Davilla v. Enable Midstream Partners L.P.
Opinion
Enable Intrastate Transmission, LLC owns and operates a natural gas pipeline that crosses Indian allotted land in Anadarko, Oklahoma. A twenty-year easement for the pipeline expired in 2000. Enable failed to renew the easement but also failed to remove the pipeline. In response, roughly three-dozen individual Native American Allottees-who hold equitable title in the allotted land-filed this lawsuit.
The district court granted summary judgment to the Allottees, ruling on the basis of stipulated facts that Enable was liable for trespass. The court then enjoined the trespass, ordering Enable to remove the pipeline. Enable appeals both rulings, claiming several legal errors. 1
*963 We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings. The district court properly granted summary judgment to the Allottees but erred in issuing the permanent injunction. The availability of equitable relief in this case depends on the relative weight of interests not yet considered below. We leave those considerations for the district court to determine in the first instance.
I. Background
"After the formation of the United States, the [Indian] tribes became 'domestic dependent nations,' subject to plenary control by Congress."
Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle
, --- U.S. ----,
Congress exercised that power during the "Allotment Era" of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries by "carv[ing] [Indian] reservations into allotments and assign[ing] the land parcels to tribal members."
Pub. Serv. Co. v. Barboan
,
But all did not go according to plan. "[M]any of the early allottees quickly lost their land through transactions that were unwise or even procured by fraud."
Cty. of Yakima v. Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation
,
It was through this program that, in August of 1901, President William McKinley allotted 160 acres of land in Anadarko, Oklahoma, to a Kiowa woman named Emaugobah. But Congress's allotment project "came to an abrupt end ... with passage of the Indian Reorganization Act" in 1934.
Meanwhile, Congress's vacillation on Indian land policy left "a checkerboard of tribal, individual Indian, and individual non-Indian land interests" across Indian country.
Barboan
,
As relevant here, these laws empowered the Secretary of the Interior to approve easements "for all purposes ... over and across any lands ... held in trust by the United States for individual Indians or Indian tribes."
In 1980, acting under these provisions, the Secretary allowed conveyance of a twenty-five-foot-wide pipeline easement over a strip of Emaugobah's allotment. By its terms, the easement would allow Producer's Gas Company to "install ... and thereafter use, operate, inspect, repair, maintain, ... and remove a single buried [twenty-inch] natural gas pipeline" within a twenty-year period. App. 40. Producer's Gas later conveyed both the easement and the pipeline to Enable.
When the easement expired in November 2000, however, Enable's pipeline remained buried in the ground. Enable eventually sought a new twenty-year easement by approaching the Allottees and applying for approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But the company failed to secure approval for the new easement from a majority of the equitable interests. Accordingly, the Bureau cancelled Enable's right-of-way application. Apparently undeterred, Enable continued to operate the pipeline.
The Allottees eventually sued. Their complaint claimed Enable was committing a trespass and sought a court order compelling the pipeline's removal. The parties agreed on most of the relevant facts, so the Allottees moved for partial summary judgment on liability for trespass and injunctive relief. The district court granted the motion. Enable now appeals.
II. Analysis
Enable raises two issues on appeal. First, it argues the district court erred in granting summary judgment to the Allottees on their trespass claims. Second, it *965 contends the district court erred in issuing a permanent injunction to enforce the summary judgment ruling. We affirm the district court's entry of summary judgment. We reverse its entry of a permanent injunction, however, and remand for the appropriate weighing of equities.
A. Summary Judgment
We review district court grants of summary judgment de novo.
White v. York Int'l Corp.
,
But it is
the law
, not the material facts, that complicates this case. When a dispute arises over possessory rights in Indian allotted land, federal law governs.
See
Nahno-Lopez v. Houser
,
Because we lack a federal body of trespass law to protect the Allottees' federal property interests, we must borrow state law to the extent it comports with federal policy.
See
Kamen v. Kemper Fin. Servs., Inc.
,
*966
United States v. Kimbell Foods, Inc.
,
Our reading of Oklahoma law thus yields three elements constituting the Allottees' federal trespass claims. First , the Allottees must prove an entitlement to possession of the allotment. Second , they must prove Enable physically entered or remained on the allotment. Finally , they must prove Enable lacked a legal right-express or implied-to enter or remain. The stipulated facts already described definitively prove the first two elements. Enable takes issue, however, with the entry of summary judgment on the third.
1. Consent as a Defense to Trespass
Enable contends it has produced evidence of consent sufficient to prove a legal right to maintain the pipeline despite the easement's expiration. See Aplt. Br. 20-23. Moreover, Enable argues the Allottees' failure to address this evidence in their opening summary judgment brief below should have rendered the motion insufficient at the outset. See id. at 23-25.
We first address the role of consent in this area of law. In
Nahno-Lopez
we considered a similar trespass action regarding Indian allotted land.
See
We affirmed. We reasoned that the Comanche allottees had not offered record evidence sufficient to survive summary judgment. We specifically noted the Comanche allottees' failure to controvert the Tribe's evidence of "consent" to the alleged trespass-namely, the lease document and acceptance of rent payments.
See
Enable relies on this language in arguing it has a sufficient fact question regarding consent. In 2004, Enable obtained written consent forms from five of the thirty-seven individual Allottees in this case. The forms show these five Allottees' willingness to grant a new right-of-way for the pipeline in exchange for cash payments. 4 Despite the fact that these Allottees hold less than ten percent of the interests in equitable title, Enable contends their consent creates a triable factual dispute precluding summary judgment under Nahno-Lopez . See Aplt. Br. at 21-23. If consent is "a complete defense to trespass," Enable argues, then these forms would allow a *967 reasonable jury to rule against trespass liability.
This argument confuses the law. Admittedly, our concise presentation of "consent" as a "complete defense to trespass" in Nahno-Lopez somewhat oversimplified the rule. To be sure, the rightful possessor of real property cannot hold his licensees liable for trespass under Oklahoma law. But this is because-as we have just explained-the defendant's lack of a right to enter is an element of the claim . Accordingly, evidence of a plaintiff's consent to a defendant's entry on the land will defeat liability in those cases where the plaintiff's consent itself creates a right to enter or remain. In such cases, the claim will fail for lack of proof on an essential element.
When it comes to maintaining a pipeline over Indian allotted land, however, Congress has dictated the prerequisites of a right to enter by statute. Enable thus has no legal right to keep a structure on the Allottees' land unless and until it secures a right-of-way for that purpose from the Secretary of the Interior.
See
The statute notwithstanding, Enable argues "[a]
single owner
of a tenancy in common may enter into a lease for the entire co-tenancy property without any other's consent." Aplt. Br. at 22 (emphasis added). Enable gives us no reason to equate the Allottees' interest in the land with a traditional tenancy in common. But even if it were, the authorities Enable identifies do not support this bold assertion.
See
United States v. Craft
,
Moreover, even if Oklahoma
would
say that this evidence could defeat any trespass claim, we would not incorporate such a rule into the Allottees'
federal
right of action. As we explained above, federal courts should only incorporate state rules of decision into federal claims to the extent those rules are consistent with federal law and policy.
See, e.g.
,
Kamen
,
In light of this conclusion, Enable's proffered evidence plainly does not warrant reversal of the district court's summary judgment ruling. The undisputed facts-expiration of the easement, specifically-show that Enable lacks a legal right to keep the pipeline in the ground. The consent forms would not allow a reasonable jury to find otherwise.
The Allottees' briefing below did not bar the district court from reaching this conclusion either. To be sure, the Allottees had to show liability was "appropriate as a matter of law" to support summary judgment.
Trainor v. Apollo Metal Specialties, Inc.
,
Nor did the district court exceed its discretion by allowing the Allottees to file a reply brief addressing consent after Enable raised the issue.
See
Beaird v. Seagate Tech., Inc.
,
2. Demand for Removal
Enable also argues that no duty to remove the pipeline ever arose-expiration of the easement notwithstanding-because the Allottees never demanded that Enable remove the pipeline.
We note first that Enable failed to raise this argument below. A litigant must preserve an issue for appellate review by pressing it in the trial court.
See, e.g.,
Carney v. Okla. Dep't of Pub. Safety
,
Recognizing this problem, Enable has attempted to shift blame to the Allottees. According to Enable, the Allottees could only secure summary judgment if they briefed all elements of their trespass claim-including demand for removal.
See
Aplt. Br. at 18-20; Reply Br. at 2-4. But our adversarial system does not work that way. To be sure, a party seeking summary judgment must show the law and available evidence compel the requested outcome.
See
Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 ;
Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co.
,
But Enable's forfeiture does not prevent us from definitively rejecting its demand argument on the merits.
See, e.g.
,
United States v. Jarvis
,
Again, we incorporate Oklahoma law into this federal claim so long as it does not frustrate federal policy.
See, e.g.
,
Kamen
,
Moreover, even assuming-as Enable urges-that Oklahoma follows the Restatement (Second) of Torts,
see
Aplt. Br. at 17 & n.6;
but cf.
Frank
,
According to these rules, the easement's expiration created a duty to remove the pipeline. Permission to lay and maintain the pipeline came hand-in-hand with an obligation to remove it.
See
App. 40 (granting the easement to "install ... and remove" the pipeline within a term of twenty years);
cf.
To be sure, had the Allottees
refused
to allow Enable to remove the pipeline, the Restatement might have forbidden liability for trespass.
See
Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 160 cmt. m, 161 cmt. d. But Enable gives us no reason to believe the Allottees have ever prevented removal of the pipeline. Instead, Enable espouses the view that it would have incurred trespass liability for attempting to remove the pipeline unless and until the Allottees made a removal demand. This argument mischaracterizes
*970
the right-of-way grant and misstates Oklahoma law. Both allowed Enable to enter the land to remove the pipeline at least within the easement term, if not beyond it.
See
App. 40;
Williamson
,
Ignoring these issues, Enable focuses on rules pertaining to structures "tortiously placed" on land and subsequently transferred to new owners. See Aplt. Br. at 18 (discussing Restatement (Second) of Torts § 161 ). Of course, Producer's Gas-Enable's predecessor-did not tortiously place the pipeline on the land; it constructed the pipeline with permission. And the fact that Enable kept the pipeline on the land without permission does not render the initial placement tortious. Moreover, the only transfer of the pipeline occurred during the easement term, at which point the parties agree the pipeline's presence was still lawful. Finally, even assuming this case had involved a transfer after expiration of the easement, the Restatement makes clear that notice of a duty to remove-for instance, through the terms of an easement contract-binds the transferee. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 161(2).
Finally, Enable errs by relying on the Ninth Circuit's decision in
United States v. Milner
,
Even if we assumed the legal principles the Ninth Circuit applied in Milner had bearing on this case, 6 they would not support Enable's argument for a demand element. As we have explained, Enable acquired the pipeline already knowing the right-of-way would eventually expire. It therefore cannot-and indeed does not-claim it lacked notice of its duty to remove or intent to maintain the trespass.
We thus reject Enable's contention that the Allottees had to demand removal of the pipeline for trespass liability to arise.
* * *
In sum, Enable's arguments against summary judgment fail under the incorporated trespass law of Oklahoma. And Enable has not argued for any conflict between that law, as we understand it, and federal policy regarding Indian allotted *971 land. We therefore affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment.
B. Permanent Injunction
The Allottees' success on the merits notwithstanding, Enable argues the district court applied the wrong legal standard in determining whether to issue a permanent injunction. According to Enable, the district court incorporated a simplified injunction rule from Oklahoma law when it should have adhered to basic tenants of federal equity jurisprudence. Aplt. Br. at 25-28. 7
We agree. By failing to apply the federal courts' traditional equity jurisprudence to its remedy analysis, the court below committed an error of law and thus abused its equitable discretion. Accordingly, we must reverse the injunction order and remand for a full weighing of the equities.
Federal district courts have the power to order injunctive relief when equity so requires.
See
Signature Props. Int'l Ltd. P'ship v. City of Edmond
,
In this case, the district court relied primarily on Oklahoma law-with supplemental authority from other federal courts-to conclude that "equity will restrain [a continuing] trespass." App. 268 (quoting
Fairlawn Cemetery
,
Generally, federal courts adopt state law even when the dispute is "governed exclusively by federal [common] law."
See
United States v. Turley
,
But federal courts do not mechanically apply state law in every circumstance. "Whether to adopt state law or to fashion a nationwide federal rule is a matter of judicial policy 'dependent upon a variety of considerations.' "
United States v. Kimbell Foods, Inc.
,
The district court erred because the circumstances presented here reveal "a distinct need for nationwide legal standards."
Kamen
,
This uniform standard is necessary because the Secretary has undoubtedly approved easements over and across Indian land in multiple states. And since many of these easements are likely for a limited duration, these easements-for pipelines, telecommunication lines, and roads-like the easement at issue here, may fail to receive consent to renew by a "majority of the [equitable] interests" and may therefore be subject to an order of removal.
See
We therefore conclude that the district court erred in failing to apply the federal permanent-injunction standard even though it properly applied Oklahoma trespass law. This is because our jurisprudence distinguishes between matters of right and matters of remedy. The Supreme Court has concluded that "State law cannot define the remedies which a federal court must give" and that "a federal court may afford an equitable remedy for a substantive right recognized by a State even
*973
though a state court cannot give it."
Guaranty Trust Co. of N.Y. v. York
,
Moreover, applying the federal permanent-injunction standard differs significantly from applying the federal common law of trespass. As explained, federal courts lack a body of federal trespass law to protect the Allottees' federal property interests. So applying federal trespass law would require our court to construct rules entirely of this court's creation. We accordingly borrow a body of well-developed state law to the extent it does not conflict with federal policy. These same considerations are not present when seeking to apply federal equitable remedies, however. Applying federal remedial law does not require this court to create federal common law or even to "fill the interstices of federal remedial schemes" with the court's own rules.
See
Kamen
,
This is because the federal judiciary already has a well-developed body of law regarding equitable remedies to guide judicial discretion. The Supreme Court has repeatedly weighed in on the standard federal courts apply when granting or denying a permanent injunction.
See, e.g.
,
eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C.
,
Thus, a federal district court's decision to permanently enjoin a continuing trespass on allotted land should take into account (1) whether an injunction is necessary to prevent "irreparable harm," (2) whether "the threatened injury outweighs the harm that the injunction may cause" to the enjoined party, and (3) whether the injunction would "adversely affect the public interest."
Kitchen v. Herbert
,
The Allottees' attempts to escape this conclusion do not persuade us. First, they argue the district court did not, in fact, apply a simplified rule. Instead, they claim the court merely applied the usual rule to simplified facts. See Aple. Br. 35-38. But we see little support for this reading. The *974 court below made no mention of the appropriate equitable considerations. Indeed, it went to great lengths to justify its analysis as legally, rather than just factually, appropriate.
Second, the Allottees invite us to affirm the district court
even if
it applied incorrect law, claiming the record clearly warrants relief regardless.
See
Aple. Br. at 38-41. But though-as we have already noted-we may generally affirm a district court order on any sufficient grounds the parties have had an opportunity to brief,
see
Champagne Metals
,
Moreover, if we did endeavor to balance the equities ourselves, we would not get very far. As the above makes clear, the sheer right to exclude simply cannot begin and end the equitable analysis.
Cf.
eBay
,
In sum, we must remand the decision to the district court to weigh the equities in the first instance. 10
III. Conclusion
For the reasons stated above, we AFFIRM the district court's grant of summary judgment to the Allottees, REVERSE the entry of the permanent injunction, and REMAND for further proceedings.
HARTZ, Circuit Judge, concurrence and partial dissent:
Except in one respect, I am pleased to join Chief Judge Tymkovich's opinion. Where I differ from the panel opinion is that I would apply the state law of Oklahoma, rather than federal law, to determine the remedy for Enable's trespass. Because the panel opinion covers the ground so well, my discussion can be relatively brief.
The dispute in this case concerns about 1300 feet of natural-gas pipeline that is part of a 100-mile pipeline between Canute and Cox City, Oklahoma, which in turn is part of a broader 2200-mile pipeline system within Oklahoma. Plaintiffs' claim is that this quarter-mile pipeline segment trespasses property held in trust for them
*975
by the United States. Because of the interest of the federal government, federal law governs. But there is no applicable federal trespass statute, so we decide this case as a matter of federal common law. As a general rule, federal common law regarding interests in real property adopts the law of the state where the property is located.
See
United States v. Turley
,
The dispute before us, however, does require some consideration of federal statutory law. Easements for rights-of-way over what can be described, roughly speaking, as Indian lands must comply with
But consent is only one element of a trespass claim. For the other elements, Oklahoma law governs. That choice of law makes particularly good sense here. The record does not show how much of the 100-mile pipeline or the 2200-mile pipeline system crosses land held in trust by the United States and how much of it crosses land that is privately owned. But all of it is within Oklahoma, and surely it facilitates commerce to have a single legal regime govern what happens when a pipeline crosses land without the owner's consent. Thus, this panel unanimously agrees that Oklahoma law governs the requirements of notice and demand to the trespasser.
Where I depart from the majority is regarding the law governing whether a permanent injunction should issue. In my view, we should continue to apply Oklahoma law on that issue. As one leading treatise has stated, "Rights and remedies are closely interrelated concepts; to deviate from the state's definition of the latter often also would change the former." Wright & Miller § 4513 at 567. That statement appears in a discussion of the Erie doctrine, explaining why in diversity cases federal courts should ordinarily look to state law in determining what remedy is appropriate, even when considering equitable remedies. But the point applies here as well. Once the federal court has decided that federal common law should incorporate state law regarding a cause of action, the same considerations should ordinarily counsel in favor of incorporating state law regarding the remedies available for that cause of action.
The majority believes that there are good reasons not to follow that approach here. The panel opinion states that there is " 'a distinct need for nationwide legal standards' " with respect to the remedy in this case. Maj. Op. at 972-73 (quoting
Kamen v. Kemper Fin. Servs., Inc
.,
I am not persuaded. There is certainly a federal interest in uniform national application of the federal statutes that govern
*976
whether there has been valid consent to an easement over Indian land. But once, as here, it has been determined that there has not been compliance with the statute, that interest in uniformity has been served. We begin with a " 'presumption that state law should be incorporated into federal common law.' "
United States v. Turley
,
I see no reason why local law should not determine what consequences flow when the former beneficiary of an easement loses its rights to the easement. The district court construed Oklahoma law as giving the victim of a continuing trespass an automatic right to obtain an order requiring the trespasser to remove the offending property. In the circumstances here, that means that Enable must remove its pipeline. What that amounts to in practice-since removal of the pipeline apparently would not benefit the landowners -is that the landowners have increased bargaining power in determining what Enable must pay to continue the easement. This is an inherent and important component of the substantive rights provided to Oklahoma property owners. The purposes behind the federal statutes at issue here relate only to providing a reasonable mechanism for obtaining consent to an easement from Indian landowners. They say nothing about how much bargaining power landowners should have in negotiating with those seeking easements. In colloquial terms, the federal government has no dog in that fight. This is not a case, for example, where the easement was granted under a federal condemnation statute. In that circumstance the federal interest in having a pipeline cross the property might weigh against requiring the former easement holder to remove the pipeline from the burdened land. But in the present circumstance there is no such federal interest. Why should remedial rights of Indian landowners be different from those of other landowners who granted easements to Enable for the same pipeline? In particular, why should the Indian landowners have less bargaining power to negotiate a new easement price than do the other landowners, who can rely on Oklahoma state law when Enable trespasses on their land?
I acknowledge that there is problematic language in
Guaranty Trust Co. of N.Y. v. York
,
Also, I respectfully disagree with the panel opinion's view that this case is governed by Supreme Court authority governing the availability of permanent injunctions as a remedy for federal statutory claims, as in
eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, LLC
,
I hesitate to dissent from what I consider to be a fine opinion. But we are plowing new ground here, and I think it useful to express some of the considerations that may counsel a different approach.
The Allottees have also filed a motion for partial dismissal of this appeal, asserting that we lack jurisdiction over one of the interlocutory orders issued below. The merits briefing makes clear, however, that Enable does not appeal the order in question. We therefore DENY the motion as moot.
Nahno-Lopez
also concerned an alleged trespass on Indian allotted land.
See
Of course, "[t]here is no federal
general
common law."
Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins
,
The Allottees' have contested the continued validity of these fourteen-year-old forms. See Aple. Br. at 32-33. We assume their validity for the sake of argument.
For that matter, the complaint filed in district court acted as a demand for removal.
The
Milner
court applied the Restatement (Second) of Torts under the somewhat ambiguous reasoning that both federal precedent and borrowed precedent from the State of Washington supported that application.
See
United States v. Milner
,
The Allottees contend Enable forfeited this argument by failing to raise it below. See Aple. Br. at 34-35. Our review of the briefing below, however, reveals that Enable did not acquiesce to the Allottees' proposed automatic-injunction rule and instead argued for the typical four-factor analysis.
Where a refusal to remove a permanent structure effects the invasion of real property, it constitutes a "continuing trespass" under Oklahoma law.
Fairlawn Cemetery
,
We acknowledge that our circuit's articulation of the rule differs slightly from that of the Supreme Court in
eBay
.
Compare
Kitchen
,
As a result, we do not reach Enable's challenge to the district court's compliance with Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Aplt. Br. at 28-30.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Marcia W. DAVILLA; Benjamin Blackstar; Thomas Blackstar, III; Vannette M. Branham; Edmond L. Carter; Patricia Carter Files; Harold F. Dupoint; Carrie G. Dupoint; Rudolph W. Fisher, Jr.; Cameron Keahbone; Sindy M. Keahbone; Gilbert C. Keahbone; Mark B. Keahbone; Mari L. Keahbone; Perry K. Keahbone; Blake E. Keahbone; Patrick Keahbone, Jr.; Edbert E. Keahbone, Jr.; Rena A. Killsfirst; Katina S. Lipton; Janice C. Mammedaty; Amanda M. McCarthy; Michael R. McCarthy; Mayredena M. Palmer; Rachel M. Palmer; Megan L. Palmer; Lauren Silverbird; Angela R. Silverhorn; Harvey E. Tucker; William K. Ware; Samuel M. Ware; Matthew M. Ware; Betty L. Ware; Corey Ware; Patricia Ware ; Jean Ware ; Wesley Ware, III; Melva J. Wermy, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. ENABLE MIDSTREAM PARTNERS L.P.; Enable G.P., LLC; Enable Oklahoma Intrastate Transmission LLC, Formerly Known as Enogex, LLC, Defendants-Appellants.
- Cited By
- 22 cases
- Status
- Published