United States v. Stauffer Chemical Co. (464 U.S. 165)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 10, 1984 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 464 U.S. 165 · 104 S. Ct. 575
- Decided
- January 10, 1984
- Term
- October Term 1983
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. In March 1980, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried to inspect one of respondent Stauffer Chemical Co.’s Tennessee plants using private contractors in addition to full-time EPA employees, Stauffer refused to allow the private contractors to enter the plant. Stauffer argues that private contractors are not “authorized representatives” as that term is used in § 114(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act, 84 Stat. 1687, 42 U. S. C. § 7414(a)(2) (1976 ed., Supp. V). Stauffer also argues that the Government should be estopped from relitigating the question of whether private contractors are “authorized representatives” under the statute because it has already litigated that question against Stauffer and lost in connection with an attempted inspection of one of Stauffer’s plants in Wyoming. The Court of Appeals agreed with Stauffer on the merits and also on the collateral-estoppel issue. Without reaching the merits, we affirm the Court of Appeals’ holding that the Government is estopped from relitigating the statutory issue against Stauffer. On March 27, 1980, officials from EPA and the State of Tennessee, accompanied by employees of a private firm under contract to EPA, attempted to inspect Stauffer’s elemental phosphorus production plant in Mt. Pleasant, Tenn. Stauffer refused entry to the private contractors unless they…
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