Drummond Coal Co. v. Watt

Decision Date02 July 1984
Docket NumberNo. 83-7366,83-7366
Citation735 F.2d 469
Parties, 14 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,612 DRUMMOND COAL COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, Cross-Appellee, v. James G. WATT, Defendant-Appellee, Cross-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Fournier J. Gale, III, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff-appellant, cross-appellee.

Kathleen P. Dewey, Robert L. Klarquist, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., Frank W. Donaldson, U.S. Atty., Herbert J. Lewis, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., Birmingham, Ala., Glenda Hudson, Div. of Surface Mining, Dept. of Interior, George R. Hyde, Dept. of Justice, Land and Natural Resources Div., Washington, D.C., for defendant-appellee, cross-appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Before RONEY and JOHNSON, Circuit Judges, and MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

Drummond Coal Company ("Drummond") appeals the judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, denying Drummond's petition for review and its complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief from regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior ("the Secretary"), acting through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ("OSM"), pursuant to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C.A. Secs. 1201 et seq. ("the Act"). The regulations at issue govern the reclamation fund created under the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program established by the Act. Specifically, the challenged regulation determines the method by which Drummond must calculate the fee it is required to pay into the fund on each ton of coal it produces.

The Secretary filed a cross-appeal, challenging the denial of his motion to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(3). 1 The Secretary maintains that Section 526(a)(1) of the Act, 30 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1276(a)(1), vests the United States District Court for the District of Columbia with exclusive jurisdiction to hear challenges to national regulations promulgated under the Act, and thus the district court here should have dismissed this case.

Although we believe that Drummond's challenge to the revised regulations is wholly without merit, we do not here reach that issue because we agree with the Secretary that Section 1276(a)(1) vests in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia exclusive jurisdiction over this case. Consequently, we reverse the district court's decision on the jurisdictional question, vacate its decision on the merits, and remand the case with instructions to the district court to dismiss the action.

I.

Congress in 1977 enacted the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act for the purpose of, among other things, establishing "a nationwide program to protect society and the environment from the adverse effects of surface coal mining operations," 30 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1202(a), and promoting "the reclamation of mined areas left without adequate reclamation ... which continue, in their unreclaimed condition, to substantially degrade the quality of the environment, prevent or damage the beneficial use of land or water resources, or endanger the health or safety of the public." 30 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1202(h). Title IV of the Act created the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, 30 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1231, and enacted a requirement that all coal operators subject to the statute pay into the fund a reclamation fee on every ton of coal they produce, 30 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1232.

On December 13, 1977, the Secretary first promulgated regulations governing the payment of the reclamation fee. 42 Fed.Reg. 62713 (codified at 30 C.F.R. Part 870 (1981)). These regulations, which were incorporated in the final regulations issued on October 25, 1978, 43 Fed.Reg. 49940, provided that the fee was "determined by the weight and value [of the coal] at the time of the initial bona fide sale, transfer of ownership, or use by the operator." 30 C.F.R. Sec. 870.12(b) (1981). The regulations did not prescribe the elements that define the weight and value of the coal.

The Secretary later discovered that some coal operators in Alabama, before calculating their fees, were subtracting from the actual tonnage mined a deduction for the moisture content of the coal. The Secretary in June 1982 published revised regulations prohibiting such deductions. 47 Fed.Reg. 28593 (1982). The revised regulations stated that "[t]he weight of each ton shall be determined by the actual gross weight of the coal," 30 C.F.R. Sec. 870.12(b)(3) (1983), 2 and specified that "[i]mpurities, including water, that have not been removed prior to the time of initial bona fide sale, transfer of ownership, or use by the operator shall not be deducted from the gross weight." 30 C.F.R. Sec. 870.12(b)(3)(i) (1983).

In August 1982, Drummond filed this suit challenging 30 C.F.R. Sec. 870.12 on the ground that it was arbitrary, capricious and inconsistent with the Act. 3 The Secretary in October 1982 moved the court to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that Section 1276(a)(1) conferred exclusive jurisdiction to hear challenges to national regulations on the federal district court for the District of Columbia. The district court denied the motion in January 1983, concluding that the Act provided the District of Columbia district court with concurrent jurisdiction in cases involving national regulations. In May 1983, the district court entered judgment for the Secretary on the merits of Drummond's challenge, concluding that the regulations promulgated by the Secretary were valid and not arbitrary or capricious. Drummond filed its notice of appeal, and the Secretary cross-appealed from the May judgment and the January order insofar as they determined that the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama had jurisdiction to hear challenges to national regulations promulgated under the Act.

II.

We address first the jurisdictional question raised by the Secretary. The statutory provision governing jurisdiction, 30 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1276(a)(1), states that:

Any action of the Secretary to approve or disapprove a State program or to prepare or promulgate a Federal Program pursuant to this chapter shall be subject to judicial review by the United States District Court for the District which includes the capital of the State whose program is at issue. Any action by the Secretary promulgating national rules or regulations including standards pursuant to sections 1251, 1265, 1266, and 1273 of this title shall be subject to judicial review in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit. Any other action constituting rulemaking by the Secretary shall be subject to judicial review only by the United States District Court for the District in which the surface coal mining operation is located. Any action subject to judicial review under this subsection shall be affirmed unless the court concludes that such action is arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise inconsistent with the law. A petition for review of any action subject to judicial review under this subsection shall be filed in the appropriate Court within sixty days from the date of such action, or after such date if the petition is based solely on grounds arising after the sixtieth day. Any such petition may be made by any person who participated in the administrative proceedings and who is aggrieved by the action of the Secretary.

Id. (emphasis added).

The Secretary maintains that the plain language of the statute reveals Congress' intent to vest exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to national regulations in the District Court for the District of Columbia. In addition, the Secretary contends that the legislative history and purpose of the Act, as well as case law interpreting this statute and others and a survey of jurisdictional statutes, support the Secretary's conclusion. Drummond argues that the language of the statute and its legislative history support the conclusion reached by the court below that the statute confers concurrent jurisdiction on the District of Columbia district court and all other district courts that otherwise would have jurisdiction of the case.

Only two other circuits have addressed this question, and they have not agreed on the answer. In Holmes Limestone Co. v. Andrus, 655 F.2d 732 (6th Cir.1981), cert. denied sub nom. Watt v. Homes Limestone Co., 456 U.S. 995, 102 S.Ct. 2280, 72 L.Ed.2d 1292 (1982), the Court reversed the district court's determination that the statute vested exclusive jurisdiction in the District of Columbia district court. Id. at 733. The Fourth Circuit, in Tug Valley Recovery Center v. Watt, 703 F.2d 796 (1983), without citing Holmes Limestone and with little discussion, disagreed. 4 Id. at 799 n. 3.

"It is elementary that the meaning of a statute must, in the first instance, be sought in the language in which the Act is framed." Caminetti v. United States, 242 U.S. 470, 485, 37 S.Ct. 192, 194, 61 L.Ed. 442 (1917). If the language is plain and does not lead "to absurd or wholly impracticable consequences, it is the sole evidence of the ultimate legislative intent." Id. at 490, 37 S.Ct. at 196. When the "legislative purpose is expressed in 'plain and unambiguous language, ... the ... duty of the courts is to give it effect according to its terms'." United States v. Rutherford, 442 U.S. 544, 551, 99 S.Ct. 2470, 2475, 61 L.Ed.2d 68 (1979) (quoting United States v. Lexington Mill & Elevator Company, 232 U.S. 399, 409, 34 S.Ct. 337, 340, 58 L.Ed. 658 (1914)).

Section 1276(a)(1) states that national regulations "shall be subject to judicial review in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit." 5 The language that Congress chose for this provision indicates its intent. The word "shall" is a mandatory, not permissive, form 6 and indicates a congressional intent to require that...

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