Opinion ID: 445104
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Takings Issue

Text: 54 The Miners assert that under federal mining laws and Alaska water rights laws they have a protectible property right to run water through their sluice boxes, including a right to cause deterioration in the water quality downstream from their operations, and that Congress did not intend to repeal or modify this right when it enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. Thus, the Miners claim, application of the permit conditions limiting discharge of pollutants results in a taking of their vested property rights without compensation, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. 55 We conclude that this question is not moot because it presents a legal question that is capable of repetition as subsequent permits are issued. However, even if we assume, without deciding, that placer miners have vested property rights in their historical use of water, the Miners have not presented a justiciable claim of an unconstitutional deprivation of property. 56 To determine whether a regulation of use effectuates an unconstitutional taking, we must examine whether the regulation substantially advances a legitimate state interest and whether the regulation allows the owner economically viable use of his property. Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Association, 452 U.S. 264, 295-96, 101 S.Ct. 2352, 2370-71, 69 L.Ed.2d 1 (1981). Clearly the NPDES permit requirements advance an important governmental interest, as articulated in Sec. 1251(a)(1). 57 However, the Miners have failed to present any concrete controversy concerning the application of the permit conditions to any particular operations or to any particular estimates of economic impact and ultimate valuation. See Hodel, 452 U.S. at 295, 101 S.Ct. at 2370. Mere diminution of property value as a result of regulation cannot by itself establish a taking, Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U.S. 255, 263 n. 9, 100 S.Ct. 2138, 2143 n. 9, 65 L.Ed.2d 106 (1980), and the Miners have not even alleged that any of their members have been deprived of economically viable use of their property. See Hodel, 452 U.S. at 295-96, 101 S.Ct. at 2370-71. 58