Currently, the federal government and the State of Indiana investigatecriminal violations of environmental regulations and have prosecuted environmentalcriminals in Northwest Indiana, says Dr. Ellen Szarleta, JD, of IndianaUniversity Northwest’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA)

During the Spring 2000 semester, Szarleta will be teaching an EnvironmentalCrime course that will look at a part of criminal law that is not verywell known, the prosecution of criminals that violate environmental laws.

“Few people realize that violators of environmental laws and regulationscan be prosecuted in certain instances,” says Szarleta. “These violators,if convicted, face criminal fines and potential jail time. The prosecutionof these crimes has grown in the last 10 years and is being pursued primarilyby the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the UnitedStates Department of Justice (USDOJ).

The class will examine the nine main statutes that enforce federal environmentalregulations by criminal prosecution. For example, there are criminal penaltiesfor people who (1) Improperly transport, store or treat hazardous wasteunder the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), (2) Criminallymanufacture, process and distribute or dispose of chemicals that pose dangerto the public or environment under the Toxic Substances Control Act(TSCA), (3) Violate provisions of the “Superfund Act” whichregulates the cleanup of hazardous substances at contaminated sites, (4) 
Knowingly violate federal or state statutes that are designed to achieveair quality 
standards, or (5) Those who violate certain provisions of the SafeDrinking Water Act.

The Environmental Crime course will be on Tuesday evenings at7 p.m. Late registration for the IU Northwest Spring 2000 semester is fromJanuary 8 –14. More information on the class is with Dr.Szarleta at 219-980-6698.For more information on IU Northwest, go theirwebsite at www.iun.edu