“There was a massive loophole called ‘sue and settle’ that has been hurting Missourians for years, and I’m glad the EPA has joined me in stopping this harmful practice,” said Congressman Smith.
The wasteful “sue and settle” process occurs when a federal agency accepts a lawsuit from an outside advocacy organization and then, rather than defend itself, the agency settles the lawsuit out of court in a closed-door agreement.
“Sue and settle” agreements usually involve the U.S. taxpayer paying attorney fees for the radical organization. Between 2009 and 2012, these lawsuits resulted in more than 100 new regulations and tens of millions of tax dollars spent on compliance costs.
Under the Obama Administration, there were almost twice as many settlements as there were during both President Bush and President Clinton’s Administrations combined.
In his announcement, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said, “The days of regulation through litigation are over. We will no longer go behind closed doors and use consent decrees and settlement agreements to resolve lawsuits filed against the Agency by special interest groups where doing so would circumvent the regulatory process set forth by Congress. Additionally, gone are the days of routinely paying tens of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees to these groups with which we swiftly settle.”
Like Smith’s legislation, the EPA’s directive removes the incentive for outside groups to sue the federal government by barring the federal government from paying the attorney’s fees in any environmental law case arising under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, or the Endangered Species Act.
Congressman Smith has a track record of success in fighting against the sue and settle practice. In March, Smith introduced the Stop Taxpayer Funded Settlements Act with seven cosponsors. This legislation was attached to the Interior Appropriations Bill and approved by a bipartisan majority. The bill passed on September 14, 2017.
“It’s wrong for Washington to leave the ‘sue and settle’ loophole open and waste Missourians hard-earned money paying attorney fees for radical environmentalist groups and other radical, left wing organizations,” said Congressman Smith. “I’m proud that my legislation to fix this problem was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and that the EPA is following suit with closing this harmful loophole.”
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