Save Our Valley Ass'n v. Arizona Corp.

• Decision Date: 16 August 2007
• Docket Number: No. 1 CA-CV 06-0248.,1 CA-CV 06-0248.
• Citation: 216 Ariz. 216,165 P.3d 194
• Parties: SAVE OUR VALLEY ASSOCIATION, a committee of homeowners and landowners; Frank Gagliardi, an individual, Chairman of Save Our Valley Association and an affected homeowner/landowner, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION, Defendant/Appellee, and Salt River Project, Real Party in Interest/Appellee.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

165 P.3d 194

216 Ariz. 216

SAVE OUR VALLEY ASSOCIATION, a committee of homeowners and landowners; Frank Gagliardi, an individual, Chairman of Save Our Valley Association and an affected homeowner/landowner, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION, Defendant/Appellee, and Salt River Project, Real Party in Interest/Appellee.

No. 1 CA-CV 06-0248.

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1, Department E.

August 16, 2007.

Law Offices of David William West PC By David W. West, Maricopa, Attorney for Plaintiffs/Appellants.

Arizona Corporation Commission Legal Division By Janet F. Wagner, Linda Fisher, Janice M. Alward, Phoenix, Attorneys for Defendant/Appellee.

Jennings Strouss & Salmon PLC By Kenneth C. Sundlof, Jr., Phoenix, Attorneys for Real Party in Interest/Appellee.

Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District By Laura F. Raffelli, Phoenix, Attorney for Real Party in Interest/Appellee.

OPINION

BROWN, Judge.

¶ 1 Save Our Valley Association ("SOVA") appeals the superior court's granting of judgment on the pleadings in favor of the Arizona Corporation Commission ("Commission") and Salt River Project ("SRP"). The court determined that SOVA was not entitled to judicial review of the Commission's decision because SOVA did not file an application for rehearing pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") section 40-253 (2001) prior to filing its complaint. SOVA contends that filing an application for rehearing was unnecessary because it filed a request for reconsideration pursuant to A.R.S. § 40-360.07(C) (2001). For the reasons that follow, we disagree with SOVA's position and therefore affirm the decision of the superior court.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 In October 2004, SRP filed an Application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility ("CEC") with the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee ("Siting Committee") seeking approval to construct an electrical transmission line. SOVA is a committee of homeowners affected by the transmission line. SOVA appeared before the Siting Committee at public hearings and proposed an alternative route for placement of the transmission line. At the conclusion of the hearings, the Siting Committee granted the CEC along SRP's proposed route.

¶ 3 SOVA then filed a request for review of the CEC pursuant to A.R.S. § 40-360.07(A) (2001). The Commission held oral argument and conducted meetings to consider public comment. According to SOVA, the Commission took no action with respect to SOVA's proposed alternative route. On August 24, 2005, the Commission issued its decision approving the CEC with amendments. The Commission did not accept SOVA's proposed route. On September 22, 2005, SOVA filed a request for reconsideration of the Commission's decision pursuant to A.R.S. § 40-360.07(C). Other parties to the proceedings filed applications for rehearing/requests for reconsideration. The Commission held a special meeting on September 28, 2005, but took no action on SOVA's request for reconsideration at that time.

¶ 4 On October 25, 2005, SOVA filed its complaint in the superior court alleging, inter alia, the Commission's decision approving the CEC was arbitrary and capricious. The Commission moved for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that SOVA failed to file an application for rehearing within twenty days of the entry of the Commission's decision pursuant to A.R.S. § 40-253. SOVA countered that the filing of its request for reconsideration pursuant to A.R.S. § 40-360.07(C) enabled it to proceed directly to superior court to challenge the Commission's decision. The superior court granted the Commission's motion, ruling as follows:

Plaintiffs were required to file a timely application for rehearing as a prerequisite to seeking judicial review. They failed to do so. A.R.S. § 40-360 neither expressly nor implicitly displaces the requirements of A.R.S. § 40-253. It simply allows certain specified entities to pursue additional administrative proceedings before the Commission under enumerated circumstances.

(Footnotes omitted.)

¶ 5 SOVA filed a timely notice of appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-2101(B) (2003).

DISCUSSION

¶ 6 A motion for judgment on the pleadings tests the sufficiency of the complaint, and a defendant is entitled to judgment "if the complaint fails to state a claim for relief." Giles v. Hill Lewis Marce, 195 Ariz. 358, 359, ¶ 2, 988 P.2d 143, 144 (App.1999). In reviewing a judgment on the pleadings, we accept as true the factual allegations of the complaint, but review the trial court's legal conclusions de novo. Mobile Cmty. Council for Progress, Inc. v. Brock, 211 Ariz. 196, 198, ¶ 5, 119 P.3d 463, 465 (App.2005).

¶ 7 "It has long been held that the right to appeal from any ruling including an administrative decision exists only by force of statute and is limited by the terms of the statute." Guminski v. Ariz. State Veterinary Med. Examining Bd., 201 Ariz. 180, 182, ¶ 8, 33 P.3d 514, 516 (App.2001). In this appeal, we analyze several statutory provisions governing review of line-siting decisions to determine whether the filing of an application for rehearing with the Commission is a prerequisite to seeking judicial review.

I. Statutory Framework

¶ 8 A public utility desiring to construct a transmission line must file an application for a CEC. A.R.S. § 40-360.03 (2001). The Siting Committee conducts a hearing on the application. A.R.S. § 40-360.04 (2001). In approving or denying the application, the Siting Committee must consider the statutory environmental factors identified in A.R.S. § 40-360.06 (2001).

¶ 9 Within fifteen days of the Siting Committee's decision, any party to the certification proceeding before the Siting Committee may request a review by the Commission. A.R.S. § 40-360.07(A). If such a request is made, the Commission reviews the CEC based on the existing record, although it may request additional oral argument or briefing. A.R.S. § 40-360.07(B). The Commission may confirm, deny, or modify the CEC. Id. In reaching its decision, the Commission must consider the statutory environmental factors of § 40-360.06 and must balance, "in the broad public interest, the need for an adequate, economical and reliable supply of electric power with the desire to minimize the effect thereof on the environment and ecology of this state." A.R.S. § 40-360.07(B).

¶ 10 Section 40-253 governs applications for rehearing for Commission matters relating to public service corporations and provides in part:

A. After any final order or decision is made by the commission, any party to the action or proceeding or the attorney general on behalf of the state may apply for a rehearing of any matter determined in the action or proceeding and specified in the application for rehearing within twenty days of entry of the order or decision. . . . If the commission does not grant the application within twenty days, it is deemed denied. . . .

B. No claim arising from any order or decision of the commission shall accrue in any court to any party or the state unless the party or the state makes, before the effective date of the order or decision, application to the commission for rehearing.

(Emphasis added.)

¶ 11 Following the Commission's decision on an application for rehearing, whether by written order or by operation of law, any party in interest or the attorney general may commence an action in superior court challenging the order or decision. A.R.S. § 40-254(A) (2001). The action must be filed within "thirty days after a rehearing is denied or granted." Id. (emphasis added). Only those grounds contained in the application for rehearing may be raised on appeal to the superior court. A.R.S. § 40-253(C).

¶ 12 The line-siting statutes do not refer to "application for rehearing" or "rehearing," but they specifically address judicial review, providing as follows: "Subject to the rights to judicial review recognized in §§ 40-254 and 40-360.07, no court in this state has jurisdiction to hear or determine any case or controversy concerning any matter which was or could have been determined in a proceeding before the committee or the commission under this article." A.R.S. § 40-360.11 (2001). Section 40-360.07(C) provides an opportunity for the filing of a request for reconsideration:

The committee or any party to a decision by the commission pursuant to subsection B of this section may request the commission to reconsider its decision within thirty days after the decision is issued. A request for reconsideration made pursuant to this subsection shall set forth the grounds upon which it is based and state the manner in which the party believes the commission unreasonably or unlawfully applied or failed to apply the criteria set forth in § 40-360.06. The decision of the commission is final with respect to all issues, subject only to judicial review as provided by law in the event of an appeal by a person having a legal right or interest that will be injuriously affected by the decision.

(Emphasis added.)¹

¶ 13 Following a decision on a request for reconsideration, "[t]he decision of the commission is final . . . subject only to judicial review as provided by law." A.R.S. § 40-360.07(C). SOVA argues that filing a request for reconsideration allows a party to proceed directly to superior court, without regard to the rehearing requirement set forth in § 40-253 because § 40-360.07(C) provides an independent avenue for seeking judicial relief. According to the Commission, however, judicial review is authorized only if the challenging party has filed an application for rehearing pursuant to § 40-253.

II. Statutory Interpretation

¶ 14 In construing statutes, we apply "fundamental principles of statutory construction, the cornerstone of which is the rule that the best and most reliable index of a statute's meaning is its language and, when the language is clear and unequivocal, it is determinative of the statute's...