Opinion ID: 6936487
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sovereign immunity under the quiet title act

Text: Alaska asserts that the United States is not immune from its suit because the United States has waived its sovereign immunity under 5 U.S.C. § 702 (Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”)); 28 U.S.C. § 2409a (QTA); and 43 U.S.C. § 1632(a) (Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (“ANILCA”)). In this type of ease, however, “the waiver of sovereign immunity must be found, if at all, within the QTA.” Albert, 38 F.3d at 1073. 2 Albert further compels our conclusion that the QTA’s waiver of sovereign immunity does not permit Alaska’s suit. The QTA’s waiver expressly does not apply to “trust or restricted Indian lands.” 28 U.S.C. § 2409a(a). As long as the United States has a “colorable claim” to a property interest based on that property’s status as trust or restricted Indian lands, the QTA renders the government immune from suit. Albert, 38 F.3d at 1076. The facts in this case are sufficiently similar to those in Albert that we feel constrained to hold that the United States has asserted the requisite “colorable claim” to the land in question here. See id. Accordingly, the Quiet Title Act does not waive the government’s immunity. United States v. Mottaz, 476 U.S. 834, 843, 106 S.Ct. 2224, 2230, 90 L.Ed.2d 841 (1986); Albert, 38 F.3d at 1073.