Appeals court rejects double jeopardy in pollution case

Friday, Dec. 27, 2002 | 8:58 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An appeals court has ruled that the federal government can prosecute a Las Vegas man on a criminal charge of violating the Clean Air Act, even though the man had been fined by Clark County for the same offense.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected the claim by Dennis Price that he was being subjected to double jeopardy.

Price was president of AB-Haz Environmental when the Landmark hotel hired the company to supervise the removal of material containing asbestos before the demolition of the building.

The Landmark was imploded in November 1995.

The Clark County Health District cited AB-Haz in 1994 for violating local air emission standards during the removal of the asbestos. Price signed a settlement in which the company agreed to pay an $18,000 fine.

In 1996 a federal grand jury indicted the company, Price and two employees on criminal charges of violating the federal air act. Price was convicted on one count, but the conviction was later overturned and a new trial ordered because of an error in jury instructions.

Price then filed a motion to have the federal indictment dismissed on grounds of double jeopardy. He said the $18,000 fine had already punished him for the same violation. Price argued that the federal government delegated authority to the state to enforce the Clean Air Act, and the state in turn delegated responsibility to Clark County.

The county approved its own regulations, which were the same as the federal standards. Price argued that the county, in effect, was enforcing the federal law.

The appeals court, in a decision written by Judge Barry Silverman, said the federal government and Clark County are two separate sovereign entities.

"A state does not act under federal authority just because it chooses to adopt regulations that mirror the minimum federal standards," the decision read.