3M Co. (Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing) v. Browner

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge RANDOLPH.

RANDOLPH, Circuit Judge:

This petition for review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s assessment of civil penalties turns on the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2462, the direct descendant of a statute of limitations enacted more than a century and a half ago. There, are three questions. Does § 2462 apply to administrative proceedings? If so, is a proceeding to assess a civil penalty an action for the enforcement of a penalty within § 2462’s meaning? If it is, does § 2462’s five-year period of limitations begin running only when EPA reasonably…