As much as I've always found EPA's use of unilateral administrative orders under Section 106 of CERCLA to be offensive, I still expected EPA's authority to withstand challenge. As I noted previously, not every law that is unfair is unconstitutional. At least for now, the issue has probably been laid to rest. Yesterday, the Supreme Court denied GE's petition for certiorari seeking to appeal the D.C. Circuit's rejection of its claim that EPA's exercise of its unilateral order authority is unconstitutional.
CERCLA has been constitutional for almost as long as Francisco Franco has been dead – and they're both likely to remain that way.
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