Sierra Club v. Glickman, 95-50672
| Decision Date | 02 May 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-50672,95-50672 |
| Citation | 82 F.3d 106 |
| Parties | , 34 Fed.R.Serv.3d 476, 26 Envtl. L. Rep. 21,198 SIERRA CLUB; Clark Hubbs, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Dan GLICKMAN, Secretary, Department of Agriculture; United States Department of Agriculture, Defendants, American Farm Bureau Federation; State of Texas, Movants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Stuart Nelson Henry, Amy Ruth Johnson, Henry, Lowerre, Johnson, Hess & Frederick, Austin, TX, Pieter M. Schenkkan, Graves, Dougherty, Hearon and Moody, Austin, TX, for plaintiffs-appellees.
Charles R. Shockey, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC, for defendants.
Douglas G. Caroom, Sydney W. Falk, Jr., John Knox, Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan, Kever & McDaniel, Austin, TX, for movant-appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Before REYNALDO G. GARZA, JONES and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.
The Sierra Club filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA") alleging that numerous of its activities, including the subsidization of and failure to establish conservation programs for farmers in central and western Texas, have led to over-pumping of the Edwards Aquifer. This over-pumping, the Sierra Club complains, has in turn threatened endangered species and caused water pollution, in violation of numerous federal laws. The American Farm Bureau Federation ("AFBF"), as the representative of farmers pumping from the Aquifer, and the State of Texas ("State") moved to intervene as of right, or alternatively as of permission, in the Sierra Club's suit. Fed.Rule Civ.Proc. 24(a), (b). The district court denied the motions. We reverse the district court's decision and render judgment granting intervention as of right to the AFBF and the State.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) sets forth the requirements for intervention as of right: (1) the intervention application must be timely; (2) the applicant must have an interest relating to the property which is the subject of the action; (3) the applicant must be so situated that the disposition of the action may, as a practical matter, impair or impede his ability to protect that interest; and (4) the applicant's interest must be inadequately represented by the existing parties. We review the district court's finding of timeliness for an abuse of discretion and the other requirements de novo. Sierra Club v. Espy, 18 F.3d 1202, 1205 & n. 2 (5th Cir.1994).
In the instant case, the district court found the AFBF did not satisfy the requirements for intervention as of right because (1) its members did not have a sufficient interest relating to the Sierra Club's suit; (2) the interests of its members would not be impaired because they will not be bound by the outcome of that suit; and (3) the USDA will adequately represent their interests. 1 We disagree.
First, the AFBF's members do have a sufficient interest to intervene because they are real parties in interest to the Sierra Club's suit. See League of United Latin American Citizens v. Clements, 884 F.2d 185, 187 (5th Cir.1989) (). The Sierra Club's complaint targets the farmers' pumping. It alleges that the farmers' pumping constitutes a "substantial threat" to endangered species and public health, in violation of numerous federal laws. The prayer for relief asks the district court, inter alia, to enjoin the USDA immediately from expending any funds to the farmers that directly or indirectly support pumping from the Aquifer; to order the USDA to immediately establish land conservation and water utilization programs for the farmers; and to order the USDA to consult with other authorities on the effects on the Aquifer of its programs which assist farmers. Thus the Sierra Club's suit intends to have a direct impact upon the AFBF's members who pump irrigation water from the Aquifer; the proffered violations and remedy confer on AFBF's members a sufficient interest to intervene.
The First Circuit reached the same conclusion in addressing an applicant's interest in intervention under similar circumstances. In Conservation Law Foundation of New England, Inc. v. Mosbacher, 966 F.2d 39 (1st Cir.1992), the court held that commercial fishing groups had a sufficient interest to intervene as of right in an environmentalist suit against the U.S. Department of Commerce seeking to force that agency to regulate fishing off the coast of New England. The court explained that Id. at 43.
Additionally, the AFBF members have a sufficient interest to justify intervention because the Sierra Club's suit threatens their contracts with the USDA. In Sierra Club v. Espy, 18 F.3d 1202 (5th Cir.1994), the Fifth Circuit held that timber purchasers' organizations were entitled to intervene as of right in a suit by the Sierra Club against the U.S. Forest Service seeking to ban even-aged logging practices in East Texas. The court explained the timber purchasers had "legally protectable property interests in existing timber contracts that are threatened by the potential bar on even-aged management." Id. at 1207. In the instant case, the AFBF's members have existing subsidy contracts with the USDA and are entitled to enter into subsidy contracts in the future. 2 The Sierra Club's suit potentially interferes with these contractual rights. Ultimately, the suit expressly seeks to enjoin the USDA from granting subsidies to farmers pumping from the Aquifer. In the short term, the Sierra Club's sought relief of forcing the USDA to consult with other federal agencies would result in a ninety-day suspension of the farmers' existing subsidy contracts.
Second, we reject the...
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Sierra Club v. Glickman
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