An environmental lawyer works within the legal framework to ensure that the environment and its resources are protected. Environmental lawyers typically assist in the enforcement and application of various environmental protection laws and bills passed by the federal, state, and local governments in a given area. This could include representing clients who have been injured by environmental damage, representing companies accused of environmental damage, assisting companies in understanding their environmental obligations, or taking legal action against a company that has not followed environmental regulations.
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is in charge of enforcing much of the environmental legislation in the United States. This is an administrative agency tasked with ensuring that individuals and businesses comply with regulations governing waste disposal, soil and groundwater protection, and emissions and pollutants released into the air, among other things. An environmental lawyer may work for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), assisting the agency in carrying out its mission.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States — as well as other environmental protection organizations and departments in governments around the world — is primarily concerned with safeguarding several aspects of the environment. A lot of the safeguarding is focused on air and water. As a result, an environmental lawyer may spend some of his time bringing lawsuits against a company that has polluted water and/or a company that is not following carbon emission laws or other laws related to the release of pollutants into the air.
Companies that harm the environment, such as by releasing chemicals into groundwater or improperly disposing of toxic wastes in landfills, are required to pay for the cleanup costs under US law. If a company does not pay up front, the funds are usually taken from a government superfund. After a courtroom trial in which an attorney proves that the company is indeed responsible, the cleanup costs are assessed; this is one of the jobs of an environmental lawyer.
Environmental lawyers can be hired by both private citizens and environmental groups to assist them in their efforts to protect the environment. For example, an environmental group could hire a lawyer to assist it in obtaining an injunction, or a legal order requiring a company to stop doing something, against a company that is developing land that will result in the destruction of an endangered species’ habitat. If he has consumed contaminated water as a result of a company’s improper waste disposal, a private citizen could hire an environmental lawyer.