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United States v. Power Engineering Co.

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
303 F.3d 1232 (2002)

Written by Tammy Boggs, JD

Facts

Power Engineering Co. and related parties (collectively, PEC) (defendants) were engaged in a business that produced large amounts of hazardous waste in Denver, Colorado. Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the State of Colorado was authorized to administer its own hazardous-waste program instead of following the federal program. The state’s department of public health issued compliance and civil-penalty orders against PEC, but PEC failed to comply. The state initiated an enforcement action against PEC. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested that the state enforce the RCRA’s financial-assurance requirements, but the state declined to do so. While the state action was pending, the EPA filed its own enforcement action against PEC, a practice known as overfiling. The EPA interpreted the RCRA in a manner that allowed overfiling. The district court granted summary judgment to the EPA, rejecting the argument that the EPA’s action was barred and finding that PEC must provide over $2.1 million in financial assurances. PEC appealed, challenging the EPA’s ability to file a duplicative enforcement action.

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Holding and Reasoning (Tacha, C.J.)

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