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ARTICLE · 05 JANUARY 2022

Head Of DOJ Environmental Division Announces Enforcement Priorities

Sidley Austin LLP
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Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), delivered remarks at the...

United StatesEnvironment
Samuel B. Boxerman
Samuel B. Boxerman
Marshall R. Morales
Marshall R. Morales

Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), delivered remarks at the American Bar Association's National Environmental Enforcement Conference on December 14, 2021. He provided insight into what DOJ plans to prioritize in environmental enforcement, centered on criminal enforcement, climate change, and environmental justice.

Kim emphasized that the purpose of enforcement is to ensure that businesses are properly incentivized to comply with the law through deterrence and to provide a level playing field, while protecting public health and the environment. He noted that DOJ has prioritized fighting corporate crime and is revising applicable polices, so ENRD will consider pursuing potential environmental and non-environmental crimes, as well as a business's environmental and non-environmental track record in prosecution decisions.

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