Studio Legale Petrali · Guide
Environmental offences: d.lgs. 152/2006, ecoreati under law 68/2015, extinction by compliance prescriptions, entity liability ex art. 25-undecies.
D.lgs. 152/2006 punishes, mostly as contravvenzioni (minor offences), unauthorised discharges of waste water, unauthorised waste management, the creation of illegal landfills, failure to carry out remediation, breaches concerning waste transport forms and registers, and emissions into the atmosphere without authorisation. As contravvenzioni, they are punishable whether committed intentionally or negligently.
Legislative decree 3 April 2006, no. 152 concentrates its criminal provisions in part three and part four. Article 137 sanctions discharges of industrial waste water without authorisation or in breach of its conditions, with aggravated treatment for the substances listed in tables 5 and 3/A of annex 5 to part three. Article 256 punishes the collection, transport, recovery, disposal, trading and brokering of waste without the required authorisation, registration or communication, with penalties differentiated according to the hazardous or non-hazardous nature of the waste; paragraph 3 punishes the creation or operation of an unauthorised landfill; paragraph 4 halves the penalties where the breach consists in non-compliance with the conditions contained in or referred to by the authorisations.
Article 256-bis punishes the illegal burning of waste. Article 257 punishes failure to carry out remediation and provides in paragraph 4 that compliance with the approved projects constitutes a condition of non-punishability for the environmental offences contemplated by other laws for the same event and the same conduct. Article 258 concerns breaches of communication obligations, compulsory registers and transport forms; article 259 illicit waste trafficking; article 279 emissions into the atmosphere. Since these are predominantly contravvenzioni, they are punishable indifferently on the basis of intent or negligence pursuant to article 42, fourth paragraph, of the criminal code.
Legal references: artt. 137, 256, 256-bis, 257, 258, 259, 279 d.lgs. 3 aprile 2006, n. 152; art. 42, comma 4, c.p.
They are the offences against the environment inserted into title VI-bis of book two of the criminal code: environmental pollution, environmental disaster, trafficking in radioactive material, obstruction of controls, failure to carry out remediation, and organised activities for illicit waste trafficking. They are delitti (serious offences), therefore as a rule punishable only where intentional.
Law 22 May 2015, no. 68 introduced into the criminal code title VI-bis, headed «Offences against the environment». Article 452-bis punishes whoever unlawfully causes significant and measurable impairment or deterioration of waters, of the air, of extensive or significant portions of the soil or subsoil, of an ecosystem, of biodiversity, including agricultural biodiversity, of flora or of fauna. Article 452-quater punishes environmental disaster, defined as an irreversible alteration of the equilibrium of an ecosystem, or an alteration whose elimination proves particularly onerous and achievable only through exceptional measures, or an offence against public safety by reason of the seriousness of the event or the number of persons harmed or exposed to danger. Article 452-quinquies provides for the corresponding negligent forms with reduced penalties.
Article 452-septies punishes obstruction of controls, article 452-terdecies failure to carry out remediation, article 452-quaterdecies organised activities for illicit waste trafficking. Article 452-decies provides a substantial reduction of penalty for active repentance (ravvedimento operoso), article 452-undecies mandatory confiscation, including value-based confiscation. Title VI-bis was rewritten in several respects by legislative decree 21 April 2026, no. 81, published in Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 113 of 18 May 2026 and in force since 2 June 2026, implementing directive (EU) 2024/1203, which replaced directives 2008/99/EC and 2009/123/EC: identifying the applicable offences and sentencing ranges therefore requires a comparison between the text in force at the time of the facts and the current text, also for the purposes of article 2 of the criminal code.
Legal references: artt. 452-bis, 452-quater, 452-quinquies, 452-septies, 452-decies, 452-undecies, 452-terdecies, 452-quaterdecies c.p.; legge 22 maggio 2015, n. 68; d.lgs. 21 aprile 2026, n. 81; direttiva (UE) 2024/1203; art. 2 c.p.
Yes. Part six-bis of d.lgs. 152/2006 provides an extinction procedure for environmental contravvenzioni (minor offences) that have caused no harm and no concrete, present danger: the supervisory authority issues compliance prescriptions and, once these are fulfilled and the administrative payment is made, the offence is extinguished without any trial taking place.
Articles 318-bis to 318-octies of legislative decree 152/2006, introduced by law 22 May 2015, no. 68, govern a procedure modelled on that provided for workplace safety matters by legislative decree 19 December 1994, no. 758. Its scope is limited to contravvenzioni which have caused no harm and no concrete, present danger of harm to the protected environmental, planning or landscape resources. The supervisory authority, in the exercise of its judicial police functions, issues the offender with a specific, technically certified prescription, setting a deadline for regularisation which may be extended once only. The notice of offence is in any event communicated to the Public Prosecutor, but the criminal proceedings remain suspended pursuant to article 318-sexies.
Once compliance within the deadline has been verified, the offender is admitted to pay, in administrative proceedings, a sum equal to one quarter of the maximum fine prescribed for the contravvenzione committed; payment extinguishes the offence. In the event of non-compliance or late compliance, the proceedings resume their course, but late compliance or the elimination of the harmful consequences nonetheless allows admission to oblazione (a statutory settlement payment extinguishing the offence) with a reduced sum, pursuant to article 318-septies, paragraph 3. Verification of the preconditions (in particular the absence of harm or of concrete, present danger) is the point on which litigation concentrates.
Legal references: artt. 318-bis – 318-octies d.lgs. 152/2006; legge 22 maggio 2015, n. 68; d.lgs. 19 dicembre 1994, n. 758
Yes, within the limits of article 25-undecies of d.lgs. 231/2001, which includes among the predicate offences numerous provisions of the consolidated environmental statute and the offences of title VI-bis of the criminal code. The company is autonomously liable where the offence is committed in its interest or to its advantage.
Article 25-undecies of legislative decree 8 June 2001, no. 231, introduced by legislative decree 7 July 2011, no. 121 implementing directive 2008/99/EC, provides for financial penalties and, for the most serious cases, disqualification sanctions against the entity. It refers, among others, to offences under title VI-bis of the criminal code and to numerous provisions of legislative decree 152/2006 concerning discharges, waste, remediation and emissions. The provision was reworded by legislative decree 21 April 2026, no. 81, published in Gazzetta Ufficiale no.
113 of 18 May 2026 and in force since 2 June 2026, implementing directive (EU) 2024/1203: the list of predicate offences and the applicable sanctioning regime must therefore be checked against the text in force at the date of the alleged facts. On the preventive side, the environmental section of the organisational model must account for the authorisations in place and their expiry dates, the system of delegation of functions compliant with the requirements developed in this field, the document management of transport forms and registers, the information flows to the supervisory body and the procedures for handling non-conformities.
Legal references: art. 25-undecies d.lgs. 231/2001; d.lgs. 7 luglio 2011, n. 121; direttiva (UE) 2024/1203; d.lgs. 21 aprile 2026, n. 81.
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