‘THE SAGA OF THE SACKETTS’

January 10, 2012 | Filed under: Federal Leviathan | Posted by: bigtimer

I don’t know if many of you know about this story with the Sackett Family and their horrendous ordeal with the out-of-control EPA…so thought I’d post it here for you today along with the most recent news from SCOTUS as well.

This is via The Blaze:

Several conservative members of the Supreme Court criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday for heavy-handed enforcement of rules affecting homeowners after the government told an Idaho couple they can’t challenge an order declaring their future home site a “protected wetlands.”

Justice Antonin Scalia assailed the “high-handedness” of the environmental agency when dealing with private property, and Justice Samuel Alito described some of the EPA’s actions as “outrageous,“ arguing that most people would say ”this kind of thing can’t happen in the United States.”

The EPA said that Mike and Chantell Sackett illegally filled in most of their 0.63-acre lot with dirt and rocks in preparation for building a home. The agency said the property is a wetlands that cannot be disturbed without a permit. The Sacketts had none.

The couple, who attended the Supreme Court arguments, said they had no reason to suspect there were wetlands on their property. They paid $23,000 for their property in 2005 and decided two years later to build a three-bedroom home. Workers spent three days filling in just under a half-acre of land.

Three EPA officials showed up, said they believed the land was wetlands, asked for a permit and told the workers to stop. Six months later, the EPA sent the order that triggered the court case. The Sacketts wanted to challenge that order, but lower courts have said that they cannot.

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 Anthony Kennedy wondered how far the Supreme Court should go in a ruling, noting that government agencies often threaten citations when people don’t comply with the law. “Health inspectors go into restaurants all the time and say: ‘Unless you fix this, I’m going to give you a citation.’ Fire inspectors, the same thing,” he said.

The Sacketts’ lawyer, Damien M. Schiff, argued that they weren‘t trying to take away EPA’s power. Environmental groups say a purpose of the orders is to make it easier to negotiate a resolution without a protracted legal fight.

“Let EPA administer the act and issue compliance orders,” Schiff said. “But let’s also give homeowners a fair shake, too. Let them have their day in court to contest what the agency has done.”

Alito leveled some of the strongest criticism against the EPA, noting that the Sacketts had to wait until the EPA sued them to even challenge the idea that there were wetlands on their property.

“You think maybe there is a little drainage problem in part of your lot, so you start to build the house and then you get an order from the EPA which says: ‘You have filled in wetlands, so you can’t build your house; remove the fill, put in all kinds of plants; and now you have to let us on your premises whenever we want to,’” Alito said. “You have to turn over to us all sorts of documents, and for every day that you don’t do all this you are accumulating a potential fine of $75,000. And by the way, there is no way you can go to court to challenge our determination that this is a wetlands until such time as we choose to sue you.”

Chief Justice John Roberts said that because of the potential fines, few people are going to challenge the EPA’s determinations.

“Because of the administrative compliance order, you’re really never going to be put to the test, because most land owners aren’t going to say, ‘I’m going to risk the $37,000 a day,” Roberts said. “All EPA has to do is make whatever finding it wants, and realize that in 99 percent of the cases, it’s never going to be put to the test.”

The EPA’s normal procedure is to contact the homeowner before issuing a compliance order, Justice Department lawyer Malcolm Stewart said. A wetlands biologist has also confirmed to The Associated Press that he advised the Sacketts in May 2007 that their property was a wetlands and that there were wetlands on three sides of their land. The Sacketts say that in 2010, other wetlands consultants examined their land and concluded that the first one was wrong.

If the Sacketts “had wanted a judicial resolution of the coverage question without subjecting themselves to potential penalties, they could have filed a permit application before discharging, they could have gotten review there. All we‘re saying is they can’t discharge fill, wait to see whether EPA notices, and then insist upon immediate judicial review if EPA notices and objects,” Stewart said.

However, critics argue these type of regulations, and the tangled mess of paperwork that accompanies them, are unwarranted, unfair and have been enacted with no real authority.

And while judicial activism has become a recent topic of discussion due to the GOP primaries, the question of federal authority in these areas has also been brought to the forefront of a national debate.

Why? Because much like Justices Scalia, Roberts and Alito, many Americans believe departments such as the EPA have been acting well outside the boundaries of their authority. Speaking of which, who gave them authority?

For some perspective, we turn to conservative author Mark Steyn:

For more and more Americans, law has been supplanted by “regulation”–a governing set of rules not legislated by representatives accountable to the people, but invented by an activist bureaucracy, much of which is well to the left of either political party. As the newspapers blandly reported in 2010, the bureaucrats weren’t terribly bothered about whether Congress would pass a cap-and-trade mega-bill into law because, if faint-hearted Dems lose their nerve, the EPA will just “raise” “standards” all by itself.*

Indeed, to borrow from Steyn again, “Where do you go to vote out the EPA?”

The EPA has to go…states need their own controls, not the federal government.

This is just one instance out of may across this land as we all know. I hope the Supreme Court makes the right decision…after-all, if they follow the constitution we know the outcome…but we know how iffy that can be with the balance in the court now with those who sit on it.

Add your thoughts….what do you think the outcome will be and such, add any examples such as the Sacketts’ that you may know of as well. We all know what’s happened to the farmers in central California…so I’ll just use that for starters.

Fire Away!

Shortlink:

Posted by bigtimer on January 10, 2012. Filed under Federal Leviathan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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24 Responses to ‘THE SAGA OF THE SACKETTS’

Glad to hear that these folks are fighting against this Obongo lead dictatorial agency.

The court expects to hand down a decision by next summer.

As far as I am concerned we need to perform jihad on the EPA. We need to send a few of these asswipes in the EPA to prison for the crimes they are committing against the American people.

Truer words were never spoken…Resist We Much!!!

Bluto
January 10, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Just another federal abc agency who’s main goal is to control the citizenry with bureaucratic red tape and limitless fines to fill their already bloated taxpayer funded pockets.

J in MS
January 10, 2012 at 3:34 pm
- J in MS…
  
  And destroy businesses as well as industries, they’ve done it for decades now….still are.
  
  Mining, farming, lumber mills, logging companies, fishermen, etc etc.
  
  It has to stop!
  
  Btw…they aren’t the only dept. that does this either…and congress is always there to lend a hand for the most part.
  
  bigtimer
  January 10, 2012 at 5:02 pm
Can’t wait until President Paul shuts this agency down.

twocanpete
January 10, 2012 at 7:00 pm
- Hi tcp…
  
  I know Paul wants to do that as well, for me and millions of others across this land it’s a must!
  
  The EPA has no accountability whatsoever.
  
  I hope whoever we get in does something about this.
  
  bigtimer
  January 10, 2012 at 7:17 pm
bigtimer
This fits perfect with your post, Fuel company’s are fined millions of dollars for not adding an additive that does not exist.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/business/energy-environment/companies-face-fines-for-not-using-unavailable-biofuel.html?_r=1

ga steve
January 10, 2012 at 7:02 pm
- ga steve…
  
  Infuriating! Beneath comtempt.
  
  That whole article sets my hair on fire for various reasons but this was one that really irked me:
  
  Penalizing the fuel suppliers demonstrates what happens when the federal government really, really wants something that technology is not ready to provide. In fact, while it may seem harsh that the Environmental Protection Agency is penalizing them for failing to do the impossible, the agency is being lenient by the standards of the law, the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act
  
  While it ‘May’ seem harsh hell, it should be ILLEGAL to do so in the first place.
  
  I guess these companies figure it’s easier and cheaper to pay the fine than it is to fight the bastids!
  
  I want accountability, tort reform and many depts. gone….and this is another reason why.
  
  Btw…that includes the congress-critters that forced this crap down everyone’s throat.
  
  bigtimer
  January 10, 2012 at 7:26 pm
EPA, very similar tactics to IRS or am I delusional. My voices say I’m not, but I’m never sure…..

Kenn M. aka Keeper
January 10, 2012 at 10:13 pm
- My voices seem to echo your voices. ~
  
  bigtimer
  January 10, 2012 at 10:17 pm
I hate the EPA, and believe they should be shut down. I thought this before I read your article. Good article. And for the owner of this site – just a heads up – I can’t read your site using IE 9. Don’t know if it’s just me or everybody who is using IE 9. I was able to read your site using Google Chrome tonight. I was not having problems with IE 9 until yesterday.

Scagsdale
January 10, 2012 at 11:02 pm
- Scagsdale…
  
  Thanks for the heads-up about this, I knew something was weird around here lately…some of the regulars we get here haven’t been around lately, this may be the reason.
  
  AWD hope you caught this information.
  
  bigtimer
  January 10, 2012 at 11:36 pm
  - Why use Internet Exploder in the first place? It’s slow, unstable, insecure, crappy bloatware. I hate it. Use Firefox instead.
    
    79Firebirdman
    January 11, 2012 at 2:39 am
- Scagsdale, et al, AWD’s site is being moved to a new server. I was told it might take a few days to get it all dialed in. I’m on Chrome and have not had a problem. Thanks for your patience…but why the heck are you using IE???
  
  awd
  
  AWD
  January 10, 2012 at 11:45 pm
AWD…

Don’t know if you’re still around, but did you catch Scagsdales post above about having trouble getting in here type of thing?

bigtimer
January 10, 2012 at 11:40 pm
This is completely contrary to every concept of property rights that we have in this country.

The Employment Prevention Agency is out of control and out of bounds and needs to be abolished.

79Firebirdman
January 11, 2012 at 2:25 am
- 79Firebirdman…
  
  Amen to that!
  
  bigtimer
  January 11, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Anyone else notice Weasel Zipper is gone from the list of political discussion sites?

ga steve
January 11, 2012 at 6:19 am
- ga steve..
  
  I Own The World is also missing from the list! Hoping it shows back up when the Dude fine tunes the new server.
  
  MTPatriot
  January 11, 2012 at 9:26 am
Hey, AWD & bigtimer. Haven’t commented here lately, forgive me. However, I am still an awd in training. I am getting more steamed by the day.

I read this yesterday and was stunned at the similarities between what America is experiencing today and what Austria experienced getting to know Hilter beginning in 1938. Kind of long but well worth the time. Google Kitty Werthmann and you can see her video rendering of this post. Not good quality video though and reading is faster.

“America truly is the Greatest Country in the World.” By: Kitty Werthmann

America Diagnosed with Cancer

http://forums.traditionalamericanmovement.com/viewtopic.php?f=120&t=2158

ron8072 (@ron8072)
January 11, 2012 at 11:28 am
- Hey ron…
  
  Thanks…that’s a great site and info.
  
  I’m steamed too…and don’t be a stranger ~
  
  bigtimer
  January 11, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I think we ought to demand no matter who the nominee is to completely get rid of all of these agencies.I don’t think any of these departments are any business of the feds.

guy hontz
January 11, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Check out the arrogance of the Liar-in-Chief’s BS!

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-epa-regulations-create-jobs-epa-touches-lives-every-single-american-every-single

Infuriating!

bigtimer
January 11, 2012 at 4:30 pm
- obummer is just campaigning to his base. The new governmental employees. His largest growing segment of the voters he literally owns! Look for more campaign speeches at all the alphabet agencies in the coming months. He does need to solidify his base and let them know that if he loses the election, most of them will be seeking employment elsewhere. OMG!
  
  ron8072 (@ron8072)
  January 11, 2012 at 8:05 pm
  - ron…
    
    Right you are…plus $$$ for his campaign coffers…let alone he really does want to destroy this country as far as I’m concerned.
    
    bigtimer
    January 11, 2012 at 8:15 pm

‘THE SAGA OF THE SACKETTS’

24 Responses to ‘THE SAGA OF THE SACKETTS’

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