Wa Bill tries to use criminal prosecution as an environmental protection Washington

(Central Square) – The Senate of the state of Washington has passed a legislative template that would improve the enforcement of state environmental laws by subjecting companies to these laws and increasing the punishments for those that violate them.

Supporter of In -depth replacement Senate Bill 5360 “In terms of environmental crimes”, say that it is a necessary step to ensure that the environmental regulations are observed, while the opponents fear that this will lead to persecution of people who unknowingly violate these laws.

Environmental laws in Washington include the law on the control of water pollution, the law on Clean Air and the Law on Dangerous Waste. According to the existing state law, there are punishments for people who violate their provisions, including fines and law enforcement.

However, the Ministry of Ecology states that in “serious cases” criminal charges are pursued and punishments “sometimes appear” as the last way “. Between January 1 and June 30, 2024, the State Department of Ecology output 1.9 million US dollars of $ 1,000 or more.

“If a person or company has no compliance, education and technical support, it is often sufficient to fix the problem” website States.

ESSB 5360, sponsored by Senator Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, would expand the definition of “person” in these laws in order to include companies, public authorities and cities that are “caught” due to the actions of agents who act as part of its tasks and in the name of the company if “knowingly violated”. Every day the violation can be regarded as separate violations.

The law also contains criminal punishments for these violations. A violation of this first degree would be a crime in class B, while violations of second degree are a crime of class C. Class B criminals can lead to 10 years in prison, up to 20,000 US dollars of fines and crimes such as:

• Combs of second degree
• Steal a gun or have a stolen weapon
• Burglary
• Violation of order

On the ground of the Senate before a vote on March 4 on the draft law, Trudeau said colleagues: “Environmental disasters and toxic pollution often fall on the rearing of future generations. I think it is time that we make sure that we really have strong protection against environmental crimes. We have to be able to find out how we can protect our laws and our environment here in the state of Washington. “

She added that “our feelings in relation to what is happening at the federal level” “that the federal government's enforcement in relation to the environmental protection authority will probably disappear.

A large part of the committee and the floor debates revolved around the opponents' concerns that the legislation would open up individuals for law enforcement that violate the laws unintentionally or unintentionally.

Before the Senate environment, the votes of Energy & Technology Committee, said Senator Shelly Short, R-Addy, said: “I have the feeling that this really gives you a potential to arm this, and I use this strong word just because these guidelines and these rules are anchored.”

The draft law uses the terms “knowledge” and “knowingly” to describe a violation that is subject to the draft law. a floor the change Sponsored by Trudeau, it is clarified that these terms refer to existing definitions for Criminal Code in Washington in Washington. The change was accepted.

Another proposed change that did not exist would have made violations of the first criminal offense. Senator Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, said colleague on the Senate: “If you have a learning curve problem afterwards, say this about a crime at this time. The last thing the state needs are more criminals. “

Senator John Braun, R-Centralia, warned that the draft law could undermine the ability of the state to achieve different environmental goals, such as you have described in the Climate Protection Act and the Clean Energy Transformation Act, the new building.

“We have to build things … and we are not very good at it. We make it very difficult in our state to build things. From the people from the perspective of people who build things, it is SB 5360) very straightforward. This means additional regulation, additional risk of building things. That means. “

SB 5260 has not yet been transferred to a house committee.