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9 Pac. Rim L. & Pol'y J. 379 (2000)
Punishing and Preventing Pollution in Japan: Is American-Style Criminal Enforcement the Solution?

handle is hein.journals/pacrimlp9 and id is 387 raw text is: Copyright C 2000 Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal Association PUNISHING AND PREVENTING POLLUTION IN JAPAN: IS AMERICAN-STYLE CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT THE SOLUTION? Robert G. Kondratt Abstract: Both Japan and the United States face the ongoing threat of intentional and preventable pollution. From 1970 until the mid-1980s, Japan utilized its environmental crime laws to punish and prevent intentional and preventable acts of pollution. After this period, however, the number of environmental crime arrests and prosecutions in Japan declined. In contrast, since the 1980s, the United States has continued to expand the number of prosecutors and investigators dedicated to the enforcement of environmental crime laws. These divergent trends can be explained by the different pollution histories, enforcement personnel structures, regulatory strategies, and case law of the two countries. In recent years, Japan has been plagued by large oil spills and the illegal disposal of industrial waste. By aggressively enforcing its environmental crime laws and increasing criminal fines, Japan can better deter these types of pollution in the future. 1. INTRODUCTION In 1970, Japan became the first nation in the world to provide criminal sanctions for acts of pollution' that endanger human health.2 Japan's innovative pollution control laws established an important precedent for other industrialized nations, including the United States.3 Over the past two decades, however, Japan's enforcement of its environmental crime laws has decreased. In contrast, officials in the United States have rapidly expanded the number of prosecutors and investigators dedicated to the enforcement of environmental crime laws. Despite facing similar environmental problems,4 I A.B., 1998, Duke University, Environmental Sciences and Policy, Biology, J.D. expected 2001, University of Washington School of Law. The author wishes to thank Professor John 0. Haley for his helpful insight into Japanese law and society, Bob and Vivian Kondrat for their generous support, and Lawrence Lincoln and Helen Brunner for being mentors in federal environmental crime prosecution. 1 Environmental crime laws could also include laws related to fish and wildlife (i.e., those that punish poaching), endangered species protection, and nuclear energy and radioactive substances. This Comment, however, is limited to an examination of environmental crime laws governing pollution caused by releases of harmful substances into the air, soil, and water. 2 MARGARET A. MCKEAN, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTEST AND CITIZEN POLITICS IN JAPAN 20-21 (1981). The United States had laws at this time that prohibited the disposal of waste in designated waterways, but they were intended to protect navigation and did not make the endangerment of human health a crime. See infra note 60. 3 For a discussion of the similarities between the environmental laws of the United States and Japan, see generally Susan Ridgley, Environmental Protection Agreements in Japan and the United States, 5 PAC. RIM L. & POL'Y J. 639 (1996). 4 David P. Hackett, Environmental Regulation in Japan, INT'L ENVTL. L. SPECIAL REP. 329, 329 (1992).

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