Opinion ID: 3179273
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Miscellaneous Objections

Text: Movants present arguments based on other statutory provisions, items of legislative history and canons of construction. The arguments are not persuasive. That the Clean Water Rule was promulgated jointly by the EPA Administrator and the Secretary of the Army does not defeat the fact that it represents action, in substantial part, of the Administrator. The items of legislative history identified by the parties and said to be probative of congressional intent are sparse and frankly shed little light on the specific jurisdictional questions before the court. See E.I. du Pont, 430 U.S. at 133 (dismissing arguments based on other provisions of the statute and legislative history as inconclusive and not deserving of detailed discussion). Similarly, the various canons of construction alluded to by the parties are inconclusive and carry little weight in comparison with the dispositive considerations, as defined in the foregoing discussion of the guiding case law. Movants also raise what they characterize as “due process concerns.” They contend that if circuit court jurisdiction is exercised under § 1369(b)(1), then any other challenges to the Clean Water Rule not made within 120 days after its promulgation are foreclosed unless based on grounds which arose after the 120th day, per § 1369(b)(2). If subsequent as-applied challenges are thus deemed precluded, then unwary point-source operators and landowners uncertain about the scope of the Clean Water Act’s regulatory reach may be subject to Nos. 15-3751, et al. In re: U.S. Dep’t of Defense & U.S. Envtl. Protection Agency Final Page 17 Rule: Clean Water Rule enforcement actions and penalties without fair notice of the conduct prohibited. In Longview Fibre Co. v. Rasmussen, 980 F.2d 1307, 1313 (9th Cir. 1992), the Ninth Circuit referred to this preclusive effect as a “peculiar sting.” The concern is speculative and overblown in this case. If the court exercises jurisdiction over petitioners’ instant challenges to the validity of the Rule in this nationwide multi-circuit case and upholds the Rule, then that determination should have preclusive effect. See Narragansett Elec. Co. v. U.S. E.P.A., 407 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir. 2005) (noting that “the short time frame in § 1369(b) clearly reflects some effort to protect the EPA’s interests in finality in certain matters, particularly certain rulemakings with substantial significance and scope.”). On the other hand, this court’s exercise of jurisdiction and ruling on a challenge to the validity of the Rule would not preclude challenge to subsequent application of the Rule in a particular permitting requirement or enforcement action. See Decker v. Nw. Envtl. Def. Ctr., 133 S.Ct. 1326, 1335 (2013) (noting that whereas a challenge to the validity of regulations would be subject to the exclusive jurisdictional bar of § 1369(b)(2), an enforcement action would not be). To the extent our eventual ruling on the validity of the Rule might conceivably be asserted in overbroad fashion as barring a defense against application of the Rule in an enforcement action, the asserted bar would be subject to testing as excessive and unfairly prejudicial in that action. See Nat. Res. Def. Council v. U.S. E.P.A., 673 F.3d 400, 407 (D.C. Cir. 1982) (rejecting the same “due process” argument and suggesting that overbroad application of the § 1369(b)(2) bar could be challenged, when ripe, as unconstitutional). We therefore reject movants’ “due process concerns” as premature and unfounded.