Harmon Industries v. Carol BrownerHarmon Industries v. Carol Browner
Alok Ahuja, Kansas City, MO, Argued (Terry J. Satterlee, on the brief), for Appellee.
Before: BEAM and HANSEN, Circuit Judges, and MOODY,1 District Judge.
HANSEN, Circuit Judge.
Harmon Industries, Inc., (Harmon) filed this action pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act,
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Harmon Industries operates a plant in Grain Valley, Missouri, which it utilizes to assemble circuit boards for railroad control and safety equipment. In November 1987, Harmon’s personnel manager discovered that maintenance workers at Harmon routinely discarded volatile solvent residue behind Harmon’s Grain Valley plant. This practice apparently began in 1973 and con-
On March 5, 1993, while the EPA’s administrative enforcement action was pending, a Missouri state court judge approved a consent decree entered into by the MDNR and Harmon. In the decree, MDNR acknowledged full accord and satisfaction and released Harmon from any claim for monetary penalties. MDNR based its decision to release Harmon on the fact that the company promptly self-reported its violation and cooperated in all aspects of the investigation. After the filing of the consent decree, Harmon litigated the EPA claim before an administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ found that a civil penalty against Harmon was appropriate in this case. The ALJ rejected the EPA’s request for a penalty in excess of $2 million but the ALJ did impose a civil fine of $586,716 against Harmon. A three-person Environmental Appeals Board panel affirmed the ALJ’s monetary penalty. Harmon filed a complaint challenging the EPA’s decision in federal district court on June 6, 1997. In its August 25, 1998, summary judgment order, the district court found that the EPA’s decision to impose civil penalties violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and contravened principles of res judicata. See Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 19 F.Supp.2d 988 (W.D.Mo.1998). The EPA appeals to this court.3
II. DISCUSSION
A. The Permissibility of Overfiling
When reviewing a federal agency’s interpretation of a federal statute, a federal court must defer to the agency’s interpretation only if it finds that the agency’s interpretation is consistent with the plain language of the statute or represents a reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute. See Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842-45, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). We review de novo a district court’s findings and conclusions regarding the correctness of an agency’s statutory interpretations. See Moore v. Custis, 736 F.2d 1260, 1262 (8th Cir.1984).
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA),
Missouri, like many other states, is authorized to administer and enforce a hazardous waste program pursuant to the RCRA. Despite having authorized a state to act, the EPA frequently files its own enforcement actions against suspected environmental violators even after the commencement of a state-initiated enforcement action. See Bryan S. Miller, Harmonizing RCRA’s Enforcement Provisions: RCRA Overfiling in Light of Harmon Industries v. Browner, 5 Environmental Law. 585 (1999). The EPA’s process of duplicating enforcement actions is known as overfiling. See
The EPA contends that the district court’s interpretation runs contrary to the plain language of the RCRA. Specifically, the EPA cites section 6928 of the RCRA, which states that:
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), whenever on the basis of any information the [EPA] determines that any person has violated or is in violation of any requirement of this subchapter, the [EPA] may issue an order assessing a civil penalty for any past or current violation, requiring compliance immediately or within a specified time period, or both, or the [EPA] may commence a civil action in the United States district court in the district in which the violation occurred for appropriate relief, including a temporary or permanent injunction.
(2) In the case of a violation of any requirement of [the RCRA] where such violation occurs in a State which is authorized to carry out a hazardous waste program under section 6926 of this title, the [EPA] shall give notice to the State in which such violation has occurred prior to issuing an order or commencing a civil action under this section.
The EPA argues that the plain language of section 6928 allows the federal agency to initiate an enforcement action against an environmental violator even in states that have received authorization pursuant to the RCRA. The EPA contends that Harmon and the district court misinterpreted the phrases “in lieu of” and “same force and effect” as contained in the RCRA. According to the EPA, the phrase “in lieu of” refers to which regulations are to be enforced in an authorized state rather than who is responsible for enforcing the regulations. The EPA argues that the phrase “same force and effect” refers only to the effect of state issued permits. The EPA contends that the RCRA, taken as a whole, authorizes either the state or the EPA to enforce the state’s regulations, which are in compliance with the regulations of the
Both parties argue that the plain language of the RCRA supports their interpretation of the statute. We also are ever mindful of the long-established plain language rule of statutory interpretation, see Walker v. Dilworth, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 257, 259, 1 L.Ed. 372 (1796), as we inquire into the scope of the EPA’s enforcement powers under the RCRA. Such an inquiry requires examining the text of the statute as a whole by considering its context, “object, and policy.” Pelofsky v. Wallace, 102 F.3d 350, 353 (8th Cir.1996).
An examination of the statute as a whole supports the district court’s interpretation. The RCRA specifically allows states that have received authorization from the federal government to administer and enforce a program that operates “in lieu of” the EPA’s regulatory program.
The RCRA gives authority to the states to create and implement their own hazardous waste program. The plain “in lieu of” language contained in the RCRA reveals a congressional intent for an authorized state program to supplant the federal hazardous waste program in all respects including enforcement. Congressional intent is evinced within the authorization language of section 6926(b) of the RCRA. Specifically, the statute permits the EPA to repeal a state’s authorization if the state’s program “does not provide adequate enforcement of compliance with the requirements of” the RCRA.
The “same force and effect” language of section 6926(d) provides additional support for the primacy of states’ enforcement rights under the RCRA when the EPA has authorized a state to act in lieu of it. The EPA argues that the “same force and effect” language is limited to state permits because the words appear under a heading that reads: “Effect of State Permit.” The EPA contends that the “same force and effect” language indicates only that state-
Regardless of the title or heading, the plain language of section 6926(d) states that “[a]ny action taken by a State under a hazardous waste program authorized under this section shall have the same force and effect as action taken by the [EPA] under this subchapter.”
Utilizing a sort of reverse plain language argument, the EPA contends that its approach is logically consistent with the framework of the RCRA. The EPA cites the statute’s citizen suit provision for the proposition that limitations on a parties’ right to act are expressly stated within the statute itself. See
Even assuming some ambiguity exists in the statutory language, the primacy of the states’ enforcement rights, once the EPA has authorized a state to act, is illustrated further through the RCRA’s legislative history. The United States House of Representatives stated after its hearings that, through the RCRA, it intended to vest primary enforcement authority in the states. See H.R.Rep. 1491, 94th Cong., 2nd Sess. 24, reprinted in 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6262 (“It is the Committee’s intention that the States are to have primary enforcement authority and if at any time a State wishes to take over the hazardous waste program it is permitted to do so, provided that the State laws meet the Federal minimum requirements for both administering and enforcing the law”). The House Report states that although the “legislation permits the states to take the lead in the enforcement of the hazardous wastes [sic] laws[,] ... the Administrator [of the EPA] is not prohibited from acting in those cases where the state fails to act, or from withdrawing approval of the state hazardous waste plan and implementing the federal hazardous waste program pursuant to ... this act.” 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6269. The House Report also states that the EPA, “after giving the appropriate notice to a state that is authorized to implement the state hazardous waste program, that violations of this Act are occurring and the state [is] failing to take action against such violations, is authorized to take appropriate action against those persons in such state not in compliance with the hazardous waste title.”
There is no support either in the text of the statute or the legislative history for the proposition that the EPA is allowed to duplicate a state’s enforcement authority with its own enforcement action. The EPA argues that the statute and legislative history support its contention that it may initiate an enforcement action if it deems the state’s enforcement action inadequate. The EPA’s argument misses the point. Without question, the EPA can initiate an enforcement action if it deems the state’s enforcement action inadequate. Before initiating such an action, however, the EPA must allow the state an opportunity to correct its deficiency and the EPA must withdraw its authorization. See
A contrary interpretation would result in two separate enforcement actions. Such an interpretation, as explained above, would derogate the RCRA’s plain language and legislative history. Companies that reach an agreement through negotiations with a state authorized by the EPA to act in its place may find the agreement undermined by a later separate enforcement action by the EPA. While, generally speaking, two separate sovereigns can institute two separate enforcement actions, those actions can cause vastly different and potentially contradictory results. Such a potential schism runs afoul of the principles of comity and federalism so clearly embedded in the text and history of the RCRA. When enacting the RCRA, Congress intended to delegate the primary enforcement of EPA-approved hazardous waste programs to the states. See 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6262, 6270. In fact, as we have noted above, the states’ enforcement action has the “same force and effect as an action taken by” the EPA. See
B. Res Judicata
As an alternative basis to support its grant of summary judgment, the district court concluded that principles of res judicata also bar the EPA’s enforcement action by reason of the Missouri state court consent decree. The EPA argues that the state court judgment has no effect on its enforcement action against Harmon because the two actions lack the elements essential for a finding of res judicata. We review de novo a district court’s summary judgment determinations. See JN Exploration & Prod. v. Western Gas Resources, 153 F.3d 906, 909 (8th Cir.1998).
Principles of res judicata embodied in the Full Faith and Credit Act,
In Missouri, res judicata requires “(1) [i]dentity of the thing sued for; (2) identity of the cause of action; (3) identity of the persons and parties to the action; and (4) identity of the quality of the person for or against whom the claim is made.” Prentzler v. Schneider, 411 S.W.2d 135, 138 (Mo.1966) (en banc).
In this case, the four Missouri law res judicata requirements are satisfied. In both the state court action and the EPA administrative enforcement action, the parties sought to enforce a hazardous waste program pursuant to the RCRA. In both the state action and the agency action, the complaints named Harmon as the defendant. In addition, both actions involved the enforcement of regulations based upon identical facts and legal princi-
A party is identical when it is the same party that litigated a prior suit or when a new party is in privity with a party that litigated a prior suit. See United States v. Gurley, 43 F.3d 1188, 1197 (8th Cir.1994), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 817, 116 S.Ct. 73, 133 L.Ed.2d 33 (1995). Privity exists when two parties to two separate suits have “a close relationship bordering on near identity.”
The statutory language of the RCRA provides the framework for the party identity analysis. Pursuant to
The EPA contends that even if principles of res judicata are satisfied under Missouri law, the doctrine of sovereign immunity precludes applying res judicata to the United States unless the United States was the actual party in the prior lawsuit. Before addressing the merits of the EPA’s claim, we note that the EPA did not raise the sovereign immunity defense before the district court. Harmon argues that in failing to raise the issue at the district court level, the EPA has waived its right to assert sovereign immunity on appeal. Sovereign immunity, however, is a jurisdictional threshold matter and it is well-established that questions of subject matter jurisdiction can be raised for the first time on appeal. See Dewitt Bank & Trust Co. v. United States, 878 F.2d 246 (8th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1016, 110 S.Ct. 1318, 108 L.Ed.2d 493 (1990).
Turning to the merits of the EPA’s sovereign immunity defense, we conclude that the defense is forestalled by the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 99 S.Ct. 970, 59 L.Ed.2d 210 (1979). In Montana, the Supreme Court held that “one who prosecutes or defends a suit in the name of another to establish and protect his own right is as much bound as he would be if he had been a party to the record.” 440 U.S. at 154, 99 S.Ct. 970 (internal quotations and alterations omitted). The Court found in Montana that although the United States was not a party to a prior suit, it “had a sufficient laboring oar in the conduct of the state-court litigation to actuate principles of estoppel.”
C. The Statute of Limitations Defense
Harmon argues that the EPA’s enforcement claim is barred by a five-year statute of limitations. See
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the judgment of the district court.