CEEC® continues to be the only cross-industry coalition
where company legal, environmental and government affairs professionals
can advocate, interact and benchmark environmental compliance
and enforcement issues and policies.
Founded in 1994, CEEC’s present activities center around
four key goals that continue to be the focus of the organization.
These four goals include:
- Addressing significant environmental compliance
and enforcement issues in the regulatory, legislative and
judicial contexts.
- Serving as a key information source
to CEEC members through quarterly meetings and conference calls
as well as providing up-to-date "alerts" on key federal, state
and international enforcement initiatives with a focus on their
practical impacts on industry.
- Maintaining an ongoing dialogue and input
with external stakeholders including the Administration,
Federal agencies, Congress, the States and other key stakeholders
on the challenges and opportunities for business related to
enforcement policies and activities.
- Providing a forum, from a cross-industry perspective,
to benchmark practices utilized by others in industry
to minimize potential environmental liabilities.
The following is an update on activities that have been conducted
during 2009 with regard to each of these goals.
I. Addressing significant environmental compliance
and enforcement issues in the regulatory, legislative and
judicial contexts.
2009 Activities:
• EPA’s National Enforcement and Compliance
Priority Discussion Forum – CEEC submitted comments
in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
request for comments in three broad topic areas including (1) EPA's
selection criteria for priorities, (2) Suggestions for future environmental
priorities, and (3) Providing information for public use.
• CEEC Comments on Chemical Release Reporting
– CEEC submitted comments to the Chemical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board on its Advance Notice of Rulemaking concerning
Chemical Release reporting. CEEC’s comments suggested that
(1) the Board should define the information it needs to accomplish
its mission and how it will be used before considering the outlines
of a reporting rule, (2) Reporting should not be used to support
a comprehensive national accident surveillance database, and (3)
the Board has significant discretion in shaping a reporting rule
to meet its needs.
• CEEC Transition White Paper –
CEEC prepared a “Roadmap Toward a More Effective and Efficient
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Program,” and shared
with key Transition personnel as well as incoming Administration
officials. The document focused on four key principles: (1) EPA
should reexamine how it measures the success of its enforcement
program and more fully integrate its enforcement resources with
its program offices, (2) States should be the focus for implementation
and enforcement of environmental programs, (3) EPA needs to enhance
its compliance-related activities and ensure that enforcement
resources address meaningful violations, and (4) With the globalization
of environmental issues and the development of cooperative and
multi-lateral efforts to address environmental issues around the
world, EPA can and should provide valuable input and impart lessons
that it has learned with respect to environmental compliance and
enforcement over the past three and a half decades.
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II. Serving as a key information source to CEEC
members through meetings and up-to-date" alerts" on key federal,
state and international environmental compliance and enforcement
initiatives with a focus on their practical impacts on industry.
2009 Activities:
• CEEC held membership meetings in Washington, DC in March,
September and December as well as a membership meeting in Indianapolis
in June, hosted by Eli Lilly. These meetings provide CEEC members
with updates on key regulatory and legislative developments in the
environmental enforcement area, and similar information on judicial
or administrative proceedings impacting environmental enforcement;
interaction with key environmental enforcement officials; benchmarking
sessions and networking opportunities.
• CEEC distributed written legal “alerts” to
members summarizing key enforcement activities and judicial decisions,
including: key environmental cases before the Supreme Court, developments
at EPA, including civil and criminal enforcement activities; International
enforcement trends; SEC disclosure developments and related Climate
Change implications; as well as numerous issues of interest to
the membership. Each of these “alerts” were also made
available on CEEC’s “Members Only” website.
• During the year, Ken Meade, WilmerHale, provided the
CEEC membership with a comprehensive summary of enforcement developments
report following membership meetings.
• CEEC updated and expanded the information available through
its website, www.ceecinc.org,
including a members only section were all membership meeting
information (including presentations and enforcement reports),
along with conference call, articles and other key issues and
information is included and updated.
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III. Maintaining an ongoing dialogue and input to
external stakeholders including the Administration, Federal
agencies, Congress, the States and other key stakeholders.
2009 Activities:
• Environmental compliance and enforcement officials and
other key stakeholders who participated in CEEC meetings in 2009
included:
o Cynthia Giles, EPA Assistant Administrator, OECA, John Cruden,
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Environment & Natural
Resources Division, DOJ, Mindy Lubber, CERES, Tim Juliani, Pew
Center on Global Climate Change, Erik Meyers, The Conservation
Fund and Thomas Easterly, Commissioner, Indiana Department of
Environmental Management.
o CEEC held two webinars focused on EPA’s Audit Policy
and International and Current Developments in Environmental
Enforcement in China. Susan O’Keefe and Phil Milton of
EPA participated on the Audit Policy Webinar and Jennifer Turner,
China Environment Forum, Woodrow Wilson Center and Tseming Yang,
Professor of Law and Director of the U.S. AID-funded Vermont
Law School participated in the China Enforcement webinar.
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IV. Providing a forum, from a cross-industry perspective,
to benchmark practices utilized by others in industry to
minimize potential environmental liabilities.
2009 Activities:
• Addressing the practical needs of its members, CEEC provided
a forum, through meetings, conference calls or member-to-member
communications to benchmark practices utilized by others in industry
to address and/or minimize potential environmental liabilities.
Topics in 2009 included:
o Lessons learned during a company criminal investigation
o Criteria for effective SH&E Board committees looking at
the Massey Energy corporate governance agreement
o Environmental disclosure issues
o PSD/NSR enforcement case: Lessons learned
o Environmental restrictive covenants
o Potential liabilities in a company’s supply chain
o Audit self-disclosure case studies
o SEC –Potential expansion of disclosure requirements
o Constructive and creative roles to work together with an NGO
o International Environmental Enforcement Trends.
o Greenwashing – CEEC company perspectives
• CEEC distributed ten member requests to the CEEC list
serve seeking input, guidance and recommendations from members
on a variety of environmental issues, including among others Clean
Water Act citizen suits, Carbon Reduction Commitment program in
the UK, FASB 141 issues and members' experience in transferring
environmental liabilities to TRC, Weston or other firms.
