Opinion ID: 471358
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ripeness and Finality

Text: 17 The ripeness doctrine prevents courts from deciding theoretical or abstract questions that do not yet have a concrete impact on the parties. See Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136, 148-49, 87 S.Ct. 1507, 1515-16, 18 L.Ed.2d 681 (1967); Southern California Edison Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 770 F.2d 779, 785 (9th Cir.1985). 18 Because ripeness is peculiarly a question of timing, we look at the facts as they exist today in evaluating whether the controversy before us is sufficiently concrete to warrant our intervention. See Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 114-17, 96 S.Ct. 612, 680-81, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976); Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases, 419 U.S. 102, 139-40, 95 S.Ct. 335, 356-57, 42 L.Ed.2d 320 (1974). 3 19 In this case, several months before the district court rendered its decision, the BLM and the State Board signed the Cooperative Agreement and its procedures went into effect. The Agreement retroactively approved existing State Board decisions or recommendations impacting Indian lands. Shortly after the Agreement was signed, the State Board held hearings on well spacing and location for fields involving tribal Trust land. Pursuant to this process, the BLM approved for applicability to Trust lands the spacing rules that the State Board had promulgated in Order No. 19-83, the order earlier contested by the Tribes in the 1983 district court action between the Tribes and the State Board. 4 20 The question before us is whether the issue of the validity of the Cooperative Agreement's procedure is ripe for review. 21 The ripeness inquiry has two prongs: fitness of the issue for judicial decision and hardship to the parties if court review is withheld. Abbott Laboratories, 387 U.S. at 149, 87 S.Ct. at 1515; Johnson v. Stuart, 702 F.2d 193, 196 (9th Cir.1983). 22 At the time of the district court's consideration, the Cooperative Agreement had been placed in operation. It governed the application approval process, and under its aegis the BLM had approved advisory orders affecting tribal lands. The district court was presented with a controversy that was definite and concrete, not hypothetical or abstract. Babbitt v. United Farm Workers, 442 U.S. 289, 298, 99 S.Ct. 2301, 2308, 60 L.Ed.2d 895 (1979) (quoting Railway Mail Ass'n v. Corsi, 326 U.S. 88, 93, 65 S.Ct. 1483, 1487, 89 L.Ed. 2072 (1945)). 23 Because the district court had a concrete basis on which to render a decision, see Toilet Goods Ass'n v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 158, 166-67, 87 S.Ct. 1520, 1525-26, 18 L.Ed.2d 697 (1967), the court could evaluate the Tribes' contention that the BLM's delegation of authority constituted a complete abdication of responsibility because the BLM in reality rubber stamped State Board actions. This distinguishes the Tribes' case from others in which a specific factual context was necessary, but lacking. See Western Mining Council v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618, 627 (9th Cir.) (the mere possibility that the Secretary may act in an arguably unconstitutional manner pursuant to one or more of these statutes is insufficient to establish the 'real and substantial controversy' required to render a case justiciable under Article III), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1031, 102 S.Ct. 567, 70 L.Ed.2d 474 (1981); Council of Southern Mountains, Inc. v. Donovan, 516 F.Supp. 955, 960 (D.D.C.1981) (case not ripe because claim that Secretary of Labor had not issued enough citations was impossible to resolve in the abstract). This question was therefore clearly fit for judicial decision. 24 However, even without specific advisory orders to review, the district court was still in a position to decide the merits of the Tribe's contention that by authorizing the State Board to engage in fact-finding and draw initial conclusions, the Secretary had abdicated a critical part of his responsibilities. 25 We look to the standards set forth in Abbott Laboratories for challenges to administrative actions that have been promulgated but not yet enforced to determine whether this issue is reviewable. Review is not premature if the agency action is final, and is purely legal. Abbott Laboratories, 387 U.S. at 149, 87 S.Ct. at 1515. Alternatively, if factual determinations are involved review is appropriate if further factual development would not render the issue more concrete. Western Oil and Gas Ass'n v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 633 F.2d 803, 807 (9th Cir.1980). 26 Finality is a pragmatic, flexible concept. See Abbott Laboratories, 387 U.S. at 150-52, 87 S.Ct. at 1516-17. The court examines whether the action represents a definitive statement of the agency, has direct and immediate effects on the plaintiff's day to day business, has the status of law, whether immediate compliance with its terms is expected, and whether court review will interfere with the proper functioning of an agency. Federal Trade Commission v. Standard Oil Co., 449 U.S. 232, 239-43, 101 S.Ct. 488, 493-95, 66 L.Ed.2d 416 (1980); Air California v. United States Department of Transportation, 654 F.2d 616, 620-21 (9th Cir.1981). 27 In this case, the Tribes and applicants for BLM approval of mining activities were expected to comply with the Cooperative Agreement's provisions. The Agreement did not represent a tentative position on the part of the BLM. It was therefore final action under Abbott Laboratories. 28 The question of whether the BLM's relinquishment of initial fact-finding and decision-making responsibilities constitutes an illegal delegation is primarily legal; and a specific factual context would not aid the court. The issue presented for review here is similar to that presented in Federal/Postal/Retiree Coalition A.F.G.E. v. Devine, 751 F.2d 1424 (D.C.1985). In that case, labor organizations challenged the legality of the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) proposal to publish guidelines for dissemination to administrative agencies on the topic of labor-management relations. The organizations contended that the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) vested exclusive responsibility in the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to provide policy guidelines to other agencies in this area, and therefore that OPM had exceeded its authority. At the time of suit, OPM had not promulgated the guidelines, but had merely published in the Federal Register its notice of intention to publish such a manual in the future. 29 The District of Columbia Circuit held that the issue was ripe for review under the Abbott Laboratories formulation. According to the court, whether OPM had authority to publish guidelines along the lines described squarely presented for resolution the legal issue 'whether OPM has authority to issue the policy guidance as a whole.'  Id. at 1426. Similarly, the issue presented here is a purely legal question: whether the BLM could relinquish to the State Board any aspect of its authority to review applications and make determinations on matters in which the BLM admittedly has exclusive jurisdiction, thereby forcing parties to submit matters to the State Board. 5 See also Babbitt, 442 U.S. at 297-301, 99 S.Ct. at 2308-10 (constitutional challenge to statutory election procedures justiciable even though plaintiffs had not yet invoked those procedures; no factual record required); Johnson, 702 F.2d at 196 (constitutional challenge to textbook screening procedure ripe for review); Pacific Legal Foundation v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Commission, 659 F.2d 903, 917 (9th Cir.1981) (statutory requirement that utility include three alternate sites in notice of intention, ripe for review; no need to delay adjudication until a utility actually submits a notice containing fewer than three sites, given the patent inevitability of the operation of the statute against certain individuals); State of Arizona v. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe R.R., 656 F.2d 398, 402-03 (9th Cir.1981) (challenge to statute made six months before statute's effective date ripe for review; position of parties clear and operation of statute against parties inevitable); Nance v. Environmental Protection Agency, 645 F.2d 701, 713 (9th Cir.) (holding that the issue of the EPA's authority to delegate air quality decisions to Indian tribes was ripe for review), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1081, 102 S.Ct. 635, 70 L.Ed.2d 615 (1981); American Motorcyclist Ass'n. v. Watt, 543 F.Supp. 789, 793-94 (C.D.Cal.1982) (plaintiffs' challenge to BLM's motorized vehicle route selection criteria ripe, even if criteria had not yet been applied). We find the question of the Cooperative Agreement's delegation of fact-finding to the State Board is fit for judicial decision. 30 The requirements of the second prong of the ripeness test--hardship to the parties--is also met in this case. Existence of the Cooperative Agreement forces the Tribes to alter their behavior in significant ways. The Tribes may no longer deal directly and solely with the BLM, their trustee. Instead, the Tribes must initially appear before the State Board to make their views known, or else risk having the Board make recommendations or decisions without benefit of the Tribes' input. The Tribes also argue that application of State Board orders to tribal land creates additional hardships because they must appeal objectionable orders, while in the interim, drilling on adjacent non-Tribal lands may drain mineral resources from shared reservoirs. See Gardner, 387 U.S. at 164-65, 87 S.Ct. at 1524-25 (distinguishing between cases in which serious consequences follow from delaying challenge to an administrative regulation and cases in which the consequences are minor); American Motorcyclist Ass'n., 543 F.Supp. at 794 (hardship created by threat of potentially irreparable environmental harm.) 31 Therefore, because the Tribes' claims are fit for judicial decision, and because it would impose significant burdens on the Tribes if review were delayed, we find that the issues raised are ripe for review.