Opinion ID: 3189206
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Hypothetical consequences

Text: Finally, at oral argument, F.E.B. asserted for the first time that a finding of no abandonment by the United States in this case would effectively foreclose the availability of QTA claims for all submerged lands nationwide. F.E.B. arrives at that sweeping conclusion by fashioning a new argument for the government (an argument not asserted by the government itself)—namely, that the Supreme Court’s 1947 decision granting the United States “paramount” rights in submerged coastal lands, see California I, 332 U.S. at 38-39, constituted a “claim” by the United States to all such lands for purposes of the QTA statute of limitations. Starting from that hypothetical premise, F.E.B. contends that, unless the court finds the SLA abandoned all California I “claims,” the QTA limitations period on all submerged coastal lands expired long ago. 23 Case: 15-11771 Date Filed: 03/28/2016 Page: 24 of 25 The problem with F.E.B.’s argument is that it is counterfactual. The government does not argue that California I triggered the QTA limitations period for Wisteria Island. Rather, the government asserts that its 1951 letter triggered the limitations period. In that letter, the United States relied not on California I, but instead on its 1819 treaty with Spain, and 1845 and 1924 Executive Orders, to assert ownership over the island. As discussed in Section II.A supra, that letter’s explicit and unambiguous assertion of a property interest in the island more than meets the QTA’s accrual requirements. We therefore have no reason to consider whether California I constituted a “claim” by the United States to Wisteria Island—or submerged lands in general—in order to decide this case. Accordingly, we express no opinion on that issue. Similarly, our holding regarding the SLA’s effect on the QTA statute of limitations is narrowly drawn to the facts of this case. Contrary to F.E.B.’s contention, we need not decide whether the SLA in general abandoned preexisting government claims to submerged lands. Rather, we hold only that, given the undisputed and well-known facts of Wisteria Island’s creation, the plain language of the SLA exception for lands “built up by the United States for its own use,” 43 U.S.C. § 1313(a), gave rise to an open and obvious question as to whether the SLA applied in this case. See supra § II.B. We leave further explication of these issues to future cases. 24 Case: 15-11771 Date Filed: 03/28/2016 Page: 25 of 25