Court Opinion

ID: 9494951
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:51:17.560798+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:44.081369
License: Public Domain

REED, District Judge,
concurring in the judgment.
I respectfully concur in the result. I write separately because it is my view that simply by applying canons of statutory construction we can arrive at the conclusion that COGSA’s proviso against “repealing” or “hmiting” the Pomerene Act does not preclude application of its one year time bar to Underwood’s claims.
The issue we confront is whether COG-SA’s one year statute of limitations can be applied to a Pomerene Act claim in light of the express proviso in COGSA that it is not meant to limit application of the Pom-erene Act. COGSA applies to “every bill of lading” which is “evidence of a contract for the carriage of goods by sea.” 46 U.S.C. app. § 1300. It contains a one year statute of limitations period. Id. § 1303(6). COGSA also expressly states that “nothing in this chapter shall be construed as repealing or limiting the application of any part of sections 81 to 124 of Title 49.”1 Id. § 1303(4). The Pomerene Act contains no time bar.
Recognizing that COGSA sections 1300, 1303(4) and 1303(6) are somewhat at odds, the majority then proceeds to discuss: whether section 1303(6) is a statute of repose or a statute of limitations; what a perusal of the legislative history reveals; and other policy implications in order to determine that COGSA section 1303(4) must be construed narrowly and not limit the application of its statute of limitations to a claim, even if that claim is brought solely under the Pomerene Act. While I agree with the majority’s ultimate conclusion, I remain unconvinced that interpreting COGSA’s proviso in section 1303(4) broadly to say that the Pomerene Act stands not in the shadow of COGSA, but on equal footing beside it, would create the disharmony in the shipping trade that the majority fears.2 Rather than engage in *412these discussions, it is my belief that the analysis begins and ends with application of general rules of statutory construction. We need look no further.
Our analysis under general rules of statutory construction begins with “the language of the statute.” Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137, 144, 116 S.Ct. 501, 506, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995). When interpreting the statutory text, we “consider not only the bare meaning of the word but also its placement and purpose in the statutory scheme.” Id. at 145, 116 S.Ct. 501. Where the plain language of a statute is ambiguous, a court may go beyond the words of the statute and examine the legislative history that may explain or elucidate it. United States v. Davidson, 246 F.3d 1240, 1246 (9th Cir.2001). In examining the legislative history of a statute, however, our function is to determine the intent of the legislature, “not to rewrite the statute based on our notions of appropriate policy.” Id. (citations omitted).
We begin, then, with a look at COGSA section 1303(4). When viewed in isolation, the phrase that nothing in COGSA “shall be construed as repealing or limiting the application of any part of sections 81 to 124 of Title 49” seems to unquestionably indicate that nothing in COGSA should limit the effect of any part of the Pomer-ene Act (formerly 49 U.S.C. §§ 81-124). Even the majority admits that the one year time bar “would have the effect of limiting a party’s rights under the Pomer-ene Act....” Were we to look solely at the language, it is difficult to escape the con-elusion that the one year statute of limitations under COGSA would limit a claim under the Pomerene Act because, under the Pomerene Act, no such limit exists.
Rules of statutory construction, however, allow us to look further to the purpose and placement of the text. See Davidson, 246 F.3d at 1246. When we do so, the scope of the proviso becomes less clear. Section 1303(4) is entitled “bill as prima facie evidence” and is part of COGSA section 1303, where the responsibilities of the carrier are spelled out. The entire section reads:
Such a bill of lading shall be prima facie evidence of the receipt by the carrier of the goods as therein described in accordance with paragraphs (3)(a), (b), and (c), of this section: Provided, That nothing in this chapter shall be construed as repealing or limiting the application of any part of sections 81 to 124 of Title 49.
46 U.S.C. app. § 1303(4) (emphasis in original).
Thus, on one hand, the proviso states that COGSA is not meant to affect the application of any section of the Pomerene Act. On the other hand, that it appears as a clause, qualifying a specific COGSA provision regarding the evidentiary value of a bill of lading, casts doubt as to whether Congress intended it to uniformly except a Pomerene Act claim from any and all of COGSA’s limitations or whether it was meant to merely preserve the Pomerene Act with respect to the clause under which it was placed in section 1303(4).
*413To resolve this ambiguity, we move to the second stage of statutory analysis, that is, whether legislative history can clarify the intended meaning of the text. See Davidson, 246 F.3d at 1246. Although legislative history on COGSA is scant, it is useful to reconcile the contradictions we face here. The limitation in section 1308(4) regarding the Pomerene Act was offered as an amendment to COGSA. The Senate Committee Report accompanying the bill divulges the following:
The foregoing amendment is intended to preserve in effect the provisions of the Pomerene Act which hold a carrier hable for receipt of goods signed for by its representatives even though they may not actually have been received, this provision of the Pomerene Act having been found necessary to prevent abuses that were being practiced with damage resulting due to the negotiable character of the bill of lading.
Prior to the enactment of the Pomer-ene Act a number of cases had arisen in which shippers had induced representatives of common carriers to sign bills of lading receipting for illustration for a certain number of bales of cotton, on the shipper’s assurance that the cotton would later be delivered to the carrier. The shipper would then dispose of the bill of lading through the usual discounting procedure.... The courts held the fact that the goods had not actually been received to be an adequate defense to reheve the common carrier of liability. This loophole led to frauds on a large scale until the Pomerene Act finally made them impossible.... All interests concerned appear to agree upon the importance of preserving this effect of the Pomerene Act.
Senate Comm. on Commerce, Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, S.Rep. No. 74-742, at 1-2 (1935), reprinted in 1 Michael F. Sturley, Ed., The Legislative History of The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act And The Travaux Preparatoires of The Hague Rules 531, 532 (1990).
This glance into the history of the bill sufficiently explains what Congress contemplated when it added the proviso regarding the Pomerene Act. It was meant to preserve a specific provision of the Act that makes a carrier liable for damages caused by “nonreceipt by the carrier of any part of the goods by the date shown in the bill or by failure of the goods to correspond with the description contained in the bill.” 49 U.S.C. § 80113(a). This mandate has remained a strong component of the law to determine a carrier’s liability for damaged goods, even when the carrier claims that it never received the goods reflected in the bill of lading, or where it claims that the bill of lading misdescribed the goods. See Portland Fish Co. v. States Steamship Co., 510 F.2d 628, 632 n. 8 (9th Cir.1974); 2 Thomas J. Schoenbaum, Admiralty and Maritime Law § 10-12 (3d Ed.2001).
Although Congress could have been more clear when it drafted the proviso, I believe that the legislative history adequately resolves the conflict between the two statutes. What was on Congress’ mind was the preservation of the validity of the terms contained in a bill of lading, regardless of their accuracy. There is no mention of keeping the Pomerene Act free of COGSA’s statute of limitations or any of the other defenses for which it provides. See, e.g., 46 U.S.C. app. § 1304(2)(a)-(q).
Therefore, from my perspective, the inquiry ends here. Bypassing the route of weighing what policy we deem best, we can arrive at the conclusion that COGSA’s one year statute of limitations does apply to an action brought under the Pomerene *414Act, by embarking on the route that rules of statutory construction direct.

. As the majority notes, this reference in COGSA is to the Pomerene Act, originally codified at 49 U.S.C. §§ 81-124. In 1994, Congress recodified the act at 49 U.S.C. §§ 80101-80116. Although it was also renamed, we continue to call it the "Pomerene Act.”

. It may appear that reading the proviso to except a Pomerene Act claim from any COG-SA provision that limits it could be dangerous in that it could permit a party to assert a Pomerene Act claim free from COGSA’s numerous restrictions and defenses. The class *412of claims subject to this danger, however, would not be "undefined” as the requirements for bringing a Pomerene Act claim are well-settled. See 49 U.S.C. §§ 80101-80116. Moreover, should such an interpretation result in undermining COGSA's force detrimentally, I have every confidence Congress would rectify the situation. Finally, it is common practice for carriers to expressly incorporate all of COGSA’s strictures in bills of lading. The widespread use, validity and enforceability of such clauses assuages any apprehension that carriers will face uncertainty as to what statutory limitations will be applicable to a claim for damages. See Sea-Land Serv. Inc. v. Lozen Int'l, LLC, 285 F.3d 808, 817 (9th Cir.2002).