DIRTY MONEY? EPA claims it can garnish alleged rule violators wages

[DeepseekerADS]

DIRTY MONEY? EPA claims it can garnish alleged rule violators' wages

This thread is not intended to be political. Note that this includes GOLD PROSPECTING!

EPA claims it has the power to garnish wages without court approval | Fox News



EPA claims it has the power to garnish wages without court approval

Published July 09, 2014
FoxNews.com

The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly claimed that it has the authority to unilaterally garnish the wages of individuals who have been accused of violating its rules.

According to The Washington Times, the agency announced the plan to enhance its purview last week in a notice in the Federal Register. The notice claimed that federal law allows the EPA to "garnish non-Federal wages to collect delinquent non-tax debts owed the United States without first obtaining a court order."

The notice went on to say that the EPA had fast-tracked the new rule, enabling it to take effect September 2 unless the agency receives enough adverse public comments by August 1. The EPA said the rule was not subject to review because it was not a "significant regulatory action."

The EPA has claimed this new authority by citing the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, which gives all federal agencies the power to conduct administrative wage garnishment, provided that the agency allows for hearings at which debtors to challenge the amount or the terms of repayment schedule.

The plan has drawn protests from conservatives, including Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who told The Washington Times, "The EPA has a history of overreaching its authority. It seems like once again the EPA is trying to take power it doesn’t have away from American citizens.”

The conservative Heritage Foundation claimed that the rule gives the EPA "unbridled discretion" over the process of challenging fines. David Addington, group vice president for research at Heritage, told the Times that the rule not only puts the burden of proof on the debtor, rather than the agency, but also allows the EPA to decide whether a debtor even gets a chance to present a defense before picking whomever it chooses to serve as a hearing officer.

 

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[Gold Maven]

start messing with peoples wages, and watch the sh** hit the fan.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Power grab: EPA wants to garnish wages of polluters - Washington Times

Power grab: EPA wants to garnish wages of polluters

Accused violators of pollution laws would have little recourse

S.A. Miller

The Washington Times

Tuesday, July 8, 2014



The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly floated a rule claiming authority to bypass the courts and unilaterally garnish paychecks of those accused of violating its rules, a power currently used by agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service.

The EPA has been flexing its regulatory muscle, collecting more fines each year and hitting individuals with costly penalties for violating environmental rules, including recently slapping a $75,000 fine on Wyoming homeowner Andy Johnson for building a pond on his rural property.

“The EPA has a history of overreaching its authority. It seems like once again the EPA is trying to take power it doesn’t have away from American citizens,” Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican, said when he learned of the EPA’s wage garnishment scheme.

Others questioned why the EPA decided to strengthen its collection muscle at this time.

Critics said the threat of garnishing wages would be a powerful incentive for people to agree to expensive settlements rather than fight EPA charges.

EPA officials did not respond to repeated questions by The Washington Times about why they thought it was necessary to garnish people’s wages.

The EPA announced the plan last week in a notice in the Federal Register, saying federal law allows it “to garnish non-Federal wages to collect delinquent non-tax debts owed the United States without first obtaining a court order.”

The agency cited authority under the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 that centralized federal collection operations under the Treasury Department, which oversees garnishments of wages or tax refund checks.

Under the law, every federal agency has the authority to conduct administrative wage garnishment, provided the agency adopts approved rules for conducting hearings where debtors can challenge the amount of debt or terms of repayment schedule, a Treasury official said.

Still, the rule would give the EPA sweeping authority to dictate how and whether Americans could dispute fines and penalties, even as the amount of EPA fines collected from individuals, businesses and local governments steadily increase.

The amount of fines raked in by the agency has jumped from $96 million in 2009 to $252 million in 2012, a more than 160 percent increase, according to EPA annual reports.

Putting the collection powers on a fast track, the agency announced it in the Federal Register as a “direct final rule” that would take effect automatically Sept. 2, unless the EPA receives adverse public comments by Aug. 1.

The EPA said it deemed the action as not a “significant regulatory action” and therefore not subject to review.

The negative reactions began almost immediately.

In a comment letter submitted to the EPA, the conservative Heritage Foundation faulted the rule for giving the government “unbridled discretion” in controlling the process for challenging fines and wage garnishment, such as dictating the site of a hearing without consideration of the time and travel expense placed on the accused debtor.

The rule allows the EPA to decide whether a debtor gets a chance to present a defense and then picks whomever it chooses to serve as a hearing officer, even someone not trained as an administrative law judge, wrote David S. Addington, group vice president for research at The Heritage Foundation.

It also puts the burden of proof on the debtor, not the EPA, he said.

The EPA has been on the front lines of the battle over the climate change agenda, including issuing proposed rules that would require coal-fired power plants to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent over 15 years.

Critics say it will cause massive increases in the cost of electricity, lead to power shortages and eliminate jobs, while making scant impact on the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted worldwide.

The agency has been a magnet for criticism over new rules on things such as wood-burning stoves and small streams or ponds on private land, including waterways on farms and golf courses.

 

[rodoconnor]

So if you contact the EPA with an Adverse Publ8ic Comment will they also garnish your wages?

 

[redbeardrelics]

Abolish the EPA, and let the sovereign states take over from there.

 

[Hoser John]

them sic sobs

 

[russau]

That is a violation of our civil rights. your innocent UNTILL PROVEN GUILTY! how would they get all of your PRIVATE information if you kept your mouth shut! plus I heard they bought the Brooklyn Bridge and was going to raise the fees for crossing it by $5.00 each way to fund some frog research in Alaska starting Jan.1st 2015!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well they're stepping on their own feet this time for sure. With all of the other bad press they've gotten the last few years trying to pull something like this wasn't the brightest of moves!!!! They want to do this and yet they give major polluters a slap on the hand when it comes to fines! This has got to be the worst run agency in our government.

 

[goldhog]

"If we receive no adverse comment, the direct final rule will go into effect and we will not take further action on this proposed rule."

DATES: Written comments must be received by August 1, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments by one of the following methods:

1. Email: [email protected]

2. Fax: (202) 565-2585.

3. Mail: OCFO-2014-0001; FRL-9910-13-OCFO, FPPS c/o Anita Jones,

 

[2cmorau]

remember when we had to put Social Security number on the application for a dredge permit, does anybody know why this ended

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

THIS, from an agency whose employees have to be told to keep their bathrooms clean and not poop in the hallway?

The EPA's Denver office has an environmental problem of its own to clean up | Westword

 

[Duckwalk]

Everyone is talking about permits and claims and ect, im over here in GA like "hey, whats that stuff?"

 

[Oakview2]

My reply

Your garnishment of wages plan, is in direct violation of the US Constitution and the guarantee of due process. You illegal act under the color of law, is regulatory, and cannot be confused with law, which can only be passed by the Congress. You will be in violation of Section 242 of Title 18 of the U.S.C and we as citizen of the US will petition the attorney general and the department of justice to file felony criminal charges against anyone in your agency who violates this statute

Sincerely

My name.

Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person acting under color of any law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.
For the purpose of Section 242, acts under "color of law" include acts not only done by federal, state, or local officials within the their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official's lawful authority, if the acts are done while the official is purporting to or pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties. Persons acting under color of law within the meaning of this statute include police officers, prisons guards and other law enforcement officials, as well as judges, care providers in public health facilities, and others who are acting as public officials. It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by animus toward the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of the victim. The offense is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any.

TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242

• Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
  

 

[KevinInColorado]

remember when we had to put Social Security number on the application for a dredge permit, does anybody know why this ended

This Q is sort of a sidebar but...a federal paperwork reduction act a number of years ago naturally created more federal paperwork but did remove SSN from a number of forms where it was not actually used.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Many courts (including the Supreme Court) have ruled that a court judgement is required before a Federal lien can be enforced. Don't let them bully you with words. Inform your bank that if they honor liens without proof of judgement that you can, and will, hold them liable.

On a side note - Dredge permits are not Federal so it's nothing to do with the Federal Paperwork Reduction Act.

Many States have implemented laws preventing the use of SSN's in public documents. California was one of them. Too easy to look up a politicians past these days if you've got his SSN and $25.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Objection going in fax tomorrow....

 

[M.E.G.]

Convicted felon designed EPA's playbook for faking science
Convicted felon designed EPA's playbook for faking science | WashingtonExaminer.com

 

[2cmorau]

Oakview well writhen

thanks for posting title 18 i will add this to my next complaint
thanks guys for answering the ssn

 

[Oakview2]

Glad to see you are feeling better and are back in the fight.

 

[2cmorau]

Thanks Oak

[any person to] the deprivation of rights . . ."Section 1983 is not itself a source of substantive rights, it merely provides a method for the vindication of rights elsewhere conferred in the United States Constitution and Laws. Therefore, a plaintiff may prevail only if he can demonstrate that he was deprived of rights secured by the United States Constitution or federal statutes. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss all of the rights available under the United States Constitution, nevertheless, this article will provide an overview of perhaps the most utilized of all constitutional provisions--the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause [hereinafter "the Due Process Clause"].[SUP]<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[34]<!--[endif]-->[/SUP]
42 U.S.C. 1983 Overview