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MIDDLESEX COUNTY SEWERAGE AUTH. V. SEA CLAMMERS, 453 U. S. 1 (1981) - US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
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Respondents (an organization whose members harvest fish and shellfish off the coast of New York and New Jersey and one individual member) brought suit in Federal District Court against petitioners (various governmental entities and officials from New York, New Jersey, and the Federal Government), alleging damage to fishing grounds caused by discharges and ocean dumping of sewage and other waste. Invoking a number of legal theories, respondents sought injunctive and declaratory relief and compensatory and punitive damages. The District Court granted summary judgment for petitioners. It rejected respondents' federal common law nuisance claims on the ground that such a cause of action is not available to private parties. And as to claims based on alleged violations of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(c) The legislative history of the Acts does not lead to contrary conclusions with respect to implied remedies under either Act. Rather, such history provides affirmative support for the view that Congress chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
POWELL, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J.,and BRENNAN, STEWART, WHITE, MARSHALL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part, in which BLACKMUN, J., joined, post, p. 453 U. S. 22. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Respondents are an organization whose members harvest fish and shellfish off the coast of New York and New Jersey, and one individual member of that organization. In 1977, they brought suit in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against petitioners -- various governmental entities and officials from New York, [Footnote 1] New Jersey, [Footnote 2] and the Federal Government. [Footnote 3] Their complaint alleged that sewage, sewage "sludge," and other waste materials were being discharged into New York Harbor and the Hudson chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Invoking a wide variety of legal theories, [Footnote 6] respondents sought injunctive and declaratory relief, $250 million in compensatory damages, and $250 million in punitive damages. The District Court granted summary judgment to petitioners [Footnote 7] on all counts of the complaint. [Footnote 8] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
In holdings relevant here, the District Court rejected respondents' nuisance claim under federal common law, see Illinois v. Milwaukee, 406 U. S. 91 (1972), on the ground that such a cause of action is not available to private parties. With respect to the claims based on alleged violations of the FWPCA, the court noted that respondents had failed to comply with the 60-day notice requirement of the "citizen suit" provision in § 505(b)(1)(A) of the Act, 86 Stat. 888, 33 U.S.C. § 1365 (b)(1)(A). This provision allows suits under the Act by private citizens, but authorizes only prospective relief, and the citizen plaintiffs first must give notice to the EPA, the State, and any alleged violator. Ibid. [Footnote 9] Because chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
respondents did not give the requisite notice, the court refused to allow them to proceed with a claim under the Act independent of the citizen suit provision and based on the general jurisdictional grant in 28 U.S.C. § 1331. [Footnote 10] The court applied the same analysis to respondents' claims under the MPRSA, which contains similar citizen suit and notice provisions. 33 U.S.C. § 1415(g). [Footnote 11] Finally, the court rejected a chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed as to the claims based on the FWPCA, the MPRSA, the federal common law of nuisance, and maritime tort. National chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
616 F.2d 1221228; see n 10, supra. The Court of Appeals then went on to apply our precedents in the area of implied statutory rights of action, [Footnote 13] and concluded that
616 F.2d 1230-1231.
The court then applied this same analysis to the MPRSA, concluding again that the District Court had erred in dismissing respondents' claims under this Act. Although the court was not explicit on this question, it apparently concluded that suits for damages, as well as for injunctive relief, could be brought under the FWPCA and the MPRSA. [Footnote 14] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Petitions for a writ of certiorari raising a variety of argument were filed in this Court by a group of New Jersey sewerage authorities (No. 79-1711), by the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union Counties in New Jersey (No. 79-1754), by the City and Mayor of New York (No. 79-1760), and by all of the federal defendants named in this suit (No. 80-12). [Footnote 16] We granted these petitions, limiting review to three questions: (i) whether FWPCA and MPRSA imply a private chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The exact nature of respondents' claims under these two Acts is not clear, but the claims appear to fall into two categories. The main contention is that the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have permitted the New Jersey and New York defendants to discharge and dump pollutants in amounts that are not permitted by the Acts. In addition, they seem to allege that the New York and New Jersey defendants have violated the terms of their permits. The question before us is whether respondents may raise either of these claims in a private suit for injunctive and monetary relief, where such a suit is not expressly authorized by either of these Acts. [Footnote 20] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
These Acts contain unusually elaborate enforcement provisions, conferring authority to sue for this purpose both on government officials and private citizens. The FWPCA, for example, authorizes the EPA Administrator to respond to violations of the Act with compliance orders and civil suits. § 309, 33 U.S.C. § 1319. [Footnote 22] He may seek a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day, § 309(d), 33 U.S.C. § 1319(d), and criminal penalties also are available, § 309(c), 33 U.S.C. § 1319(c). States desiring to administer their own permit programs must demonstrate that state officials possess adequate authority to abate violations through civil or criminal penalties or other means of enforcement. § 402(b)(7), 33 U.S.C. § 1342(b)(7). In addition, under § 509(b), 33 U.S.C. § 1369(b), "any interested person" may seek judicial chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
As noted above, the Court of Appeals avoided this inference. Discussing the FWPCA, it held that the existence of a citizen suit provision in § 505(a) does not rule out implied forms of private enforcement of the Act. It arrived at this conclusion by asserting that Congress intended in § 505(a) to create a limited cause of action for "private attorneys general" -- "non-injured member[s] of the public" suing to promote the general welfare, rather than to redress an injury to their own welfare. 616 F.2d 1227. It went on to conclude:
It is doubtful that the phrase "any statute" chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Moreover, the reasoning on which the Court of Appeals relied is flawed for another reason. It draws a distinction between "non-injured" plaintiffs who may bring citizen suits to enforce provisions of these Acts, and the "injured" plaintiffs in this litigation, who claim a right to sue under the Acts not by virtue of the citizen suit provisions, but rather under the language of the saving clauses. In fact, it is clear that the citizen suit provisions apply only to persons who can claim some sort of injury, and there is, therefore, no reason to infer the existence of a separate right of action for "injured" plaintiffs. "Citizen" is defined in the citizen suit section of the FWPCA as "a person or persons having an interest which is or may be adversely affected." § 505(g), 33 U.S.C. § 1365(g). It is clear from the Senate Conference Report that this phrase was intended by Congress to allow suits by all persons possessing standing under this Court's decision in Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U. S. 727 (1972). See S.Conf.Rep. No. 92-1236, p. 146 (1972). This broad category chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
In Cort v. Ash, 422 U. S. 66, 422 U. S. 78 (1975), the Court identified several factors that are relevant to the question of implied private remedies. These include the legislative history. See ibid. ("Second, is there any indication of legislative intent, explicit or implicit, either to create such a remedy or to deny one?"). This history does not lead to a contrary conclusion with respect to implied remedies under either Act. Indeed, the Report and debates provide affirmative support for the view that Congress intended the limitations imposed on citizen suits to apply to all private suits under these Acts. [Footnote 27] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Thus, both the structure of the Acts and their legislative history lead us to conclude that Congress intended that private remedies in addition to those expressly provided should not be implied. [Footnote 28] Where, as here, Congress has made clear that implied private actions are not contemplated, the courts are not authorized to ignore this legislative judgment. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
It is appropriate to reach the question of the applicability of Maine v. Thiboutot to this setting despite the failure of respondents to raise it here or below. This litigation began long before that decision. Moreover, if controlling, this argument would obviate the need to consider whether Congress intended to authorize private suits to enforce these particular federal statutes. The claim brought here arguably falls within the scope of Maine v. Thiboutot because it involves a suit by a private party claiming that a federal statute has been violated under color of state law, causing an injury. The Court, however, has recognized two exceptions to the application of § 1983 to statutory violations. In Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman, 451 U. S. 1 (1981), we remanded certain claims for a determination (i) whether Congress had foreclosed private enforcement of that statute in the enactment itself, and (ii) whether the statute at issue there was the kind that created enforceable "rights" under § 1983. Id. at 451 U. S. 8. In the present cases, because we find that Congress foreclosed a § 1983 remedy under these Acts, we need not reach the second question, whether these Acts created "rights, privileges, or immunities" within the meaning of § 1983. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
As discussed above, the FWPCA and MPRSA do provide quite comprehensive enforcement mechanisms. It is hard to believe that Congress intended to preserve the § 1983 right of action when it created so many specific statutory remedies, including the two citizen suit provisions. [Footnote 31] See Chesapeake Bay Foundation v. Virginia State chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The remaining two issues on which we granted certiorari relate to respondents' federal claims based on the federal common law of nuisance. The principal precedent on which these claims were based is Illinois v. Milwaukee, 406 U. S. 91 (1972), where the Court found that the federal courts have jurisdiction to consider the federal common law issues raised by a suit for injunctive relief by the State of Illinois against various Wisconsin municipalities and public sewerage commissions, involving the discharge of sewage into Lake Michigan. In these cases, we need not decide whether a cause of action may be brought under federal common law by a private plaintiff, seeking damages. The Court has now held chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Complaint ¦ 35, App. 25a. Respondents' brief in this Court states that, when
Complaint ¦ 39, App. 26a.
616 F.2d 1231 (footnote omitted). This passage suggests that, as a general matter, the court had concluded that the statutory rights of action it was recognizing included damages relief. An additional indication is the fact that, by the time of the Court of Appeals decision, any relief other than damages could not have been too important to respondents. The algal bloom about which respondents complain died in 1976. The Court of Appeals decision was not handed down until 1980. Under the MPRSA, 33 U.S.C. § 1412a (a) (1976 ed., Supp. III), the EPA is required to end all ocean dumping of sewage sludge by December 31, 1981.
The court also held that respondents had offered allegations sufficient to make out a claim of maritime tort, cognizable under admiralty jurisdiction. 616 F.2d 1236. It did not decide whether the Federal Tort Claims Act, with its various procedural requirements, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671 et seq., applies to any of respondents' federal law claims against federal defendants, 616 F.2d 1237, although it did hold that the Act precluded a "money damage recovery against federal agencies based on state law," id. at 1236.
The Court of Appeals did state that the saving clause in § 505 (e) of the FWPCA "provides an independent remedy for injured parties unburdened by the notice requirements of section 505(b)." 616 F.2d 1227. But the court did not conclude that the saving clause is itself an express authorization of private damages suits. Instead, it held that the saving clause acted to preserve any existing right to enforce the Act, in addition to the explicit, citizen suit remedy in § 505(b). The court went on to apply an implied-right-of-action analysis before concluding that a private suit for damages is among the preexisting remedies preserved by the saving clause.
When should a person injured by a violation of federal law be allowed to recover his damages in a federal court? This seemingly simple question has recently presented the Court with more difficulty than most substantive questions that chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
come before us. [Footnote 2/1] During most of our history, however, a simple presumption usually provided the answer. Although criminal laws and legislation enacted for the benefit of the public at large were expected to be enforced by public officials, a statute enacted for the benefit of a special class presumptively afforded a remedy for members of that class injured by violations of the statute. See Texas Pacific R. Co. v. Rigsby, 241 U. S. 33, 241 U. S. 390. [Footnote 2/2] Applying that presumption, chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
In recent years, however, a Court that is properly concerned about the burdens imposed upon the federal judiciary, the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Although I agree with the Court's disposition of the "implied private right of action" question in these cases, I write separately to emphasize that the Court's current approach to the judicial task of fashioning appropriate remedies for violations of federal statutes is out of step with the Court's own chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
In the present context of these cases, we of course know nothing about the ultimate merits of the claims asserted by respondents. As the cases come to us, however, we must make certain assumptions in analyzing the questions presented. First, we must assume that the complaint speaks the truth when it alleges that the petitioners have dumped large quantities of sewage and toxic waste in the Atlantic Ocean and its tributaries, and that these dumping operations have violated the substantive provisions of the Clean Water Act and the MPRSA. See Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Transport Workers, 451 U. S. 77, 451 U. S. 80, n. 3. Second, we must also assume that these illegal operations have caused an injury to respondents' commercial interests. Third, because some of the petitioners are "persons" who allegedly acted under color of state law, as the Court recognizes, see ante at 453 U. S. 19, and n. 29, we must assume that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1976 ed., Supp. III) [Footnote 2/10] provides an express remedy for their violations of these two federal statutes, unless Congress has expressly withdrawn that remedy. See Maine v. Thiboutot, 448 U. S. 1. Finally, chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Court's holding that Congress decided in the Clean Water Act and the MPRSA to withdraw the express remedy provided by 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1976 ed., Supp. III) seems to rest on nothing more than the fact that these statutes provide other express remedies, and do not mention § 1983. Because the enforcement mechanisms provided in the statutes are "quite comprehensive," the Court finds it "hard to believe that Congress intended to preserve the § 1983 right of action. . . ." Ante at 453 U. S. 20. There are at least two flaws in this reasoning. First, the question is not whether Congress "intended to preserve the § 1983 right of action," but rather whether Congress intended to withdraw that right of action. [Footnote 2/11] Second, I find it chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
I agree with the Court that the remedial provisions of the Clean Water Act and the MPRSA are "quite comprehensive." I cannot agree, however, with the Court's implicit conclusion that this determination ends the inquiry under Maine v. Thiboutot, supra. The question that must be answered in determining whether respondents may pursue their claims under § 1983 is whether Congress intended that the remedies provided in the substantive statutes be exclusive. See Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman, 451 U. S. 1, 451 U. S. 28. Because Congress did not expressly address this question in the statutes, the Court looks elsewhere for an answer and finds it in the comprehensive character of the express statutory remedies. I have no quarrel, as a general matter, with the proposition that a comprehensive remedial scheme can evidence a congressional decision to preclude other remedies. Cf. Northwest Airlines, Inc., supra, at 451 U. S. 93-94. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that our evaluation of a statute's express remedies is merely a tool used to discern congressional intent; it is not an end in itself. No matter how comprehensive we may consider a statute's remedial scheme to be, Congress is at liberty to leave other remedial avenues open. Express statutory language or clear references in the legislative history will rebut whatever presumption of exclusivity arises from comprehensive remedial provisions. In my judgment, in these cases, we are presented with both express statutory language and clear references in the legislative history indicating that Congress did not intend the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Court, of course, discusses the saving clauses and this legislative history elsewhere in its opinion. See ante at 453 U. S. 15-17, and n. 26. In rejecting the Court of Appeals' conclusion, based in part on the saving clauses, that respondents may invoke implied rights of action under the Clean Water Act and the MPRSA, the Court finds it "doubtful" that the phrase "any statute" in the saving clauses refers to the very statutes in which the clauses appear. See ante at 453 U. S. 15-16. The Court's doubt is reinforced by use of the word "other" in the passages from the Senate Reports quoted above. See ante at 453 U. S. 16, n. 26. Thus, the Court holds that the statutory phrase "any statute" does not refer to the Clean Water Act or the MPRSA; the Court apparently also holds that it does not refer to § 1983, even though that statute clearly qualifies as "any other statute" or "any other law," within the meaning of the legislative history. [Footnote 2/12] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Today, the Court pursues the preemption rationale of Milwaukee v. Illinois to its inexorable conclusion, and holds that even noncompliance with the requirements of the Clean Water Act and the MPRSA is a defense to a federal common law nuisance claim. [Footnote 2/14] Because JUSTICE BLACKMUN has already chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Although I agree with the Court' holding that neither of these statutes implicitly authorizes a private damages remedy, I reach that conclusion by a different route. Under the traditional common law analysis discussed supra at 453 U. S. 23-24, the primary question is whether the statute was enacted for the special benefit of a particular class of which the plaintiff is a member. See Texas Pacific R. Co. v. Rigsby, 241 U.S. at 241 U. S. 390. As we have held in the past, "[t]hat question is chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
241 U.S. at 241 U. S. 39-40. As the Rigsby Court noted, the presumption was firmly established at common law, see California v. Sierra Club, supra, at 451 U. S. 299-300 (STEVENS, J., concurring), and it had been recognized on numerous prior occasions by this Court. See, e.g., 5 U. S. 163 ("[I]t is a general and indisputable rule that, where there is a legal right, there is also a legal remedy by suit, or action at law, whenever that right is invaded'"); 37 U. S. 623 ("[T]he power to enforce the performance of the act must rest somewhere, or it will present a case which has often been said to involve a monstrous absurdity in a well organized government, that there should be no remedy, although a clear and undeniable right should be shown to exist"); 87 U. S. 527 ("A general liability created by statute without a remedy may be enforced by an appropriate common law action"); Hayes v. Michigan Central R. Co., 111 U. S. 228, 111 U. S. 240 ("[E]ach person specially injured by the breach of the obligation is entitled to his individual compensation, and to an action for its recovery"); De Lima v. Bidwell,@ 182 U. S. 1, 182 U. S. 176-177 ("If there be an admitted wrong, the courts will look far to supply an adequate remedy").
Although the federal courts do not possess the full common law powers of their state counterparts, see, e.g., Northwest Airlines, Inc., supra, at 451 U. S. 95, the cases cited in 453 U. S. 2, supra, nonetheless indicate that the fashioning of remedies for wrongs has traditionally been a part of the business of the federal courts.
The unanimous opinion in Cort v. Ash adopted the single factor test of Rigsby, see 453 U. S. 2, supra, and combined it with three additional inquiries: