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Monday, August 23, 2010
Environment - "I would like to encourage you to emphasize with your staff that it is not necessary to cite every possible statute and regulation that could be violated in a given situation"
That quote from IDEM assistant commissioner of the Office of Legal Counsel and Criminal Investigations David Joest is from a story today in the Gary Post-Tribune, reported by Gitte Laasby. The story begins:
MERRILLVILLE -- A top state official has issued new guidelines on when and how state employees should cite companies for violating environmental laws. * * *In a memorandum to managers in the IDEM's Office of Water Quality obtained by the Post-Tribune, the agency's top attorney asked staff to change how they cite companies for violating the state's water pollution law.
"I would like to encourage you to emphasize with your staff that it is not necessary to cite every possible statute and regulation that could be violated in a given situation," wrote assistant commissioner of the Office of Legal Counsel and Criminal Investigations David Joest in late July. "It is sufficient and preferable to pick the most apt legal requirement(s) and cite only those. I know that in the past you received different advice, but I believe that the practice of citing the same violation in multiple ways serves no useful purpose and has contributed to slowing down the enforcement process and creating unnecessary work."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 23, 2010 01:14 PM
Posted to Environment