Environmental crimes under the Clean Water Act, RCRA, and Clean Air Act

Environmental Crimes and Health and Safety Law Violation

With the current changes in weather patterns, strange climatic conditions and other uncontrollable natural disasters, there has been a lot of attention directed towards the environment and the way people may be contributing to the degradation of the environment in small ways that is summed up results into the disasters that we see on daily basis. The environment is becoming unpleasant on an increasing trend each and every day, this is a cause to worry about for each government that cares to see the consequences of our careless handling of the environment.

There are also man's contribution to the insecurity that surrounds us on a daily basis since people no longer care for the safety of the workers that work in their industries and sadly to some extent, some don care even about themselves and the safety that may be protecting their very being. There is need therefore to look at the various forms of safety law violations, the consequences as well as how to curb this trend of violations. Environmental crimes can therefore be referred to as the acts of man that are directed or intended at harming the environment (Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Republic of South Africa, 2012).

There are various criminal enforcement programs that are focused on the people who involve in negligent or willful violation of the federal laws that pertain to the environment conservation. There are some central acts that are purposefully geared towards ensuring that the environment is taken care of and protected at the highest standards possible.

The Clean Water Act which aimed at controlling the effluence that is emitted to the water bodies and in effect protect the water bodies. The main target of this Act is the criminal industries and manufacturing bodies that may tend to bypass the laws and instead of using all the required waste water treatment chemicals before they emit the effluence into the sewer systems most of which end up in the water bodies.

The other well-known Act that deals with the regulation of the environment is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This is majorly to tame the rogue manufactures who do not want to pay for the cost of disposal of their environment degrading wastes such as the highly flammable and acoustic wastes. Most of the culprits to the breaking of this law do conceal the waste to be dumped together with other wastes by a dumpster at municipal sites.

Clean Air Act is yet another regulation that aims at ensuring that the air we breathe is not contaminated in any manner. The act has a wide spectrum that it legally covers ranging from the industrial emissions in form of smoke, to laboratory fumes and even the dangerous asbestos fibers control during construction.

There are other industrial activities that are also considered environmental crimes within the U.S.A. These include illegal disposal of hazardous waste, illegal discharge of pollutants to a water of the United States, Export of hazardous waste without the permission of the receiving country, interfering with drinking water supply, illegal importation of certain restricted or regulated chemicals into the United States, money laundering relating to environmental criminal activities. There is need therefore to have an environmental policy that will see into it that the above Acts are implemented and people are equally sensitized about the significance of environmental conservation and sustainability of the environment for a better future.

Environmental Policy and Sustainability

The sustainability of the environment is pivotal in the long run for ensuring a safe and habitable environment for all. The bitter fact is that, when the environment is affected, then everyone gets the effect regardless of the region, race, color gender and the all the disparities that could be considered politically. To ensure a safe environment, there was a necessity of having policies that can help maintain the environment and make it safe, hence the introduction of the Environmental Justice.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1998) defines Environmental Justice as "The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic group should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies."

From the above, it is worth noting that the fundamental pursuit of the policy was and is not to find whom to blame for the environmental degradation and pollution but to find the most adversely affected areas and those that have the potentiality to such degradation, then identify the alternative to such degradation and mitigate against them.

One example where the Environmental Justice policy came in was in the recent pollution where there was a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by the BP Company. It is one of the policies concerning environment that was used to compel the company to take responsibility to stop the spill and clear the spill in the gulf.

Sustainability cycle

There is an increasing concern by environmentalists and the environmental law/policy enforcement agencies about the environmental pollution. There are heaps of garbage growing each day in various parts of the country and the world at large, improper disposal of waste material all over the residential and even office areas. The industries are also contributing to the menace and pollution of the environment is fast becoming the number one concerning our environment. The woods, rivers, open grounds in the city suburbs, the ocean fronts and many public fields are congesting with waste polythene bags.

There is need therefore to curb the menace before it goes further than it has, indeed it has gone far enough such that if not halted at this level, it will sink with our environment. In order to curb this menace, one of the techniques that can be used part fro the policies and the laws is the three Rs approach; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. These ensure that even before one breaks the environmental laws, they are sensitized enough to be aware of the benefits of observing the law.

Reduce: This principle encourages the reduction of the use of disposable equipment like the polythene bags from the store instead use of paper packaging, canvas bags and aluminum foils, plastic bottles instead use of stainless steel bottles, disposable cups instead use the permanent mugs with lockable top and generally encourages a reduction of use of disposable material that are not biodegradable or unnecessary to use (High Country Conservation Centre, 2011).

Reuse: If there is a necessity to use the particular product as packaging or utensil or for drinking or eating, then there is a high possibility that it can be use again. These items should not be thrown into the dustbin just because their first use is over. There are several ways through which we can use an item again in a different manner. For instance the paper bags can be used to make decorative gift pack or art work, jars can also be used for storing chemicals, plastic buckets can be used for holding leftovers in the open yards or for home flower pots and many more in that effect.

Recycling: This is the main point of solid waste reduction and recycling is a process. It's a sequence of activities in a ring, that includes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2011), "the separation and collection of materials that otherwise would be considered waste, the processing and remanufacturing of these items into new products, and the use of the recycled products to complete the cycle."

In the ideal situation, recycling of a material should end up in a fresh supply of the same material that had been .put into recycling, for example used torn clothes recycled into new clothes. However this has proven to be expensive as compared to using raw material of the same to produce fresh product. Due to this, the alternative recycling method which involves the reuse of the product to produce different material, for instance use of waste office paper to produce cardboard and paperboards.

Another form of recycling would involve salvage of some materials from the used products. This may be due to their intrinsic value for instance lead in car batteries, gold in old computers or due to their hazardous nature like mercury from laboratory equipment and trophies.

There are other organizations and bodies that have also taken it upon themselves to engage in sensitizing the population about the need to obey the environmental policies and the laws governing the environment conservation. There are also some businesses that have taken it upon themselves to abide by the environmental rules as well as contribute more towards the environment. One of the well-known organizations in this sector is WWF. WWF has been in existence for more that 45 years now doing the noble job of ensuring that the endangered species are protected and their population revamped (Fund Raiser Insight, 2012). The WWF has an objective of ensuring that 19 of the most important natural locations in the world are properly conserved by the year 2010. This they do by focusing on various campaigns with an aim of making the biggest impact possible. At the present time, the WWF has focused its attention on the snow leopard and the lions, the conservation of forest as well as shifting diet to sustainable seafood.

A business that leads by example is the Wal-Mart chain of stores. On the environmental aspect, Wal-Mart has the goal of increasing energy efficiency, cut down on the waste as well as reducing the greenhouse gases emission all with the objective of contributing to the reduction of the global warming effects; this is a goal that the chain uses on average $500 million to make this goal realizable.

Workplace safety

Apart from the environmental aspects, the safety of the employees or workers within an organization is also very important. The Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a set of rules and standards that are supposed to be observed depending on the work environment. Neglecting such stipulations is considered a crime and may attract penalties in the court of law. These guidelines that are dawn by the OSHA are meant to ensure safety and security of all the employees and an assurance of protection in case a misfortune happened.

Some of the compulsory provisions for people in a work environment that there is use of machinery are protective equipment (PPE) while doing heavy jobs like recovery work. PPE can be defined as 'All equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work which protects them against one or more risks to their health and safety' (Healthy Working Lives, 2010).

There are some general categories of safety that each employer must ensure the employees are provided with. There must be fall awareness within the work environment as it was estimated that 161,000 employees got injured from falling in 2009 (Jagg Xaxx, 2012). This awareness can be done through education and training. The other requirement by law is ensuring there is respiratory safety. The other is ensuring that there is proper disposal of hazardous material from the work environment. There must also be hearing protection while the employees are engaged in loud activities within the organization.

Apart from these general legal provisions, there are also other special Acts like the Disability Act (ADA). This has to do with Accessibility: All areas, both inside and out, should comply with the minimum requirements of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and, if federally funded or owned, the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS). Buildings also need to be designed so as to be easy to use by the many visitors with temporary or permanent handicaps as required by American National Standards Institute (ANSI).