Opinion ID: 582731
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Collateral Estoppel--Issue Preclusion.

Text: 37 Both the State and Federal defendants assert that the district court's ruling in the 1985 action that an EIS was not required precludes the Fund from litigating the requirement of an EIS for the 1990 bison management plan. The doctrine of collateral estoppel bars the relitigation of issues that were resolved in a prior proceeding, even if the later suit involves a different cause of action. Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness, Inc. v. Baldrige, 827 F.2d 1353, 1360 (9th Cir.1987). 38 The doctrine of collateral estoppel applies only when the issues presented in each matter are identical. The doctrine is inapplicable if the issues are merely similar. Shapley v. Nevada Bd. of State Prison Comm'rs 766 F.2d 404, 408 (9th Cir.1985). We review de novo the availability of the defense of collateral estoppel. Bates v. Union Oil Co. of California, 944 F.2d 647, 649 (9th Cir.1991). 39 In South Delta Water Agency v. United States, 767 F.2d 531 (9th Cir.1985), the defendants attempted to use a 1963 Supreme Court case, which held that the operation of a dam conformed to statutory requirements, to estop the plaintiffs from asserting that the present operation of the dam was improper. Id. at 538-39. We held that collateral estoppel did not apply because the defendants' current operation of the dam presented a different issue from the one the Supreme Court decided in 1963. Id. 40 The issues presented in this matter are different from those before the district court in the 1985 action. The 1985 action did not determine whether the 1990 interim plan for the management of cows, bulls and calves that migrate from Yellowstone required the preparation of an EIS. The district court erred in concluding that the Fund was collaterally estopped from prosecuting this action. 41