T hi s di s pos i t i on i s notappr opr i a t e f orpubl i c a t i on and i s notpr e c e de nt * e xc e pta s pr ovi de d by9th C i r . R . 36- 3. NOT F OR P UB L I CAT I ON UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS FOR T HE NI NTH CI RC UI T C E NT R AL P UG E T S OU ND R E GI ON AL T R A N S IT A U T H O R IT Y , al so kn ow n as S o u n dT r a n s it, P l ai nt i ff

- A pp el l ee , v. L E V E L 3 C O M M U N I C A T I O N S , L L C , a D e l a w a r e c orpor a t i on, D e f

e n d a n t - A p p e llan t. N o. 10- 36061 D . C. N o . 2 : 1 0 - CV - 0 0 7 4 9 - RBL ME MOR AN DU M *

A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f orthe W e s t e rn D i s tr i c tof W a s hi ngt on R ona l d B . L e i ght on, D i s tr i c tJudge , P r e s i di ng A r gue d a nd S ubm i tt e d A pr i l 12, 2012 S e a tt l e , W a s hi ngt on B efo re: D . W . N E L S O N , T A S H IM A , an dC A L L A H A N , C i rcu i tJu d g es. L evel3 C om m un i ca t i on s, L L C (“ L evel3”) app ea l s the grantof sum m ary ju d g m e n t to C e n tr a l P u g e t S o u n dR e g io n a l T r a n s it A u th o r ity( “S o u n dT r a n s it” ) in 

# FI LED MA Y07 2 012 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U . S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS2

thi s di ve r s i tya c t i on pur s ua ntt o W a s hi ngt on S t a t e l a w . W e ha ve j ur i s di c t i on p u r s u a n t to 2 8 U .S .C . § 1 2 9 1 , a n dw e a f f irm . Th e d i s tr i c tc o u rtc o n c l u d e dc o rr e c t l yth a tBu r l i n g t o n N o rth e rn San t aFe R a i l w a yC o. ( “ B N S F ” ) both r e t a i ne d f ori t s e l f a nd c onve y e d t o S ound T r a ns i tthe be ne f i tof the L e ve l 3 e a s e m e nt . S e c t i on 1 of the A s s i gnm e nta nd A s s um pt i on of T h ir dP a rtyL e a s e s /E a s e m e n ts /L ic e n s e s ( “A s s ig n m e n t” ) , r e a dto g e th e rw ith S e c tio n 1 1 o f

th e M a s te rR ig h t- o f

- W a yA g r e e m e n t ( “A g r e e m e n t” ) , au th o r iz e s b o th B N S F an dS o u n dT ra n sit t o d em an dre lo ca ti o n o f L ev el 3 ’s fa cili ti es at L ev el 3 ’s e x p e n s e f

o rth e r e lo c a tio n o rp la c e m e n t o f r a ilr o a dtr a c k s . B e c au s e o f th e u n f a ir d o u b lin g o f

L e v e l 3 ’s b u r d e n p u r s u a n t to th e A g r e e m e n t, th e d is tr ic t c o u rt c o rr e c tly d e e m e dS e c tio n 1 o f

th e A s s ig n m e n t u n e n f

o r c e ab le . A s th e d is tr ic t c o u rt c o n c lu d e d , b o th B N S F a n dS o u n dT r a n s it c a n n o t h o ld th e b en ef ito f th e L ev el 3 ea se m en t sim u lt an eo u sly. W e a ff irm th e d istrict co u rt’s h o ld in g th a t, p u r s u a n t to th e law o f W a s h in g to n , th e b e n e f

it o f th e L e v e l 3 e a s e m e n t r a n w ith th e lan dto S o u n dT r a n s it. B e l l v . G ara Frax a C o. , 255 P . 144, 1 4 6 ( W a s h . 1 9 2 7 ) ; Crisp v. V an L aeke n , 1 2 2 P .3 d9 2 6 , 9 2 8 ( W a s h . C t. A p p . 2 0 0 5 ) . C o n tr a ryto L e v e l 3 ’s a r g u m e n ts , B N S F n e v e re x p r e s s lyr e ta in e dth e L e v e l 3 e a s e m e n t. Se e C o gs w e ll v . C o gs w e ll , 14 2 P . 65 5, 65 7 (W as h. 19 14 ). M oreover, S ou nd T ransi t ’ s i nt ended u se of the prop erty a s acom m ut erl i ne, i nst ea d o f a3

f r e ig h t lin e , d idn o t r e n d e rth e a s s ig n m e n t o f th e L e v e l 3 e a s e m e n t in v a lid . N othi ng i n the A gr e e m e ntpr e ve nt e d B N S F , ori t s s uc c e s s or s , f r om c onve rt i ng the prop erty f

rom fr ei gh tt o com m ut eruse, and the change i n u se di d n otal t erL evel 3’ s burden i n a m at er i alw ay . N or di d the A gree m entl i m i tthe event s thatcan tr ig g e rth e n e e dto r e lo c a te o rp la c e r a ilr o a dtr a c k s . W e uphol d the di s tr i c tc ourt ’ s r e a s onabl e i nt e rpr e t a t i on of S e c t i on 11 of

the A gree m ent , w hi ch gi ves m eani ng t o eac h g roun d requi ri ng the re l ocat i on of fi bero p tic f a c ilitie s a t L e v e l 3 ’s e x p e n s e . See N ew som v. Mi l ler , 258 P . 2d 812, 814 ( W a s h. 1953) . T he f

i r s tc i r c um s t a nc e r e qui r i ng L e ve l 3 t o be a rthe c os t s of r e lo c a tin g its f

a c ilitie s is “th e r e lo c a tio n o rp la c e m e n t o f r a ilr o a dtr a c k s .” N o tab ly abs e nti s am odi f

i e rr e f e rr i ng t o the R a i l r oa d ort o thi r d pa rt i e s . T he s e c ond circ u m stan ce in w h ich L ev el 3 m u st co v erth e c o sts o f r elo ca ti o n is “fo r B N S F ’s o w n o p erat i o n al i m p ro v em en t s. ” If th e p art i es h adm ean tt o l i m i tth e fi rst c ir c u m s tan c e to B N S F ’s b e n e f it a lo n e , th e yc o u ldh a v e d o n e s o , ju s t a s th e yd idin th e s e c o n dc ir c u m s tan c e . I n a d d itio n , if th e f ir s t p r o v is io n w e r e lim ite de x c lu s iv e ly t o the re l ocat i on or pl ac em entof tra cks f or B N S F ’ s benef

i tand n otfor thi rd pa rt i e s , the s e c ond pr ovi s i on w oul d s ubs um e the f i r s tpr ovi s i on be c aus e both the r e lo c a tio n a n dp la c e m e n t o f r a ilr o a dtr a c k s a r e o p e r a tio n a l im p r o v e m e n ts .4

F in a lly , th e d is tr ic t c o u rt c o rr e c tlyf o u n dn o d is p u te dis s u e o f m a te r ia l f

a c t, be c aus e a nyi nc i de nt a l be ne f i tt o the W a s hi ngt on S t a t e D e pa rtm e ntof T ran sp o rt at i o n i s i rrel ev an t . S o u n dT ran si t ’ s p l an n edu se o f th e ri g h t -o f-w ay as a c om m ut e rl i ne r e qui r e d the pl a c e m e ntof r a i l r oa d tr a c ks , thus tr i gge r i ng S e c t i on 11( a ) of the A gr e e m e nt . F a c t s t e ndi ng t o s how tha tS ound T r a ns i tde m a nde d the r e l oc a t i on of

L e ve l 3’ s f

a c i l i t i e s f ors om e othe rpurpos e , unr e l a t e d t o the pl a c e m e nt of tr a c ks , w oul d f

a l l w i thi n S e c t i on 11( b) , a nd, the r e f or e , a r e notr e l e va nt . S e c t i on 1 1 ( a ) c o n tr o ls , a n dL e v e l 3 m u s t p a yth e r e lo c a tio n c o s ts . AF F I RME D.