Department of Energy v. Ohio, 503 U.S. 607, 14 (1992)

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620

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY v. OHIO

Opinion of the Court

haus, 463 U. S., at 685-686. Ohio's reading is therefore to be rejected. See United States v. Nordic Village, Inc., ante, at 37.

B

The relevant portion of the CWA's federal-facilities section provides that

"[e]ach department, agency, or instrumentality of the . . . Federal Government . . . shall be subject to, and comply with, all Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements, administrative authority, and process and sanctions respecting the control and abatement of water pollution in the same manner . . . as any nongovernmental entity . . . . The preceding sentence shall apply (A) to any requirement whether substantive or procedural (including any recordkeeping or reporting requirement, any requirement respecting permits and any other requirement, whatsoever), (B) to the exercise of any Federal, State or local administrative authority, and (C) to any process and sanction, whether enforced in Federal, State, or local courts or in any other manner. . . . [T]he United States shall be liable only for those civil penalties arising under Federal law or imposed by a State or local court to enforce an order or the process of such court." 33 U. S. C. § 1323(a).

Ohio rests its argument for waiver as to punitive fines on two propositions: first, that the statute's use of the word "sanction" must be understood to encompass such fines, see Brief for Respondent Ohio 26-29; and, second, with respect to the fines authorized under a state permit program approved by EPA, that they "aris[e] under Federal law" despite their genesis in state statutes, and are thus within the scope of the "civil penalties" covered by the congressional waiver, id., at 29-35.

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