Skip to main content

Organization, Mission and Functions Manual

Organization, Mission and Functions Manual

Environment and Natural Resources Division

Environment and Natural Resources Division organization chart
Environment and Natural Resources Division Organizational Chart

  • Assistant Attorney General
    • Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
      • Natural Resources Section
      • Executive Office
    • Deputy Attorney General
      • Appellate Section
      • Indian Resources Section
    • Deputy Assistant Attorney General
      • Environmental Enforcement Section
      • Land Acquisition Section
    • Deputy Assistant Attorney General
      • Environmental Defense Section
      • Law and Policy Section
    • Deputy Assistant Attorney General
      • Wildlife and Marine Resources Section
      • Environmental Crimes Section

Approved by Eric H. Holder, Jr.  Attorney General
April 26, 2010

The Public Lands Division of the Department of Justice was created on November 16, 1909, by Circular No. 114. It was given the name Lands Division on December 30, 1933, by Attorney General Order No. 2507, and was designated the Environment and Natural Resources Division in April 1990.

The Division functions as the Nation’s environmental and natural resources lawyer, representing virtually every federal agency in the United States and its territories and possessions, in civil and criminal cases that arise under more than 150 federal statutes. Key client agencies of the Division include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, Homeland Security, Energy and Defense, among others. The Division’s litigation docket comprises more than 6,000 active cases and matters.

The mission of the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) is to enforce the Nation’s civil and criminal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and hazardous waste laws. Our mission also involves the protection of the Nation’s natural resources and handling cases relating to tribal rights and resources. The Division’s efforts result in significant public health and other direct benefits to the American people through the reduction of pollution across the Nation and the protection of important natural resources.

ENRD’s litigation responsibilities at present are broad and include:

  • Enforcing the Nation’s civil and criminal pollution-control laws;
     
  • Defending environmental challenges to federal agency programs and activities, including  he current Administration’s multi-billion dollar deregulatory rulemaking efforts;
     
  • Representing the United States in matters concerning the stewardship of the Nation’s natural resources and public lands;
     
  • Acquiring real property, including for the U.S.-Mexico Border wall;
     
  • Bringing and defending cases under the wildlife protection and animal welfare statutes; and
     
  • Litigating cases concerning the resources and rights of Indian tribes and their members.
     

Environment and Natural Resources Division Field Offices

Environment and Natural Resources Division Field Offices d

Click on map for larger version