Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/11pdf/10-1062.pdf
Page Number: 3

Cite as:  566 U. S. ____ (2012) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash­
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 10–1062 
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CHANTELL SACKETT, ET VIR, PETITIONERS v. ENVI- 
RONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT 

[March 21, 2012]

 JUSTICE SCALIA delivered the opinion of the Court. 
We consider whether Michael and Chantell Sackett may 
bring  a  civil  action  under  the  Administrative  Procedure
Act,  5  U. S. C.  §500  et seq.,  to  challenge  the  issuance  by
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of an admin­
istrative compliance order under §309 of the Clean Water 
Act,  33  U. S. C.  §1319.    The  order  asserts  that  the  Sack­
etts’  property  is  subject  to  the  Act,  and  that  they  have
violated its provisions by placing fill material on the prop­
erty;  and  on  this  basis  it  directs  them  immediately  to 
restore the property pursuant to an EPA work plan. 

I 
The Clean Water Act prohibits, among other things, “the
discharge of any pollutant by any person,” §1311, without 
a  permit,  into  the  “navigable  waters,”  §1344—which  the 
Act defines as “the waters of the United States,” §1362(7). 
If  the  EPA  determines  that  any  person  is  in  violation  of 
this  restriction,  the  Act  directs  the  agency  either  to  issue
a compliance order or to initiate a civil enforcement action. 
§1319(a)(3).  When the EPA prevails in a civil action, the 
Act provides for “a civil penalty not to exceed [$37,500] per