EPA Rejects Claim Of 'Due Process' Violation In Novel Suit Over Air Order

摘要

EPA is rejecting construction companies' claims that the agency deprived them of "due process" by not allowing them to contest a Clean Air Act enforcement action, with EPA saying its finding of a violation was based on solid evidence and did not affect any liberty or property protected by the Constitution's Due Process Clause. In an April 1 brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the Department of Justice (DOJ) says EPA properly applied federal air and waste law in issuing a compliance order for the companies' disposal of asbestos-laden wastewater. EPA alleges that the companies failed to follow required procedures for handling the wastewater during repair operations at the U.S. Bureau of Land Reclamation's Yellowtail Dam, located on the Crow Indian reservation in Montana.