Texas Dep't of Transp. v. Sunset Transp., Inc.

• Decision Date: 13 January 2012
• Docket Number: No. 03–10–00023–CV.,03–10–00023–CV.
• Citation: 357 S.W.3d 691
• Parties: The TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, and Amadeo Saenz, Jr., in his Official Capacity as Director of Texas Department of Transportation, Appellants, v. SUNSET TRANSPORTATION, INC.; MEL Transport, Inc. d/b/a Magnum Transportation; and Sunset Prosper, Inc., Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

357 S.W.3d 691

The TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, and Amadeo Saenz, Jr., in his Official Capacity as Director of Texas Department of Transportation, Appellants,

v.SUNSET TRANSPORTATION, INC.; MEL Transport, Inc. d/b/a Magnum Transportation; and Sunset Prosper, Inc., Appellees.

No. 03–10–00023–CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Austin.

Aug. 19, 2011.Rehearing Overruled Jan. 13, 2012.

Amy Kovar, Assistant Attorney General, Austin, TX, for Appellants.

Kent J. Lisenby, Chuck Axmacher, The Lisenby Law Firm, P.C., Fort Worth, TX, for Appellees.

Before Justices PURYEAR, PEMBERTON and ROSE.

OPINION

BOB PEMBERTON, Justice.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and its executive director, in his official capacity, appeal a district court order denying, in its entirety, their plea to the jurisdiction over claims asserted by appellees Sunset Transportation, Inc.; MEL Transport, Inc. d/b/a Magnum Transportation, Inc.; and Sunset Prosper, Inc.¹ In a single issue, appellants assert that appellees' claims—which were asserted under the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act (UDJA) and section 2001.038 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)—are each barred by sovereign immunity. We agree that appellees did not plead facts sufficient to invoke the district court's jurisdiction under APA section 2001.038. However, we conclude that appellees are entitled to the opportunity to replead those claims. In light of this holding, moreover, we further conclude that the district court reached the correct result in denying appellants' plea as to appellees' UDJA claims at this juncture. For these reasons, we affirm the district court's order.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A plea to the jurisdiction challenges a trial court's authority to decide the subject matter of a specific cause or action. See Texas Dep't of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217, 225–26 (Tex.2004). Analysis of whether this authority exists begins with the plaintiff's live pleadings. Id. at 226. The plaintiff has the initial burden of alleging facts that affirmatively demonstrate the trial court's jurisdiction to hear the cause. Id. (citing Texas Ass'n of Bus. v. Texas Air Control Bd., 852 S.W.2d 440, 446 (Tex.1993)). Mere unsupported legal conclusions do not suffice. See Creedmoor–Maha Water Supply Corp. v. Texas Comm'n on Envtl. Quality, 307 S.W.3d 505, 515–16 & n. 7 & 8 (Tex.App.-Austin 2010, no pet.). We must also consider evidence the parties presented below that is relevant to the jurisdictional issues, Bland Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 555 (Tex.2000), including evidence that a party has presented to negate the existence of facts alleged in the plaintiff's pleading. See Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 227; see also Combs v. Entertainment Publ'ns, Inc., 292 S.W.3d 712, 719 (Tex.App.-Austin 2009, no pet.) (summarizing different standards governing evidentiary challenges to the existence of pled jurisdictional facts where such facts implicate both jurisdiction and the merits versus where they implicate only jurisdiction). Our ultimate inquiry is whether the plaintiff's pled and un-negated facts, taken as true, and liberally construed with an eye to the pleader's intent, would affirmatively demonstrate a claim or claims within the trial court's subject-matter jurisdiction. See Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 226; Creedmoor–Maha Water Supply Corp., 307 S.W.3d at 513, 516 n. 8. This is a question of law that we review de novo. See Miranda, 133 S.W.3d at 226; Creedmoor–Maha Water Supply Corp., 307 S.W.3d at 513, 516 n. 8.

REGULATORY CONTEXT

It is undisputed that each appellee is a motor carrier that engages in both interstate commerce and intrastate commerce within Texas. These facts implicate interrelated state and federal regulatory regimes that provide the context for appellees' claims and, ultimately, the jurisdictional issues on appeal. It is thus helpful to begin with a brief review of these laws before beginning our analysis of the pleadings and jurisdictional evidence.

In 2005, the United States Congress enacted a law known as the Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 (the UCR Act) creating a “Unified Carrier Registration” (UCR) system through which a motor carrier operating in interstate or international commerce submits a single registration fee and pays, through a designated “base state,” a “UCR fee” in an amount determined based on the size of its vehicle fleet. See 49 U.S.C.A. §§ 14504a(a)(2) (West 2007), (f) (West 2007 & Supp. 2011). The system is implemented through an interstate agreement under which individual states so desiring can opt to participate in collecting UCR fees and in sharing fee revenues. See id. §§ 14504a(a)(2), (e), (f)(4), (g)-(h) (West 2007). Of chief relevance to this case, however, are provisions of the UCR Act that prohibit states—regardless of whether they have opted into fee-collection and sharing under the UCR system—from imposing certain additional regulatory burdens on the interstate motor carriers that would register under the UCR system. Congress determined that it was an “unreasonable burden upon interstate commerce” for a state or its agencies “to enact, impose, or enforce any requirement or standards with respect to, or levy any fee or charge on,” interstate motor carriers in connection with registering their interstate operations with the state, the filing of information concerning their federally required financial responsibility, or the filing with the state of the name of their federally required agent for service of process. See id. § 14504a(c)(1)(A)-(C) (West 2007 & Supp. 2011). States were further prohibited from requiring any interstate motor carrier that also had intrastate operations to pay any tax or fee from which a purely intrastate carrier would be exempt. See id. § 14504a(c)(2) (West Supp. 2011).

Finally, and most importantly for this case, Congress prohibited states from “enact[ing], impos[ing], or enforc[ing] any requirement or standards with respect to, or levy and fee or charge on” motor carriers that conduct both interstate and intrastate business “in connection with ... the annual renewal of the intrastate authority, or the insurance filings ... or other intrastate filing requirement necessary to operate within the State,” if certain conditions are met. See id. § 14504a(c)(1)(D) (West 2007). For this prohibition to apply, the motor carrier (1) must have satisfied certain federal registration requirements and (2) be “in compliance with the laws and regulations of the State authorizing the carrier to operate in the State in accordance with [49 U.S.C.] section 14501(c)(2)(A).” See id. Section 14501(c)(2)(A), in turn, provides that general federal preemption of state regulations “related to a price, route, or service of any [interstate] motor carrier ... with respect to the transportation of property” does not:

restrict the safety regulatory authority of a State with respect to motor vehicles, the authority of a State to impose highway route controls or limitations based on the size or weight of the motor vehicle or the hazardous nature of the cargo, or the authority of the State to regulate motor carriers with regard to minimum amounts of financial responsibility related to insurance requirements and self-insurance authorization. Id. § 14501(c)(2)(A) (West 2007). Additionally, section 14504a(c)(1)(D) exempts from preemption renewals of a motor carrier's intrastate operating authority to transport waste or household goods, conduct certain bus services, or provide non-consensual towing. See id. § 14504a(c)(1).

The UCR Act took effect in January 2007, and Texas opted into the UCR system through legislation effective on September 1 of that year. See generally Tex. Transp. Code Ann. §§ 645.001–.004 (West 2011) (delegating authority to, among other things, participate, “to the fullest extent practicable ... in a federal motor carrier registration program under the unified carrier registration system....”). At the same time, the Legislature amended the transportation code in an evident attempt to conform Texas law to the UCR Act's preemption provisions.

At all relevant times, chapter 643 of the transportation code has generally prohibited a motor carrier from operating a commercial motor vehicle on a road or highway of this state unless the carrier registers with the State (specifically, at the dispute's inception, TxDOT's motor vehicle division ²) and obtains a registration certificate and, for each vehicle, a “cab card.” See Tex. Transp. Code Ann. §§ 643.051, .054, .059 (West 2011). Such registrations must also be renewed periodically, generally on an annual basis. See id. § 643.058, .061 (West 2011). Additionally, motor carriers required to register under chapter 643 must, with respect to each vehicle requiring registration, maintain liability insurance or financial responsibility in an amount specified by the agency, which must not exceed the amounts required under federal law. See id. §§ 643.101(a), (b), .102 (West 2011). Proof of such insurance or financial responsibility must be filed at the time of initial registration, “at the time of a subsequent registration if the motor carrier was required to be continuously registered ... and the carrier failed to maintain continuous registration,” when the carrier changes insurers, and when the carrier changes ownership. Id. § 643.103(a) (West 2011); see also id. §§ 643.053(2) (West 2011) (application for initial registration must be accompanied by proof of insurance or financial responsibility as required by section 643.103), .058(c)(3) (motor carrier renewing registration must “provid[e] ... evidence of continuing insurance or financial responsibility” in required amount). Fees may be assessed in connection with initial registration, renewal of registration, and insurance filings. See id. §§ 643.053(1), (3), .057, .058(c)(2), .061(b), .103(c). All of these general requirements have been implemented through rules, codified at relevant times...