Justice Manual § 5-12.111

The Environmental Enforcement Section has Departmental responsibility for civil matters initiated on behalf of the United States to secure the control and abatement of sources of pollution, to protect the natural environment, to recover response costs and natural resource damages on behalf of the public, or to deter future violations through the imposition of penalties to the extent that such cases may arise under the statutes and other authorities identified in JM 5-12.100. As a matter of policy and practice, civil enforcement actions are initiated at the request of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and other government officials having statutory responsibility for the enforcement of laws designed to protect the public health, welfare, and the environment. Section 12 of the statute that authorized the Department's 1980 budget authorized the Attorney General with the concurrence of any agency or department with primary enforcement responsibility for an environmental or natural resource law to investigate any violation, and bring such actions as are necessary to enforce such laws. Except for cases initially subject to treatment as direct referrals, see JM 5-1.310 and 5-12.320, the Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division must review and approve in advance the following actions in cases referred by or brought on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency and other Federal client agencies under the statutes identified in JM 5-12.100:

Filing or amending a complaint or counterclaim;

Filing a claim or otherwise initiating process or filing a counterclaim in a bankruptcy or probate matter;

Raising issues involving statutes administered by the EPA or other Federal agencies;

Compromising, closing or dismissing a case or claim; or

Modifying or enforcing a consent decree or judgment

When apparent violations of the statutes identified in JM 5-12.100 are brought to the attention of the Department of Justice by persons or agencies other than those with statutory enforcement responsibilities, the Department either forwards those reports to appropriate executive branch enforcement officials for evaluation and possible referral for legal proceedings or, in criminal cases, may itself undertake the necessary investigation and prosecution. The practice of forwarding reports of suspected violations to appropriate agencies has several potential benefits: (1) it allows the agencies to bring to bear their technical expertise to determine whether violations actually have occurred; (2) it allows the agencies to settle cases administratively in certain circumstances; and (3) it allows the agencies to apply technical and investigative resources in order to develop those cases which do have merit.