Fort Worth & Denver Ry. Co. v. Goldschmidt
| Decision Date | 23 June 1981 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. CA 4-80-258-E. |
| Citation | 518 F. Supp. 121 |
| Parties | FORT WORTH & DENVER RAILWAY COMPANY, et al. v. Neil E. GOLDSCHMIDT, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
N. Dennis G. Lyons, Charles H. Cochran, Washington, D. C., John A. Gilliam, C. Rodney Acker, Dallas, Tex., for plaintiffs.
Lawrence M. Mann, Washington, D. C., Joseph N. Boudreaux, Dallas, Tex., for intervenor.
Thomas H. Peebles, Dept. of Justice, Civil Div., Washington, D. C., Richard B. Vance, Asst. U. S. Atty., Fort Worth, Tex., for defendants.
There is pending before the Court motions for summary judgment filed by the plaintiffs, defendants, and intervenor. On December 17, 1980, a hearing on these motions was held before the Court. After careful consideration of the motions, briefs, and oral arguments, the Court makes the following ruling.
Plaintiffs, twenty-five railroads, and the Association of American Railroads ("AAR"), seek to set aside the revised Freight Car Safety Standards issued by Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration ("FRA"), pursuant to his authority under the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970. 45 U.S.C. § 421 et seq. (hereinafter "FRSA").1 These revised regulations, promulgated in December of 1979, embody the agency's substantive safety standards for railroad freight cars, and impose a standard of strict liability on the nation's railroads for any freight car found not in compliance with the regulations. 49 C.F.R. § 215 et seq.2
Plaintiffs have stated several objections to the revised regulations all of which are raised principally to contest the adoption of a strict liability standard. Plaintiffs' objections are as follows: (1) Congress could not constitutionally delegate (if in fact it did) to the FRA the power to choose the standard of legal liability, (2) the FRA lacks statutory authority to impose strict liability, (3) the FRA's strict liability regulation does not further the statutory purpose of promoting safety, (4) the FRA's penalty schedule is unlawful because it was published in violation of the notice requirements of FRSA and the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") and (5) the FRA's penalty schedule is substantively defective because it is irrational, unsupported and inadequately explained in violation of the APA.
The defendants and intervenor challenged plaintiff's objections and claim that the revised regulations and penalty schedule are substantively lawful and that both have been lawfully adopted.
Plaintiff's objections can be grouped into two categories; those that challenge the regulations and those that challenge the penalty schedule. Part A of this section will discuss those objections that related to the regulations and Part B will discuss those objections that related to the penalty schedule.
If the Court finds that the FRSA does not authorize the FRA to promulgate regulations imposing strict liability, then it would be unnecessary to consider plaintiff's remaining objections to the regulations and penalty schedule. Thus, the Court will first decide whether Congress, through the FRSA, had delegated to the FRA the power to adopt strict liability regulations.
It is a well-established axiom that an agency can only act within the scope of power that was delegated to it by the agency's enabling statute. Federal Power Commission v. Louisiana Power & Light Co., 406 U.S. 621, 92 S.Ct. 1827, 32 L.Ed.2d 369 (1972); NLRB v. Wyman—Gordon Co., 394 U.S. 759, 89 S.Ct. 1426, 22 L.Ed.2d 709 (1969); Urie v. Thompson, 337 U.S. 163, 69 S.Ct. 1018, 93 L.Ed. 1282 (1949). Thus, if Congress when enacting the FRSA, had not intended to grant the FRA the authority to adopt regulations that impose strict liability, such action on the part of the agency would be unlawful.
To determine the scope of power delegated by Congress under the FRSA the Court must construe that part of the statute that defines that conduct which is to be deemed unlawful. That critical part of the FRSA is found in § 209(a). 45 U.S.C. § 438(a). Section 209(a) states:
It shall be unlawful for a railroad to disobey, disregard, or fail to adhere to any rule, regulation, order, or standard prescribed by the Secretary under this title.
Thus, the precise question facing the Court is whether the sequence of terms, "disobey, disregard, or fail to adhere," grants to the FRA the power to adopt regulations that impose a standard of strict liability.
In interpreting a statute, the overriding consideration is to give the statute a construction that is consistent with "the purpose Congress sought to serve." Chapham v. Houston Welfare Rights Organization, 441 U.S. 600, 608, 99 S.Ct. 1905, 1911, 60 L.Ed.2d 508 (1979). See also United States v. National Broiler Marketing Ass'n., 550 F.2d 1380 (5th Cir. 1977) aff'd, 436 U.S. 816, 98 S.Ct. 2122, 56 L.Ed.2d 728 (1978); T. & S.F. Railway Co. v. United States, 617 F.2d 485 (7th Cir. 1980). The purpose of the FRSA is stated in the preamble of the statute:
The Congress declares that the purpose of this Act is to promote safety in all areas of railroad operations and to reduce railroad related accidents, and to reduce deaths and injuries to persons, and to reduce damage to property caused by accidents involving any carrier of hazardous materials. 45 U.S.C. § 421.
Thus, the interpretation that this Court finally gives to the statute must conform with the statute's stated purpose.3
The starting point in the construction of a statute is the words that Congress had chosen to express its will. The plain meaning of those words is controlling and there is no need for the Court to invoke aids to construction, unless the plain meaning of those words, in the context of the statute, is ambiguous or the plain meaning is contrary to the clearly expressed legislative intent. Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S. 102, 108, 100 S.Ct. 2051, 2056, 64 L.Ed.2d 766 (1980); Aaron v. SEC, 446 U.S. 680, 690, 100 S.Ct. 1945, 1952, 64 L.Ed.2d 611 (1980); Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder, 425 U.S. 185, 201, 96 S.Ct. 1375, 1384, 47 L.Ed.2d 668 (1976).4 If the plain meaning of the phrase "disregard, disobey or fail to adhere" authorizes the adoption of regulations that impose strict liability on the railroads, and if one of the exceptions does not apply, this Court must not further question that result.
Both parties have exhaustively analyzed the origins and derivations of the words in question. Both have reached opposite conclusions as to whether the phrase "disregard, disobey or fail to adhere" authorizes the adoption of strict liability or if that phrase requires some form of scienter before a railroad could be charged with a violation of the statute.5 Thus, it appears that the meaning of the phrase in question is not as plain as the parties contend.
The parties agree, and the Court along with them, that the words "disregard" and "disobey" plainly imply some form of scienter. However, the parties disagree as to the plain meaning of the phrase "fail to adhere." Therefore, the Court's discussion will focus on that phrase and principally the word "adhere."
Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1971),6 gives six definitions for the word adhere, of which the following three are relevant to the Court's discussion: "to hold, follow, or maintain loyalty steadily and consistently (as to a person, group, principle, or way) ... to be consistent or in accord.... to agree to join, bind oneself to observance (as of a treaty).7
The first definition, which uses the word "loyalty," implies a moral and conscious state of mind. One cannot be by mistake or accident loyal to an idea or standard. One would have to consciously adopt that idea or standard, in order to be loyal to it. By the same token, the third definition implies a conscious state of mind on the part of the actor. One has to know the subject matter of a contention before one could agree to it. Therefore, from the standpoint of these two definitions, it cannot be said that Congress intended that regulations may be adopted which impose strict liability.
However, there is not that same sense of a mental state in the second definition. "To be consistent or in accord" does not necessarily imply a conscious effort on the part of the actor. One can be consistent or in accord with a standard by mistake or accident. From this definition of "adhere," it can be said that Congress did intend that regulations could be adopted that impose strict liability.
From this analysis of the plain meaning of the word "adhere," the Court concludes that the plain meaning implies both a scienter and strict liability standard.8 Therefore, the word "adhere" and consequently the phrase "fail to adhere" is ambiguous in the context of the FRSA, and the Court finds that it is necessary to employ other rules of statutory construction.
Because the plain meaning of the phrase "disobey, disregard, or fail to adhere" is ambiguous when used in the context of the FRSA, the Court turns to the legislative history of the FRA to determine whether it sheds any light on congressional intent as to the standard of liability to be imposed on the railroads.
In trying to discern congressional intent by examining the legislative history of a statute, the Court must primarily look to "the purpose the original enactment served, the discussion of statutory meaning in committee reports, the effect of amendments— whether accepted or rejected—and the remarks in debate in preceding passage." Rogers v. Frito-Lay, Inc., 611 F.2d 1074, 1080 (5th Cir. 1980).
The purpose of the FRSA as stated in its preamble9 would not be frustrated by an interpretation which allows the FRA to adopt regulations imposing strict liability. However,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Sweet v. Port Terminal R.R. Ass'n
...the defect. See Fort Worth and Denver Ry. Co. v. Lewis, 693 F.2d 432, 433, 439 (5th Cir.1982); see also Fort Worth and Denver Ry. Co. v. Goldschmidt, 518 F.Supp. 121, 131 (N.D.Tex.1981), rev'd on other grounds, 693 F.2d 432 (5th Cir.1982). In 1978, the Federal Railroad Administration began ......
-
Fort Worth and Denver Ry. Co. v. Lewis
...of the FRSA does authorize the FRA to adopt regulations which impose a standard of strict liability. Fort Worth & Denver Ry. Co. v. Goldschmidt, 518 F.Supp. 121, 134 (N.D.Tex.1981). The district court follows this analysis by noting that, in its view, the statute authorizes the adoption of ......