SECTIONS 14309 - California Statutes

PENAL CODE

SECTION 14309

14309. (a) The Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project, a
cooperative project of the California Environmental Protection Agency
and the California District Attorneys Association, is hereby
established.
(b) The Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project shall have the
following purposes:
(1) Discourage the commission of violations of environmental laws
by demonstrating the effective response of the criminal justice
system to these violations, including, but not limited to, assisting
district attorneys, particularly in rural counties, in the
prosecution of criminal violations of environmental laws and
regulations, where a district attorney has requested assistance.
(2) Establish model environmental crime prevention, enforcement,
and prosecution techniques with statewide application for fair,
uniform, and effective application.
(3) Increase the awareness and effectiveness of efforts to enforce
environmental laws and to better integrate environmental prosecution
into California's established criminal justice system by providing
on the job education and training to local peace officers and
prosecutors and to local and state environmental regulators.
(4) Promote, through uniform and effective prosecution and local
assistance, the effective enforcement of environmental laws and
regulations.
(c) (1) The secretary shall award project grants and administer
funding from the account to the California District Attorneys
Association for the purpose of providing for the day-to-day
operations of the project.
(2) The award may only be used to fund the costs of prosecutors,
investigators, and research attorney staff, including salary,
benefits, and expenses.
(3) Circuit prosecutor project employees may be either employees
of the California District Attorneys Association or employees on loan
from local, state, or federal governmental agencies.
(d) (1) A district attorney may request the assistance of a
circuit prosecutor from the Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project
for any of the following purposes:
(A) Assistance with the investigation and development of
environmental cases.
(B) Consultation concerning whether an environmental case merits
filing.
(C) Litigation support, including, but not limited to, the actual
prosecution of the case. A district attorney shall, as appropriate,
deputize a circuit prosecutor to prosecute cases within his or her
jurisdiction.
(2) The authority of a deputized circuit prosecutor shall be
consistent with and shall not exceed the authority of the elected
district attorney or his or her deputies.
(3) Violations of city or county ordinances may be prosecuted by
circuit prosecutors when there is an environmental nexus between the
ordinance and a violation of state law, federal law, or both state
and federal law.
(4) Participating district attorney offices shall provide matching
funds or in-kind contributions equivalent to, but not less than, 20
percent of the expense of the deputized environmental circuit
prosecutor.