Opinion ID: 613270
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Irving's Standing

Text: Irving, unlike Hugo, is suing not its parent state, but another state. The political subdivision standing doctrine has no applicability in such a circumstance. Nonetheless, Irving must still meet the traditional standing requirements. Under Article III, a plaintiff must demonstrate standing to sue by showing an injury-in-fact, that the injury is fairly traceable to the defendant's conduct, and that the injury is likely to be redressed by the relief sought. Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154, 162, 117 S.Ct. 1154, 137 L.Ed.2d 281 (1997); Stewart v. Kempthorne, 554 F.3d 1245, 1253 (10th Cir.2009) (naming as constitutional standing requirements injury-in-fact, causation, and redressablity). Here, Irving, a plaintiff-intervenor in the district court, based its claims of injury solely on the contract between it and Hugo for the sale of water. Its complaint explained the broad terms of the agreement, including Hugo's pending applications to modify its existing permits and obtain a new permit to fulfill its obligations under the agreement. It further alleged the challenged state laws prevented the performance of the contract, i.e., Irving's purchase of water. Irving never alleged it had any pending applications for water permits which would be affected by the challenged laws or that it had identified any other potential or actual sellers of water, including private sellers, aside from Hugo. Even assuming Irving could demonstrate an injury-in-fact and causation, Irving's standing arguments fail on the third constitutional prong, redressability. To demonstrate redressability, a party must show that a favorable court judgment is likely to relieve the party's injury. Coll v. First Am. Title Ins. Co., 642 F.3d 876, 892 (10th Cir.2011). This court previously considered the standing of a commercial timber company to challenge an agency preservation plan which prevented the sale of timber rights in a particular area. Wyo. Sawmills, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Serv., 383 F.3d 1241, 1246-47 (10th Cir.2004). The timber company's standing ultimately failed because the federal agency has complete discretion as to whether to offer the opportunity sought by the plaintiff, and accordingly, the courts do not have the power to grant the only relief that would rectify the alleged injury. Id. at 1249. The circumstances here are analogous. If a federal court were to declare, as Irving urges, the challenged Oklahoma laws unconstitutional under the dormant Commerce Clause, the dormant Commerce Clause still would not constrain the Board's actions with respect to Hugo's permit applications. As explained above, Hugo's power to hold and manage water rights rests in the absolute discretion of the state. City of Trenton, 262 U.S. at 186, 43 S.Ct. 534 (quotation omitted). [12] Invalidating the challenged laws under the dormant Commerce Clause would not compel the Board to grant Hugo's applications, or even to process them in any particular way. As Hugo and Irving's joint reply brief on appeal asserts, the lawsuit challenges the Board's ability to discriminatorily deny Hugo's application to appropriate Oklahoma water. Because Hugo does not have rights under the dormant Commerce Clause against its parent state, Irving's injury would not be redressed by the remedy it seeks. The cases cited by Hugo and Irving for the proposition that political subdivisions of one state may sue another state under the dormant Commerce Clause over allegedly discriminatory water permitting laws are inapposite because they do not involve a political subdivision of one state whose claim is premised on a contract with a political subdivision of the defendant state. Rather, those cases concern political subdivisions attempting to access the private market or obtain a permit directly from the defendant state. See, e.g., City of El Paso v. Reynolds, 563 F.Supp. 379, 381 (D.N.M.1983) (city in Texas sought water permit directly from permitting authority of New Mexico and also contracted for the purchase of water from a private New Mexico company); City of Altus v. Carr, 255 F.Supp. 828, 831 (W.D.Tex.1966) (city in Oklahoma contracted for purchase of water from private landowners in Texas). Because of that posture, were a court to declare the challenged state laws in those cases unconstitutional, plaintiffs' injuries would be redressed because the defendants would be prohibited from applying the unconstitutional law to the applications of private entities and out-of-state municipalities. The case here is very different. Because Irving's standing is premised solely on its contract with Hugo, and because Hugo itself possesses no rights under the dormant Commerce Clause as against its parent state, Irving is unable to meet the third constitutional standing requirement of redressability.