In September 2016 it was announced that the International Criminal Court (ICC) located in The Hague will prosecute government and individuals for environmental crimes.
[6] According to the Case Selection Criteria announced in Policy Paper on Case Selection and Prioritization by ICC on 15 September 2016, the Office will give particular consideration to prosecuting Rome Statute crimes that are committed by means of, or that result in, "inter alia, the destruction of the environment, the illegal exploitation of natural resources or the illegal dispossession of land".
[8] A major role is played by the Environmental Crime Directive,[9] a 2008 instrument aimed at protecting the environment through the use of criminal law.
Even though some studies show that there has been a decline in non-compliance with environmental policy by Member States,[10] after over a decade from the publication of the first Directive, as part of the European Green Deal,the European Commission submitted a proposal for a new Directive with the aim of strengthening the enforcement and prosecution of environmental crimes through the use of clearer definitions and sanctions other than the typical fines and imprisonment.
A small organization, CSXT Police Environment Crimes Unit, has been started to stop railroad dumping specifically.
On a federal level, while the EPA oversees the investigations, the prosecutions are typically brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, through its Environmental Crimes Section, and/or through one of the 94 U.S. Attorney's Office across the country.
[15] In 2000, California real estate developer Eric Diesel was sentenced to 6 months in jail and ordered to pay a $300,000 fine for grading an illegal road in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The lawsuit states that eBay sold illegal equipment that override pollution controls on motorized vehicles, strictly forbidden products containing banned chemicals, and illegitimate pesticides.
The project is expected to cost $400 million and address issues such as untreated sewage spills and other violations of the Clean Water Act.
This agency works with other organs of the government such as customs, police, military intelligence, etc., and has successfully seized illegally trafficked wildlife products and prosecuted a number persons, including non-nationals.
Indeed, a major source of failure of US environmental protection legislation was the civil character of federal enforcement actions.
Special agents, detectives, forensic scientists, technicians, attorneys, and support personnel are all employed by the program today.
Kevin Tomkins believes corporations had a disincentive to comply with environmental laws or regulations as compliance generally raised their operational costs.
The inclusion of criminal sanctions, significant increases in fines coupled with possible imprisonment of corporate officers changed the face of environmental law enforcement.
For example, between 1983 and 1990 the US Department of Justice secured $57,358,404.00 in criminal penalties and obtained sentences of imprisonment for 55% of defendants charged with environmental offences.
Environmental law enforcement agencies and police services do not operate in a vacuum; the legislative instruments that political systems implement govern their activities and responsibilities within society.
However, ostensibly it is the legislative instruments implemented by governments that determine many of the strategies utilized by police services in protecting the environment.
There are also international legal instruments and treaties that also affect the way that sovereign states deal with environmental issues .