STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO VACATE COSTS ORDER 

Consolidated Cases No. CIV. 2:04-00956-JAM-JFM and No. CIV. 2:04-00969-JAM-JFM 

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Deborah A. Sivas, CA Bar No. 135446 

Alicia E. Thesing, CA Bar No. 211751 

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC 

Mills Legal Clinic at Stanford Law School 

559 Nathan Abbott Way 

Stanford, California 94305-8610 

Telephone: (650) 723-0325 

Facsimile: (650) 723-4426 

dsivas@stanford.edu 

Attorneys for Plaintiffs 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

PIT RIVER TRIBE; NATIVE COALTION

FOR MEDICINE LAKE HIGHLANDS 

DEFENSE; MOUNT SHASTA 

BIOREGIONAL ECOLOGY CENTER; 

SAVE MEDICINE LAKE COALITION; and 

MEDICINE LAKE CITIZENS FOR 

QUALITY ENVIRONMENT, 

 Plaintiffs, 

 v. 

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT; 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF 

THE INTERIOR; UNITED STATES 

FOREST SERVICE; UNITED STATES 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE; and 

CALPINE CORPORATION, 

 Defendants. 

Consolidated Cases 

No. CIV. 2:04-00956-JAM-JFM 

No. CIV. 2:04-00969-JAM-JFM 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO 

VACATE COSTS ORDER (DOCKET NO. 

96) 

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STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO VACATE COSTS ORDER 

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WHEREAS Plaintiffs in this case have challenged the legality of the May 1998 continuations of 

certain geothermal leases entered into between the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) and Calpine 

Corporation (“Calpine”) pursuant to the Geothermal Steam Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, 

the National Historic Preservation Act, and the federal government’s fiduciary trust obligations to Indian 

Tribes, as set forth more specifically in Plaintiffs’ Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive 

Relief (“Pit River Tribe II”); 

 WHEREAS, on July 30, 2013, the District Court granted Federal Defendants’ motion for 

judgment on the pleadings (Docket No. 84), and, on the same day, entered judgment for Federal 

Defendants and Calpine (Docket No. 85); 

 WHEREAS, on September 25, 2013, Plaintiffs timely filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court 

of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) of the District Court’s July 30, 2013, order and 

judgment (Docket No. 89); 

 WHEREAS, on November 26, 2013, the District Court entered an order overruling Plaintiffs’ 

objections to the Federal Defendants’ bill of costs and awarding Federal Defendants $19,851.60 in costs 

(Docket No. 96); 

 WHEREAS, on January 21, 2014, Plaintiffs timely filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit of 

the District Court’s November 26, 2013, order awarding costs (Docket No. 97), which appeal was 

docketed as Ninth Cir. No. 14-15123; 

 WHEREAS, the United States subsequently recorded abstracts of judgment in Shasta and 

Siskiyou Counties against Plaintiffs’ real property interests; 

 WHEREAS, in March 2015, Plaintiff Pit River Tribe, though the Kwhan Corporation, deposited 

$19,851.60 into the Court’s Registry in order to obtain a release of the Judgment Lien pending 

adjudication of the the merits appeal and the cost appeal in this matter; 

 WHEREAS, the Ninth Circuit, at Plaintiffs’ request and without opposition from the Federal 

Defendants or Calpine, has stayed Plaintiffs’ appeal of the District Court’s costs award until and 

including October 15, 2015; 

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STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO VACATE COSTS ORDER 

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 WHEREAS, on July 20, 2015, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision reversing the District Court’s 

July 30, 2013, judgment and remanded the case “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion” 

(Docket No. 110); 

 WHEREAS, the Ninth Circuit’s July 20, 2015, decision requires the District Court to vacate its 

costs award under well-established Ninth Circuit precedent (see, e.g., Amarel v. Connell, 102 F.3d 1494, 

1523 (9th Cir. 1996) (“Where a reviewing court reverses adistrict court’s judgment for the prevailing 

party, however, both the underlying judgment and the taxation of costs undertaken pursuant to that 

judgment are reversed.”)); 

 WHEREAS, the parties have agreed that Plaintiffs will voluntarily dismiss their appeal of the 

District Court’s November 26, 2013, costs award within three (3) business days following the District 

Court’s entry of this Stipulation and Order; 

 NOW THEREFORE, the Parties stipulate to the foregoing and respectfully request that the Court 

enter an order approving this stipulation. 

 Respectfully submitted, 

Dated: Oct. 20, 2015 BENJAMIN B. WAGNER 

United States Attorney 

/s/ David T. Shelledy

 DAVID T. SHELLEDY 

Assistant United States Attorney 

Dated: Oct. 20, 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC 

Mills Legal Clinic at Stanford Law 

School 

/s/ Deborah A. Sivas 

 DEBORAH A. SIVAS 

Counsel for Plaintiffs 

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STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO VACATE COSTS ORDER 

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Dated: 10/20/2015 HOLLAND & HART 

/s/ 

 THOMAS L. SANSONETTI 

Counsel for Defendant Calpine 

Corporation 

ORDER 

 Pursuant to the Ninth Circuit’s July 20, 2015, decision and the parties’ stipulation, this Court’s 

November 26, 2013, order awarding costs to Federal Defendants (Docket No. 96) is hereby VACATED. 

Within 30 days of the filing of this order, the United States shall file releases of all abstracts of judgment 

filed in this case which it has not previously released. The Clerk of Court is directed to release to the 

Kwahn Corporation, on behalf of plaintiff Pit River Tribe, the funds deposited into the Court’s registry 

on March 19, 2015 (as reflected on receipt number CAE200065779).

 IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: 10/21/2015 

/s/ John A. Mendez 

 HON. JOHN A. MENDEZ 

United States District Court Judge 

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