Environment
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The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved legislation authored by Senator Leahy to boost accountability for corporations and individuals responsible for environmental crimes. The Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act (ECEA) is aimed at deterring environmental crime while protecting and compensating victims of environmental crimes. The Act will direct the Sentencing Commission to review and amend environmental crime sentencing guidelines to reflect the seriousness of the crime. It will also amend current law to make restitution for violations of the Clean Water Act mandatory. Under current law, including those that result in the loss of human life, restitution for such violations is discretionary.
Leahy first introduced the Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act last year, after the April 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the legislation last year, but the Senate did not take final action.
Vermonters are proud of our environmental ethic and it has served our economy and our ecosystems well. Vermonters have a long history of taking good care of their land and water, from starting community recycling projects to rotational grazing on farms in practicing sustainable agriculture methods.
Conservation of the environment has depended on this spirit and that is what Senator Leahy has taken to the United States Senate. He takes great pride in the fact that Vermont has been a model for many of the national conservation programs that he has sponsored, such as the Farmland Protection Program and the Forest Legacy Program.
Programs such as these demonstrate that when Vermont land owners and citizens are given the right information and resources, they can benefit from a productive working landscape while meeting their responsibility to preserve Vermont intact for future generations, as well.
Vermonters have a long history of putting their conservation ethic into practice. In 1998, Senator Leahy joined Vermonters to celebrate the opening of Vermont's first national park - the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock. This beautiful parcel of wooded hills and surrounding farmland is a tribute to historic leaders of the New England conservation movement. As the home of George Perkins Marsh, author of Man and Nature, and Frederick Billings, one of the pioneers of sustainable farming and forestry, Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park is the first national park to interpret the evolution of conservation stewardship including history, current practices and future trends.
Despite Vermont's proud conservation legacy, we still face environmental threats on local, state and national levels. Over the last several years, there have been many attempts in Congress and the Administration to roll back our environmental laws, such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act. Senator Leahy will continue to fight against any and all attempts to circumvent our Nation's most important environmental legislation. Recent years have presented fiscal challenges as well. Senator Leahy recognizes the need to make tough budget decisions, but supports spending restraint that will not undo the investments we have made and the work we have done to date, or subject vulnerable populations, such as children, to health risks.
This section of Senator Leahy's website is to inform you of environmental issues being debated in Congress and the work he is doing to enhance the natural resources of Vermont, from Lake Champlain to the Green Mountains and the Connecticut River. Senator Leahy is hopeful that by working together, we can promote environmental awareness that is balanced and respectful for future generations. He will continue to work hard to provide the tools and support that Vermonters need to be good stewards of their farms, their neighborhoods, and our shared treasures of forests, streams and lakes.
Related Information
Related News
- Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The EPA’s Next Round Of Clean Air Standards To Reduce Harmful Soot Pollution, December 14, 2012
- Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Department Of Justice Settlement With BP Over The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, November 16, 2012
- Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Discovery Of The Spiny Water Flea’s Arrival In New York’s Lake George, August 1, 2012