Source: https://www.animallaw.info/case/center-biological-diversity-v-lohn
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 11:47:04+00:00

Document:
Full Case Name: CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Robert LOHN, Northwest Regional Administrator of National Marine Fisheries Service; Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce, Defendants-Appellees.
*1 We are asked to decide whether the federal government's policy for listing killer whales under the Endangered Species Act is invalid.
The Center challenged the Service's proposed determination in district court. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court granted in part and denied in part. Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Lohn, 296 F.Supp.2d 1223, 1243 (W.D.Wash.2003). The district court concluded that the DPS Policy was not contrary to congressional intent regarding the ESA, and that it was a reasonable interpretation of the ambiguous term “distinct population segment.” FN3 Id. at 1235-36.
However, the district court set aside the Service's “not warranted” finding because it failed to utilize the best available scientific data when determining whether the Southern Resident was “significant” under that policy. Id. at 1240-41. The district court ordered the Service to reexamine according to the declared legal standard whether the Southern Resident should be listed as an endangered species and to issue a new finding within twelve months. Id. at 1243.
If an event occurs during the pendency of the appeal that renders the case moot, we lack jurisdiction. See United States v. Geophysical Corp. of Alaska, 732 F.2d 693, 698 (9th Cir.1984). When a plaintiff seeks declaratory relief, as here, the “test for mootness ... is ‘whether the facts alleged, under all the circumstances, show that there is a substantial controversy, between parties having adverse legal interests, of sufficient immediacy and reality to warrant the issuance of a declaratory judgment.’ “ Biodiversity Legal Found. v. Badgley, 309 F.3d 1166, 1174-75 (9th Cir.2002) (quoting Md. Cas. Co. v. Pac. Coal & Oil Co., 312 U.S. 270, 273 (1941)). “Stated another way, the ‘central question’ before us is ‘whether changes in the circumstances that prevailed at the beginning of litigation have forestalled any occasion for meaningful relief.’ “ Gator.Com Corp. v. L.L. Bean, Inc., 398 F .3d 1125, 1129 (9th Cir.2005) (en banc) (quoting West v. Sec'y of the Dep't of Transp., 206 F.3d 920, 925 n. 4 (9th Cir.2000)). The Service carries the burden of establishing mootness. See S. Or. Barter Fair v. Jackson County, 372 F.3d 1128, 1134 (9th Cir.2004).
*2 The Center asks us to declare the Service's DPS Policy unlawful and to “instruct [the Service] not to apply the DPS Policy in making a final determination on the agency's decision to finalize the proposed rule to list the Southern Resident killer whale.” Because the Service has issued its final rule listing the Southern Resident as an endangered species, we cannot instruct the Service to complete the final determination process without applying the DPS Policy. We cannot grant the injunctive relief the Center seeks and therefore this claim for relief is moot. See Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Bergland, 576 F.2d 1377, 1379 (9th Cir.1978) (“Where the activities sought to be enjoined have already occurred, and the appellate courts cannot undo what has already been done, the action is moot.”).
The Center argues that even if this case is technically moot, we have jurisdiction to consider the merits because one of the exceptions to the mootness doctrine applies. We have recognized several major exceptions to mootness, including for (1) “collateral legal consequences,” (2) “wrongs capable of repetition yet evading review,” and (3) “voluntary cessation.” In re Burrell, 415 F.3d 994, 998 (9th Cir.2005). We are persuaded that none of these exceptions fits this case.
*3 The first exception to the mootness doctrine applies where an appellant “would suffer collateral legal consequences if the actions being appealed were allowed to stand.” Pub. Utilities Comm'n of the State of Cal. v. F.E.R.C., 100 F.3d 1451, 1460 (9th Cir.1996). The Center argues that the “collateral legal consequences” exception applies because, relying on the district court's order and the doctrine of collateral estoppel, the Service has attempted to preclude the Center from challenging the DPS Policy in other legal proceedings. But this argument is foreclosed by our precedent, as the Center's suggested harm is merely hypothetical or speculative. See Burrell, 415 F.3d at 999 (holding that a party “may not invoke as an exception to the mootness doctrine the specter of continuing legal harm from res judicata or collateral estoppel arising from his mooted claims when such harm is merely hypothetical and speculative”). Furthermore, as we consider below, our general practice of vacating the district court's judgment “is commonly utilized in precisely this situation to prevent a judgment, unreviewable because of mootness, from spawning any legal consequences.” United States v. Munsing-wear, Inc., 340 U.S. 36, 41 (1950); see also Burrell, 415 F.3d at 999. The Center suggests no other collateral legal consequences and we perceive none. Accordingly, this exception to mootness does not apply.
The exception for “wrongs capable of repetition yet evading review” only applies when two criteria are met. Native Vill. of Noatak v. Blatchford, 38 F.3d 1505, 1509 (9th Cir.1994). “First, there must be a ‘reasonable expectation’ that the same complaining party will be subject to the same injury again. Second, the injury suffered must be of a type inherently limited in duration such that it is likely always to become moot before federal court litigation is completed.” Id. at 1509-10 (citations omitted). Assuming, arguendo, that the Center will be subject to the same purported injury again, we are convinced that the second requirement is not met. The Service's application of the DPS Policy to deny a petition to list a species as endangered, the alleged injury here, is not “a type inherently limited in duration such that it is likely always to become moot before federal court litigation is completed.” In the normal course, a “not warranted” determination does not “resolve[ ] itself without allowing sufficient time for appellate review.” Biodiversity Legal Found., 309 F.3d at 1174. Indeed, we routinely review “not warranted” determinations. See, e.g., Nw. Ecosystem Alliance v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife, 475 F.3d 1136 (9th Cir.2007); Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Badgley, 335 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir.2003). Accordingly, we are unpersuaded that this exception to mootness applies.
Finally, “[i]t is well settled that a defendant's voluntary cessation of a challenged practice does not deprive a federal court of its power to determine the legality of the practice.” City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's Castle, Inc., 455 U.S. 283, 289 (1982). In this case, however, the Service did not voluntarily cease applying the challenged DPS Policy during the final listing determination of the Southern Resident. Rather, the Service issued the final rule listing the Southern Resident as an endangered species after reexamining the listing petition, as ordered by the district court, applying the DPS Policy in light of the district court's ruling. We therefore conclude that the “voluntary cessation” exception to mootness does not apply.
*4 Having concluded that the case is moot, we consider vacatur. The Center contends that we should vacate only the portion of the district court's order adverse to the Center.FN5 We are ultimately unpersuaded by the Center's argument.FN6 Indeed, in Kitlutsisti v. ARCO Alaska, Inc., 782 F.2d 800 (9th Cir.1986), we declined to adopt the “novel procedure” that “we should selectively vacate portions of a district court opinion” not appealed. Id. at 801-02.
FN5. The Center fails to specify which portion of the district court's order it believes is adverse to its position. The arguments on appeal suggest that the Center would have us vacate only the district court's conclusion that the DPS Policy was not contrary to congressional intent regarding the ESA, and that the DPS Policy was a reasonable interpretation of the ambiguous term “distinct population segment.” See Ctr. for Biological Diversity, 296 F.Supp.2d at 1233-36 (section II.B.2).
FN6. The Center's reliance on Moore v. Kayport Package Exp., 885 F.2d 531 (9th Cir.1989), for this proposition is misplaced, because in that case, unlike here where the case is moot, we affirmed in part and remanded in part for further proceedings. Id. at 533.
When a case becomes moot on appeal by happenstance, our established practice is to vacate the entire district court judgment. Dilley v. Gunn, 64 F.3d 1365, 1369-71 (9th Cir.1995); see also Munsingwear, 340 U.S. at 39 (“The established practice of the Court in dealing with a civil case from a court in the federal system which has become moot while on its way here or pending our decision on the merits is to reverse or vacate the judgment below and remand with a direction to dismiss.”). We have recognized, however, an exception to this general practice where the appellant's unilateral acts prevent appellate review of an adverse judgment. Dilley, 64 F.3d at 1370. That exception does not apply in this case because the Service, here the appellee, did not unilaterally act to impede our review, but simply issued a new listing determination upon reexamination, as ordered by the district court. We discern no persuasive reason why we should deviate from our established practice of vacating the district court's order.
For the reasons discussed above, we VACATE the district court's order and REMAND with instructions to DISMISS the case as moot.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.