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PAYMENT OF FEES IMPOSED BY STATE AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO IMPLEMENT SARA TITLE III The EPA Office of General Counsel maintains that federal departments and agencies are not obligated to pay fees charged by state and local authorities for the purpose of implementing SARA Title III and may indeed be prohibited from paying such fees . This conclusion is based upon two considerations. (1 ) Federal departments and agencies are not legally obligated to comply with SARA Title III. However unappealing to a federal agency or department that wishes to meet the requirements of SARA Title III , the fact remainsthat s the federal government inot legally obligated to comply with the law, and thus has no obligation to pay fees imposed by state and local authorities to implement the law. ( 2) Any state or local fee imposed upon a federal facility would. likely be interpreted as a "tax" upon the federal government. The doctrine of sovereign immunity and the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution combine to prohibit states from taxing the federal government or its activities. Unless a fee is levied as a "service charge" for the reasonable value of services actually rendered, a fee is interpreted as a tax. It appears that most fees imposed by local authorities under Title III are imposed to process the reports that must be submitted by facilities under the Act , and to prepare contingency plans. While such activities bestow a benefit upon federal departments or agencies reporting under the law by ensuring a safer environment , that is a general benefit resulting from the implementation of the statute , and is not a service rendered by the state and local authorities for the benefit of the particular federal facility that reports . Furthermore , the obligation upon state and local authorities to prepare contingency plans and make reports publicly available are statutorily required. Thus most , if not all , fees imposed upon federal facilities by the authorities implementing SARA Title III are likely to be interpreted as a "tax" upon the federal government. As stated above , the federal government may not pay a state imposed tax.