[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 9, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4746-S4747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. LEAHY:
S. 3466. A bill to require restitution for victims of criminal
violations of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, I introduce the Environmental Crimes
Enforcement Act, ECEA, common sense legislation that will ensure that
those who destroy the lives and livelihoods of Americans through
environmental crime are held accountable.
It has been 50 days since the collapse of British Petroleum's
Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig, which killed 11 men. Oil continues to gush
into the Gulf of Mexico, and deadly contaminants are washing up on the
shores and wetlands of Gulf Coast States. This catastrophe threatens
the livelihood of many thousands of people throughout the region, as
well as precious natural resources and habitats. The people responsible
for this catastrophe must be held accountable; they, not the American
taxpayers, should pay for the damage and the recovery. The bill I
introduce today aims to deter environmental crime, protect and
compensate its victims, and encourage accountability among corporate
actors.
First, ECEA will deter schemes by Big Oil and other corporations and
industries that damage our environment and hurt hardworking Americans
by increasing sentences for environmental crimes. All too often,
corporations treat fines and monetary penalties as merely a cost of
doing business to be factored against profits. To deter criminal
behavior by corporations, it is important to have laws resulting in
prison time. In that light, this bill directs the United States
Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines for
environmental crimes to reflect the seriousness of these crimes.
Criminal penalties for Clean Water Act violations are not as severe
as for other white-collar crimes, despite the widespread harm such
crimes can cause. As the current crisis makes clear, Clean Water Act
offenses can have serious consequences on people's lives and
livelihoods, which should be reflected in the sentences given to the
criminals who commit them. This bill takes a reasonable approach,
asking the Sentencing Commission to study the issue and raise
sentencing guidelines appropriately, and it will have a real deterrent
effect.
This bill also aims to help victims of environmental crime--the
people who lose their livelihoods, their communities, and even their
loved ones--reclaim their natural and economic resources. To do that,
ECEA makes restitution mandatory for criminal Clean Water Act
violations.
Currently, restitution in environmental crimes--even crimes that
result in death--is discretionary, and only available under limited
circumstances. Under this bill, those who commit Clean Water Act
offenses would have to compensate the victims of these offense for
their losses. That restitution will help the people of the Gulf Coast
rebuild their coastline and wetlands, their fisheries, and their
livelihoods should criminal liability be found.
Importantly, this bill will allow the families of those killed to be
compensated for criminal wrongdoing. As we have seen in the BP case,
arbitrary laws prevent those killed in tragedies like this one from
bringing civil lawsuits for compensation. This bill would ensure that,
when a crime is committed, the criminal justice system can provide for
restitution to victims, providing some small measure of security for
the families of those killed.
This bill takes two common sense steps--well-reasoned increases in
sentences and mandatory restitution for environmental crime. These
measures are tough, but fair. They are important steps toward deterring
criminal conduct that can cause environmental and economic disaster and
toward helping those who have suffered so much from the wrongdoing of
Big Oil and other large corporations. I hope all Senators will join me
in supporting this important reform.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
[[Page S4747]]
S. 3466
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Environmental Crimes
Enforcement Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES.
(a) Sentencing Guidelines.--
(1) Directive.--Pursuant to its authority under section 994
of title 28, United States Code, and in accordance with this
subsection, the United States Sentencing Commission shall
review and amend the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and policy
statements applicable to persons convicted of offenses under
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et
seq.), in order to reflect the intent of Congress that
penalties for the offenses be increased in comparison to
those provided on the date of enactment of this Act under the
guidelines and policy statements, and appropriately account
for the actual harm to the public and the environment from
the offenses.
(2) Requirements.--In amending the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines and policy statements under paragraph (1), the
United States Sentencing Commission shall--
(A) ensure that the guidelines and policy statements,
including section 2Q1.2 of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
(and any successor thereto), reflect--
(i) the serious nature of the offenses described in
paragraph (1);
(ii) the need for an effective deterrent and appropriate
punishment to prevent the offenses; and
(iii) the effectiveness of incarceration in furthering the
objectives described in clauses (i) and (ii);
(B) consider the extent to which the guidelines
appropriately account for the actual harm to public and the
environment resulting from the offenses;
(C) ensure reasonable consistency with other relevant
directives and guidelines and Federal statutes;
(D) make any necessary conforming changes to guidelines;
and
(E) ensure that the guidelines relating to offenses under
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et
seq.) adequately meet the purposes of sentencing, as set
forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code.
(b) Restitution.--Section 3663A(c)(1) of title 18, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in clause (ii), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in clause (iii), by striking ``and'' at the end and
inserting ``or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(iv) an offense under the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); and''.
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