Opinion ID: 783502
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Maritrans' Suit in the Court of Federal Claims

Text: 6 On August 7, 1996, Maritrans filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(1). In its complaint, it alleged that it was entitled to compensation under the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause for the taking of thirty-seven of its single hull tank barges. Maritrans asserted that OPA90's double hull requirement extinguished the useful working lives of the barges and deprived it of 100% of the economic value of the barges after their required retirement dates. Accordingly, Maritrans argued, the statute resulted in a categorical taking of the vessels. Maritrans also argued that the double hull requirement resulted in a regulatory taking of its vessels. 5 7 In due course, the government moved to dismiss Maritrans' complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(4) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims for failure to state a cause of action for which relief could be granted. The government asserted that Maritrans had no Fifth Amendment property interest for which it could assert a takings claim. Specifically, the government argued that Maritrans operated its tank barge fleet in a highly regulated field and therefore could have no property interest in the vessels in the fleet. The government pointed to a 1980 proposal by the United States Coast Guard recommending the adoption of a double hull requirement for all vessels to suggest that the field was highly regulated. The government further argued that personal property, such as a single hull tank barge, does not enjoy the same scope of constitutional protection as real property. The court disagreed, concluding that Maritrans had a property interest in its vessels that was cognizable under the Fifth Amendment and that Maritrans had stated a cause of action for which relief could be granted. Maritrans Inc. v. United States, 40 Fed.Cl. 790, 801 (1998). 8 On July 15-17, 1997, the Court of Federal Claims held a trial on the issue of whether Maritrans could establish that its property had been the subject of a regulatory taking under the analysis set forth in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104, 98 S.Ct. 2646, 57 L.Ed.2d 631 (1978). The Penn Central analysis focuses on three factors, the character of the governmental action at issue, the economic impact of the action on the claimant, and the extent to which the action has interfered with the claimant's distinct, investment-backed expectations. Id. at 124, 98 S.Ct. 2646. The court concluded that OPA90 had interfered with a reasonable, investment-backed expectation on the part of Maritrans, because, when the tank barges were acquired, Maritrans could not have foreseen that double hulls would be required during the estimated working life of the barges. Maritrans, 43 Fed.Cl. at 89. Nevertheless, the court dismissed Maritrans' suit as not ripe for adjudication. Id. at 92. It did so because it concluded that, at that time, a taking had not yet occurred. Id. It reached that conclusion because none of Maritrans' vessels had been retrofitted, scrapped, or sold by reason of OPA90. Id. Maritrans moved for reconsideration of the dismissal, arguing that ten of its tank barges had been retrofitted, scrapped, or sold as a result of the statute. In response, the court agreed to consider Maritrans' takings claim on the merits insofar as it related to eight barges that had either been retrofitted with a double hull, scrapped as a result of a casualty, or sold on account of OPA90. See Maritrans, 51 Fed.Cl. at 279. Those eight vessels were the Ocean 90, the Ocean 96, the Ocean 115, the Ocean 135, and the Ocean 155 (each sold); the Ocean 192 and the Ocean 244 (each retrofitted with a double hull); and the Ocean 255 (a casualty loss). It determined, however, that the ripeness requirement was not met with respect to the remaining twenty-nine barges that were named in Maritrans' complaint. Subsequently, Maritrans withdrew its takings claim with respect to 22 of the smaller barges in its fleet, thereby limiting its claim to the eight barges identified and seven additional barges for which the court had held Maritrans' takings claim was not ripe. Those additional seven barges were the Ocean 193, the Ocean 210, the Ocean 211, the Ocean 215, the Ocean 250, the Ocean Cities, and the Ocean States. 9 In January of 2001, the Court of Federal Claims held a trial to assess the economic impact on Maritrans of the double hull requirement of OPA90. Based upon the evidence adduced at trial, the court determined that OPA90, when considered throughout the period of Maritrans' ownership of the eight tank barges at issue, had reduced Maritrans' profits arising from the barges, but had not deprived Maritrans of all economically beneficial uses of the barges. Maritrans, 51 Fed.Cl. at 281. The court relied on the following facts: that Maritrans had received fair market value for the barges that it had sold; that it could continue to use and derive benefit from the barges that had been retrofitted; and that it had received insurance proceeds for the barge that had been scrapped after the 1996 collision. Id. Accordingly, the court concluded that there had not been a categorical taking of the barges. Id. The court also concluded that there had not been a regulatory taking of the barges. Id. at 283. The court reached that conclusion after finding that, even after OPA90, the barges retained substantial economic value and several beneficial uses for Maritrans; that OPA90 was enacted to further a permissible goal that benefited the public (the reduction of oil spills); and that Maritrans alone was not required to bear the burden of the double hull requirement. Id. at 282. This appeal by Maritrans followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(3).