National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense
Unanimous U.S. Supreme Court victory for PLF and property rights
In 2015 PLF challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule to stretch federal control to nearly every pond, ditch, and puddle in the nation as nothing more than an outrageous—and illegal—power grab under cover of the Clean Water Act. And under the Act, people who are harmed by such rules have six years to sue in federal district court. That is, until the EPA rewrote the rule, trying to prevent legal action by giving property owners just 120 days to sue, and then only in federal appellate courts. On January 22, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the EPA’s power play and unanimously ruled for PLF and property rights. The High Court agreed with PLF that the EPA cannot shelter its “waters of the United States” rule from judicial review by arbitrarily limiting where victims can sue.
Kent Recycling Services, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Landowners win right to challenge wetland determinations in court
Kent Recycling Services wanted to establish a solid waste landfill in Louisiana. But an overzealous Corps of Engineers issued a Jurisdictional Determination claiming the property contained wetlands subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act. Kent disputed this claim and sued. Lower courts rejected his lawsuit as unripe on the theory that the determination was not a final order and PLF, representing Kent, petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case. The Court originally declined, but a few days later the Eighth Circuit decision in Hawkes created a Circuit split on the precise issue before the Court. PLF asked the Court to reconsider. A few days after the Hawkes victory affirming landowners’ right to their day in court, the Court vacated the lower court decision in this case and ordered it to reconsider the case in light of the ruling in Hawkes.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes
Landowners win right to challenge wetland determinations in court
Hawkes Company is a family-owned business in Minnesota that harvests peat moss, for landscaping. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly claimed jurisdiction over the property as regulated wetlands. This put Hawkes in the untenable position of (1) abandoning all use of the land at great loss; (2) spending several hundred thousand dollars to seek an unnecessary federal permit; or (3) using the land without federal approval at the risk of $37,500-a-day fines and criminal prosecution. When Hawkes challenged the Corps in court, lower courts dismissed the case as unripe for review. But the Supreme Court disagreed, holding that a Jurisdictional Determination is a binding legal decision subject to immediate judicial challenge.
Rapanos v. United States
Supreme Court rules EPA “navigable waters” definition illegal
Back in 1989, Michigan developer John Rapanos was simply clearing his property to build homes and a shopping mall when he became so ensnared in a regulatory quagmire, it took the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve. John’s troubles began when he pulled up some trees on his 54-acre site and filled the stump holes with sand. Federal regulators claimed an adjacent drainage ditch qualified John’s land as a wetland that required a permit to develop and issued a cease-and-desist order. When John didn’t back down, the government filed a federal lawsuit accusing him of violating the Clean Water Act (CWA).