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Committee forwards memorial asking federal review of Equal Access to Justice Act
Summary
The Resources & Environment Committee voted to send HJM 6 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation after Representative Mark Sauter and Representative Stephanie Mickelson said the Equal Access to Justice Act has been used in ways that slow federal natural-resource projects and may diverge from the law's original intent.
The Resources & Environment Committee voted to send House Memorial HJM 6 to the floor with a "do pass" recommendation after Representative Mark Sauter described concerns about how the Equal Access to Justice Act (EJA) is applied in environmental and natural-resource litigation.
Representative Mark Sauter, District 1, Sandpoint, told the committee that the EJA, enacted in 1980, was intended to reimburse reasonable attorney fees for private parties who prevail against the federal government, citing examples such as Social Security and veterans' claims. Sauter said a 1989 Supreme Court decision "liberalized" the program's interpretation so that prevailing on all claims was not required and that courts found a lesser showing could justify fee awards. He said that change has allowed use of the EJA in a broader set of natural-resource disputes and that, in his view, those uses have slowed or complicated projects. "If you want a timber sale our Forest Service right now has decided in Boundary County to not even have any projects in the next year because they've been bogged down so much with this," Sauter said.
Representative Stephanie Mickelson, speaking in her personal capacity, said she had sued the federal government and "tried to apply for EJIF funds after we spent over a million dollars on legal fees." She said, based on her experience, judges had told her that pursuing reimbursement "would take too much time," and she expressed concern that the program as currently used no longer matches its original purpose. Mickelson urged support for the memorial.
Sauter said the memorial asks the federal government to "reevaluate how it works" for environmental and natural-resource issues and to consider whether the law is being used as originally intended.
Senator Guthrie moved that HJM 6 be sent to the floor with a do-pass recommendation; Senator Cook seconded the motion. The committee proceeded by voice vote; the chair called for ayes and then stated, "Motion carries." Exact roll-call counts were not recorded in the transcript.
HJM 6, as described by the sponsor, is a memorial intended to ask the federal delegation and agencies to review application of the Equal Access to Justice Act in environmental and natural-resource litigation.
