What is Environmental Fraud?

Pollutant and Emissions Misreporting

• Fabricating air and water pollution measurements to circumvent penalties under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA).
• Making false assertions of conformity with pollution norms when surpassing permissible emission levels.
• Unlawful dumping of hazardous wastes in water bodies or landfills and reporting false compliance.

Green Energy and Climate Change Program Fraud

• Abuse of the renewable energy tax credits established by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
• Deceptive claims in carbon capture and climate change mitigation programs, including falsified carbon credit records.
• Fraudulent applications for clean energy grants from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Environmental Cleanup Fraud

• Contractors overcharging for environmental cleanup activities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund.
• Neglecting to adequately address the remediation of hazardous waste locations while asserting complete compensation from governmental contracts.
• Submitting false invoices for hazardous waste disposal.

Carbon Credit and Greenwashing Fraud

• Misusing carbon offset programs to wrongly assert environmental gains.
• Corporations falsifying sustainability initiatives in order to obtain federal tax credits.
• Deceiving government agencies and investors about environmental impacts to secure contracts.

Procurement and Contract Fraud

• Misrepresenting conformity to environmental legislation in federal projects of infrastructure and construction.
• Charging the government for substandard or non-existent environmental services.

Climate Change and Fossil Fuel Industry Fraud

• Falsifying reports to state agencies about greenhouse gas emissions.
• Energy companies falsifying compliance with EPA regulations and poisoning neighborhoods.
• Firms bribing foreign government officials for licenses to extract oil, gas, and minerals in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Manipulation of Oil and Gas Prices

• Dealers or managers who provide inaccurate information about oil, gas, and energy markets.
• Illegal price-fixing in federal energy contracts.
• Fraudulent energy companies overestimating project expenses in order to gain more government subsidies.

Illegal Dumping of Hazardous Waste

• Companies falsely certifying proper hazardous waste disposal to avoid environmental compliance costs.
• Waste disposal, landfill upkeep, and nuclear waste disposal contract fraud.

Laws Protecting Environmental Whistleblowers

False Claims Act (FCA)

The False Claims Act (FCA) is the most powerful tool for whistleblowers of environmental fraud. The FCA allows individuals to file qui tam cases against corporations that are cheating the government. Successful whistleblowers can receive up to 15-30% of the recovered money.

Dodd-Frank Act & SEC Whistleblower Program

The SEC Whistleblower Program covers fraudulent environmental disclosures by publicly traded companies.

Whistleblowers can report companies that manipulate oil and gas prices or mislead investors about environmental risks.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

The FCPA allows whistleblowers to report bribery schemes in the fossil fuel, mining, and energy industries.

Whistleblowers with knowledge of bribery in international energy projects may qualify for monetary rewards and legal protections.

Whistleblower Provisions in Environmental Laws

Several federal environmental laws contain whistleblower protections, including:

Clean Air Act (CAA) – Protects employees who expose fraudulent emissions reporting.

Clean Water Act (CWA) – Covers whistleblowers reporting illegal dumping or water pollution fraud.

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) – Protects those reporting fraud in toxic substance regulations.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) – Enforces compliance in hazardous waste disposal fraud.

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA/Superfund) – Applies to fraud in government-funded cleanup projects.