Funding Environmental Projects with Regulatory Prosecutions: Transparency and Accountability in Creative Environmental Sentencing

摘要

This article examines the use of creative sentencing orders which direct an offender to fund projects that facilitate objectives such as environmental research, education or remediation. Given the public interest character of sentencing for an environmental regulatory infraction, there is a surprising absence of transparency and accountability in the administration of these sentencing orders. The selection process for determining which projects are funded is shrouded in secrecy and is almost entirely a matter of discretion, which raises concerns that project recipients are chosen for reasons other than the environmental merit of their proposal. In our study of creative orders issued in Alberta, the majority of funding has been directed to post-secondary institutions and conservation funds who work closely with industry and government departments, while non-governmental environmental groups with established research, education and remediation programs appear to have received comparatively little funding. Good projects also need to be implemented, but insufficient details in sentencing orders and the absence of an oversight regime raises questions about whether project deliverables are ever met. This also creates risk that the funding is subsequently characterized as philanthropy by the offender. Transparency and accountability would be significantly enhanced by the enactment of legislation which establishes or appoints an agency to administer the funding and sets rules on matters such as public engagement in the project selection process, criteria used to evaluate project proposals, reporting on project outcomes, and enforcement.