Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/549/84/
Timestamp: 2019-02-16 05:57:09
Document Index: 478114525

Matched Legal Cases: ['§2415', '§2415', '§2415', '§2415', '§45', '§102', 'in fine']

BP America Production Co. v. Burton :: 549 U.S. 84 (2006) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 549 › BP America Production Co. v. Burton
(a) Unless otherwise defined, statutory terms are generally interpreted in accordance with their ordinary meaning. Read in this way, §2415(a)’s text is quite clear: Its key terms—“action” and “complaint”—are ordinarily used in connection with judicial, not administrative, proceedings. See, e.g., Unexcelled Chem. Corp. v. United States, 345 U. S. 59, 66. The phrase “action for money damages” reinforces this reading because the term “damages” is generally used to mean pecuniary compensation or indemnity recovered in court. Moreover, the fact that §2415(a) distinguishes between judicial and administrative proceedings by providing that an “action” must commence “within one year after final decisions have been rendered in applicable administrative proceedings” shows that Congress knew how to identify administrative proceedings and manifestly had two separate concepts in mind when it enacted §2415(a). Pp. 5–6.
We similarly reject petitioners’ suggestion that an MMS letter or payment order constitutes a “complaint” within the meaning of §2415(a). Petitioners point to examples of statutes and regulations that employ the term “complaint” in the administrative context. See, e.g., 15 U. S. C. §45(b) (requiring the Federal Trade Commission to serve a “complaint” on a party suspected of engaging in an unfair method of competition); 29 CFR §102.15 (2006) (a “complaint” initiates unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board). But the occasional use of the term to describe certain administrative filings does not alter its primary meaning, which concerns the initiation of “a civil action.” Black’s 356. Moreover, even if the distinction between administrative and judicial proceedings is put aside, an MMS payment order lacks the essential attributes of a complaint. While a complaint is a filing that commences a proceeding that may in the end result in a legally binding order providing relief, an MMS payment order in and of itself imposes a legal obligation on the party to which it is issued. As noted, the failure to comply with such an order can result in fines of up to $10,000 a day. An MMS payment order, therefore, plays an entirely different role from that of a “complaint.”[Footnote 6]
BP America Production Co., successor in interest to Amoco Production Co., et al.
Rejane Burton, Act Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management, Department of the Interior, et al.