United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division

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United States Department of Justice
Environment and Natural Resources Division
NW
Washington, D.C., United States
Agency executives
  • Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General
  • Vacant, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Parent departmentU.S. Department of Justice
WebsiteOfficial website

The United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) is one of seven litigating components of the

suits
challenging those laws and programs.

History

The richness and complexity of the Division's history[1] is inseparable from the larger story of the growth and maturation of American society in the 20th century. In the early 1900s, Americans struggled to balance competing interests stemming from westward expansion, preservation of natural spaces, resource disputes on public and tribal lands, and other such issues. Disagreements soon erupted over these difficult questions.

In November 1909, Attorney General George Wickersham signed a two-page order creating "The Public Lands Division" of the Department of Justice to step into the breach and address the critical litigation that ensued.[2] He assigned all cases concerning "enforcement of the Public Land Law", including Indian rights cases, to the new Division, and transferred a staff of nine – six attorneys and three stenographers – to carry out those responsibilities.

As the nation grew and developed, so did the responsibilities of the Division, and its name changed to the "Environment and Natural Resources Division" (ENRD) to better reflect those responsibilities. Today, the Division, which is organized into ten sections, has offices in Washington, D.C., Boston, Denver, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle, and a staff of over 600 people. It currently has approximately 7,000 active cases and matters, and has represented virtually every federal agency in courts in all fifty states, territories and possessions.

Division responsibilities

The Division initiates and pursues legal action to enforce federal

federal government
, and brings and defends cases under wildlife protection laws. ENRD's legal successes have reduced harmful discharges into the air, water, and land, enabled clean-up of contaminated waste sites, and ensured proper disposal of solid and hazardous waste.

Leadership

The head of the Environment and Natural Resources Division is an Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources (AAG-ENRD) appointed by the President of the United States.

ENRD Assistant Attorneys General:[3]

  1. Ernest Knaebel (1911–1916)
  2. Francis J. Kearful (1917–1919)
  3. Frank K. Nebeker (1919–1920)
  4. Leslie C. Garnett (1920–1921)
  5. William D. Riter (1921–1924)
  6. Ira K. Wells (1924–1925)
  7. Bertice M. Parmenter (1925–1929)
  8. Seth W. Richardson (1929–1933)
  9. Harry W. Blair (1933–1937)
  10. Carl McFarland (1937–1939)
  11. Norman Littell (1939–1944)
  12. David L. Bazelon (1946–1947)
  13. A. Devitt Vanech (1947–1951)
  14. William Amory Underhill (1951–1952)
  15. James M. McInerney (1952–1953)
  16. Perry W. Morton (1953–1961)
  17. Ramsey Clark (1961–1965)
  18. Edwin L. Weisl Jr. (1965–1967)
  19. Clyde O. Martz (1967–1969)
  20. Shiro Kashiwa (1969–1972)
  21. Kent Frizzell (1972–1973)
  22. Wallace H. Johnson (1973–1975)
  23. Peter Taft (1975–1977)
  24. James W. Moorman (1977–1981)
  25. Carol E. Dinkins (1981–1983)
  26. F. Henry Habicht II (1983–1987)
  27. Roger J. Marzulla (1988–1989)
  28. Richard B. Stewart (1989–1991)
  29. Lois J. Schiffer (1993–2001)
  30. Thomas L. Sansonetti (2001–2005)
  31. Sue Ellen Wooldridge (2005–2007)
  32. Ronald J. Tenpas (2007–2009)
  33. Ignacia S. Moreno (2009–2013)
  34. John C. Cruden (2015–2017)
  35. Jeffrey Clark (2018–2021)
  36. Jean E. Williams (acting) (2021)
  37. Todd Kim (2021-present)

Organization

The Environment and Natural Resources Division is overseen by an Assistant Attorney General. The Assistant Attorney General is assisted by a Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and four Deputy Assistant Attorneys General, who each oversee a different branch of the Division's sections. The Division divides itself into several sections, each of which has its own unique areas of expertise. A Section Chief heads each section, assisted by one or more Deputy or Assistant Section Chiefs.

  • Appellate Section – In a typical year, the Section handles around 250 cases, including several Supreme Court merits cases. More than half of the cases are in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits due to the large amount of federal land in the West. The Section's work includes appeals from district court cases under ENRD's purview, encompassing more than 200 statutes, and petitions for review for clients such as the Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
  • Environmental Crimes Section – The Section prosecutes individuals and corporations who violate our environmental protection laws, including the
    Lacey Act
    .
  • Environmental Defense Section – The Section defends challenges to agency conduct under the pollution control laws (including CERCLA). The Section has an extensive petition for review practice, defending EPA rulemaking that is challenged directly in the courts of appeals. The Section brings Clean Water Act enforcement cases to protect wetlands.
  • Environmental Enforcement Section – The Section brings civil enforcement actions under the federal environmental protection laws, for: civil penalties and injunctive relief for violations of the
    Oil Pollution Act
    ; and damages for injury to natural resources under the trusteeship of federal agencies.
  • Executive Office – The Section provides administrative support to the Division, including financial management, human resources, security, technology and litigation support.[4] The Section also provides support to other litigating divisions and client agencies
  • Indian Resources Section – The Section represents the United States in litigation to protect tribal lands, resources, jurisdiction, and treaty rights. The Section's affirmative suits safeguard water rights, promote hunting and fishing rights, collect damages for trespass on Indian lands, and establish reservation boundaries and rights to land. Nearly half of the Section's work involves defense of federal statutes, regulations, programs, and actions benefitting Indian tribes and their members.
  • Land Acquisition Section – The Section is responsible for: affirmative condemnation cases, appraisal reviews, and title work. The Section's docket impacts: border security, military preparedness, flood protection, natural resources conservation, federal buildings and infrastructure.
  • Law and Policy Section – The Section handles a broad variety of environmental legal and policy matters, including: reviewing pending regulations and legislation; coordinating the Division's international work, including training and capacity building abroad; and Amicus practice in District Courts.
  • Natural Resources Section – The Section defends suits relating to federal land management decisions, tribal trust, takings, the National Environmental Policy Act, water rights and water compacts, offshore and subsurface mineral rights, and international boundary disputes.
  • Wildlife and Marine Resources Section – The Section defends cases brought under federal wildlife and marine species conservation laws, including the
    Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act
    .

References

  1. ^ Arnold W. Reitze, Air Pollution Control Law: Compliance and Enforcement (Environmental Law Institute, 2001), p. 571.
  2. ^ History of ENRD
  3. ^ ENRD Assistant Attorneys General: Then and Now
  4. ^ ENRD Summaries of Litigation Accomplishments

External links

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