North Carolina Department of Justice P.O. Box 629 Raleigh, NC 27602 NC State Bar No. 21642 Phone Number: (919) 716-6956 Fax Number: (919) 716-6764 E-mail Address: [email protected]
Michael N. Westheimer (State Bar No. 178938) Buchalter Nemer, PC 55 Second Street, Suite 1700 San Francisco, CA 94105-3493 Phone Number: (415) 227-0900 Fax Number: (415) 904-3111 E-mail Address: [email protected]
Attorneys for the State of North Carolina, Proposed Plaintiff-Intervenor
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION
SIERRA CLUB and NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL Plaintiffs, and
THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA Proposed Plaintiff-Intervenor,
v.
REGINA MCCARTHY, in her official capacity as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Defendant.
_____________________________________
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Case No: 3:13-cv-03953 SI
Proposed Plaintiff-Intervenor North Carolinas Reply Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Further Support of Motion to Intervene
Date: Friday December 13, 2013 Time: 9:00 AM Place: Courtroom 10, 19th Floor Senior Judge: The Hon. Susan Illston
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .......................................................................................................... ii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 ARGUMENT .................................................................................................................................. 2 I. NORTH CAROLINA IS ENTITLED TO INTERVENE AS A MATTER OF RIGHT. ... 2 A. North Carolina Has Timely Moved to Intervene. ................................................... 2 B. North Carolina Has a Significant Protectable Interest in the Subject of this Action. ................................................................................................................................. 2 C. Disposition of this Action May Impair or Impede North Carolinas Ability to Protect its Interests. ................................................................................................. 6 D. North Carolinas Interests Are Not Adequately Represented by the Existing Plaintiffs. ................................................................................................................. 6 II. ALTERNATIVELY, NORTH CAROLINA IS ENTITLED TO INTERVENE ON A PERMISSIVE BASIS ......................................................................................................... 8
III. INTERVENTION SHOULD BE ALLOWED WITHOUT CONDITIONS ..................... 9
IV. TO THE EXTENT THAT NORTH CAROLINAS INTERESTS ARE INSUFFICIENT TO ALLOW INTERVENTION, PLAINTIFFS DO NOT HAVE STANDING ............. 10
V. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 11
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Reply Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Further Support of CASE NO.: 3:13-cv-03953 (SI) Motion to Intervene Page ii
INTRODUCTION North Carolina should be granted intervention as a matter of right, or, in the alternative, permissive intervention, in this action regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) failure to perform its nondiscretionary duty to designate all areas with respect to the revised sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). Plaintiffs and EPA claim that North Carolina does not have a significant protectable interest and therefore should not be granted intervention as a matter of right. In order to make their arguments, both EPA and Plaintiffs have misconstrued North Carolinas motion for intervention, citing inapposite cases in an attempt to rebut their straw man argument. North Carolinas interest lies in obtaining EPAs compliance with the Clean Air Act (CAA), in order to protect North Carolinas citizens and comply with North Carolinas own duties in implementing the CAA. In addition, North Carolina expressed concern that the existing parties might reach the content of or methodology for the SO 2 designations in a potential disposition of this case, and expressed a desire that the resolution of this case instead be limited to the deadline for EPAs designation action. EPA and Plaintiffs have inappropriately focused their responses on North Carolinas desire to keep this action limited to the schedule for EPAs designations and they intimate that the States sole interest here is the substance of the designations and not the timing. The parties misconstruction of North Carolinas interest aside, North Carolina has demonstrated a significant protectable interest in the precise subject matter of this case. North Carolina has a significant protectable interest in this action, and that interest would be impaired or impeded by the disposition of this action. In addition, North Carolina would not be adequately represented by the existing parties. Therefore, North Carolinas timely motion to intervene as a matter of right should be granted. In the alternative, North Carolina should be granted permissive intervention, an issue on which EPA does not take a position. Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page4 of 14
Reply Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Further Support of CASE NO.: 3:13-cv-03953 (SI) Motion to Intervene Page 2
ARGUMENT I. NORTH CAROLINA IS ENTITLED TO INTERVENE AS A MATTER OF RIGHT.
The four requirements for intervention pursuant to Rule 24(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are (1) a timely application, (2) a significant protectable interest in the subject matter of the action, (3) the potential for impairment or impediment of that interest by the resolution of the action, and (4) inadequate representation of that interest by the existing parties. These requirements are liberally construed in favor of applicants for intervention. Arakaki v. Cayetano, 324 F.3d 1078, 1083 (9th Cir. 2003). North Carolina meets these four requirements. A. North Carolina Has Timely Moved to Intervene. North Carolina filed its motion at a very early stage of the proceeding without any improper delay, and without causing any prejudice to the existing parties. The Defendant (EPA) had not yet filed a responsive pleading to Plaintiffs Complaint and the Court had not yet held the initial case management conference. Order Setting Deadlines (ECF No. 8). Neither EPA nor Plaintiffs have challenged the timeliness of North Carolinas motion in their responses. B. North Carolina Has a Significant Protectable Interest in the Subject of this Action.
The requirement of a significant protectable interest is satisfied when the interest is protectable under some law, and . . . there is a relationship between the legally protected interest and the claims at issue. Arakaki, 324 F.3d at 1084 (quoting Sierra Club v. EPA, 995 F.2d 1478, 1484 (9th Cir. 1993)). North Carolina has a protectable interest in ensuring that the Court remedies EPAs failure to carry out its nondiscretionary duty to designate areas in North Carolina for the revised SO 2 NAAQS, and has a protectable interest in seeing that this is done, as Congress mandated, as expeditiously as practicable. 42 U.S.C. 7407(d)(1)(B)(i) (2013). Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page5 of 14
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As noted by EPA, the CAA is a cooperative joint state and federal program. EPAs Resp. to Motions to Intervene at 5 (ECF No. 54) (citing 42 U.S.C. 7401(a)(3)-(4)). North Carolina has been charged under the CAA with ensuring that the NAAQS are met in a timely manner and maintained within its borders. Proposed Plaintiff-Intervenor North Carolinas Motion to Intervene at 7 (ECF No. 16 at 7). Achieving and maintaining the SO 2 NAAQS is a protectable interest under the CAA, as is protecting the States resources and the health of its citizens. See, e.g., NRDC v. EPA, 542 F.3d 1235 (9th Cir. 2008) (recognizing state-intervenors proprietary interest in protecting their waterways). North Carolina has an interest in knowing EPAs designations, regardless of their content or the methodology used, so that North Carolina may fulfill its duties under the CAA. Ironically, Plaintiffs challenge North Carolinas interest in this information despite the fact that Plaintiffs themselves allege a similar interest in this information in their Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (ECF No. 1 at 4-5, 10) albeit from the perspective of a citizen group that would use the information in a different manner than a State. Indeed, the State maintains an even closer connection with this interest in that it has a legal obligation regarding the public health and welfare and the environment and is charged with specific mandates under the CAA itself with regard to these obligations. EPAs failure to designate areas as required by the CAA subjects North Carolina to a detrimental uncertainty that will negatively affect the States economy, development, and the public interest, as set forth in North Carolinas Motion to Intervene. Holman Decl. at 6, 16 (ECF No. 16-1). EPA and Plaintiffs otherwise conveniently ignore North Carolinas significant protectable interest in the deadline for EPAs designations, preferring to mischaracterize North Carolinas interest as primarily an interest in the content of the designations. Plfs Opp. to States Motions to Intervene at 1 (ECF No. 52); ECF No. 54 at 9. However, both Plaintiffs and EPA admit that if EPA chooses to designate an area as nonattainment, the requirements placed Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page6 of 14
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on States such as North Carolina by the CAA would change. ECF No. 54 at 7, 11-12; ECF No. 52 at 12. While Plaintiffs mischaracterize North Carolinas interest in EPAs designations as an interest in avoiding additional regulation, ECF No. 52 at 12, North Carolinas motion to intervene is completely devoid of such an interest. North Carolina is instead interested in knowing EPAs designations, whatever they may be. As admitted by Plaintiffs and EPA, EPAs designations have the potential to change the requirements expected of North Carolina and a nonattainment designation would mean that North Carolinas citizens are not currently being sufficiently protected under federal law. That is the crux of this case, as framed by the Plaintiffs the interest of Plaintiffs and the States in knowing EPAs actual designations, whatever their content, allowing them to use that information as appropriate. See Complaint at 4-5, 8-10 (ECF No. 1). North Carolinas stated concern that the disposition of this action should be limited to the timeframe for EPAs overdue designations, rather than the content or methodology for those designations, has been painted by the existing parties as an interest in the content of the designations. In fact, it is just the opposite. North Carolina has an interest in the deadline for EPAs designations and desires to ensure that the disposition of this action is limited to the same. Plaintiffs and EPA attempt to cast North Carolinas interest as one that is too remote or speculative, since they allege that North Carolina is only interested in the content of the designation, which is not at issue in this case. See, e.g., ECF No. 54 at 17; ECF No. 52 at 15. In support of this incorrect interpretation of North Carolinas interest, Plaintiffs and EPA cite numerous cases wherein a movant was not allowed to intervene because its interests were outside of the scope of the claims at issue in the case or were too speculative because they hinged not only on the outcome of the case but on some second, later action. ECF 54 at 13-14; ECF 52 at 9, 11. These cases are inapposite. North Carolinas interest in this matter is not contingent on any Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page7 of 14
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later action by EPA, but rather is directly related to the deadline for EPAs designations. North Carolinas uncertainty regarding its compliance with its duties under the CAA and its citizens health will be resolved once EPA designates, no matter what the content of the designations may be. Unlike in cases such as Beethoven.com LLC v. Librarian of Cong., 394 F.3d 939 (D.C. Cir. 2005), where the potential intervenors raised issues outside of those raised in the original complaint, North Carolina has raised the same issues as are already alleged in this case, which is evidenced by North Carolinas Complaint in Intervention. In fact, North Carolina has expressed a desire that the remedy be limited to just what is alleged in Plaintiffs and North Carolinas Complaints. See, e.g., ECF No. 16 at 14. Therefore, North Carolina should be allowed to intervene. Both EPA and Plaintiffs have alleged that North Carolinas interest in being heard in any settlement negotiations is not a sufficient interest. See, e.g., ECF No. 54 at 15. EPA suggests that Section 113(g) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), provides adequate protection. However, Section 113(g) only allows an entity to comment on a settlement that has already been drafted and to which the parties have already agreed. Furthermore, Section 113(g) only provides that EPA may withdraw from the settlement if a commenting entity shows that EPAs consent was improper. Id. EPA also notes that, if allowed to intervene, North Carolina could not bar the existing parties from settling the matter. ECF No. 54 at 15. However, EPA admits that as an intervenor, North Carolina would be entitled to have objections to a proposed settlement, if any, heard by the Court rather than just by EPA pursuant to CAA Section 113(g). Id. North Carolina has demonstrated its significant protectable interest in having the designations completed by a date certain, which is the subject matter of this case. See ECF No. 16 at 11-12. Therefore, North Carolina should be allowed to intervene as a matter of right. Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page8 of 14
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C. Disposition of this Action May Impair or Impede North Carolinas Ability to Protect its Interests.
An applicant for intervention must also show that disposition of the action may, as a practical matter, impair or impede the partys ability to protect that interest. [I]f the resolution of the plaintiffs claims actually will affect the applicant, this requirement has been met. Arakaki, 324 F.3d at 1084 (quoting Sierra Club, 995 F.2d at 1484). Plaintiffs allege that North Carolina does not have significant protectable interests that can be impaired or impeded. As explained above, that argument stems from a mischaracterization of North Carolinas motion. The resolution of this matter would actually affect North Carolina, since an order or other instrument requiring designation by a date certain would resolve North Carolinas uncertainty about EPAs designations. Therefore, North Carolina has met the third requirement for intervention. While North Carolina noted in its motion an additional interest in assuring that any resolution of this matter is limited to requiring EPA to immediately promulgate and publish SO 2
designations, this was not North Carolinas sole stated interest as EPA would have the Court believe. See ECF No. 54 at 16. As North Carolinas Complaint in Intervention makes very plain, ECF No. 16-2, the State is undoubtedly interested in the deadline for EPAs designations, no matter what the content of or procedure for the designations. D. North Carolinas Interests Are Not Adequately Represented by the Existing Plaintiffs.
An applicants burden in showing inadequate representation is minimal, and the applicant need only show that representation of its interests by existing parties may be inadequate. Trbovich v. United Mine Workers of Am., 404 U.S. 528, 538 n.10 (1972). In determining whether the prospective intervenors interest will be adequately represented by an existing party, courts consider: Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page9 of 14
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(1) whether the interest of a present party is such that it will undoubtedly make all the intervenors arguments; (2) whether the present party is capable and willing to make such arguments; and (3) whether the would-be intervenor would offer any necessary elements to the proceedings that other parties would neglect.
Nw. Forest Res. Council v. Glickman, 82 F.3d 825, 838 (9th Cir. 1996). [I]t is not the Applicants burden at this stage in the litigation to anticipate specific differences in trial strategy. It is sufficient for Applicants to show that, because of the difference in interests, it is likely that Defendants will not advance the same arguments as Applicants. Sw. Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Berg, 268 F.3d 810, 824 (9th Cir. 2001). As a State responsible for ensuring that the NAAQS are met and maintained within its borders, North Carolina may have substantially different views on the schedule for EPA's designations that may not be adequately represented by the Plaintiffs or EPA. See ECF No. 16 at 15. This difference in position between North Carolina and the existing Plaintiffs was pointed out in North Carolinas motion, contrary to EPAs allegations. See ECF No. 54 at 17. As set forth in Sw. Ctr. for Biological Diversity and Trbovich, North Carolina need not go into great detail to meet its minimal burden regarding this element. Therefore, North Carolina has met the test for intervention as a matter of right and should be allowed to intervene. In fact, North Carolinas unique and inadequately represented position has now become even more apparent since Plaintiffs filed their Motion for Summary Judgment. In their Motion, Plaintiffs requested separate briefing on the issue of remedy, to which EPA agreed in its Response. Plfs Mot. for Summary Judgment at 6 (ECF No. 55); EPAs Resp. to Mot. for Summary Judgment at 2 (ECF No. 63). It is North Carolinas position that the determination of the remedy should be a relatively simple matter. Because the substantive options open to EPA Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page10 of 14
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regarding designations are very limited at this point, 1 extensive briefing on remedy is unnecessary. Arguably, in order to discharge its duty to promulgate designations under the SO 2
standard, EPA should need little more than the time required for the ministerial act of drafting and publishing a notice in the Federal Register. The parties request for a fourteen-day meet- and-confer period in order to develop a briefing schedule suggests that the parties view the issue of remedy in a different light. This apparent difference in positions only further serves to demonstrate that North Carolinas interests are not adequately represented by the existing parties, and North Carolina should therefore be granted intervention. II. ALTERNATIVELY, NORTH CAROLINA IS ENTITLED TO INTERVENE ON A PERMISSIVE BASIS.
In the alternative, North Carolina should be allowed to intervene in this action on a permissive basis. Rule 24(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states that the court may grant permissive intervention on a timely motion to anyone who has a claim or defense that shares with the main action a common question of law or fact. North Carolina clearly meets these requirements. The existing parties have not challenged the timeliness of North Carolinas motion. Accordingly, the motion is conceded to be timely. As evidenced by North Carolinas Complaint in Intervention, its claims share common issues of law or fact with this action. In addition, North Carolina informed the Court of its Notice of Intent to Sue in its motion to intervene, ECF No. 16 at 16, and has since filed an action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina demanding that EPA
1 Because EPAs time to promulgate designations has expired, if EPA now lacks a sufficient base of data on which to designate an area as attainment or nonattainment, it must designate the area as unclassifiable. It cannot instead simply further defer the designation on the hope of collecting more data. See 42 U.S.C. 7407(d)(1)(A)(i)-(iii). Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page11 of 14
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be ordered to perform its nondiscretionary duty to designate. State of North Carolina v. EPA, E.D.N.C. Case No. 5:13-cv-710, ECF No. 1 (Complaint). Therefore, North Carolina has a claim that shares a common question of law and fact with the claim in this action. North Carolinas involvement in this litigation would not prejudice or delay the adjudication of the original parties rights, and North Carolina should be granted permissive intervention. III. INTERVENTION SHOULD BE ALLOWED WITHOUT CONDITIONS.
Plaintiffs and EPA have both requested conditions on any potential intervention granted by this Court. EPA requests that no attorneys fees be required of it for any work done in connection with the proposed intervention of North Carolina and other States. ECF No. 54 at 18. However, EPA provides no justification for its request that it not be required to pay fees to the proposed intervenor States even though its actions have harmed not only the Plaintiffs, but the States as well. There is no rule of law that the party who gets to the courthouse steps first may be entitled to fees to the exclusion of parties who timely file thereafter and have equally justifiable claims. Nor is there any equity in EPAs legally unsupported suggestion. Plaintiffs request that the actions of other States against EPA be transferred to this Court, and that any intervention be limited in such a way that the States not delay the suit in any way, including by conducting discovery. ECF No. 52 at 16. North Carolina believes that the Eastern District of North Carolina is the most appropriate venue for this action, since EPAs Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), which has a principal role in promulgating designations, is located in that district. See, e.g., 78 Fed. Reg. 47,191, 47,192 (Aug. 5, 2013) (naming OAQPS as the contact for any questions regarding EPAs designations). Therefore, if these actions should be consolidated anywhere, it would make the most sense to transfer them to the Eastern District of North Carolina, rather than vice versa. In addition, while North Carolina cannot yet say whether discovery will be necessary, North Carolina should not be limited in its Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page12 of 14
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intervention to anything less than what the Plaintiffs are permitted to do. The Plaintiffs present no justification for their attempt to hamstring North Carolinas participation aside from their own fear that resolution of the matter will be delayed. North Carolina has consistently taken the position that EPAs failure to act is unlawful and that the agency should be held strictly to the CAAs mandate to act as expeditiously as practicable. See ECF No. 16 at 11; ECF No. 16-1 at 5, 10. North Carolina has no interest in delaying the resolution of this case and prolonging EPAs inexplicable failure to implement Congress statutory scheme. The Plaintiffs fears are entirely unfounded. IV. TO THE EXTENT THAT NORTH CAROLINAS INTERESTS ARE INSUFFICIENT TO ALLOW INTERVENTION, PLAINTIFFS DO NOT HAVE STANDING.
Plaintiffs contend that North Carolina has not demonstrated how uncertainty caused by EPAs failure to act prejudices North Carolinas protectable interests. In their Complaint, Plaintiffs allege injury due to the same uncertainty they now challenge as insufficient in their response to North Carolinas motion to intervene. ECF No. 1 at 4-5. If the Court agrees with Plaintiffs that uncertainty does not rise to the level of a significant protectable interest allowing North Carolina to intervene in this matter, Plaintiffs should not be able to rely on what is essentially a similar but arguably less clearly protected interest in alleging that the Court has subject matter jurisdiction over their claims. See Cetacean Cmty. v. Bush, 386 F.3d 1169, 1174 (9th Cir. 2004) (confirming that standing is a subject matter jurisdiction issue); see also State ex rel. Lockyer v. United States, 450 F.3d 436, 442 (9th Cir. 2006) (noting the relationship between the standing and intervention standards). North Carolina therefore submits that if the Court denies North Carolinas Motion for Intervention as a matter of right for lack of a significant protectable interest, that North Carolina at a minimum be granted permissive intervention for the limited purpose of filing a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs action for lack of standing. Case3:13-cv-03953-SI Document69 Filed11/18/13 Page13 of 14
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V. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the State of North Carolina respectfully requests that the Court grant its Motion to Intervene. DATED: November 18, 2013 Respectfully submitted, ROY COOPER Attorney General
By: /s/ Marc Bernstein Marc Bernstein Special Deputy Attorney General N.C. Department of Justice
/s/ Michael N. Westheimer Michael N. Westheimer Buchalter Nemer, PC
Attorneys for the State of North Carolina
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Brief of Amici Curiae Institute for Justice, Pelican Institute, and Mississippi Justice Institute in Support of Plaintiff-Appellant, Violet Dock Port, Inc., v. Heaphy, No. 19-30992 (5th Cir. Feb. 10, 2020)