Inside EPA Quotes Jonathan Martel on DOJ’s Clean Air Act Anti-Tampering Enforcement Shift
Jonathan Martel, Co-Chair of Arnold & Porter’s Environmental practice group and a former attorney at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of General Counsel, was quoted in the Inside EPA article, “DOJ Inconsistently Enforcing Vehicle Tampering Policy, Defendants Charge,” which examined questions surrounding the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent announcement that it would no longer pursue criminal charges under Clean Air Act (CAA) anti-tampering provisions.
Jonathan flagged that the DOJ has not publicly stated why it changed its approach, and emphasized that section 203 of the CAA suggests that Congress intended tampering to be a civil, rather than criminal, violation.
Regarding discussions about why the DOJ might treat cases differently, Jonathan emphasized that the parties involved should press for information on the distinction.
“If they are being treated differently, there are two potential explanations. First, there is a problem because it is a fundamental legal principle that like cases should be treated alike, or second, they’re really not alike and there’s a reason why they’re being treated differently.”
