1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

CIVIL DIVISION

JOSEPH H. HUNT

Assistant Attorney General

RUTH A. HARVEY

Director

KIRK MANHARDT

Deputy Director

MATTHEW J. TROY (GABN 717258)

Senior Trial Counsel

P.O. Box 875

Ben Franklin Station

Washington, DC 20044-0875

Telephone: (202) 514-9038

E-mail: matthew.troy@usdoj.gov

DAVID L. ANDERSON (CABN 149604)

United States Attorney

ROBIN M. WALL (CABN 235690)

Assistant United States Attorney

Attorneys for the United States of America

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

In re:

PG&E CORPORATION

- and -

PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC

COMPANY,

 Debtors.

� Affects PG&E Corporation

� Affects Pacific Gas and Electric Company

◼ Affects both Debtors

All papers shall be filed in the Lead Case,

No. 19-30088 (DM).

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

) 

)

) 

) 

) 

)

)

)

)

)

)

Bankruptcy Case

No. 19-30088 (DM)

Chapter 11

(Lead Case)

 (Jointly Administered)

 Date: July 24, 2019

 Time: 9:30 a.m.

 Place: United States Bankruptcy Court

 450 Golden Gate Avenue

 Courtroom 17

 San Francisco, CA 94102

 Judge: Hon. Dennis Montali

 RE: Docket No. 2741

 

RESPONSE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO MOTION OF THE AD HOC 

COMMITTEE OF SENIOR UNSECURED NOTEHOLDERS TO TERMINATE THE 

DEBTORS’ EXCLUSIVE PERIODS PURSUANT TO SECTION 1121(d)(1) OF THE 

BANKRUPTCY CODE

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 3010 Filed: 07/16/19 Entered: 07/16/19 15:09:44 Page 1 of

3
2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

The United States of America, on behalf of various federal agencies, including but not limited to, 

the United States Department of Agriculture, United States Forest Service; and the Department of the 

Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service, hereby files this response to the 

Motion of the Ad Hoc Committee of Senior Unsecured Noteholders to Terminate the Debtors’ Exclusive 

Periods Pursuant to Section 1121(d)((1) of the Bankruptcy Code (the “Motion”).1

Collectively, the United States holds significant claims against the Debtors resulting from the 

prepetition Northern California wildfires. These claims include, but are not limited to, (i) costs of 

suppressing wildfires on federal lands; (ii) damage to federal lands and the resources they contain 

including timber, habitat, wildlife, soil, and watersheds as well as the scenic, aesthetic, historic, 

archeological, and recreational values of those lands; and (iii) reforestation and other costs associated 

with stabilizing, rehabilitating, and restoring federal lands. 2 Under the law of this circuit, the United 

States is “entitled to full compensation for all of its damages.” U.S. v. CB & I Constructors, Inc., 685 

F.3d 827, 835 (9th Cir. 2012) (quoting U.S. v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 565 F. Supp. 2d 1136, 1143 (E.D. 

Cal. 2008)) (emphasis in original). Those damages encompass “intangible [non-economic]

environmental damages because anything less would not compensate the public for all of the harm 

caused by the fire.” CB & I Constructors, Inc., 685 F.3d at 837. 

The Motion seeks to terminate the Debtors’ exclusive periods under 11 U.S.C. § 1121(d) and

requests permission for the Ad Hoc Committee to file and solicit a plan of reorganization. In support, 

the Ad Hoc Committee attaches as an exhibit to the Motion the Term Sheet detailing the key 

components of an allegedly “viable, confirmable plan of reorganization,” Motion at 4, including a 

Wildfire Claims Trust “used to compensate all holders of prepetition fire claims,” id. The Term Sheet 

imposes a $16 billion cap (plus a possible, maximum 15% upward adjustment) for funding that trust,

Motion, Exh. B at 23, which is “sole source of recovery for the Wildfire Claims against the Debtors,”

and to which all Wildfire Claims must be channeled for resolution and payment, id. at 15. The exact 

 1 Terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Motion and 

accompanying exhibits.

2 The description of the United States’ claims in this Response is without prejudice, and the 

United States expressly reserves its right, to assert other claims arising out of the Northern California 

wildfires or any other claims not related to the Northern California wildfires.

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 3010 Filed: 07/16/19 Entered: 07/16/19 15:09:44 Page 2 of

3
3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

amount of the funding for Wildfire Claims Trust, subject to the cap, will be established in an estimation 

proceeding concluding before the commencement of the plan confirmation hearing. Id. at 14.

The United States takes no position with respect to the Motion’s requested relief, i.e., termination 

of exclusivity and authorization for the Ad Hoc Committee to file and solicit a plan of reorganization. 

By doing so and not objecting to that relief, however, the United States is not waiving, and expressly 

reserves, any and all rights with respect to the terms of any such plan, including those reflected in the 

Term Sheet. Specifically, the United States reserves its right to object to any plan that purports to 

classify the United States’ fire related claims as Wildfire Claims whose only source of recovery is the 

Wildfire Claims Trust or any other similar litigation trust with a channeling injunction and a capped 

funding amount established pursuant to an estimation proceeding.

Date: July 16, 2019 Respectfully submitted,

JOSEPH H. HUNT

Assistant Attorney General

DAVID L. ANDERSON (CABN 149604)

United States Attorney

ROBIN M. WALL (CABN 235690)

Assistant United States Attorney

/s/ Matthew J. Troy

RUTH A. HARVEY

Director

KIRK MANHARDT

Deputy Director

MATTHEW J. TROY

Senior Trial Counsel

Attorneys for United States

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on July 16, 2019, I electronically filed the foregoing Response with the Clerk of the Court by 

using the CM/ECF system, which will send a notice of electronic filing to all CM/ECF participants.

/s/ Matthew J. Troy

Matthew J. Troy

Senior Trial Counsel 

Attorney for United States

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 3010 Filed: 07/16/19 Entered: 07/16/19 15:09:44 Page 3 of

3