People of State of Cal. v. Walters, 83-6368
| Decision Date | 14 January 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-6368,83-6368 |
| Citation | 751 F.2d 977 |
| Parties | , 14 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,922, 15 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,291 PEOPLE OF the STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Harry WALTERS, Administrator; Veterans Administration; Veterans Administration Medical Center (Brentwood and Wadsworth Hospital Center), Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Steven R. Tekosky, Deputy City Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant.
Dean K. Dunsmore, Washington, D.C., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Before GOODWIN, FARRIS and POOLE, Circuit Judges.
Believing that someone at the Veterans Administration hospital in western Los Angeles had disposed of hazardous medical waste in violation of California law, the city attorney initiated a criminal prosecution in municipal court against the Veterans Administration and Walters, its administrator.
The complaint was removed to district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1442(a). The district court dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the defendants were protected by sovereign immunity and that their immunity had not been clearly and unambiguously waived. The city attorney appeals and we affirm.
Both parties agree that this case is in essence against the United States, that the United States may not be sued without its consent, and that a waiver of sovereign immunity must be clearly and unambiguously expressed. United States v. Mitchell, 445 U.S. 535, 538, 100 S.Ct. 1349, 1351, 63 L.Ed.2d 607 (1980); Hancock v. Train, 426 U.S. 167, 179, 96 S.Ct. 2006, 2012, 48 L.Ed.2d 555 (1976). The sole question is whether 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6961 clearly and unambiguously waives the government's sovereign immunity. The relevant portion of Sec. 6961 provides:
Application of Federal, State, and local law to Federal facilities
Each department, agency, and instrumentality of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government (1) having jurisdiction over any solid waste management facility or disposal site, or (2) engaged in any activity resulting, or which may result, in the disposal or management of solid waste or hazardous waste shall be subject to, and comply with, all Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements, both substantive and procedural (including any requirement for permits or reporting or any provisions for injunctive relief and such sanctions as may be imposed by a court to enforce such relief), respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal in the same manner, and to the same extent, as any person is subject to such requirements, including the payment of reasonable service charges. Neither the United States, nor any agent, employee, or officer thereof, shall be immune or exempt from any process or sanction of any State or Federal Court with respect to the enforcement of any such injunctive relief.
The city attorney contends that California's criminal sanctions regarding disposal of infectious wastes constitute a "substantive or procedural requirement" with which the Veterans Administration must comply pursuant to Sec. 6961. We disagree. State waste disposal standards, permits, and reporting duties clearly are "requirements" for the purpose of Sec. 6961. Criminal sanctions, however, are not a "requirement" of state law within the meaning of Sec. 6961, but rather the means by which the standards, permits, and reporting duties are enforced. Section 6961 plainly waives immunity to sanctions imposed to enforce injunctive relief, but this only makes more conspicuous its failure to waive immunity to criminal sanctions.
The city attorney also argues that Sec. 6961 waives sovereign immunity to criminal sanctions in light of Hancock v. Train, ...
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