Bayview Hunters Point Comm. v. Metro. Transp., C01-0750 TEH.

Citation212 F.Supp.2d 1156
Decision Date19 July 2002
Docket NumberNo. C01-0750 TEH.,C01-0750 TEH.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of California
PartiesBAYVIEW HUNTERS POINT COMMUNITY ADVOCATES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION, et al., Defendants.

Deborah S. Reames, Anne C. Harper, Bruce Edward Nilles, Oakland, CA, Alan Ramo, Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, CA, Helen H. Kang, Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, CA, Richard T. Drury, Communities for a Better Communities, Oakland, CA, Marc Chytilo, Santa Barbara, CA, for plaintiffs.

David D. Cooke, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP, San Francisco, CA, Francis F. Chin, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter, Oakland, CA, Donald P. Margolis, City Attorney's Office, City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, for defendants.

ORDER GRANTING INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

THELTON E. HENDERSON, District Judge.

These matters came before the Court on Monday, June 10, 2002, on Plaintiffs' Motion for Permanent Injunction and Declaratory Relief Re: Civil Penalties. After careful consideration of the parties' written and oral arguments, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Plaintiffs' motion as discussed below.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1

On November 9, 2001, this Court found Defendants Metropolitan Transportation Commission ("MTC") and San Francisco Municipal Railway ("MUNI") liable for failing to implement Transportation Control Measure 2 ("TCM 2"), a provision that has been a part of California's state implementation plan ("SIP") since 1982. Bayview Hunters Point Cmty. Advocates v. Metro. Transp. Comm'n, 177 F.Supp.2d 1011, 1029-32 (N.D.Cal.2001) [hereinafter "Bayview"]. In particular, the Court found both Defendants liable for failing to achieve a 15% increase in regional transit ridership over 1982-83 levels. Id. at 1031-32. The Court also found MTC liable for failing to consult with the regional transit operators under step two of TCM 2's implementation schedule. Id. at 1030-31. However, the Court noted that such liability was inconsequential because MTC had adopted a target ridership increase, thus fulfilling the purpose of the required consultations. Id. On the other three steps of TCM 2's implementation schedule, the Court ruled in Defendants' favor.2 Id. at 1029-31.

When the Court made its liability findings, it believed that the parties would benefit from further settlement discussions regarding an appropriate remedy. Id. at 1032-33. Accordingly, the Court referred the parties to a magistrate judge for a mandatory settlement conference. Id. The parties were unfortunately not able to reach an agreement during their initial conference with Magistrate Judge Wayne D. Brazil, who was randomly assigned to handle this case. However, Plaintiffs and Defendant MUNI continued their discussions and subsequently reached an agreement. Plaintiffs lodged a copy of this agreement with the Court on May 20, 2002. Pursuant to the parties' request, the United States Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency were given 45 days in which to review and comment on the proposed agreement. This 45-day period expired on July 5, 2002, with no comments submitted by the government.3 On July 10, 2002, Plaintiffs submitted a request that this Court enter their settlement agreement with MUNI as a consent decree. Good cause appearing, the Court signed Plaintiffs' proposed order, entering the consent decree and dismissing all claims against MUNI with prejudice, on July 11, 2002.

As a result, this Court must now only decide the appropriate remedy for the liability of MTC, the sole remaining Defendant. At oral argument, the Court further limited the issues to be resolved in this order through an oral ruling from the bench. Because Plaintiffs continue to reserve their right to request penalties in this case, the Court determined that their request for declaratory relief on civil penalties was premature. Accordingly, the Court DENIED IN PART Plaintiffs' motion, without prejudice, to the extent that it seeks such relief. Thus, the only issues remaining on the instant motion are whether injunctive relief is appropriate and, if so, what such relief should encompass.

DISCUSSION
I. Appropriateness of Injunctive Relief

Because this Court "lacks any power to engage in SIP modification or revision," Bayview, 177 F.Supp.2d at 1028, the Court concludes that the only appropriate remedy in this case is injunctive relief that requires MTC to comply with TCM 2. As this Court explained in its liability order, a defendant who violates a SIP provision has only two alternatives: It must either comply with the provision or petition the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to remove the provision from the SIP. Id. In this case, MTC requested that the EPA remove TCM 2 from the SIP, but the EPA denied this request. Id. at 1022. Therefore, unless the EPA grants a subsequent request for removal of the provision, MTC's only option is compliance. Id. at 1021-22, 1028. Moreover, as the Second Circuit explained,

Once a citizen suit to enforce an EPA-approved state implementation plan has been properly commenced, the district court is obligated, upon a showing that the state has violated the plan, to issue appropriate orders for its enforcement ...

....

... Congress'[s] intention that the courts must accept [this] duty is clear and unmistakable.

Friends of the Earth v. Carey, 535 F.2d 165, 173 (2d Cir.1976) (emphasis added).

All courts that have considered the issue, including this Court, have done just that: accepted the duty imposed upon them by Congress and ordered compliance with the violated SIP provisions.4 For example, a New York district court found the state liable for failing to meet the implementation schedule set forth in its SIP. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. New York State Dep't of Envtl. Conservation, 668 F.Supp. 848, 852 (S.D.N.Y.1987). As a remedy, the court entered a scheduling order for implementation of each of the violated provisions. Id. at 852-58. Similarly, this Court previously issued injunctive relief after finding MTC, the California State Air Resources Board, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District liable for failing to comply with various SIP provisions. Citizens for a Better Env't v. Deukmejian, 731 F.Supp. 1448, 1458-62 (N.D.Cal.1990) [hereinafter "CBE I"] (SIP provisions to implement a transportation contingency plan and to adopt and implement control measures to achieve target emissions reductions for four stationary sources); Citizens for a Better Env't v. Deukmejian, 746 F.Supp. 976, 981-85 (N.D.Cal.1990) [hereinafter "CBE II"] (SIP provisions to adopt contingency measures to make reasonable further progress in reducing hydrocarbon emissions by stationary sources). In addition, another California district court held that "[i]ssuance of [an] injunction is mandatory once liability [for failing to comply with a SIP] is established." Coalition for Clean Air, Inc. v. S. Coast Air Quality Mgmt. Dist., No. CV97-6916-HLH (SHx), 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16106, at *8 (C.D.Cal. Aug. 27, 1999) (emphasis added). Accordingly, upon a finding of liability for failure to implement thirty-one control measures in the California SIP, the court issued an injunction requiring adoption and implementation of those measures by specified dates. Id. at *15-16. Finally, a New Jersey district court also issued a scheduling order requiring implementation of SIP provisions that the state was found to have violated. Am. Lung Ass'n v. Kean, Civ. A. No. 87-288, 1987 WL 31764, at *7-10 (D.N.J. Nov.19, 1987), aff'd, 871 F.2d 319 (3d Cir.1989). The court explained that it was compelled to issue such an order by the Clean Air Act:

I wish to emphasize my view that the result reached today is in no way the product of judicial discretion, but instead is in every detail compelled by the statutory law of the United States. In the Clean Air Act, Congress expressed an unmistakeable [sic] desire to attain acceptable levels of ozone pollution "as expeditiously as practicable." In compliance with the Act, New Jersey authored its own plan to control ozone pollution. In accordance with the Act, the EPA reviewed, tightened, and approved the plan. As permitted by the Act, private citizens brought this lawsuit to force New Jersey to follow the plan. In strict conformance with the Act, I have found in favor of those private citizens, and shall enter an order which requires New Jersey, simply, to implement its plan as expeditiously as practicable. The will of Congress, as embodied in the Act, demands nothing more. But it certainly insists on nothing less.

Id. at *7 (emphasis added). This Court agrees with this reading of the Act and therefore holds, as it did in the CBE litigation over a decade ago, that the Court's finding of liability compels it to issue an order requiring compliance.

MTC acknowledges that no court has ever refused to issue such relief upon finding that a defendant has failed to implement a SIP provision. However, at oral argument, it attempted to distinguish the cases described above on two grounds, neither of which persuades the Court. First, MTC argued that the SIP violation in this case is relatively minor when compared with the SIP violations in the cited cases. However, even if this contention were correct, it would not alter the fact that this Court is obligated to enforce the provisions of a SIP. E.g., Friends of the Earth, 535 F.2d at 173. State agencies, including MTC, have an "unwavering obligation" to implement SIP provisions, CBE I, 731 F.Supp. at 1458, and that obligation does not waver simply because an agency later decides to characterize a particular provision as "minor." The Court has no authority to declare that certain SIP provisions are "major" enough to demand strict compliance, while others are "minor" enough to be subject to relaxed...

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1 cases
  • Bayview Hunters v. Metropolitan Transp.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • April 6, 2004
    ...v. Metropolitan Transp. Comm'n, 177 F.Supp.2d 1011 (N.D.Cal.2001) ("Bayview I"); Bayview Hunters Point Cmty. Advocates v. Metropolitan Transp. Comm'n, 212 F.Supp.2d 1156 (N.D.Cal.2002) ("Bayview II"). On appeal, MTC argues that the District Court erred in concluding that TCM 2 constitutes a......
1 books & journal articles
  • Case summaries.
    • United States
    • Environmental Law Vol. 35 No. 3, June 2005
    • June 22, 2005
    ...I), 177 F. Supp. 2d 1011, 1033 (N.D. Cal. 2001). (2) Bayview Hunters Point Cmty. Advocates v. Metro. Transp. Comm'n (Bayview II), 212 F. Supp. 2d 1156, 1170 (N.D. Cal. (3) Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. [subsection] 7401-7671q (2000). (4) Id. [section] 7410(a)(1). (5) Id. [section] 7409(a), (b). ......

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