Opinion ID: 475502
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Merchant Marine Act Claim

Text: 21 In the third claim of his complaint, Romain alleges that [t]he defendant has unlawfully failed to maintain the marketing program in the San Francisco Regional Office in violation of the Merchant Marine Act of 1934, 46 U.S.C. 1101, as amended by 46 U.S.C. 1213. As the district court observed in its initial order, Sec. 1101 is a declaration of policy and creates no enforceable legal rights. Section 1213(b) provides for the establishment of at least one MARAD regional office in each of the four port ranges, but imposes no requirement as to a regional office in San Francisco. Furthermore, these provisions do not create a private right of action. See Cort v. Ash, 422 U.S. 66, 78, 95 S.Ct. 2080, 2087, 45 L.Ed.2d 26 (1975). The district court thus properly held that Romain failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. 22 On appeal, Romain contends that he brought his Merchant Marine Act claim under a provision of the Civil Service Reform Act that permits a court to set aside MSPB action that is not in accordance with law. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7703(c)(2). 1 Under this jurisdictional basis, Romain again failed to name the proper defendant within the thirty-day statutory period. Section 7703(a)(2) provides that in such an action, the agency responsible for taking the action appealed to the Board shall be the named respondent. The Department of Transportation was thus the proper defendant. Any attempt by Romain to amend his complaint to name the proper defendant would fail because Rule 15(c)'s relation-back test would not be satisfied. See supra pp. 1418-1419. 23 Even if Romain could surmount this jurisdictional hurdle, dismissal for failure to state a claim would be proper. As observed above, 46 U.S.C. Sec. 1101 contains only a declaration of policy. Section 1213(b) requires establishment and maintenance of such regional offices as may be necessary, including but not limited to, one such office for each of the four port ranges. It further provides that the regional offices shall carry out appropriate functions, activities, and programs of the Maritime Administration. Neither Sec. 1101 nor Sec. 1213(b) mentions marketing programs or requires maintenance of a San Francisco office. Construing the complaint in the light most favorable to Romain, there is no set of facts on which he could prevail, and dismissal for failure to state a claim was proper.