Opinion ID: 790135
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Administrative Jurisdiction

Text: 6 Lyon County first claims that the EPA did not have the jurisdiction to bring an administrative action. We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. The court will defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of a statute it is charged with administering if the statute is ambiguous, or the interpretation is consistent with the plain meaning of the statute. Chevron, 467 U.S. at 844-45, 104 S.Ct. 2778. Citing United Transp. Union Legislative Bd. v. Surface Transp. Bd., 169 F.3d 474, 477 (7th Cir.1999), Lyon County argues that the EPA is not due Chevron deference when it is interpreting the question of its own jurisdiction. Id. This rule has been rejected in other circuits, see EEOC v. Seafarers Int'l Union, 394 F.3d 197, 201-02 (4th Cir.2005); Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. v. FERC, 28 F.3d 1281, 1283-84 (D.C.Cir.1994), and has not been adopted in the Eighth Circuit, see Coalition for Fair & Equitable Regulation of Docks v. FERC, 297 F.3d 771, 777-78 (8th Cir.2002) (applying Chevron in determining whether the FERC had the power to regulate a non-licensee); Shelton v. Consumer Prod. Safety Comm'n, 277 F.3d 998, 1004-05 (8th Cir.2002) (recognizing that Chevron would apply to jurisdictional question but determining that the statute was clear). 2 Lyon County also argues that the interpretation advocated by the EPA is a result of an informal process and not due full Chevron deference. See generally United States v. Mead Corp., 533 U.S. 218, 121 S.Ct. 2164, 150 L.Ed.2d 292 (2001). EAB decisions, however, are formal adjudications consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, see 5 U.S.C. §§ 554, 555; 40 C.F.R. § 22; Sultan Chemists, Inc. v. E.P.A., 281 F.3d 73, 78-79, and due Chevron deference, Mead, at 228, 230-31, 121 S.Ct. 2164. We therefore employ our traditional Chevron analysis. 7 The EPA has the authority to bring civil administrative enforcement actions. 42 U.S.C. § 7413(d)(1). 8 The Administrator's authority under this paragraph shall be limited to matters where the total penalty sought does not exceed $200,000 and the first alleged date of violation occurred no more than 12 months prior to the initiation of the administrative action, except where the Administrator and the Attorney General jointly determine that a matter involving a larger penalty amount or longer period of violation is appropriate for administrative penalty action. Any such determination by the Administrator and the Attorney General shall not be subject to judicial review. 9 42 U.S.C. § 7413(d)(1) (emphasis added). Investigators from the MPCA observed violations of the CAA on July 20th and 21st of 1994, and the EPA brought its enforcement action on July 18, 1996. The EPA argues that it has jurisdiction to bring this action, more than a year after the date of the violations, because the Administrator and Attorney General have determined that it is appropriate for administrative penalty action. Lyon County argues that the longer period of violation language in 42 U.S.C. § 7413(d)(1) must mean that the violation itself continued for more than twelve months; because the violations at issue here occurred only on two days, an administrative penalty action could not be brought more than a year after the violations. 10 When reviewing an agency's construction of the statute it administers, we first consider whether Congress has clearly resolved the issue. Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778. We consider the agency's interpretation only after finding that statute is silent or ambiguous on the question at issue. Id. Section 7413(d)(1) provides a general rule: the EPA may only bring actions administratively if the total penalty sought is less than $200,000 and the violation took place less than one year from the initiation of the administrative action. The statute then sets out an exception to this limitation: the EPA may also bring actions involving a larger penalty amount or longer period of violation if the Administrator and the Attorney General determine that the matter is appropriate for administrative penalty action. The phrase larger penalty amount or longer period of violation in this exception must be read with reference to the general rule. A larger penalty amount is a total penalty greater than $200,000. Similarly, a longer period of violation is one greater than 12 months. 11 Lyon County argues that a period of violation normally refers to the duration of the violation, the course of time that the violation continued. Read in this manner, the exception permits the EPA to bring an administrative action more than a year after a violation only if the violation itself continued for more than twelve months. The EPA argues that the period of violation must be read in connection with the initial limitation. The only time period mentioned in the limitation is the period between the violation and the initiation of an administrative action. A period of violation therefore refers to the period from when the violation occurred to the initiation of the administrative action; the period of violation is longer if the violation occurred more than twelve months from the administrative action. Because both of these interpretations are plausible, we conclude that Congress did not clearly resolve the question, and the statute is ambiguous. 12 The EPA interpreted longer period of violation to refer to a longer period of time between the first occurrence of the violation and the time the administrative action commenced. The exception therefore parallels the general limitation, with both referring to the same time period. The Administrator has the authority to unilaterally bring some administrative actions; in all other cases the Administrator may only bring an administrative action with the consent of the Attorney General. This interpretation of the statute is plausible, and we therefore defer to the EPA.