LEGAL OBLIGATIONS

Increased public concern over environmental issues led to a major expansion of the federal and state environmental laws in past years. Aggressive enforcement of these laws by regulatory agencies has also increased.

The numerous environmental laws enacted have been documented in thousands of pages of regulations, creating an extremely complex scheme. Despite this complexity, liability for noncompliance with environmental regulations is not limited to major, intentional offenses that cause significant harm to public health or the environment. In fact, sizable penalties have been imposed for relatively minor, inadvertent violations.
Regulatory agencies and the courts assume that persons working with chemicals today are knowledgeable of the potential hazards involved with their work. Therefore, civil and criminal penalties can be imposed on institutions for non-compliance. Further, this liability can extend beyond the institution to individuals, based on the reasoning that all responsible personnel, from a lab instructor to a college president, share in the duty of ensuring compliance with the environmental laws.