Rauseo v. Army Corps of Engineers
Rauseo v. Army Corps of Engineers
Opinion of the Court
This suit arises out of plaintiffs' claim that 1) Marco Tammaro violated federal environmental laws by filling his property with pollutants and 2) the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers failed to investigate and sanction Tammaro's noncompliance with federal laws.
I. Background
A. Factual Background
Stephanie Rauseo ("Rauseo") lives in the Apple Hill neighborhood of Lynnfield, Massachusetts, adjacent to the property at issue in this action ("the Property"). Rauseo, along with a local citizens' group, Apple Hill Neighbors Group ("Apple Hill plaintiffs") (collectively "plaintiffs") allege that Marco Tammaro ("Tammaro"), the owner of the Property, unlawfully discharged fill into federally protected streams or wetlands without a permit.
Consequently, plaintiffs contacted the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP"), the Lynnfield Planning Board, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the Army Corps of Engineers ("the Corps"). Specifically, plaintiffs complained to the EPA that Tammaro had violated the Clean Water Act ("the CWA") to no avail. In 2016, plaintiffs discovered that Tammaro's developer, Peter Ogren ("Ogren"), provided notice to the Corps that the activities on the Property were exempt from Section 404 of the CWA. In response, plaintiffs urged the New England Engineer of the Corps to enforce the CWA, claiming that neither an individual nor a general Section 404 permit authorized Tammaro's work on the Property.
In November, 2016, the Corps visited the Property without notifying plaintiffs and allegedly made a final Jurisdictional Determination ("JD") with respect to the Property. They have since averred that the Property abuts a conservation area and that the two water streams that run across the Property and into the conservation *206area are waters of the United States that are subject to EPA drinking water regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act ("the SDWA").
In November, 2017, plaintiffs sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue ("NOI") under the CWA and the SDWA to Tammaro, representatives of the Commonwealth, the DEP, the U.S. Department of Justice and the EPA. Although plaintiffs did not name the Corps in its NOI, they filed an amended complaint with this Court in April, 2018, in which they allege: CWA violations against Tammaro (Count I), CWA violations against EPA and the Corps ("the federal defendants") (Count II), SDWA violations against Tammaro and the federal defendants (Count III), APA procedural violations against the federal defendants (Count IV), APA substantive violations against the federal defendants (Counts V and VII), improper ex parte communications against all defendants (Count VI) and Sunshine Act violations against the federal defendants (Count VIII). Pending before this Court are motions of the federal defendants and of Tammaro to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.
II. Analysis
A. Legal Standard
1. Failure to State a Claim
To survive a motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to "state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face". Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly,
Furthermore, the Court must accept all factual allegations in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor. Langadinos v. Am. Airlines, Inc.,
2. Lack of Jurisdiction
With respect to a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), plaintiff bears the burden of establishing subject matter jurisdiction. Justiniano v. Soc. Sec. Admin.,
A plaintiff may not, however, rest merely on "unsupported conclusions or interpretations of law". Washington Legal Found. v. Massachusetts Bar Found.,
B. Motion to Dismiss by Federal Defendants
1. Jurisdiction
The federal defendants argue that the citizen suit provision of the CWA does not explicitly waive the government's sovereign immunity interest because plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that a clearly mandated, nondiscretionary duty applies. Plaintiffs respond that the EPA and the Corps have failed to perform the following "mandatory" duties: 1) enforce the CWA, 2) issue a compliance order to Tammaro and 3) investigate plaintiffs' complaints against Tammaro.
A waiver of sovereign immunity must be unequivocal and Sections 505(a)(2) and 1449(a) of the CWA and the SDWA explicitly waive sovereign immunity with respect to nondiscretionary duties of the EPA Administrator. Conservation Law Found., Inc. v. Pruitt,
Accordingly, because plaintiffs' claims relate to the EPA's failure to issue findings with respect to alleged violations of the CWA and SDWA, plaintiffs have failed to satisfy the jurisdictional requirement of a "clearly mandated, nondiscretionary duty", thus precluding their citizen suits. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. U.S., E.P.A.,
For completeness, the Court proceeds to address plaintiffs' claims under the Administrative Procedures Act ("the APA") and the Sunshine Act.
2. Dismissal under the APA
The APA does not independently confer subject matter jurisdiction and thus dismissal of plaintiffs' claims under the CWA and the SDWA presumptively precludes plaintiffs' APA claims. Even if that were not so and judicial review under the APA were appropriate, plaintiffs' claims thereunder would fail as well.
The federal defendants allege that plaintiffs lack standing because they make no allegations of how the government's actions have injured them uniquely. They fail to address that argument but instead argue the merits of judicial review under the APA. Standing is, of course, a threshold question in every case and plaintiffs' failure to demonstrate injury, causation and redressability is grounds for dismissal.
*208Summers v. Fin. Freedom Acquisition LLC,
Again, assuming arguendo that plaintiffs have satisfied the procedural hurdles of jurisdiction and standing (which they have not), the APA authorizes judicial review of "final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in a court".
Here, plaintiffs have not demonstrated that the Corps reached an approved JD with respect to the Property and evidence of the Corps' written communications with Tammaro's developer and with Rauseo herself is not evidence of final agency action. Cf. Bennett v. Spear,
Nor does the Corps' alleged failure to provide plaintiffs with a written explanation of its evaluation of the Property constitute a reviewable "final action" because judicial review of agency inaction under the APA is initiated where the inaction occurs in the face of a nondiscretionary duty to act. Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness All.,
To the extent plaintiffs raise a due process challenge, they have failed to contest defendants' argument that plaintiffs have not been deprived of a property or liberty interest in the first place. Am. Mfrs. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Sullivan,
Finally, the APA prohibits ex parte communications in the context of formal adjudications but not with respect to informal adjudications.
Thus, even if plaintiffs were entitled to judicial review under the APA, for the foregoing reasons, the federal defendants'
*209motion to dismiss under the APA will be allowed.
3. Dismissal under Ex Parte Contacts and the Sunshine Act
The Sunshine Act requires that certain multi-member federal agencies conduct open meetings unless a confidentiality exemption applies. 5 U.S.C. § 552b(a)(2). The Sunshine Act does not apply to either the EPA or the Corps and, moreover, the Corps has promulgated regulations with respect to pre-application consultations which do not require public participation.
C. Motion to Dismiss by Tammaro
1. Jurisdiction
In the context of citizen suits, compliance with the 60-day notice provision is a mandatory condition precedent for suit that plaintiffs must satisfy. Hallstrom v. Tillamook Cty.,
With respect to the content of the pre-suit notice, Tamarro argues that plaintiffs' NOI lacks the requisite specificity because it does not refer to: 1) a specific standard, limitation or order violated, 2) dates of the alleged violations, 3) the pollutants being discharged or 4) the location of the alleged pollution.
Plaintiffs' failure to name a particular pollutant is not dispositive as to the sufficiency of pre-suit notice. Paolino v. JF Realty, LLC,
Moreover, the Court finds that plaintiffs have pled with sufficient specificity the violations alleged, namely, that defendants placed fill without a permit in violation of CWA Section 404, obstructed or filled a navigable waterway of the United States, tampered with a public water supply, etc.
*210Thus, because plaintiffs' NOI placed Tammaro on notice and in a position to remedy the violations alleged, the Court declines to dismiss plaintiff's CWA claim against Tammaro on the basis of subject matter jurisdiction. Paolino,
2. Prior Violations
The CWA and SDWA do not confer federal jurisdiction over citizen suits for "wholly past" violations. Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Found., Inc.,
3. Standing
Tammaro contends that plaintiffs have not demonstrated any concrete or actual injury, either individually or as a group, because the alleged interference with the streams has no direct bearing on the plaintiffs themselves. Plaintiffs respond that the harm is not speculative because the drinking water has become non-potable. The Court declines to consider plaintiffs' recently proffered water report conducted by Ms. Langham because it is untimely and its authenticity is in dispute. Watterson v. Page,
Tammaro ultimately prevails on the other prongs of the standing analysis, however, because plaintiffs have failed to prove both traceability and redressability. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife,
4. Ex Parte Communications
As noted previously, the APA's prohibition on ex parte communications applies to formal adjudication and rulemaking. Because plaintiffs' claims do not relate to formal proceedings and the Corps retains discretion with respect to pre-permit communications, plaintiffs have failed to state a cause of action with respect to improper ex parte communications.
ORDER
For the foregoing reasons, the federal defendants' motion to dismiss (Docket No. 57) is ALLOWED , and Tammaro's motion to dismiss (Docket No. 59) is, with respect to plaintiffs' SDWA and ex parte communications claims, ALLOWED , but is, with *211respect to plaintiffs' CWA claims, DENIED . The Apple Hill Neighbors Group is dismissed as a party-plaintiff to this suit.
So ordered.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Stephanie RAUSEO and Apple Hill Neighbors Group v. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published