowledge and experience in working
towards better environmental enforcement
and compliance networks. A special note
of thanks to the conference speakers, topic
experts, moderators, facilitators and rap-
porteurs and those who volunteered to pre-
pare papers, all of who are colleagues
making a special effort to share their expe-
riences and help facilitate our exchanges at
the Conference. Special thanks to those
contributing materials for the Conference
exhibits.
The participants were provided
with a choice of joining one of six field vis-
its to diverse environments throughout
Costa Rica. We would like to thank every-
one who assisted in arranging the field vis-
its, as well as those who volunteered their
services as tour guides and lecturers. The
field visits turned out to be a great success
and were very enjoyable. Their efforts
assisted greatly in allowing the Conference
participants to get a real feel for Costa
Rica.
Funding of the Conference logis-
tics, planning and workshop development
was provided by the conference sponsors:
the Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial
Planning and the Environment, The
Netherlands; the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, United States; the
European Commission; The Ministry of the
Environment and Energy of the Republic of
Costa Rica (MINAE); the Center for
International Environmental Law; The
World Bank; United Nations Environment
Programme, Environment Canada; and the
Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development. Funding of participants
was graciously offered by The Netherlands
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and
the Environment, International Department,
the World Bank, the U.S. Asia
Environmental Partnership, Comision
Centroamerican de Ambiente y Desarollo,
the International Fund for Animal Welfare,
the Commission on Environmental
Cooperation, and the U.S. Agency for
International Development.
We would like to thank
Ambassador John Danilovich and his staff
at the US Embassy in Costa Rica for their
contributions to the Conference. In particu-
lar, we would like to thank Marcela
Ramirez, Andrea Borel, and David Alarid
for their valuable services, including the two
field trips led by Ms. Ramirez and Ms.
Borel. Also, we would like to express our
gratitude to Mr. Eduardo Muller and
Alejandra Salazar of the University for
International Cooperation for helping to
organize the Saturday event for local par-
ticipants and guiding the Zoo Ave field visit.
Additionally, thank you to Ms. Patricia
Madrigal of the Costa Rican Environmental
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566
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Law Association for assisting in the plan-
ning of the Saturday event for local partici-
pants.
We would like to thank Honorable
Wim Wessels of the Dutch Embassy for
opening his residence Saturday evening
and sponsoring a wonderful reception for
local Conference participants. Additionally,
we would like to personally thank his staff,
Mr. Geert Geut and Ms. Myrtille Danse, for
their valuable assistance serving on the
local planning committee and in particular,
for their hard work organizing the field vis-
its. We would also like to thank Ana Victoria
Rojas, Carlos Manuel Chacon, and
Rolando Castro of the Center for
Environmental Law and Natural Resources
for organizing and facilitating the
Conservation Easements field visit.
In addition to the funding offered to
assist our Participants in attending the
Conference, a variety of other services and
activities lended to the success of the
Conference, sponsored by organizations
and people in Costa Rica. We would like to
thank the Institute Costarricenses de
Electricidad, especially Gerardo Chavez
and Marjorie Gonzalez, for sponsoring the
Internet Cafe and a dinner trip to Pueblo
Antiguo for participants. Both were a huge
success.
Thank you to Mr. Franz Tattenbach,
National Coordinator of the Costa Rican
Office for Joint Implementation for his well-
received remarks during the dinner recep-
tion and Mr. Ricardo Ulate, Director of the
International Cooperation of the Ministry of
Environment and Energy of Costa Rica for
his remarks at the Opening Plenary
Session. A special thanks to Mr. Eduardo
Vilchez, Direccion General de Migracion y
Extranjera and his staff, Ana Virginia
Lizano, Carlos Castro for working so dili-
gently to secure authorization for entry into
Costa Rica for many of the Conference par-
ticipants. Thanks to their tireless efforts,
every single invitee was able to participate.
Thank you to Mr. Oscar Ramirez of the
Ministerio del Ambiente de Costa Rica and
Mr. William Rodriguez of the Ministerio de
Agricultura de Costa Rica for their critical
assistance with the customs process, with-
out which the Conference could not have
succeeded.
Special thanks to Mr. Jo Gerardu
and Ms. Machteld Brokerhof, both of
VROM, along with Mr. Davis Jones, Mr.
Richard Emory and Mr. Thomas Maslany of
the USEPA for assisting the INECE secre-
tariat and the Executive Planning
Committee, finalizing the Conference pro-
gram, brochure and supporting materials,
assisting in the management of the on-site
activities at the Conference and editing the
Proceedings (Volumes 1 and 2). Finally, we
express our gratitude to Ms. Adriana
Bianchi of the World Bank Institute for
assisting the Secretariat in editing the
Conference evaluation form and providing
insightful questions.
A special note of appreciation to
the Center for International Environmental
Law subgrantees Earthpace LLC, Mr.
Kenneth Markowitz, Ms. Marcy Markowitz,
and Ms. Catherine Spangler and
EcoConsulta, Ms. Carolina Mauri and Mr.
Lawrence Pratt without whose tireless
efforts, energy and dedication the week
long conference and side events may not
have been a success. They provided excel-
lent support to the EPC, sub-committees,
and Conference participants, as well as
managed Conference logistics, such as
drafting the Conference program, brochure
and supporting materials, and managing
on-site activities at the Conference.
Additionally, Earthpace LLC designed,
maintained and continuously built upon the
INECE Web site and its many features, pre-
pared and edited the Conference
Proceedings (Volumes 1 and 2) and the 5th
Edition of the INECE Newsletter, which was
distributed at the Conference.
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VROM 17087/185
I N E C E
International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
http://www.inece.org
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