Life and Times of a Raggamuffin II

After a brief silence, I said, sort of thinking out loud: “We do have the authority to issue an abatement order to the Navy.” The admiral looked at me and grinned. He said: “Tell me a bit more about that”. I responded by outlining what is called a “Consent Order”. Such orders are issued where an organization is in violation of Federal law or policy and the guilty party has agreed to do something about that. Where EPA then agrees to accept the response proposed by the organization in violation, a consent order can be issued. That order requires the guilty party to implement the agreed plan. There is a reason that it is important to do that. Federal environmental law permits third parties to sue persons who are in violation of its provisions. However, federal courts will not accept such a third-party lawsuit if there is a federal order in place that addresses the violation. Thus, in effect, such an order puts the organization which is subject to it in a position of being in a “not in violation status” so long as they diligently pursue implementation of the actions and schedules set forth in the consent order. I cautioned the Admiral that he should get his lawyers to give him an explanation, as I was not a lawyer, and so might not understand all the nuances of such an order. Again, he and Lou looked at each other, Lou nodded, and so the Admiral offered: “Let’s do it”.