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

◼ 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. - FOX

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 can challenge the amount or the terms of a repayment schedule....

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.

The amount of money the EPA has collected in fines has increased steadily since President Obama took office. In 2012, the agency took in $252 million in fines, up from just $96 million in 2009.

◼ Here's the outrage du jour: the EPA claims it can garnish your wages without a court order. Didn't Americans once have a revolution against taxes imposed without our consent? - Allen West

In essence, the EPA believes it can levy a fine — a tax — against an American as part of its own “behavior modification.”

It occurs to me that Americans have had to contend with such actions before. As a mater of fact, it was addressed in a list of grievances by a fellow named Thomas Jefferson in a document called the Declaration of Independence.

About half-way through his list of grievances, Jefferson wrote about the King of Great Britain that, “He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent out hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.” As well as “imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.”

The U.S. Constitution gives Americans the right to “petition their government for redress of grievances.” So how have we come to a point where the EPA can just write a punitive rule against our citizens?

Fox reports “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 can challenge the amount or the terms of a repayment schedule.”

◼ EPA Regulations Killing Family-Owned Peach Orchards - Daily Caller