Opinion ID: 502461
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: district court's failure to defer to the bia's interpretation of section 81

Text: 71 AMA contends the district court failed to follow the BIA's opinion expressed in its October 5, 1981 correspondence as to whether or not section 81 applies to the 1983 contract. The district court was not required to defer to the BIA's interpretation of section 81. 72 In September 1981, AMA submitted the 1981 agreement to the Southern California BIA office for approval. On October 5, 1981, the Acting Superintendent for the Southern California BIA office notified AMA that government approval of the 1981 agreement was not necessary: 73 Your enclosed agreement has been read carefully and we find, inasmuch as trust lands and funds are not involved, that the document does not require the approval or consent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. We have conferred with the Field Solicitor's Office, Riverside and they concur with the above statement.... 74 This letter is limited only to the question of the need of Bureau approval of the Barona Group Bingo Agreement. 75 Generally, great deference is shown to an administrative agency's interpretation of the law which it is charged with administering. The Steamboaters v. FERC, 759 F.2d 1382, 1388 (9th Cir.1985). However, the courts do not merely 'stand aside and rubber-stamp their affirmance of administrative decisions that they deem inconsistent with a statutory mandate or that frustrate the congressional policy underlying a statute.'  Baker v. United States, 613 F.2d 224, 227 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 932, 101 S.Ct. 332, 66 L.Ed.2d 157 (1980) (quoting NLRB v. Brown, 380 U.S. 278, 291, 85 S.Ct. 980, 988, 13 L.Ed.2d 839 (1965)). Nor will the courts 'defer to an administrative construction where there are compelling indications that it is wrong.'  Baker, 613 F.2d at 227 (quoting Marathon Oil Co. v. Kleppe, 556 F.2d 982, 986 (10th Cir.1977)). Thus, the district court was by no means bound by the agency's interpretation. Dawson v. Myers, 622 F.2d 1304, 1311 (9th Cir.1980), vacated on other grounds sub nom., Beltran v. Myers, 451 U.S. 625, 101 S.Ct. 1961, 68 L.Ed.2d 495 (1981). 76 In 1986, we held in A.K. Management that tribal bingo management agreements require the government's approval under 25 U.S.C. Sec. 81. Our holding in A.K. Management is directly contrary to the interpretation of section 81 set forth in the October 5, 1981 letter to AMA. 77 The record shows that the BIA has changed its view concerning the applicability of section 81 to bingo agreements. The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs sent a letter on April 17, 1986 to all Area Directors which states: [A]ll gambling management contracts of tribes or tribal enterprises should be presumed to fall within the scope of 25 U.S.C. Sec. 81. The district court did not err in not deferring to the October 5, 1981 BIA interpretation of section 81. 78