Opinion ID: 2516124
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The District Court Erred in Dismissing LEAN's Action as Moot

Text: Although the district court granted the Defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the court reasoned that LEAN's action must be dismissed based on mootness. In the Order, the court explained that LEAN's claims were rendered moot by the Defendants' ongoing compliance with the 2002 consent decree. Thus, the district court's dismissal of LEAN's action was based on a lack of federal jurisdiction. See City of Dallas, 529 F.3d at 524 (stating that a mootness argument raises a question of federal jurisdiction). We have stated that we are not bound by the label the district court puts on its action where underlying facts indicate that a different action was in fact intended. Williamson v. Tucker, 645 F.2d 404, 412 (5th Cir.1981) (citation omitted). Therefore, based on the district court's reasoning, we construe its dismissal of LEAN's suit as a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, not for failure to state a claim. See id. We review questions of federal jurisdiction de novo, including arguments that a case or controversy has become moot. City of Dallas, 529 F.3d at 524 (citation omitted). Mootness is the doctrine of standing in a time frame. The requisite personal interest that must exist at the commencement of litigation (standing) must continue throughout its existence (mootness). Id. at 524-25 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). If a case has been rendered moot, a federal court has no constitutional authority to resolve the issues that it presents. Id. at 525 (citation omitted). In City of Dallas, we held that, where the entry of a consent decree occurred after the filing of a CWA citizen suit, the citizen suit is rendered moot unless the citizen-suit plaintiff proves that there is a realistic prospect that the violations alleged in its complaint will continue notwithstanding the consent decree. Id. at 528 (citations omitted). In the present case, the district court applied the City of Dallas mootness standard to LEAN's action, despite the fact that LEAN's citizen suit was filed years after the entry of the 2002 consent decree. In applying the standard, the court found that LEAN could not meet the reasonable prospect test because the Defendants had asserted that they are in compliance with the conditions of the 2002 consent decree. Thus, the district court held that the 2002 consent decree rendered LEAN's citizen suit moot. We hold that the district court erred in applying the City of Dallas mootness standard to the present case. [2] In City of Dallas, we recognized that developments subsequent to the filing of a citizen suit may moot the citizen's case. 529 F.3d at 526 (emphasis added) (citation omitted). We stated that, [a]s a general rule, any set of circumstances that eliminates actual controversy after the commencement of a lawsuit renders that action moot. Id. at 527 (emphasis added) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). In City of Dallas, the plaintiff filed its citizen suit prior to the entry of a consent decree between the defendant and the United States and the State of Texas. Thus, it was proper for the court to examine whether the subsequent development of the consent decree mooted the plaintiff's properly-filed citizen suit. In the instant case, however, LEAN filed its citizen suit approximately eight years after the entry of the 2002 consent decree between the Defendants and the United States and the State of Louisiana. Neither party argues that any circumstances subsequent to the filing of LEAN's lawsuit have rendered LEAN's citizen suit moot. Thus, the district court erred in examining whether the 2002 consent decree, and the ongoing enforcement of its conditions, mooted LEAN's citizen suit. See 13B WRIGHT & MILLER, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 3533 (3d ed.) (Mootness doctrine encompasses the circumstances that destroy the justiciability of a suit previously suitable for determination.) (emphasis added). Therefore, the district court improperly dismissed LEAN's citizen suit based on mootness.