U.S. Department
of Justice
EDS Client Agencies And Case Referrals
As a general matter, the Environmental Defense Section (EDS) handles all defensive litigation against the federal government arising under the federal pollution control laws. As cases are filed against federal agencies, they are ultimately routed to EDS and the relevant Assistant Chief assigns them to a staff attorney. The largest share of EDS’s workload involves representing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency primarily responsible for administering most of the nation’s environmental regulatory laws. With respect to Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 enforcement actions, the Section handles cases which are referred to it by either EPA or the Army Corps of Engineers.
EPA’s Office of General Counsel in Washington, D.C., is the Agency component with which EDS most often works. The ten EPA Regions also have Offices of Regional Counsel, with which EDS also coordinates litigation arising out of a particular region. The regional offices are located in the following cities:
- Boston (Region I)
- New York (Region II)
- Philadelphia (Region III)
- Atlanta (Region IV)
- Chicago (Region V)
- Dallas (Region VI)
- Kansas City (Region VII)
- Denver (Region VIII)
- San Francisco (Region IX)
- Seattle (Region X)
EDS also represents other federal agencies in environmental litigation, including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense (including all of the Armed Services), Energy, Interior, and Transportation, as well as the General Services Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.