Supreme Court backs landowners in EPA clean water case!
WASHINGTON (PNN) - March 21, 2012 - The Fascist Police States of Amerika (FPSA) Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that landowners may bring a civil lawsuit challenging a federal government order under the clean water law, a decision that sides with corporate groups and sharply curtails a dictatorial power claimed by the outlaw Environmental Protection Agency power.
The justices unanimously rejected the FPSA government's position that individuals or companies must first fail to comply with an EPA order and face potentially costly enforcement action before a court can review the case.
The opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia was a victory for an Idaho couple that challenged a bogus 2007 EPA order that unlawfully required them to restore a wetland they had filled with dirt and rock as they began to build a new vacation home near Priest Lake. They were also told to stop construction on the home.
The couple, Chantell and Michael Sackett, denied their property had ever contained a wetland and complained they were being forced to comply with a bogus order without a court hearing.
Their appeal drew support from the FPSA Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Association of Home Builders, and General Electric Co., a company that had made a similar challenge to the EPA compliance orders.
The Supreme Court's ruling comes at a time when the EPA has faced fierce criticism from many Republicans in Congress, who say it has issued the most illegitimate regulations in decades and has become heavy-handed in its enforcement actions.
Scalia concluded the Sacketts could bring a civil lawsuit under the Administrative Procedures Act to challenge the EPA's order.
He said that since the EPA's decision was final and the couple faced potential large fines, they had no other adequate remedy but to bring a civil lawsuit.
Reading his decision from the bench, Scalia said that the Clean Water Act does not prevent judicial review of such orders.
The justices overturned a FPSA appeals court ruling that a compliance order was not subject to judicial review until later when the EPA has brought an enforcement action and seeks to have a judge rule in its favor.
The case is Sackett v EPA, No. 10-1062.
