United States v. Land

• Decision Date: 14 June 2012
• Docket Number: No. 10–56568.,10–56568.
• Citation: 12 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6497,2012 Daily Journal D.A.R. 7886,683 F.3d 1030
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. 32.42 ACRES OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, LOCATED IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY, State of CALIFORNIA; San Diego Unified Port District, Defendants, and California State Lands Commission, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

683 F.3d 1030

12 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6497

2012 Daily Journal D.A.R. 7886

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v. 32.42 ACRES OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, LOCATED IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY, State of CALIFORNIA; San Diego Unified Port District, Defendants,andCalifornia State Lands Commission, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 10–56568.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted March 8, 2012.

Filed June 14, 2012.

Alan V. Hager (argued), Christina Bull Arndt, and John A. Saurenman, Office of the California Attorney General, Los Angeles, CA, for defendant-appellant California State Lands Commission.

John Emad Arbab (argued), Michael T. Gray, and Marc E. Gordon, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC, for plaintiff-appellee United States.

Georgia Garthwaite, U.S. Department of Justice, Land Acquisition Section, Washington, DC, for plaintiff-appellee United States.

Thomas C. Stahl, Office of the U.S. Attorney, Washington, DC, for plaintiff-appellee United States.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Dana M. Sabraw, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 3:05–cv–01137–DMS–WMC.

Before: HARRY PREGERSON, RONALD M. GOULD, and RICHARD C. TALLMAN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

GOULD, Circuit Judge:

The California State Lands Commission (the “Lands Commission”) appeals the district court's final judgment in this eminent domain case, wherein the United States took a fee simple interest in about 32.42 acres of land (the “Property”) on behalf of the Navy, which has continuously leased this parcel since 1949. In condemning the Property, the United States sought to extinguish California's public trust rights. The Lands Commission contends that California's public trust rights cannot be extinguished by the United States' power of eminent domain. The Lands Commission does not dispute the United States' power to take and use the land without trust restrictions. Instead, it asks us to hold that California's public trust rights become “quiescent” while the United States owns the land but will “re-emerge” if the United States seeks to transfer the Property to a private party.

The district court held that the United States' condemnation extinguished California's public trust on the entire parcel, and that the 27.54 acres which are filled can be conveyed to a private party free of any trust, but that the 4.88 acres that remained tidelands at the time of the taking are now subject to a federal public trust and may not be conveyed to a private party. The issue before us is whether the United States can extinguish California's public trust rights when exercising its federal power of eminent domain. We hold that it can, and affirm the judgment of the district court.

I

The Lands Commission is a unit of California's state government that provides stewardship of the lands, waterways, and resources entrusted to its care. The Lands Commission does this by economic development, protection, preservation, and restoration of lands. The Lands Commission has all jurisdiction remaining in the state as to tidelands and submerged lands granted in trust by the Legislature to local government entities. Cal. Pub. Res. § 6301.

The Property is located in the City of San Diego (“City”) on the south side of North Harbor Drive at Nimitz Boulevard, and is now occupied by the Navy's Fleet Anti–Submarine Warfare Training Center. In 1850, the State of California acquired this land as an attribute of its sovereignty upon admission to the Union. In 1911, the California Legislature granted the Property to the City, subject to California's common law public trust. In 1949, the Property was leased to the Navy for 50 years, with a right to renew for an additional 50 years, as part of a land exchange with the City. In 1963, the City transferred the lands to the newly formed San Diego Port District (“Port”) subject to the public trust and the Navy lease. Over time, the Property has been filled to expand the Navy's Training Station. Today only 15% of it (4.88 acres) is covered with water. But the entire parcel was subject to California's public tidelands trust at the time of the federal condemnation action because it was entirely underwater when California joined the Union in 1850.

When the Navy sought to exercise its exclusive option to renew the lease in 1996, the Port and the Lands Commission opposed the extension, and the United States brought a condemnation action to enforce its rights under the lease. See generally United States v. Polar Star, 668 F.3d 1119, 1124 (9th Cir.2012) (“An eminent domain claim can be used by the Government to quiet title to its [leasehold] interest in a property”). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the United States, but that order was later withdrawn as part of a settlement agreement dismissing California's appeal from that order and granting the United States a lease in the Property through August 2049. In 2005, the Navy decided that it wanted to own the Property in fee simple. In May 2005, the United States filed a complaint in condemnation and declaration of taking in the Southern District of California. The complaint explicitly lists “any tidelands trust rights of the State of California” as part of the estate to be taken.

The Port objected to the taking on many grounds. The district court overruled those objections and they are not part of this appeal. At issue is the Lands Commission's motion for summary judgment, wherein it contends that the United States could not extinguish California's public trust rights. The district court denied the Lands Commission's motion in April 2006, holding that the United States' condemnation of the Property extinguished California's public trust in the entire parcel, that the 27.54 acres of filled land are free of any public trust restrictions, but that the 4.88 acres that remain tidelands are now subject to a federal public trust. A trial followed to determine the amount of just compensation, estimated by the Untied States at $237,000, but set by a jury at $2,910,000. The district court entered final judgment in August 2010, and the Lands Commission timely appealed. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

II

We review the district court's denial of summary judgment de novo. Russell Country Sportsmen v. U.S. Forest Serv., 668 F.3d 1037, 1041 (9th Cir.2011). Eminent domain is a proceeding in rem that permits the United States to take all interests in a property. A.W. Duckett & Co. v. United States, 266 U.S. 149, 151, 45 S.Ct. 38, 69 L.Ed. 216 (1924). Through eminent domain, the United States takes not just the rights of designated persons in the property, but the property itself, establishing a new title and obliterating previous interests not specifically excepted. Burkhart v. United States, 227 F.2d 659, 661–62 (9th Cir.1955). The United States' power of eminent domain is supreme when exercised within its constitutional powers. United States v. Carmack, 329 U.S. 230, 240, 67 S.Ct. 252, 91 L.Ed. 209 (1946); U.S. Const., art. VI, cl. 2. The federal government does not need the consent of a state or local subdivision to take its property for public use, so long as the federal government acts within its constitutional authority and pays just compensation. Carmack, 329 U.S. at 240–42, 67 S.Ct. 252.

Here, the United States is taking a full fee simple interest in the Property under its powers to “provide for the common Defense,” to “provide and maintain a Navy,” and to “make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers.” U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 1, 13, 18. The United States has followed the procedure outlined in 40 U.S.C. § 3114, and its action was duly authorized by 10 U.S.C. § 2672 (2005) at the time of the taking.¹ The declaration of taking specifically lists “any tidelands trust rights of the State of California” in the Property as part of the estate to be taken. The parties agree that the federal government may take the Property, and that so long as it owns the Property it may put it to any use, including non-trust uses. They disagree about what will happen if the United States transfers ownership of the Property to a private party in the future.

The Lands Commission contends that the public trust is an aspect of state sovereignty that the federal government is without power to extinguish, or at least has no power to extinguish in this case. The Lands Commission argues that California's interest in its public trust rights is as important as the United States' interest in its power of eminent domain. The Lands Commission urges us to reconcile these interests by holding that the declaration of taking does not extinguish public trust rights, but instead only makes the public trust “quiescent,” such that the public trust has no effect while the United States owns the Property, but can “re-emerge” if the land is later sold to a private party. This solution might be considered if we were charged with reconciling immovable public trust rights with the powerful force of eminent domain. But no such conflict of values exists. None of the authorities discussing the equal-footing doctrine cited by the Lands Commission inhibits or restricts the federal government from exercising its constitutional power of eminent domain. When and to the extent that state law public trust rights conflict with federal takings law, the Supremacy Clause dictates that federal takings law prevails. U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2.

III

The Lands Commission's argument misapprehends the equal-footing doctrine, which gives a state presumptive title to its submerged lands when it joins the Union. The United States Supreme Court dealt with title to tidal and submerged land in the original thirteen states in Martin v. Waddell's Lessee, 41 U.S. 367, 16 Pet. 367, 10 L.Ed. 997 (1842). There, the Supreme Court resolved a property dispute over who had...