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United States Department of Energy, Petitioners v. Ohio et al.

Country/Territory
United States of America
Type of court
National - higher court
Date
Apr 21, 1992
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
Supreme Court of the United States
Seat of court
Washington D.C.
Judge
Souter
Rehnquist
OConnor
Scalia
Kennedy
Thomas
White
Blackmun
Stevens
Reference number
503 U.S. 607 (1992)
Language
English
Subject
Water, Legal questions
Keyword
Pollution control Liability/compensation Offences/penalties
Abstract
This case addressed the question whether Congress had waived the National Government’s sovereign immunity from liability for civil fines imposed by a State for past violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) or the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The CWA and RCRA prohibited the discharge or disposal of pollutants without a permit, assigned primary authority to issue permits to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and allowed EPA to authorize a State to supplant the federal permit program with one of its own. The respondent State sued the petitioner, the Department of Energy (DOE), over its operation of a uranium processing plant in Ohio. It sought, among others, both state and federal civil penalties for past violations of the CWA and RCRA. DOE was conceding that both statutes rendered federal agencies liable for "coercive" fines imposed to induce compliance with judicial orders designed to modify behavior prospectively. However, DOE claimed sovereign immunity from liability for "punitive" fines imposed to punish past violations. The Supreme Court analyzed the relevant regulations and held that Congress had not waived the National Government’s sovereign immunity from liability for civil fines imposed by a State for pastviolations of the CWA or RCRA. It emphasized, among others, the common rule that any waiver of the Government’s sovereign immunity had to be unequivocal. Such waivers had to be construed strictly in favor of the sovereign and not enlarged beyond what the language required.
Full text
90-1341.ZS.html