W. Watersheds Project v. Pool

• Decision Date: 30 April 2013
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 12–1113 (JDB).
• Citation: 942 F.Supp.2d 93
• Parties: WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Mike POOL, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

942 F.Supp.2d 93

WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Mike POOL, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 12–1113 (JDB).

United States District Court,

District of Columbia.

April 30, 2013.

Eric Robert Glitzenstein, Howard M. Crystal, Jessica Almy, Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

Pamela S. West, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN D. BATES, District Judge.

This case concerns the Bureau of Land Management's (“BLM”) obligation to protect land allotments under the Federal Lands Policy Management Act (“FLPMA”), 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701 et seq. Plaintiffs, a conservation group and two of its individual members, filed a complaint alleging that BLM unlawfully withheld and unreasonably delayed implementation of the actions specified in its 2006 Rangeland Health Determinations for Utah public lands. Federal defendants have moved to transfer this case to United States District Court for the District of Utah. For the reasons detailed below, the Court will grant defendants' motion to transfer.

BACKGROUND

FLPMA requires BLM to manage livestock grazing on public lands consistent with the “principles of multiple use and sustained yield.” 43 U.S.C. § 1732(a). It states that the Secretary of the Interior “shall, by regulation or otherwise, take any action necessary to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of the lands.” Id. § 1732(b). BLM, under the direction of the Department of the Interior (“DOI”) and in accordance with FLPMA, has promulgated regulations that establish fundamental ecological criteria for livestock grazing management on BLM lands. See43 C.F.R. § 4180.1. The regulations require BLM State Directors to develop state guidelines and standards (“Rangeland Health Standards”) for grazing management in accordance with these fundamental ecological criteria and in consultation with the public, which are then approved by the Secretary of the Interior. Id. § 4180.2(a)-(b).

BLM state offices also must periodically assess and evaluate grazing lands relative to the Rangeland Health Standards. At the conclusion of these evaluations, BLM field offices produce Rangeland Health Determinations (“Determinations”), which detail whether grazing allotments conform with the agency's standards and whether “existing grazing management practices or levels of grazing use on public lands [ ] either are or are not significant factors” when an allotment fails to conform with the standards. Bureau of Land Mgmt., H–4180–1, Rangeland Health Standards Manual I–2 (2001). When a BLM Determination finds that standards are not being met in a particular area, BLM must “formulate, propose, and analyze appropriate action” that will result in significant progress toward attainment of the standards, then issue a final decision and/or documented agreement on the appropriate action. See43 C.F.R. § 4180.2(c). The regulations then direct “an authorized officer” to “implement the appropriate action as soon as practicable, but not later than the start of the next grazing year.” Id.

On July 18, 2006, BLM released Determinations for eighty-four allotments in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (“Grand Staircase”) and adjoining Glen Canyon National Recreational Area (“Glen Canyon”). The Determinations identified twenty-one allotments that did not achieve one or more Rangeland Health Standards. The Determinations specified appropriate actions for BLM to take to lead toward attainment of its Utah state standards and guidelines. See Compl. ¶¶ 23–24 [ECF 1].

Plaintiffs, Western Watershed Project (“WWP”) and two of its individual members, filed a Complaint on July 6, 2012, pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 706(1). The Complaint alleges that BLM failed to comply with its own regulations by not implementing the “appropriate actions” specified in the agency's 2006 Determinations for Grand Staircase and Glen Canyon, and that in so doing it unlawfully withheld and unreasonably delayed agency action.¹Compl. ¶ 1. WWP is a non-profit conservation group headquartered in Idaho which focuses on public lands management and the impacts of livestock grazing in eight western states, including Utah. Compl. ¶ 3. Plaintiffs John Carter and Jonathan Ratner are WWP members who reside in Idaho and who actively derive enjoyment from the lands affected in this action. Compl. ¶¶ 6–9.

Defendants, Mike Pool, Acting Director of BLM, Jonathan Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service (“NPS”), and Kenneth Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, all reside in Washington, D.C. BLM is the federal agency that manages Grand Staircase and the grazing allotments within Glen Canyon. NPS is the federal agency that manages Glen Canyon, where portions of the allotments at issue are located. BLM and NPS are federal agencies within DOI, and thus DOI has ultimate responsibility for them. Federal defendants filed a motion to transfer venue to the United States District Court for the District of Utah on November 14, 2012 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a). See Federal Defs.' Mem. in Supp. of the Mot. to Transfer [ECF 16–1] (“Defs.' Mot.”).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

District courts have discretion to transfer a case to another venue “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice.” 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Courts assess motions to transfer venue according to an “individualized, case-by-case consideration of convenience and fairness.” Stewart Org., Inc. v. Ricoh Corp., 487 U.S. 22, 29, 108 S.Ct. 2239, 101 L.Ed.2d 22 (1988) (quoting Van Dusen v. Barrack, 376 U.S. 612, 622, 84 S.Ct. 805, 11 L.Ed.2d 945 (1964)). However, “a court may not transfer a case from a plaintiff's chosen forum simply because another forum, in the court's view, may be superior to that chosen by the plaintiff.” Sierra Club v. Van Antwerp, 523 F.Supp.2d. 5, 11 (D.D.C.2007) (internal quotation marks omitted). The moving party bears the initial burden of establishing that transfer is proper. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Lewis, 845 F.Supp.2d 231, 234 (D.D.C.2012) (“SUWA III ”).

As an initial matter, defendants must establish that plaintiffs could have brought their suit in the transferee forum. 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a); see Thayer/Patricof Educ. Funding v. Pryor Resources, Inc., 196 F.Supp.2d 21, 32 (D.D.C.2002). When federal jurisdiction is not premised solely on diversity and a defendant is an officer, employee, or agency of the United States, venue is proper in any judicial district in which “(A) a defendant in the action resides, (B) a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is the subject of the action is situated, or (C) the plaintiff resides if no real property is involved in the action.” 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e). Here, federal question jurisdiction exists because the issue at controversy arises under federal law. Hence, venue would be proper in the District of Utah because the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred in Utah. In particular, the dispute concerns actions or inactions taken by the BLM's Utah State Office in relation to the 2006 Determinations concerning land in Utah. The parties do not dispute that plaintiffs could have brought this suit in the District of Utah. See Pls.' Opp'n to Federal Defs.' Mot. to Transfer at 10 [ECF 17] (“Pls.' Opp'n”); Defs.' Mot. at 5–6.

Next, defendants must demonstrate that both private convenience factors for the parties involved as well as “public-interest factors of systemic integrity and fairness” that fall “under the heading of ‘the interest of justice’ ” weigh in favor of transfer. Stewart Org., 487 U.S. at 30, 108 S.Ct. 2239. The private interest factors are “(1) the plaintiff's choice of forum; (2) the defendant's choice of forum; (3) whether the claim arose elsewhere; (4) the convenience of the parties; (5) the convenience of the witnesses; and (6) the ease of access to sources of proof.” Sierra Club v. Flowers, 276 F.Supp.2d 62, 65 (D.D.C.2003). The public interest factors are “(1) the transferee's familiarity with the governing laws; (2) the relative congestion of the calendars of the transferor and transferee courts; and (3) the local interest in deciding local controversies at home.” Id.

DISCUSSION

Defendants contend that this case should be transferred to the District of Utah pursuant 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) because the District of Columbia only has an attenuated connection to plaintiffs' claims, which have a “clear connection” to Utah. In particular, defendants allege that the relevant actions at issue were administered in and impact conditions in Utah, not the District of Columbia. See Defs.' Mot. at 1–2, 6, 8; Def.'s Reply at 8. Furthermore, defendants argue that the District of Utah is a more convenient forum for all parties. See id. at 1–2, 10. Plaintiffs respond that venue is proper here and that defendants' motion does not overcome the “strong presumption in favor of the plaintiff[s'] choice of forum,” Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 255, 102 S.Ct. 252, 70 L.Ed.2d 419 (1981), especially since the case concerns unique national resources, “involves judicial review of agency action that is preserved in the administrative record, and [ ] likely will be resolved on summary judgment on the basis of that administrative record,” Otay Mesa Property, L.P. v. DOI, 584 F.Supp.2d 122, 125 (D.D.C.2008). See Pls.' Opp'n at 2.

The court concludes that, on balance, the private and public interest factors weigh in favor of transfer. In particular, deference to plaintiffs' choice of forum is diminished because the District of Columbia has no meaningful ties to the controversy, and “perhaps [the] most important factor—the interest in having local controversies decided at home,” Pres. Soc. of Charleston v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng'rs, 893 F.Supp.2d 49, 54 (D.D.C.2012), tips strongly in favor of transfer. The Court thus concludes that defendants...