Enhesa Enforcement Corner - Issue 1

Input from Taotao Yue, Kengo Okuda, Tjeerd Hendel-Blackford, Riccardo Zorgno, and Jimena Murillo Chávarro.

Enhesa keeps an eye on key regulatory enforcement actions around the globe. Here are just some examples of the many enforcement cases around the world in the past month.

CHINA:

1. Jiangsu environmental authority publicized 25 typical environmental law violation cases, covering illegal discharge through secret pipes, abnormal operation of pollution prevention installations, discharge exceeding limits, illegal disposal of hazardous wastes, and violation of EIA law. Among the publicized cases, the minimum fine is 200,000 CNY (approx. USD 30,449) and the maximum fine amounts to 4,200,000 CNY (approx. USD 639,416) and 9 cases were handed over to police for public prosecution.
2. The Suzhou Court of Justice decided that an electronic production company must pay 1,079,000 CNY (approx USD 64,269)for ecological recovery and remediation, and the company’s owner has violated environmental criminal law. This lawsuit was brought by an environmental NGO, and is based on ecological damage evaluation which is new in China.
3. Zhejiang environmental authority for the first time decided to revoke the Hazardous Waste Operation Permit of a company. The company was caught illegally delivering hazardous wastes to unlicensed contractors. The company was fined 2,000,000 CNY (approx. USD 304,484)plus refunding illegal gain of 1,680,000 CNY (approx. USD 255,766), and both the head of the company and contractors were sentenced to criminal penalties. The head of the company was sentenced to 5 year imprisonment.
4. A coffee bean roasting factory in Kwai Chung was fined twice for causing air pollution nuisance.

COLOMBIA:

1. According to the Ministry of Labor, SALUDCOP (a huge private company providing health services) has been fined 6.8 billion Colombian Pesos (approx. USD 2,267,460) between 2012 and 2017 due to noncompliance with labor law. Fines were imposed for the following reasons: conducts that violate the right of association, nonpayment of work disability, nonreporting of occupational accidents, and nonpayment of employers social contributions, among others.

ITALY:

1. Case law confirms the criminal liability of company administrators with regard to their role of guarantee for preventing accidents at workplace, even if they are not directly in charge of health and safety tasks.

UK:

1. HSE fines 3 companies more than GBP 1 million (approx USD 1,295,470) following worker exposure to asbestos.
2. GBP 1.2 million (approx USD 1,554,480)  fine for chemical company following explosion and two serious injuries.
3. Water company fined GBP 600,000 (approx USD 777,240) for polluting river with sewage sludge.

USA:

1. U.S. EPA Requires Southern California Plastic Manufacturers to Protect L.A. River from Pollution.
2. EPA Requires Matheson Tri-Gas Kapolei to close illegal cesspools.
3. OSHA. Aluminum manufacturing company`s history of safety violations continues, putting employees at Camden County facility at risk of serious injuries.
4. OSHA launches application to electronically submit injury and illness on August 1st, 2017.

JAPAN:

1. New employee committed suicide after being overworked by an advertising agency, Dentsu,  in 2015, as indicated in her will. The company is currently in trial.
2. Takata, an automotive parts company, had an airbag defect leading to numbers of traffic deaths and widescale product recall. With all the lawsuits, they recently filed for bankruptcy (these incidences happened in the US, but this is a Japanese company).