Opinion ID: 2798172
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Application of Robins Dry Dock

Text: Ultimately, the question in this case is not whether the Mexican States have some authority to use or exploit some of the land and other resources at issue here. They likely do. The question is whether their property interests rise to the requisite level. They do not. We recognize that the Robins Dry Dock analytical framework does not easily map on to an intragovernmental relationship. However, the Mexican Constitution is sufficiently clear about the distribution of property rights in the country for us to conclude that the Mexican States in no way resemble owners permitted to recover economic damages in our case law. See e.g., Vicksburg Towing, 609 F.2d at 177 (permitting the plaintiff to recover lost rental income after damage sustained to its dock because, although the dock was leased to another, the plaintiff remained the sole owner of the property). Instead, the Mexican States far more closely resemble the railroad company disallowed economic damage recovery from a defendant who negligently damaged another owner’s bridge, in spite of the company’s right to use the bridge. See Bayou Lacombe, 597 F.2d at 474. They also resemble the oil company in Texas Eastern that could not recover for a defendant’s negligent destruction of a pipeline it did not own, even though it maintained a laundry list of appurtenances to the pipeline. See 877 F.2d at 1225–26. Seen through the prism of the perhaps less onerous demise charter analogy, the Mexican States’ interests still do not stack up. Recall that the demise charterer “takes over the ship, lock, stock and barrel, and mans her 18 Case: 13-31070 Document: 00513028113 Page: 19 Date Filed: 05/01/2015 No. 13-31070 with his own people. He becomes, in effect, the owner pro hac vice.” Bayou Lacombe, 597 F.2d at 473 n.3 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). He maintains “complete control.” Id. The time charterer, by contrast, can provide “orders as to ports touched, cargo loaded, and other business matters” and can have “tonnage under his control for a period of time, without undertaking the responsibilities of ship navigation and management of the long-term financial commitments of vessel ownership.” Id. According to the Mexican States, they “are in charge of the natural resources at issue” and have the right to “exploit” these assets. They also note through affidavits of state environmental ministers that they have—at their own expense—repaired, maintained, managed, developed and protected many of the relevant resources. But these interests do not even closely approximate the “complete control” maintained by the demise charterer. It could not be said that the states have taken over the property at issue “lock, stock and barrel.” Bayou Lacombe, 597 F.2d at 473 n.3 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Rather, federal law places the bulk of the power here in the hands of the federal government. The Mexican Constitution vests ownership of “lands and waters within the boundaries of national land territory” in the “Nation.” Mexican Constitution, Article 27. The GLEBEP gives the federal government power over “matters affecting the ecological balance . . . originating . . . in areas beyond the jurisdiction of any State.” See GLEBEP, Article 5. The GLW provides that only the federal government, as relevant here, can bring an action “for damage caused to wildlife and its habitat.” See GLW, Article 107. The state constitutions, the above-listed laws, and Plaintiffs’ cited affidavits bespeak a role for the states in managing some of the country’s property. But 19 Case: 13-31070 Document: 00513028113 Page: 20 Date Filed: 05/01/2015 No. 13-31070 they do not provide the Mexican States with the crucial proprietary interest for purposes of Robins Dry Dock. 16