Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Resources v. Fiore

491 A.2d 284, 88 Pa. Commw. 418, 1984 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 2185
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 7, 1984
DocketNo. 2083 C.D. 1983
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 491 A.2d 284 (Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Resources v. Fiore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Resources v. Fiore, 491 A.2d 284, 88 Pa. Commw. 418, 1984 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 2185 (Pa. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Barry,

This matter comes before the Court upon application by the Department of Environmental Resources (DER) for a preliminary injunction to enjoin William Fiore, d/b/a Municipal and Industrial Disposal Company (Fiore), from refusing access to his property to DER employees who are seeking to conduct inspections and collect effluent and ground water samples. This Court’s jurisdiction is invoked pursuant to Sec[420]*420tion. 761(a)(2) of the Judicial Code, as amended, 42 P.S. §761(a)(2); Section 601 of the Clean Streams Law of Pennsylvania, Act of June 27, 1937, No. 394, P.L. 1987, as amended, 35 P.S. §691.601; and Section 604 of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act, Act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380, No. 97, 35 P.S. §6018.604.

These same parties previously appeared before this Court on DER’s request for enforcement of a consent order and a request for a contempt citation against Fiore. It was at that time established that Fiore owns and operates various solid waste disposal facilities in Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

At this first proceeding DER claimed Fiore entered into a consent order and agreement where he basically agreed to undertake a number of clean up operations in order to make his facility comply with the applicable requirements of the Solid Waste Management Act. DER alleged that Fiore had failed to comply with this agreement. This Court found that Fiore had voluntarily entered into a valid agreement and, on October 28, 1983, it issued a court order which found Fiore in civil contempt for violating various sections of the agreement and ordered, inter alia, immediate compliance with all of the provisions set forth in the agreement. This order is presently on appeal to the Supreme Court. No supersedeas has been granted.

The application for preliminary injunction which is now before this Court was filed by DER at the same docket number as the initial action just discussed. The facts which give rise to this action are not in dispute. On October 31, 1984, DER employees attempted to gain access to Fiore’s property in order to conduct an inspection. Fiore admits that he refused them access to his property because they did not have a [421]*421search warrant. DER is seeking an injunction which would essentially give its employees access to Fiore’s property “on a continuing basis”.

Fiore has filed a Motion to Dismiss where he argues that this Court has been divested of jurisdiction by the appeal to the Supreme Court. Pa. R.A.P. 1701(a). DER, on the other hand, submits that this Court has jurisdiction based on Pa. R.A.P. 1701(b) (1) which provides:

(b) Authority of a trial court or agency after appeal. After an appeal is taken or review of a quasijudicial order is sought, the trial court or other government unit may:
(1) Take such action as may be necessary to preserve the status quo, correct formal errors in papers relating to the matter, cause the record to be transcribed, approved, filed and transmitted, grant leave to appeal in forma pauperis, grant supersedeas, and take other action permitted or required by these rules or otherwise ancillary to the appeal or petition for review proceeding.

It is DER’s contention that this present action is ancillary to the original action which was decided by this Court on October 28, 1983. We agree.

An ancillary proceeding is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary 79 (5th ed. 1979) as “[o]ne growing out of or auxiliary to another action or suit, or which is subordinate to or in aid of a primary action, either at law or in equity.” DER is seeking this injunction so that it may inspect the property in question in order to determine, inter alia, whether Fiore is complying with this Court’s order of October 28, 1983. It is in this respect that this second action is ancillary to the initial contempt action and, therefore, is property before this Court.

[422]*422The other legal question raised by this case is one of first impression in this Commonwealth. This Court must determine whether §608 of the Solid Waste Management Act and §5(b)(8) of the Clean Streams Law grant to DER and its employees the authority to conduct warrantless inspections of Fiore’s property. If these provisions do authorize warrantless inspections then .this Court must decide whether these inspections violate the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Section 608 of the Solid Waste Management Act provides:

The department and its agents and 'employees shall :

(1) Have access to, and require the production of, books and papers, documents, and physical evidence pertinent to any matter under investigation.
(2) Require any person or municipality engaged in the storage, transportation, processing, treatment or disposal of any solid waste to establish and maintain such records and make such reports and furnish such information as the department may prescribe.
(3) Enter any building, property, premises or place where solid waste is generated, stored, processed, treated or disposed of for the purposes of making such investigation or inspection as may be necessary to ascertain the compliance or noncompliance by any person or municipality with the provisions of this act and the rules or regulations promulgated hereunder. In connection with such inspection or investigation, samples may be taken of any solid, semisolid, liquid or contained gaseous material for analysis. If [423]*423any analysis is made of such samples, a copy of the results of the analysis shall be furnished within five business days to the person having apparent authority over the building, property, premises or place.

35 P.S. §6018.608.

Section 5(b)(8) of the Clean Streams Law states:

(b) The department shall have the power and its duty shall be to:
(8) Make such inspections of public or private property as are necessary to determine compliance with the provisions of this act, and the rules, regulations, orders or permits issued hereunder.

35 P.S. §691.5(b)(8).

DEB relies exclusively on these two provisions to argue that it is entitled to conduct warrantless inspections and collect effluent and ground samples from Fiore’s property. Although these provisions do not expressly authorize warrantless searches, it is reasonable to assume that they were intended to have exactly that effect. To construe them otherwise would render them meaningless, particularly in view of the fact that DEB’s right to enter Fiore’s premises upon obtaining a valid search warrant is not dependent upon either of the provisions in question.

The question then becomes whether this grant of power is violative of the Fourth Amendment and in a recent decision, the United States Supreme Court outlined the factors which must be considered in determining the constitutionality of legislation of this nature. At issue in Donovan v. Dewey, 452 U.S. 594, (1981), was a provision of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 which expressly authorizes warrantless inspections of underground and surface mines. DEB relies on this case to argue that the pro[424]

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Related

Commonwealth v. Blosenski Disposal Service
566 A.2d 845 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1989)
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516 A.2d 704 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
491 A.2d 284, 88 Pa. Commw. 418, 1984 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 2185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-department-of-environmental-resources-v-fiore-pacommwct-1984.