* Executive Editor, Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, 2003–04.
1 Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. �� 7401–7671c (2000).
2 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act or CWA), 33 U.S.C. �� 1251–1387 (2000).
3 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. �� 6901–6992k (2000).
4 See 33 U.S.C. �� 1319, 1342; 42 U.S.C. �� 6926, 6928, 7413.
5 See 33 U.S.C. �� 1319, 1342; 42 U.S.C. �� 6926, 6928, 7413.
6 Lisa Dittman, Comment, Overfiling: Policy Arguments in Support of the Gorilla in the Closet, 48 UCLA L. Rev. 375, 376 (2000).
7 See id. at 377.
8 See id.
9 See Susan K. Wiens & William P. Hefner, Disharmony in EPA’s Overfiling Policy, 15 Nat. Resources & Env’t 3, 3 (2000).
10 See generally United States v. Power Eng’g Co., 303 F.3d 1232 (10th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 1929 (2003); Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894 (8th Cir. 1999); United States v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 191 F.3d 516 (4th Cir. 1999); United States v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., 143 F. Supp. 2d 1054 (W.D. Wis. 2001); United States v. LTV Steel Co., 118 F. Supp. 2d 827 (N.D. Ohio 2000); United States v. City of Youngstown, 109 F. Supp. 2d 739 (N.D. Ohio 2000).
11 The term “underfiling” was first used, according to the best information available, in July 2001 by Professor William Goldfarb of Rutgers University, in preparing the annual supplement to Zygmunt J.B. Plater et al., Environmental Law & Policy: Nature, Law & Society (2d ed. 1998 & Supp. 2001).
12 See State Water Control Bd. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 542 S.E.2d 766, 768–69 (Va. 2001).
13 See Wiens & Hefner, supra note 9, at 3 (describing the situation as encountered with overfiling).
14 See Dittman, supra note 6, at 390–91.
15 See, e.g., Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 766.
16 See id. at 771.
17 This Note also suggests utilizing intervention in overfiling cases under Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires analyzing the possibility of intervention under United States v. Tex. E. Transmission Corp., 923 F.2d 410 (5th Cir. 1991).
18 Erik R. Lehtinen, Virginia As a Case Study: EPA Should Be Willing to Withdraw NPDES Permitting Authority from Deficient States, 23 Wm. & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol’y Rev. 617, 621 (1999).
19 Dittman, supra note 6, at 376.
20 Id.
21 42 U.S.C. �� 7401–7671c (2000).
22 33 U.S.C. �� 1251–1387 (2000).
23 42 U.S.C. �� 6901–6992k (2000).
24 Wiens & Hefner, supra note 9, at 3.
25 See Lehtinen, supra note 18, at 625–30.
26 See id. at 619.
27 Id. at 629.
28 See id. at 631.
29 See Stephen C. Robertson, State Permitting: United States v. Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Federal Overfiling Under the Clean Water Act, 23 Wm. & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol’y Rev. 593, 600 (1999).
30 Dittman, supra note 6, at 377.
31 Id.
32 See id. at 396.
33 See id.
34 See William Daniel Benton, Application of Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel to EPA Overfiling, 16 B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 199, 230–31 (1988).
35 See id. at 231.
36 18 Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure � 4402 (2d ed. 2002).
37 See, e.g., United States v. Power Eng’g Co., 303 F.3d 1232, 1240 (10th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 1929 (2003); Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894, 902–04 (8th Cir. 1999).
38 See Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1240.
39 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 902.
40 See, e.g., Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1240–41; Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 902–04.
41 See Benton, supra note 34, at 248.
42 Id.
43 Id. at 250. Benton actually describes cases in which that court analyzed privity in three different manners. Id. Recent overfiling decisions, however, used only two of the three privity analyses. See, e.g., Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1240–41; Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 902–04.
44 Benton, supra note 34, at 250.
45 Id.
46 See generally Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147 (1979); United States v. ITT Rayonier, Inc., 627 F.2d 996 (9th Cir. 1980).
47 ITT Rayonier, 627 F.2d at 1002–04.
48 Id. at 999.
49 Id. at 1003.
50 Id.
51 Id.
52 Id.
53 440 U.S. 147 (1979).
54 Benton, supra note 34, at 256.
55 Montana, 440 U.S. at 155 (quoting Drummond v. United States, 324 U.S. 316, 318 (1945)).
56 Id.
57 Id.
58 Benton, supra note 34, at 256.
59 191 F.3d 516 (4th Cir. 1999).
60 Id. at 520.
61 Id. at 523.
62 Id.
63 Id.
64 Id.
65 Smithfield Foods, 191 F.3d at 523.
66 Id. at 523–24.
67 Id. at 524.
68 Id.
69 Id. at 532.
70 This Note addresses whether one sovereign might be precluded from enforcing federal environmental regulations if another sovereign has already brought such an enforcement action, which was most likely not decided in Smithfield Foods, Inc. The district court acknowledged that certain provisions of the CWA barred the United States from bringing a civil penalty action when a state enforcement agency “‘has commenced and is diligently prosecuting an action under a State law’” which was comparable to those provisions of the CWA. Id. at 525 (quoting 33 U.S.C. � 1319(g)(6)(A)(ii) (2000)). The district court found, however, that the Virginia enforcement law was not comparable in order to bar EPA’s suit, thereby permitting overfiling. Id. While not applicable to Smithfield Foods, Inc., in 1996 Virginia amended its enforcement scheme in order to make it comparable to the provision of the CWA. Id. at 525 n.2.
71 Lehtinen, supra note 18, at 617.
72 Id. at 631.
73 See United States v. Cargill, 508 F. Supp. 734, 751 (D. Del. 1981).
74 Robertson, supra note 29, at 607.
75 The major underfiling opinion is State Water Control Board v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 542 S.E.2d 766 (Va. 2001). See infra Part II.B.
76 Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894, 902 (8th Cir. 1999). See generally 42 U.S.C. �� 6926, 6928 (2000).
77 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 896.
78 Id. at 897.
79 Id.
80 Id.
81 Id.
82 Id.
83 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 902.
84 Id. at 904.
85 See id. at 899, 904.
86 Id. at 899 (quoting 42 U.S.C. � 6926(b) (2000)).
87 42 U.S.C. � 6926(d).
88 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 898; see 42 U.S.C. � 6926.
89 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 898; see 42 U.S.C. � 6926.
90 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 898; see 42 U.S.C. � 6928.
91 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 899. See generally Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. �� 6901–6992k (2000).
92 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 899; see 42 U.S.C. �� 6926, 6928.
93 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 900; see 42 U.S.C. �� 6926, 6928.
94 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 901.
95 Id. at 902.
96 See supra Part I.B.
97 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 903.
98 Id. (quoting United States v. Gurley, 43 F.3d 1188, 1197 (8th Cir. 1994)).
99 Id.
100 Id.
101 Id.
102 Id.
103 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 903 (quoting Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 155 (1979)).
104 See Montana, 440 U.S. at 155.
105 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 904 (citing Montana, 440 U.S at 155).
106 Id. (citing 42 U.S.C. � 6926(b), (d) (2000)).
107 See generally Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 904; Environmental Enforcement Becomes Federalism’s Hazardous Battleground, 31 Env’t Rep. (BNA) 896 (May 5, 2000) (discussing EPA’s viewpoint of the Harmon and Smithfield decisions) [hereinafter Environmental Enforcement].
108 See State Water Control Bd. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 542 S.E.2d 766, 768 (Va. 2001).
109 Id.
110 See United States v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 191 F.3d 516, 531 (4th Cir. 1999).
111 Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 768.
112 Id.
113 Id. at 769; see Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894, 903 (8th Cir. 1999).
114 Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 769–70.
115 Id. at 770.
116 Id.
117 Id.
118 Id.
119 Id.
120 Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 770.
121 Id.; see Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894, 903 (8th Cir. 1999).
122 Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 771; see Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 903.
123 627 F.2d 996 (9th Cir. 1980).
124 Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 770–71.
125 Id. at 771.
126 Gary A. Jonesi, “Single Permit Theory” Bars State Water Enforcement Action on Res Judicata Grounds, Nat. Envtl. Enforcement J., Apr. 2001, at 3. See generally Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 1999); State Water Control Bd. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 542 S.E.2d 766 (Va. 2001).
127 See United States v. Murphy Oil U.S.A., Inc., 143 F. Supp. 2d 1054, 1087–93, 1116–17 (W.D. Wis. 2001); United States v. LTV Steel Co., 118 F. Supp. 2d 827, 836 (N.D. Ohio 2000); United States v. City of Youngstown, 109 F. Supp. 2d 739, 741 (N.D. Ohio 2000).
128 City of Youngstown, 109 F. Supp. 2d at 741. See generally 33 U.S.C. �� 1251–1387 (2000).
129 City of Youngstown, 109 F. Supp. 2d at 740; see Harmon Indus., Inc., 191 F.3d at 897–903.
130 City of Youngstown, 109 F. Supp. 2d at 741.
131 Id.
132 See supra notes 86–94 and accompanying text.
133 City of Youngstown, 109 F. Supp. 2d at 741.
134 Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 902.
135 See 42 U.S.C. � 6926(b), (d) (2000).
136 33 U.S.C. � 1342(i) (2000).
137 City of Youngstown, 109 F. Supp. 2d at 741.
138 United States v. LTV Steel Co., 118 F. Supp. 2d 827, 832–35 (N.D. Ohio 2000); see 42 U.S.C. � 7413 (2000).
139 LTV Steel, 118 F. Supp. 2d at 835–37.
140 Id. at 830.
141 Id.
142 City of Youngstown, 109 F. Supp. 2d at 739.
143 LTV Steel, 118 F. Supp. 2d at 832; see supra Part II.A.1.
144 LTV Steel, 118 F. Supp. 2d at 832; see Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894, 897–902 (8th Cir. 1999).
145 LTV Steel, 118 F. Supp. 2d at 835–37.
146 See supra note 39 and accompanying text.
147 LTV Steel, 118 F. Supp. 2d at 836.
148 Id.
149 Id.; see Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 155 (1979).
150 LTV Steel, 118 F. Supp. 2d at 836; see Montana, 440 U.S. at 155.
151 LTV Steel, 118 F. Supp. 2d at 836.
152 Id.
153 United States v. Murphy Oil USA, 143 F. Supp. 2d 1054, 1062, 1087–92, 1114–17 (W.D. Wis. 2001).
154 Id. at 1087–92, 1114–17.
155 Id. at 1087–92.
156 Murphy Oil USA, 143 F. Supp. 2d at 1090–91; see Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894, 897–902 (8th Cir. 1999).
157 Murphy Oil USA, 143 F. Supp. 2d at 1091.
158 Id. at 1092; see supra notes 55–56 and accompanying text.
159 Murphy Oil USA, 143 F. Supp. 2d at 1092.
160 Id.
161 Id. at 1114.
162 Id. In Murphy Oil USA, the court had stayed the state enforcement action, the court had not issued a decision or approved a consent judgment, and the parties had yet to agree to a settlement. Id.
163 See id. at 1114–17.
164 Id. at 1116; see supra note 94 and accompanying text.
165 Murphy Oil USA, 143 F. Supp. 2d at 1117.
166 See supra Part III.
167 United States v. Power Eng’g Co., 303 F.3d 1232 (10th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 1929 (2003).
168 Id. at 1235.
169 Id.
170 Id.
171 Id.
172 Id. at 1236; see supra notes 76–107 and accompanying text.
173 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1240, 1241.
174 Id. at 1237.
175 Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842–44 (1984) (holding that if a statute is silent or ambiguous, a court should defer to the agency’s interpretation if based on a permissible construction of the statute and thus must accept the agency’s interpretation unless it is “arbitrary, capricious, or manifestly contrary to the statute”); Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1236–37.
176 42 U.S.C. �� 6926, 6928 (2000).
177 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1237.
178 Id.; see 42 U.S.C. � 6928(a).
179 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1237; see 42 U.S.C. � 6926(b).
180 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1238.
181 Id. at 1240; see Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842–44 (1984).
182 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1240–41; see supra Parts I.B, II.A.2.
183 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1240; see Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 155 (1979).
184 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1241.
185 Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894, 904 (8th Cir. 1999).
186 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1241.
187 See id.
188 Id.; see United States v. ITT Rayonier, Inc., 627 F.2d 996, 1003 (9th Cir. 1980).
189 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1241.
190 Id.
191 United States v. Power Eng’g Co., 303 F.3d 1232 (10th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 1929 (2003).
192 See supra Parts I.B, II.A.2, II.B, and IV.B.
193 This is because even if there are restrictions on overfiling to be found in federal environmental statutes, they only apply to the federal government. The idea that states are allowed to pursue their own enforcement actions can be inferred from the fact that they have primary enforcement authority under federal environmental statutes after being authorized by the federal government. See supra Introduction.
194 Since states are not statutorily barred from pursuing underfiling, the only restriction might be res judicata concerns. However, generally state governments and the federal government are considered two separate parties for res judicata. 18 Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure � 4458 (2d ed. 2002).
195 State Water Control Bd. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 542 S.E.2d 766, 770–71 (Va. 2001).
196 See Environmental Enforcement, supra note 126, at 3; see also Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894 (8th Cir. 1999); United States v. ITT Rayonier, Inc., 627 F.2d 996 (9th Cir. 1980).
197 Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 155 (1979).
198 See Environmental Enforcement, supra note 126, at 3.
199 See Montana, 440 U.S. at 155. Virginia did not require the federal lawsuit to be filed, review or approve the federal complaint, pay attorney’s fees and costs, direct any appeals, or submit an amicus brief. See id. Rather, Virginia filed its own enforcement action. Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 768.
200 United States v. Power Eng’g Co., 303 F.3d 1232, 1240–41 (10th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 1929 (2003); see Montana, 440 U.S. at 155.
201 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1240.
202 Id.
203 Id. at 1241.
204 See supra Part I.B. See generally Montana, 440 U.S. 147; United States v. ITT Rayonier, Inc., 627 F.2d 996 (9th Cir. 1980).
205 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1241; see ITT Rayonier, 627 F.2d at 1003.
206 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1241.
207 Id. at 1240–41.
208 State Water Control Bd. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 542 S.E.2d 766 (Va. 2001).
209 Montana, 440 U.S. at 155.
210 Power Eng’g, 303 F.3d at 1241 (citing ITT Rayonier, 627 F.2d at 1003).
211 See id. at 1240–41 (citing Montana, 440 U.S. at 154–55).
212 See generally Dittman, supra note 6 (describing policy arguments for and against overfiling).
213 See id. at 390–92.
214 Lehtinen, supra note 18, at 630; Robertson, supra note 29, at 606.
215 See Lehtinen, supra note 18, at 630.
216 Dittman, supra note 6, at 396.
217 Id.
218 Petition for Writ of Certiorari at 20–21, Power Eng’g Co. v. United States, 303 F.3d 1232 (10th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 1929 (2003) (No. 02-1086).
219 Dittman, supra note 6, at 397–98.
220 Environmental Enforcement, supra note 126, at 3.
221 Id.
222 See Petition for Writ of Certiorari at 20–21, Power Eng’g (No. 02-1086).
223 Fed. R. Civ. P. 24.
224 Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a).
225 Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(b).
226 923 F.2d 410 (5th Cir. 1991).
227 Id. at 412.
228 Id.
229 Id.
230 Id.
231 Id. at 416.
232 Tex. E. Transmission, 923 F.2d at 416.
233 Id. at 413–16.
234 Id. at 413.
235 Id. at 414–16.
236 Id. at 414 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 24).
237 Id.
238 Tex. E. Transmission, 923 F.2d at 414.
239 Id.
240 Id. at 413–14.
241 Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner, 191 F.3d 894, 904 (8th Cir. 1999); State Water Control Bd. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 542 S.E.2d 766, 771 (Va. 2001).
242 See Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a).
243 See Harmon Indus., 191 F.3d at 904; Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 771.
244 Tex. E. Transmission, 923 F.2d at 414.
245 Id.
246 See Va. Code Ann. � 10.1-1186.4 (Supp. 2003).
247 Id.; Smithfield Foods, 542 S.E.2d at 771.
248 Va. Code Ann. � 10.1-1186.4.
249 Tex. E. Transmission, 923 F.2d at 410.
250 See supra Part I.B.