United States Department of Energy v. Ohio

Background

The State of Ohio sued the federal Department of Energy over pollution at DOE’s Fernald uranium-processing plant, seeking civil fines under state law and under two federal pollution statutes: the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The parties settled most claims and left for decision only whether Congress had waived the federal government’s immunity so Ohio could recover punitive fines for past violations.

Reasoning

The Court examined whether the CWA or RCRA clearly and unequivocally waived sovereign immunity for punitive civil penalties. It stressed that any waiver must be explicit. The judges found that the citizen-suit and federal-facilities provisions, read in the full statutory context, at best authorized coercive remedies—like injunctions backed by contempt fines to force future compliance—but did not unambiguously allow punitive money fines against the United States for past violations. The Court interpreted statutory terms, special definitions of “person,” and the placement of penalty language as indicating a limited waiver for coercive enforcement but not for punitive penalties.

Real world impact

As a result, states and private parties cannot collect punitive civil fines from federal agencies under the CWA or RCRA based on this Court’s reading; federal facilities remain subject to injunctions and coercive sanctions to secure future compliance. The decision leaves open the possibility that Congress could change the rule by drafting a clearer waiver of immunity.

Dissents or concurrances

A contemporaneous opinion agreed on the RCRA federal-facilities point but disagreed about the CWA and the citizen-suit provision, arguing the statute unambiguously waived immunity and would permit such fines.