Supreme Court Tells EPA It’s Not Above the Law

By: Andrea Ryan

It’s a beautiful day when one of Obama’s evil Goliaths gets soundly spanked by the Supreme Court.  On Wednesday, the EPA’s egregious abuse, in the name of the Clean Water Act, was significantly reined in.  Obama’s Green Minions of Evil are still able to pound American citizens into submission with their brutal fists of extortion and intimidation, but no longer with complete impunity.

According to CNBC,

The Supreme Court has sided with an Idaho couple in a property rights case, ruling they can go to court to challenge an Environmental Protection Agency order that blocked construction of their new home and threatened fines of more than $30,000 a day.

Wednesday’s decision is a victory for Mike and Chantell Sackett, whose property near a scenic lake has sat undisturbed since the EPA ordered a halt in work in 2007. The agency said part of the property was a wetlands that could not disturbed without a permit.

In an opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court rejected EPA’s argument that allowing property owners quick access to courts to contest orders like the one issued to the Sacketts would compromise the agency’s ability to deal with water pollution.

“Compliance orders will remain an effective means of securing prompt voluntary compliance in those many cases where there is no substantial basis to question their validity,” Scalia said. …

The EPA issues nearly 3,000 administrative compliance orders a year that call on alleged violators of environmental laws to stop what they’re doing and repair the harm they’ve caused. Major business groups, homebuilders, road builders and agricultural interests all have joined the Sacketts in urging the court to make it easier to contest EPA compliance orders issued under several environmental laws. …

Justice Samuel Alito called on Congress to clear up confusion over the reach of the Clean Water Act. Alito said that federal regulators could assert authority over any property that is wet for even part of the year, not just rivers and streams.

The court’s opinion “is better than nothing, but only clarification of the reach of the Clean Water Act can rectify the underlying problem,” Alito said. …

In a statement, the Sacketts praised the court for “affirming that we have rights, and that the EPA is not a law unto itself.”

Let this be a powerful reminder of what’s at stake in November if Obama is reelected.  Justice Ginsburg has already announced her retirement in 2015.

 

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