Stand Up for Cal. v. U.S. Dep't of Interior
Stand Up for Cal. v. U.S. Dep't of Interior
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiffs Stand Up for California!, Patty Johnson, Joe Teixeira, and Lynn Wheat challenge the adequacy of the administrative record for judicial review of the Department of Interior's decision to approve acquiring land in trust for the Wilton Rancheria tribe and seek discovery in the form of a privilege log from the Department. Specifically, the Plaintiffs dispute excluding a variety of documents from the administrative record, claim that some attachments to emails otherwise included in the administrative record are missing, and seek to unredact header information (e.g. , authors, recipients, transmission time, subject) of emails in the record. The Plaintiffs also argue that the Department improperly "predetermined the outcome" of the Wilton Rancheria's application and that this, coupled with other indicia of bad faith-a rushed review process, culminating *292in a decision issued on the eve of the change in Presidential Administrations; pressure from the Senate Minority Leader; and the Department's representation to another judge of this District that the timing of any decision was uncertain yet issuing a decision days later-warrants the production of a privilege log.
The Court finds that none of the three narrow "unusual circumstances" apply here to require supplementing the administrative record, see Dist. Hosp. Partners, L.P. v. Burwell ,
I. BACKGROUND
The Wilton Rancheria (the "Tribe") is a federally recognized Indian Tribe that has been landless since 1958. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 14, 28. In 2013, the Tribe applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA") to acquire land in trust on its behalf for a casino and proposed a 282-acre plot near Galt, California. Id. ¶ 31; see also
Following the 2016 Presidential election, the Department completed procedures to take land into trust for the Tribe, but for an entirely different parcel of land in Elk Grove, California. See
Having struck out with the Department, the Plaintiffs turned to the judicial system and, on January 11, 2017, filed in this District a motion for an emergency temporary restraining order against acquiring title to the land. Am. Compl. ¶ 41. One of my colleagues heard arguments and denied the motion on January 13, 2017. Minute Entry, Jan. 13, 2017; see also TRO Hr'g Tr., Jan. 13, 2017, ECF No. 25. During the hearing, the District Judge asked the Department about the anticipated timing of the decision, and the Department replied that there was "still some uncertainty left" to the timing of the process, and that one of the factors affecting the timing would be addressing the public comments received.
On that day, the Plaintiffs applied to the Department for a formal stay of proceedings under
II. LEGAL STANDARDS
A. Supplementing the Administrative Record
Judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act requires courts to "review the whole record or those parts of it cited by a party."
Courts start with a presumption that the agency properly compiled the administrative record.
B. Extra-Record Discovery
Discovery is generally unavailable in cases involving judicial review under the APA. Air Transp. Ass'n of Am., Inc. ,
*294Strong evidence of "unalterably closed minds" justifies discovery into the agency's decision-making process.
III. ANALYSIS
The Plaintiffs dispute the Department's decision to exclude a litany of documents from the administrative record, challenge the Department's redactions and decision to withhold other documents, and claim that because there is evidence of improper agency behavior, the Court should order the production of a privilege log so that Plaintiffs may object to any potentially improper assertion of privilege. Mot. to Complete and/or Supplement the Administrative R. and for Leave to Conduct Disc. ("Mot. to Supplement") 1-2, ECF No. 57. Each is detailed below.
A. Beyond the Documents Conceded by the Department, the Plaintiffs Have Not Made the Required Showing to Supplement the Administrative Record
The Plaintiffs seek to supplement the administrative record with various documents: (i) the Draft Environmental Impact Statement ("DEIS"); (ii) various technical documents referenced in the DEIS; (iii) a Departmental guidance document about trust acquisitions; (iv) internal emails about the role of the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Lawrence Roberts, that were mentioned during this Court's motions hearing on January 9, 2018; (v) a March 6, 2017 memorandum from the Sacramento County Water Agency to the County of Sacramento addressing the availability of water supplies in the local service area; and (vi) various procedural documents (e.g. , publication notices) for the January 19, 2017 Record of Decision. Id. at 7-8, 11.
The Department agrees to add the DEIS to the record. Fed. Defs.' Response Mem. in Opp. to Pl.'s Mot. to Supplement ("Fed. Defs.' Response") 8, ECF No. 60.
With respect to the Departmental guidance document on trust acquisitions dated January 5, 2017, the Department contends that guidance documents are not part of the administrative record. Fed. Defs.' Response 8 n.3. The Court agrees; guidance documents are not substantive information underlying the challenged decision and therefore is not information considered by the agency in its decision. As the Department points out, though, this does not preclude the Plaintiffs from citing relevant excerpts from it in their merits briefing.
The Department challenges the Plaintiffs' characterization of the emails mentioned during the January 9, 2018 motions hearing and instead describe the emails as about whether the agency's decision was executed before or after a memorandum about the delegation of authority was issued.
As the Department observes, the March 6, 2017 memorandum from the Sacramento County Water Agency to the County of Sacramento post-dates the agency's decision by nearly two months; as such, it could not have been before the agency at the time of the decision. The Plaintiffs posit that the memorandum addresses the availability of water supplies in the local service area and exclusion of the document would frustrate judicial review. Mot. to Supplement 8 n.3. The Plaintiffs have not met the high bar to show that the record should be supplemented with this document. If it is true, as the Plaintiffs allege, that multiple commenters raised the issue of water supplies during the comment period, it is important that the Department's alleged failure to address adequately these comments be based on information before the agency when it made its decision. Holding the agency accountable for information unavailable to it at the time of its decision-when the Plaintiffs have not alleged that the Department in fact had notice of this document-would be incongruous with the fundamental tenets of judicial review.
The Plaintiffs fault the Department for "appear[ing]" to exclude certain procedural documents, such as publication notices for scoping, the availability of the DEIS, and various notices of intent. Id. at 11. To the Plaintiffs, these supposed documents are relevant and important to "confirm that an agency has complied with various procedural requirements, as well as internal review requirements." Id. But the Department has included in the record "[a]ll such documents that can be located." Fed. Defs.' Response 11. The Department is entitled to a presumption that it properly compiled the record, and the Plaintiffs' speculation that other documents may exist *296is not an "unusual circumstance[ ]" warranting supplementing the record. In any event, the Department avers that it has no further documents of this type to include. Id.
The Plaintiffs also complain that some emails in the record are missing their attachment or that some documents in the record are missing their cover email. Mot. to Supplement 9-11. In response to the Plaintiffs' concerns, the Department provided a list of the emails with their corresponding produced attachments and Bates numbers. Fed. Defs.' Response 9. The Department explains that the "missing" emails fall into four categories: (1) there was no attachment in the first place; (2) the attachment has been produced; (3) the attachment was withheld or is not part of the record; or (4) some combination thereof. Id. at 9-10. The Plaintiffs have not alleged circumstances suggesting that these explanations are insufficient as to require supplementing the record.
Last, the Plaintiffs argue that the administrative record is incomplete because it does not include certain documents, like conference call invitations for each Department employee who received one, and that the Department therefore must not have searched all relevant fileholders for documents. Mot. to Supplement 13-16. The Plaintiffs also claim that it is "highly implausible" that other documents (e.g. , agendas, notes, minutes) were not created relating to these conference calls, and their absence means that the record is insufficient. Id. at 14. But these claims are speculative and do not overcome the presumption that the agency properly compiled the record.
B. Plaintiffs Have Made a Prima Facie Showing of Bad Faith
Though the Plaintiffs fail to make a showing to warrant supplementing the administrative record, they have made a prima facie showing of bad faith to warrant limited discovery-here, the production of a privilege log to facilitate review of the Defendants' assertion of privilege. Courts in this District routinely deny requests for privilege logs of documents withheld from the record absent a showing of bad faith or improper behavior. Stand Up for California! v. U.S. Dep't of Interior ,
The overall timeline of events, culminating in the January 19, 2017 decision, exemplifies the rushed review process. The Tribe applied for land in 2013, which remained pending for nearly three years before the Department began procedures to take into trust the current disputed land in Elk Grove. During those three years, the Department held public meetings and performed an environmental analysis on the land in Galt, California as identified by the Tribe in its initial application. It was not until November 2016-after the Presidential election and after it became clear that *297a different political party would control the Executive Branch-that the Department "shifted into warp speed" to approve the application for the Elk Grove site. See Mem. Op. at 3. Within two months, the Department completed the decision-making process for taking the Elk Grove land into trust-a process that was incomplete after three years for the Galt site-and issued the decision on the last day of the outgoing Presidential Administration.
Though the Department responds that these "hectic" events do not indicate a pre-judged or bad faith decision, the Department does not dispute that it sought to issue a decision before the change in Administration and calculated a timeframe to achieve that desired outcome. See Fed. Defs.' Response 18-19 (noting that, to make the January 19, 2017 cut-off, the Department had to "publish a notice of availability in the Federal Register in time to allow for a thirty-day public comment period to run."); TRO Hr'g Tr., Jan. 13, 2017, 37:13-15 (counsel for the Department stating that the comment period closes January 17, 2017). Throughout the two-month period, the Department was under continuous pressure-from the Tribe and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs-to ensure that the decision issued before the Administration change. See, e.g., WR_AR0005814 (email on December 7, 2016 to Lawrence Roberts stating that the Chairman of the Tribe called about his concern that "i[t] may not be complete by 1/19/17."). Emails on December 6 and December 7, 2016 show that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs was keeping a close eye on the timeline, including that "Senator Reid will need to get involved soon" if they did not receive an update that day. WR_AR0005636. At the time, Senator Reid was the Senate Minority Leader, wielding significant influence over the Administration in general and the Department in particular. A committee staff-person stressed that "this matter is extremely time sensitive and we urge Interior to endeavor to get this under [the] wire before the new administration comes in." WR_AR0005634-WR_AR0005637. The Department responded that "we are aware of the deadline and have every intention of meeting it." WR_AR0005634. While expressing an intent to meet a deadline-even an accelerated one-does not exhibit bad faith per se , it does evidence, along with the pressure from the Tribe and the relevant Senate Committee, a strong indication that the agency had an "unalterably closed mind[ ]" to approve a decision taking the Elk Grove land into trust for the Tribe. See Air Transp. Ass'n of Am, Inc. ,
The Department also arguably acted inconsistently with its obligation to keep an open mind about the decision. In the weeks leading up to the decision, the Plaintiffs repeatedly requested a delay in acquisition, both informally to the Department, through the judicial system via a motion for a temporary restraining order, and through a formal request to the Department for a stay. Despite the compressed timeline it had to complete proceedings before issuing a decision, the Department used no additional time to consider the information before it and denied the formal *298request after the decision was already made. The Department also represented, on January 13, 2017, to a judge in this District that the timing of the decision-making process was "uncertain[ ]" and in part contingent on the number of public comments received. TRO Hr'g Tr., Jan. 13, 2017, 37:21-25. Yet just two days after the public comment period closed, i.e. , not even a week after the hearing, the Department issued its decision approving the acquisition of the land. These actions-in tandem with the other circumstances already discussed-establish a prima facie case that the Department acted improperly in making its decision.
The Department counters that the political pressure was not improper because there was no threat of funding cuts or other sanctions if the agency did not reach the desired outcome. Fed. Defs.' Response 21. Nor are there public statements by a public official that could have improperly influenced the decision. Cf. Sierra Club v. Costle ,
These are the precise circumstances presented here. It is plausible that the agency's actions are consistent with meeting a deadline and not further delaying the Tribe's application. It could also be that the compressed timeframe, the agency's stated desire to issue the decision before the change in Administrations-not only of the President, but also of the political party of that office-holder-and political pressure led to blinders being put on the agency and an "unalterably closed mind[ ]." See Air Transp. Ass'n of Am, Inc. ,
As for the Plaintiffs' objection to the redaction of header information (e.g. , authors, recipients, transmission time, subject) from emails in the administrative record, since that information will be contained in a privilege log, this issue is moot.
C. The Defendants Have Not Wholesale Waived Privilege for Communications with its Consultant
The deliberative process privilege, and its corollary, the so-called "consultant corollary" doctrine, protects documents between the agency and third parties enlisted to assist the agency in their decision-making process. See McKinley v. Bd. of Governors of Fed. Reserve Sys. ,
Further, the agreement states that "BIA will provide technical and procedural oversight, and serve as lead agency for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document for the federal action." WR_AR0000248; see also WR_AR0000249 ("AES agrees to act as the project manager on behalf [of] and at the direction of BIA."). In a similar three-party situation in which " 'AES agree[d] to act as the project manager on behalf of the BIA,' and BIA served as 'Lead Agency,' " another court in this District found that the BIA had control over the consultant's documents for FOIA purposes. Forest Cnty. Potawatomi Cmty. v. Zinke ,
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Plaintiffs' motion to supplement the administrative record will be denied, and the Plaintiffs' motion for discovery will be granted. A separate order will issue.
The Tribe may have publicly announced their interest in the Elk Grove site in June 2016, but the Plaintiffs allege that a request to the BIA to prepare a supplemental EIS addressing the site change was unanswered. Id. ¶ 37.
Some of these documents are only mentioned in a single footnote. See id. at 8 n.3.
The Department has also electronically provided to the Plaintiffs four spreadsheets of data about wastewater and a Draft EIS notice. Pls.' Reply 2.
The Department contends that the process could not have been "rubber stamp[ed]" because despite emails pushing for acquiring the land by January 19, 2017, the land did not formally go into trust until February 10, 2017, early in the Trump Administration. Fed. Defs.' Response 20. But the delay was due to a title review, not the Department's consideration of public comments or acknowledgement of the "hectic" process up until that point. See id. at 18, 20. In any event, the most significant action was the Department's January 19, 2017 Record of Decision approving acquiring the Elk Grove land in trust for the Tribe, and the Plaintiffs make a prima facie showing that this decision was prejudged.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STAND UP FOR CALIFORNIA!, Patty Johnson, Joe Teixeira, and Lynn Wheat v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR Ryan Zinke, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and John Tahsuda III, in his official capacity as Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, and Wilton Rancheria, California, Intervenor-Defendant.
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published