United States v. Winchester Municipal Utilities, the Commonwealth of Kentucky

The issue presented in this appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion in ordering the United States to pay substantial attorney fees to a municipal utility found to have been violating the environmental protection laws. The district court awarded the fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412, and drew additional support for the award from Rule 11, Fed.R.Civ.P., and 28 U.S.C. § 1927. The court held, among other things, that the utility had prevailed in the litigation against it and that the government’s insistence that the utility pay a civil penalty…