Opinion ID: 209137
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Balancing of the Penn Central Factors

Text: The purpose of the takings clause is to ensure fairness, to both the property owner and the public. See Armstrong v. United States, 364 U.S. 40, 49, 80 S.Ct. 1563, 4 L.Ed.2d 1554 (1960). When balancing the factors adduced through the Penn Central analysis, our objective is to ascertain whether, in light of those factors, it is unfair to force the property owner to bear the cost of the regulatory action. In doing so, we can look to the outcomes in other cases, recognizing however that reference to isolated facts in other takings cases provides limited guidance. As frequently reminded, a regulatory takings analysis is generally an ad hoc analysis. Penn Cent., 438 U.S. at 124, 98 S.Ct. 2646. Litigants and commentators often put too much emphasis on any one of the Penn Central factors, based on the favorable outcome of prior cases. Reminding a court, as Rose Acre does, that a taking was found in Yancey when there was a diminution in value of only 77% is practically useless without further context. It is not that prior cases have no precedential value. Rather, the holding of each case must be carefully scrutinized and understood, within the context of the particular facts, in order to apply that holding faithfully in future cases. In other words, there is no magic number or formula in takings cases. Furthermore, Yancey is quite distinguishable on its facts from the present case. In Yancey, the USDA imposed an emergency quarantine on poultry in an effort to contain an outbreak of pathogenic Avian Influenza, a highly contagious viral disease but generally of little risk to humans. 915 F.2d at 1536. The plaintiffs suffered a diminution of 77% in the value of their turkey breeder flock. Id. at 1539. Thus, unlike the present case, Yancey resolved a takings claim relating to governmental action causing a substantial decrease in property value in the absence of any significant threat of illness to the public. For at least this reason, Yancey yields little support for Rose Acre's position. When we review all the factual findings above, we conclude that they require a holding of no compensable taking. First, Rose Acre's economic impact is not severe. Second, although the reasonable investment-backed expectations favor Rose Acre, they are not strong enough to be dispositive. Third, the character of the government's regulations strongly favors a nontaking. For comparison purposes, we note that the present case is quite similar as a whole to Maritrans. In Maritrans, we held that no compensable taking occurred when, in response to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Congress enacted legislation requiring single-hulled oil tankers to be either retrofitted with double hulls or phased out of service. 342 F.3d at 1348-49. The single-hulled oil tankers owned by the plaintiff in Maritrans suffered a 13.1% diminution in value. Id. at 1358. That diminution in value is quite similar to the approximately 10% loss in value of the diverted eggs from Rose Acre's three affected farms, which were 43% of all the eggs produced there. We also noted in Maritrans that [t]he character of the governmental action factor requires a court to consider the purpose and importance of the public interest underlying a regulatory imposition, by obligating the court to inquire into the degree of harm created by the claimant's prohibited activity, its social value and location, and the ease with which any harm stemming from it could be prevented. Id. at 1356 ( quoting Creppel v. United States, 41 F.3d 627, 631 (Fed.Cir.1994)). [9] We considered the law's public safety aspect, viz., protecting the waterways of the United States from oil spills for environmental and navigational reasons. Id. at 1357. We also recognized that a finding in favor of the property owner would have the effect of creating a disincentive for the government to enact publicly beneficial laws by requiring compensation every time a statute or regulation affects a property owner's interests. Id. In doing so, we concluded that the character of the governmental action weighed against the property owner. Id. at 1358. Thus, given the small diminution in value and the importance of the public safety aspect of the legislation, we affirmed the trial court's decision of no taking. That precedent, then, strongly supports our holding here, for the cases are analogous. Although Rose Acre may feel otherwise, the law of regulatory takings does not generally compensate property owners when a regulation's economic impact is slight and temporary but the potential for physical harm to the public is significant. Here, infected eggs could have caused serious illness and possibly even death.