Four years ago, a couple, Chantell and Mike Sackett, bought half an acre in Idaho, with plans to build. The property is surrounded by acreage and new homes, but the EPA singled out the Sackett
property, ordered them to cease and desist, pay fines and return the property to its original nature state. The EPA had determined that this small piece
of property was a “wet land.” Under
existing law, the Sacketts were not
allowed a hearing or an appeal of any sort.
They filed on the EPA and,
last week, found out that the
High Court will hear their case.
The AP is reporting that several conservative members of the
Supreme Court criticized the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday for
heavy-handed enforcement of rules affecting homeowners after the government
told an Idaho couple they can't challenge an order declaring their future home
site a "protected wetlands."
Justice Antonin Scalia assailed the "high-handedness"
of the environmental agency when dealing with private property, and Justice
Samuel Alito described some of the EPA's actions as "outrageous,"
arguing that most people would say "this kind of thing can't happen in the
United States."
Justice Alito added, “You
think maybe there is a little drainage problem in part of your lot, so you
start to build the house and then you get an order from the EPA which says:
‘You have filled in wetlands, so you can’t build your house; remove the fill,
put in all kinds of plants; and now you have to let us on your premises
whenever we want to. You have to turn
over to us all sorts of documents, and for every day that you don’t do all this
you are accumulating a potential fine of $75,000. And by the way, there is no
way you can go to court to challenge our determination that this is a wetlands
until such time as we choose to sue you.”
Understand that this episode began under the Bush
Administration, proving that the EPA has been running wild for many years.
The court will make a decision by July of this year. Thank God for folks with enough money to
fight battles the rest of us cannot afford.
Thank God for the Sacketts. And for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing them FREE OF CHARGE.
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