Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R. Co. v. U.S.

Decision Date19 September 1991
Docket NumberNo. 91-3003,91-3003
PartiesRICHMOND, FREDERICKSBURG & POTOMAC RAILROAD COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America; Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Howard H. Stahl, Steptoe & Johnson, Washington, D.C., argued (John R. Labovitz, David A. Price, Charles F. Monk, Jr., Washington, D.C., Charles A. Hartz, Jr., Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R. Jeffrey Paul Kehne, Environment & Natural Resources Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., argued (Richard B. Stewart, Asst. Atty. Gen., Fred C. Wagner, Jacques B. Gelin, Environment & Natural Resources Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., on brief for defendant-appellee U.S.; Richard K.A. Becker, Hogan & Hartson, McLean, Va., William T. Coleman, Donald T. Bliss, Nancy E. McFadden, O'Melveny & Myers, Robert L. Polk, Arnold I. Melnick, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Washington, D.C., on brief for defendant-appellee Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority), for defendants-appellees.

Co., Richmond, Va., on brief), for plaintiff-appellant.

Before ERVIN, Chief Judge, and PHILLIPS and MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

ERVIN, Chief Judge:

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company brought this action under the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2409a, to quiet title in certain real property in northern Virginia. We find, as did the district court, that the action is barred by the Quiet Title Act's statute of limitations. Therefore, we affirm the district court's dismissal of the action.

I.

In 1938, the United States Secretary of the Interior and Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company (RF & P) executed an indenture by means of which various property rights in 17 parcels of land in the vicinity of the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway were exchanged. Having authorized the construction of this highway in 1928, Congress in 1930 incorporated it into the larger George Washington Memorial Parkway project. Act of May 29, 1930, 46 Stat. 482. The 1930 Act provided that the George Washington Memorial Parkway (the Parkway) was to be administered by what is now the National Park Service. Since 1953 the Parkway has been a part of the National Park System. 1 In its administration of the Parkway, the National Park Service is under a Congressional mandate to conserve the highway's scenic value. 16 U.S.C.A. § 1 (West 1974) (as amended). The National Park Service executes this mandate by planting and landscaping within existing Parkway boundaries and by acquiring scenic easements over adjoining lands.

The 1938 indenture sought to resolve doubts concerning the boundaries between land claimed to be owned by both parties and to settle controversies as to their respective rights, titles, interests and estates. The government wanted to protect the views from the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, while RF & P sought to clear its title to areas it needed for the expansion of Potomac Yard and other railroad-related facilities. In the indenture, the United States quitclaimed to RF & P a tract, labelled "Area 3," encompassing roughly 40 acres near Four Mile Run just west of the Parkway's original route. The land at issue in this appeal constitutes a portion of Area 3 which underlies a section of RF & P's main line between Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia, and part of RF & P's Potomac Yard.

The quitclaim was not, however, an unconditional transfer of the land. The indenture specifies that the transferred land is subject to a use restriction, which provides that the property is "to be used by [RF & P], its successors and assigns, solely for the construction, maintenance and operation of its main line tracks and ways and a freight yard in connection therewith." This restriction is further restated as a covenant, of which the burden is to run with Area 3 and the benefit is to run with adjacent lands owned by the United States. The covenant states that RF & P "will not use ... Area 3 for any purpose other than the construction, maintenance and operation by it of its main line railroad tracks and ways and a freight yard in connection therewith."

In 1938, Area 3 was separated from the Parkway by two other parcels of land. When Washington National Airport was created, the segment of the Parkway that paralleled Area 3 was moved to the west to its present location, so that the Parkway now crosses land that was within the bounds of Area 3 at the time of the indenture. In 1975 and 1977, the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority purchased a narrow strip of Area 3 from RF & P for the construction of a Metrorail line serving stops in northern Virginia. This Metrorail corridor adjoins Parkway land administered by the National Park Service. As a result, the traffic lanes of the Parkway are now separated from the 36-acre portion of Area 3 that remains in RF & P's control only by a narrow strip of Parkway land and by the Metrorail right of way.

Recently, commercial developers in whose enterprises RF & P has an interest have proposed to construct on the land at issue two major projects near the Washington National Airport. Alexandria city officials and citizen groups have opposed these projects, fearing that they will destroy the Parkway area as originally envisioned by Congress and create major traffic congestion, and have made efforts to block the development entirely. As a compromise solution, the National Park Service, while reasserting the effectiveness of the 1938 quitclaim restriction and covenant on Area 3, has offered to negotiate with the developers and RF & P. The National Park Service proposes to drop the railroad use restriction on Area 3 if the developers will give up their right 2 to build an interchange with the Parkway.

Refusing to negotiate, RF & P filed this action to quiet title in the disputed land in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at Alexandria. The named defendants were the United States, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. RF & P sought a declaration that the use restriction in the indenture has ceased to be effective or, in the alternative, that the restriction is presently satisfied by RF & P's use of a portion, rather than the entirety, of the property for railroad purposes. The government filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that subject matter jurisdiction was lacking by reason of the statute of limitations in the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2409a(g).

The district court, having found that the Section 2409a(g) statute of limitations clearly barred a quiet title action in this case, granted the government's motion to dismiss. RF & P appeals to this court.

II.

When a Rule 12(b)(1) motion challenge is raised to the factual basis for subject matter jurisdiction, the burden of proving subject matter jurisdiction is on the plaintiff. Adams v. Bain, 697 F.2d 1213, 1219 (4th Cir.1982). In determining whether jurisdiction exists, the district court is to regard the pleadings' allegations as mere evidence on the issue, and may consider evidence outside the pleadings without converting the proceeding to one for summary judgment. Id.; Trentacosta v. Frontier Pacific Aircraft Indus., 813 F.2d 1553, 1558 (9th Cir.1987). The district court should apply the standard applicable to a motion for summary judgment, under which the nonmoving party must set forth specific facts beyond the pleadings to show that a genuine issue of material fact exists. Trentacosta, supra, 813 F.2d at 1559 (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). The moving party should prevail only if the material jurisdictional facts are not in dispute and the moving party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law. Trentacosta, supra, 813 F.2d at 1558. A district court order dismissing a case on the grounds that the undisputed facts establish a lack of subject matter jurisdiction is a legal determination subject to de novo appellate review. Revene v. Charles County Comm'rs, 882 F.2d 870, 872 (4th Cir.1989); Shultz v. Dept. of the Army, 886 F.2d 1157, 1159 (9th Cir.1989).

The Quiet Title Act (the Act) is a limited waiver of the sovereign immunity of the United States, by virtue of which actions may be brought to quiet title to lands in which the United States "claims an interest." 28 U.S.C.A. § 2409a(a) (West 1978). The Act provides, however, that the waiver of immunity expires within twelve years of the date that the claim accrued. The claim accrues on the date that the plaintiff or his predecessor in interest "knew or should have known of the claim of the United States." 28 U.S.C.A. § 2409a(g) (West Supp.1991). Because the limitations period represents a condition on the waiver of federal sovereign immunity, it is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit and is to be construed narrowly in favor of the government. Block v. North Dakota, 461 U.S. 273, 282-83, 103 S.Ct. 1811, 1817-18, 75 L.Ed.2d 840 (1983). See, e.g., Fulcher v. United States, 696 F.2d 1073, 1078 (4th Cir.1982); Knapp v. United States, 636 F.2d 279, 282 (10th Cir.1980).

A strict construction of the statute of limitations in the Quiet Title Act conforms to Congress's intent in adding the limitations provision to the Act. The Act "grandfathered in" causes of action that accrued during the 12-year period between 1960 and 1972 (when the statute was enacted), but created no cause of action to quiet title for any title claim that accrued prior to 1960. See H.R.Rep. No. 1559, 92d Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted in 1972 U.S.Code...

To continue reading

Request your trial
2183 cases
  • McCants v. Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
    • April 26, 2017
    ...... and the moving party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law." Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. United States , 945 F.2d 765, 768 ......
  • Ohio Valley Envtl. Coal., Inc. v. Maple Coal Co.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of West Virginia
    • September 2, 2011
    ...... converting the proceeding to one for summary judgment.” 8 Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. United States, 945 F.2d 765, 768 ...        “Finally, Rule 19(b) directs us to determine whether dismissal for nonjoinder will leave the plaintiff ......
  • Julian v. Rigney
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia
    • March 24, 2014
    ......B.F. Perkins Co., 166 F.3d 642, 647 (4th Cir. 1999); Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. United States, 945 F.2d 765, 768 ......
  • Darling v. Falls, 1:16CV110
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
    • February 17, 2017
    ...... and the moving party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law." Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. United States , 945 F.2d 765, 768 ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • "We Hold the Government to Its Word": How McGirt v. Oklahoma Revives Aboriginal Title.
    • United States
    • Yale Law Journal Vol. 131 No. 7, May 2022
    • May 1, 2022
    ...claims against the federal government are time-barred. (349.) See, e.g., Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. United States, 945 F.2d 765, 769 (4th Cir. 1991) ("The merits of a quiet title claim are irrelevant to the operation of the limitations bar. The interest claimed need ......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT