In the United States Department of Energy v. Ohio et al., 1991, the Supreme Court ruled on whether federal facilities were subject to fines under state laws for pollution violations. The case arose after Ohio sued the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors for discharging radioactive waste into a river from a uranium processing plant in violation of both federal Clean Water Act and state water pollution control statutes. The DOE argued that it was immune from such penalties due to sovereign immunity, which protects government entities from lawsuits without their consent. The court held that while states could not impose fines on federal agencies for past infractions (due to sovereign immunity), they could enforce penalties related to ongoing or future violations as these are considered coercive rather than punitive actions aimed at compelling compliance with environmental regulations rather than punishing past behavior. This decision clarified how far states can go in enforcing their own environmental laws against federal facilities.

The dissenting opinion in the case of United States Department of Energy v. Ohio disagreed with the majority's interpretation of federal immunity under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The dissent argued that Congress did not intend to grant such broad immunity to federal agencies, as it would undermine environmental regulations. They contended that by allowing a federal agency to escape fines for past pollution violations, it could potentially encourage negligent behavior among other government entities. Furthermore, they believed this ruling contradicted previous decisions where states were allowed to impose penalties on federal facilities violating state-imposed environmental standards. Therefore, they felt this decision was inconsistent with both legislative intent and judicial precedent.