Opinion ID: 187055
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: AAMP's Claims for Relief Mootness, Standing, and Ripeness

Text: Although the actions filed by Munsell/MQF and AAMP overlap in some respects, they raise different considerations for the court. AAMP appears to press three distinct claims. First, AAMP joins MQF in challenging the enforcement action taken by USDA against MQF. Second, AAMP seeks protection from future acts of retaliation by FSIS officials against its members. Finally, AAMP seeks declaratory and injunctive relief in its challenge to USDA's regulations governing FSIS inspections of small meat processors. The first claim is moot. The second claim fails for want of standing. And the third claim is unripe for judicial review. Because MQF's challenge to USDA's enforcement actions is moot, AAMP has no basis upon which to pursue this challenge on behalf of MQF. An association has standing only if . . . at least one of its members would have standing to sue in his own right. GrassRoots Recycling Network, Inc. v. EPA, 429 F.3d 1109, 1111 (D.C.Cir.2005) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Hunt v. Wash. State Apple Adver. Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333, 342-43, 97 S.Ct. 2434, 53 L.Ed.2d 383 (1977). MQF is the only AAMP member that has challenged specific USDA enforcement actions. Therefore, it follows that if AAMP seeks to appear on behalf of MQF to challenge the disputed agency enforcement actions and MQF's claims are moot, then AAMP's claims are moot as well. AAMP also seeks injunctive relief to ensure that FSIS officials will not use USDA enforcement powers to retaliate against its members in the future. AAMP complains that its members are concern[ed] that public criticism of the agency can result in adverse regulatory action. Decl. of Steve Krut, Executive Director, AAMP ¶ 3, JA 209. AAMP offers nothing more than sheer speculation to support the suggestion that its members will be retaliated against by agency officials in the future. In sum, appellants' complaint and accompanying affidavits do not come close to demonstrating that AAMP members face real and immediate threat[s] of harm, sufficient to establish the association's standing to pursue this claim. Lyons, 461 U.S. at 105, 103 S.Ct. 1660. Finally, AAMP challenges USDA's enforcement policies under FSIS Directive 10,010.1, Revision 1 (Mar. 21, 2004). In particular, the Amended Complaint seeks, inter alia, to enjoin any USDA enforcement action based on a determination that a meat processor's HACCP plan is inadequate if said finding is based in whole or in part on the small plant's failure to sample or test for E. coli at its expense incoming beef products already bearing USDA approval, or to otherwise obtain certification of non-adulteration from the supplying large plant beyond USDA's approval mark on the beef products supplied, Am. Compl. ¶ 60. 1, JA 33; to enjoin USDA from placing any prohibition on USDA inspectors against sampling for E. coli in beef product supplied by a large plant to a small plant, id. ¶ 60.2, JA 33; and to require USDA to immediately perform a traceback to the supplying large plant, and to implement appropriate and effective corrective action against said large plant, when it obtains information indicating that E. coli adulterated beef product has been shipped by a large plant to [a small plant], id. ¶ 60.3, JA 33. AAMP clearly has standing to pursue claims of this sort on behalf of its members, many of whom are subject to USDA oversight and governed by FSIS Directive 10,010.1. The problem here is that AAMP has not raised a facial challenge to any USDA regulation; nor has AAMP petitioned USDA to engage in rulemaking, as allowed by USDA regulations, either to promulgate new rules or to modify FSIS Directive 10,010.1. See 7 C.F.R. § 1.28 (making it clear that any interested persons may petition pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 553(e) for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of USDA rules). When asked about this during oral argument, appellants' counsel advised the court that AAMP's action seeks only to advance an as applied challenge to the Directive. Recording of Oral Argument at 13:50-14:12. This is hard to fathom, because AAMP points to no USDA enforcement action against any of its members, except MQF, and MQF's challenge is moot. On this record, we are constrained to find that AAMP's claims are not ripe for judicial review. The Revised FSIS Directive 10,010.1 appears to reflect USDA's final statement of rules governing FSIS's Microbiological Testing Program and Other Verifications Activities for Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in Raw Ground Beef Products and Raw Ground Beef Components and Beef Patty Components. See FSIS Directive, 10,010.1 Revision 1 (Mar. 31, 2004), JA 156-83. The Directive provides FSIS inspection personnel and program investigators with instructions for selecting, collecting, and submitting raw ground beef samples to be tested. It also outlines actions FSIS will take when a raw ground beef product sample is found to be positive for E. coli, and it answers questions relating to the reporting of results and actions taken by the agency. Id. There is no doubt that the Directive purports to set standards for enforcement actions by FSIS officials. And there is also no doubt that these enforcement actions have a direct effect on AAMP members who are engaged in the processing of ground beef. It is not altogether clear whether Revised FSIS Directive 10,010.1 reflects a final agency rule that is subject to judicial review, see Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154, 177-78, 117 S.Ct. 1154, 137 L.Ed.2d 281 (1997), or a nonreviewable policy statement, see Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Nat'l Highway Traffic Safety Admin., 452 F.3d 798, 800 (D.C.Cir.2006). See generally, EDWARDS & ELLIOTT, FEDERAL STANDARDS OF REVIEW  REVIEW OF DISTRICT COURT DECISIONS AND AGENCY ACTIONS 130-35 (2007) (STANDARDS OF REVIEW). We need not address this question, for it is clear here that, in either event, AAMP's claims are not ripe for review. Even when an agency has taken final action, a court may refrain from reviewing a challenge to the action if the case is unripe for review. Toilet Goods Ass'n v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 158, 87 S.Ct. 1520, 18 L.Ed.2d 697 (1967). The ripeness inquiry springs from the Article III case or controversy requirement that prohibits courts from issuing advisory opinions on speculative claims. See Reg'l Rail Reorganization Act Cases, 419 U.S. 102, 138, 95 S.Ct. 335, 42 L.Ed.2d 320 (1974). In other words, if a claim challenging final agency action is not concrete, it may be unfit for judicial review without regard to whether the complaining party has standing to pursue the claim. Normally, no such issue arises in cases in which an agency has taken direct enforcement action against a party. Rather, the ripeness issue normally arises in cases in which a regulated party faces the threat of future agency enforcement action. STANDARDS OF REVIEW at 119. In applying the ripeness doctrine, the courts look to both the fitness of the issues for judicial decision and the hardship to the parties of withholding court consideration. Abbott Labs. v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136, 149, 87 S.Ct. 1507, 18 L.Ed.2d 681 (1967). In this case, AAMP's action challenging Revised FSIS Directive 10,010.1 is neither fit for review, nor will the association face any hardship if the court withholds review. In Toilet Goods Ass'n v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 158, 87 S.Ct. 1520, 18 L.Ed.2d 697 (1967), an association of cosmetics manufacturers sought declaratory and injunctive relief from an agency regulation that allowed agency officials to immediately suspend a company's government certification if the agency determined that the manufacturer had refused to permit duly authorized inspectors of the Food and Drug Administration free access to all manufacturing facilities. The Court found that there was no question that the disputed regulation was final agency action under § 10 of the APA, 5 U.S.C. § 704. 387 U.S. at 162, 87 S.Ct. 1520. It also found that the issue presented a purely legal question of the type that courts have occasionally dealt with without requiring a specific attempt at enforcement. Id. at 163, 87 S.Ct. 1520 (citations omitted). However, the Court concluded that these facts were outweighed by other considerations, including the fact that the regulation did no more than serve[ ] notice . . . that the [agency] may under certain circumstances order inspection of certain facilities and data and that further certification . . . may be refused to those who decline to permit a duly authorized inspection. Id. The Court said that it had no idea whether or when such an inspection [would] be ordered and what reasons the [agency might] give to justify [any such] order. Id. The Court thus dismissed the action as unripe for judicial review. The same considerations that caused the Court to find the disputed regulation unfit for review in Toilet Goods apply as well in this case. Likewise, we find that AAMP will suffer no hardship if judicial review is delayed. In explaining the hardship prong of the ripeness doctrine, the Supreme Court has held that hardship will not be found when a complaining party is not required to engage in, or to refrain from, any conduct. Texas v. United States, 523 U.S. 296, 301, 118 S.Ct. 1257, 140 L.Ed.2d 406 (1998). The Court has also stated that mere uncertainty as to the validity of a legal rule [does not] constitute[ ] a hardship for purposes of the ripeness analysis. Nat'l Park Hospitality Ass'n v. Dep't of Interior, 538 U.S. 803, 811, 123 S.Ct. 2026, 155 L.Ed.2d 1017 (2003). There are no obvious adverse consequences that will flow from requiring AAMP and its members to pursue challenges to the Directive in the context of concrete enforcement actions. In Toilet Goods, the Court noted that a regulated party's refusal to admit an inspector [pursuant to the disputed regulation] would at most lead only to a suspension of certification services to the particular party, a determination that can then be promptly challenged through an administrative procedure, which in turn is reviewable by a court. 387 U.S. at 165, 87 S.Ct. 1520 (footnotes omitted). The same reasoning controls here. If USDA seeks to take enforcement actions against any of AAMP's members in the future, those actions will be subject to administrative appeals and judicial review. The simple point here is that [w]e have no means to evaluate in the abstract the myriad circumstances that will arise in connection with USDA enforcement actions taken pursuant to Revised FSIS Directive 10,010.1. City of Houston v. HUD, 24 F.3d 1421, 1431 (D.C.Cir.1994). Indeed, were this court to assess the Directive now, it would be required to conduct a pseudo-rulemaking proceeding by examining and weighing all of the considerations that might lead USDA to pursue enforcement actions in the future. Webb v. Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 696 F.2d 101, 107 (D.C.Cir.1982). Many of the enforcement actions under the Directive are discretionary, so it is unclear if, when or how the agency will employ it. Action Alliance of Senior Citizens v. Heckler, 789 F.2d 931, 940 (D.C.Cir.1986), vacated on other grounds, 494 U.S. 1001, 110 S.Ct. 1329, 108 L.Ed.2d 469 (1990). Judicial review of the Directive is likely to stand on a much surer footing in the context of a specific application of this regulation than could be the case in the framework of the generalized challenge made here. Toilet Goods, 387 U.S. at 164, 87 S.Ct. 1520. We therefore dismiss AAMP's APA action for declaratory and injunctive relief as unripe.