ELR Citation: ELR 20650
No(s). 89-B-76 (D. Colo. Jan 19, 1990)

The court holds that Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §313 waives the United States' sovereign immunity from civil penalties for FWPCA violations. Environmental groups, in a citizens' action for injunctive relief and civil penalties against the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), alleged that DOI and DOI's Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) violated and continue to violate the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for BOR's Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel in Colorado. The court holds that civil penalties are "sanctions" under FWPCA §313(a), thus waiving sovereign immunity. Congress would not have needed to limit federal employees' personal liability for civil penalties or the federal government's liability for penalties resulting from violations of federal law if it had not already included civil penalties in the broad waiver of immunity from all "requirements" and "sanctions." The legislative history, §505(a)'s inclusion of federal defendants as "persons" against whom penalties may be assessed, and §313's express limitation on the federal government's liability for civil penalties demonstrate that Congress clearly and unambiguously waived the United States' sovereign immunity for civil penalties under the FWPCA.

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Adam Babich
Cornwell & Blakey
17th St. Plaza, Ste. 2650, 1225 17th St., Denver CO 80202
(303) 295-2500

Counsel for Defendants
Margaret Kane Harrington
Land and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 633-2741