In negotiating a comprehensive trade accord, the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States have taken an important step to link and boost their economies. Although many believe the new pact — the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) — would benefit the United States, NAFTA may run into formidable opposition in Congress on ecological grounds.¹ This opposition has been brought to light by numerous environmental and consumer groups which have questioned whether NAFTA does enough to protect the environment and public health.

The policy that a violator should not gain financially from noncompliance with environmental regulations appeals to regulators, the regulated community, and the public. From the government's point of view, the concept provides a basis for treating all companies equally. From the regulated community's point of view, no competitor can gain an economic advantage over another, provided the government applies the concept fairly. From the public's point of view, the application of the concept promotes compliance because no one has a financial incentive to delay compliance.

Editors' Summary: The responsible corporate officer doctrine establishes that individuals, including management of a legal entity, may be prosecuted as "persons" within the meaning of several federal environmental statutes, if the facts so warrant. Federal environmental statutes do not require a showing that the person being prosecuted as a corporate officer knowingly violated the applicable law.

Mexico's enactment in March 1988 of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection under then-President Miguel de la Madrid marked the beginning of an ambitious environmental program that is being carried forth with equal or greater vigor by the present administration of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Editors' Summary: The absence of a certain threshold for admitting scientific information into evidence permits many courts to admit as scientific evidence the testimony of experts that does not meet scientific standards for reliability. The validity of an expert's opinion admitted as scientific evidence in cases involving issues on the frontiers of science, including toxic-tort and other environmental litigations, often determines the outcome of those cases.

Editors' Summary: Most federal environmental statutes allow the federal government to bring both civil and criminal enforcement actions against parties engaged in unlawful activities affecting the environment. Many of these statutes grant states concurrent enforcement authority, and many states have enacted environmental laws that give state officials both civil and criminal enforcement authority. As a result, a defendant in an environmental enforcement action may be subject to parallel proceedings under civil and criminal laws at both the federal and state levels.

To help create a working system of environmental regulation and enforcement in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union ("the region"), those engaged in U.S. environmental assistance efforts must be sensitive to the institutional and cultural realities of the region. Most governments there have little experience in effective environmental protection, despite the long-standing existence of laws and some formal institutions which address environmental issues.

Editors' Summary: NAFTA is one of the most comprehensive free trade agreements in history. Its negotiation coincided with a growing controversy about the relationship between trade and environmental policies. As a result, NAFTA contains unprecedented provisions to maintain and enhance health, safety, and environmental protection in nations that are party to the pact.

Editors' Summary: EPA and the Department of Justice are aggressively enforcing the criminal provisions of federal environmental laws. Companies and their officers are subject to large fines and jail terms if convicted. Corporate officers should be aware of a recent trend in RCRA criminal enforcement in which the Justice Department has attempted to hold corporate officers and chief executive officers criminally liable for the actions of their subordinates, even when the officers did not have actual knowledge of their employees' illegal conduct.

Editors' Summary: The Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community (EEC Treaty) was intended to create a unified European market. The 1987 Single European Act, which amended the EEC Treaty, provided the legal framework to achieve that goal by 1992, and added provisions for a common environmental policy. Despite recognition by European Community (EC) Member States of the need for a common environmental policy, EC environmental legislation has not been uniformly implemented and enforced in Member States.