Opinion ID: 186202
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Petition to Repeal or Amend

Text: 62 Finally, we affirm the decision of the District Court rejecting appellants' claim that the Department unlawfully denied NWCA's petition to amend or repeal the Three-Part Test. Section 553(e) of the APA requires agencies to give interested parties the right to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule. See 5 U.S.C. § 553(e) (2000). Section 555(e) further provides that an agency shall give prompt notice and a brief explanation of the grounds for the denial of such a petition. See 5 U.S.C. § 555(e). In October 1995, after the Department solicited comments on its proposed clarification of the Three-Part Test, appellant NWCA submitted two letters to the Department expressing its dissatisfaction with the Three-Part Test. See J.A. 160-66. The letters requested no specific action, but stated that if the Department did not clarify [its policies] in a manner which permits male sports programs and athletes to survive, [NWCA] will be forced to seek additional hearings and remedial legislation. Letter from T.J. Kerr, President, NWCA, to Norma V. Cantú, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Department of Education, at 5 (Oct. 20, 1995), reprinted in J.A. 164. Appellants contend that these letters constituted a petition for repeal or amendment of the Three-Part Test and that the 1996 Clarification effectively denied that petition without explanation. 63 Leaving aside any difficulties as to whether the Three-Part Test is the type of policy subject to the APA's petition requirements, NWCA's 1995 letters simply cannot be construed as a petition for repeal or amendment. The letters described problems NWCA perceived in the existing regulatory scheme under Title IX, but requested no particular action by the Department. We therefore agree with the Department that it was under no obligation to treat the letters as a valid petition. Indeed, the District Court noted that appellants subsequently filed a proper petition that remained pending before the Department when the District Court issued its decision, apparently conceding the infirmity of their previous correspondence. See Nat'l Wrestling Coaches Ass'n, 263 F.Supp.2d at 128. 64 Furthermore, the Department's 1995 solicitation for comments clearly confined its request to whether the proposed clarification of the Three-Part Test provide[d] the appropriate clarity in areas that have generated questions. See Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance: The Three-Part Test, at 1 (Sep. 20, 1995), transmitted by Letter from Norma V. Cantú, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Department of Education, reprinted in J.A. 131. And, as the 1996 Clarification reiterated, the Department did not intend the 1995-96 proceeding to serve as a forum for reconsideration of the Three-Part Test. See 1996 Clarification, J.A. 143. In light of the Department's broad discretion to manage its docket, see Edison Elec. Inst. v. ICC, 969 F.2d 1221, 1230 (D.C.Cir.1992), and the quite limited scope of our review of an agency's decision whether to repeal a rule, see Nat'l Mining Ass'n v. United States Dep't of the Interior, 70 F.3d 1345, 1352 (D.C.Cir.1995), it cannot be said that the Department failed to provide an adequate explanation for its disposition of NWCA's 1995 letters. 65 In sum, appellants did not petition for repeal or amendment of the Three-Part Test pursuant to the Department's solicitation of comments on its proposed clarification of the test. Nor would such a petition have been within the scope of the 1995-96 proceeding. The proceeding was undertaken by the Department solely to determine whether the proposed clarification of the Three-Part Test provided clarity in areas that had generated questions, not as a forum for reconsideration of the Three-Part Test. Appellants' subsequent petition for repeal or amendment of the Three-Part Test is still pending and thus is not ripe for review in this litigation.