Opinion ID: 726058
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Method of Analysis

Text: 11 The parties do not agree on how we should approach this case. The Secretary argues that, while the OSHRC properly followed the Ninth Circuit's test in Coeur d'Alene, it erred in its conclusion that OSHA would affect the Tribe's exclusive rights of self-governance in purely intramural matters. MSG argues that the OSHRC came to the right result, but should never have followed Coeur d'Alene in the first place. MSG argues that we should start with a presumption that, because it affects tribal sovereignty, OSHA does not apply unless Congress expressed its specific intent to abrogate tribal sovereignty. We reject MSG's approach as unworkable. 12 In Coeur d'Alene, the Ninth Circuit examined whether OSHA applied to a tribal farm. The court fashioned a three-part analysis. First, it borrowed a presumption, from a dictum in Federal Power Comm'n v. Tuscarora Indian Nation, 362 U.S. 99, 116, 80 S.Ct. 543, 553, 4 L.Ed.2d 584 (1960), that a general statute in terms applying to all persons includes Indians and their property interests. Second, it noted three exceptions to the rule of general applicability: 13 A federal statute of general applicability that is silent on the issue of applicability to Indian tribes will not apply to them if: (1) the law touches exclusive rights of self-governance in purely intramural matters; (2) the application of the law to the tribe would abrogate rights guaranteed by Indian treaties; or (3) there is proof by legislative history or some other means that Congress intended [the law] not to apply to Indians on their reservations.... 14 Coeur d'Alene, 751 F.2d at 1116 (quoting Farris, 624 F.2d at 893-94). Third, the court explained that even if a statute's application would interfere with tribal self-governance over purely intramural matters, it would still apply to Indians if Congress expressly applied the statute to Indians. See id. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe has no treaty with the federal government, thus eliminating the second exception. And OSHA is silent as to Indians, thereby eliminating the third. We concern ourselves only with the first exception. 15 The Secretary wants us to begin with the Tuscarora presumption that OSHA applies to MSG's activities, and determine, under Coeur d'Alene, that OSHA does not affect exclusive rights of self-governance in purely intramural matters. 16 MSG dismisses the Coeur d'Alene methodology as no longer viable in light of the Supreme Court holdings in United States v. Dion, 476 U.S. 734, 106 S.Ct. 2216, 90 L.Ed.2d 767 (1986), and Iowa Mutual Ins. Co. v. LaPlante, 480 U.S. 9, 107 S.Ct. 971, 94 L.Ed.2d 10 (1987). MSG would have us start with the presumption that federal statutes of general applicability touching upon sovereign rights of Indians do not apply to tribes, absent a clear indication of Congress's intent that the statute override tribal sovereignty. We conclude that Dion and LaPlante will not bear the load that MSG seeks to place on them. 17 In Dion the Court reviewed the Bald Eagle Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. § 668 et seq., and the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq., to determine whether either statute abrogated or modified a tribe's treaty-protected right to hunt bald eagles on its own reservation. The Court held that unless there is clear evidence that Congress actually considered the conflict between its intended action on the one hand and Indian treaty rights on the other, and chose to resolve that conflict by abrogating the treaty, the statute would not apply. Dion, 476 U.S. at 740, 106 S.Ct. at 2220. 18 Likewise, in LaPlante, the Court, in examining whether the federal diversity statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1332, divested tribal courts of jurisdiction over civil causes of action arising out of events on an Indian reservation, concluded that:[b]ecause the Tribe retains all inherent attributes of sovereignty that have not been divested by the Federal government, the proper inference from silence ... is that the sovereign power ... remains intact. In the absence of any indication that Congress intended the diversity statute to limit the jurisdiction of the tribal courts, we decline petitioner's invitation to hold that tribal sovereignty can be impaired in this fashion. 19 LaPlante, 480 U.S. at 18, 107 S.Ct. at 977-78 (citations and internal quotations omitted). 20 Braiding these two cases together, MSG crafts the following test: 21 a court faced with interpreting a federal statute that is silent as to applicability to an Indian Tribe must first inquire if that act would operate to infringe upon tribal internal rights of self-government. If an act would interfere with rights of tribal self-governance in internal matters then the court must conclude that the act does not apply. This conclusion can only be overcome if it is clear from the legislative history ... that Congress intended that the act apply in spite of this interference. 22 Appellee's Brief at 20. Applying this test, MSG maintains that OSHA: (1) would interfere with MSG's construction activities, which it characterizes as governmental in nature; and (2) would interfere with the Tribe's ability to adopt its own regulatory scheme, thereby trenching upon tribal sovereignty. 23 Upon first reading, MSG's test seems little different from the Coeur d'Alene approach. Both seem to state that a statute will not apply to a tribe if its application will affect tribal sovereignty. Closer scrutiny, however, reveals that MSG's proposed test would almost invariably compel the conclusion that every federal statute that failed expressly to mention Indians would not apply to them. We believe that so sweeping a conclusion is inconsistent with the limited sovereignty retained by Indian tribes.