Navajo Nation v. Department of the Interior, No. 14-16864 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe broad waiver of sovereign immunity found in section 702 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) waived sovereign immunity for all non-monetary claims, and section 704 of the APA's final agency action requirement constrained only actions brought under the APA, 5 U.S.C. 702, 704. The Navajo Nation filed suit challenging Interior's published guidelines clarifying how it would make surplus and shortage determinations for delivery to Western states of the waters of the Colorado River. The panel affirmed the district court's dismissal of the Nation's claims under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., based on lack of standing where the challenged guidelines did not present a reasonable probability of threat to either the Nation's adjudicated water rights or its practical water needs. The panel also held that the Nation's breach of trust claim sought relief other than money damages, and the waiver of sovereign immunity in section 702 applied squarely to the claim. Therefore, the panel reversed and remanded as to this issue. Finally, the district court acted within its discretion in refusing post-judgment leave to amend.
Court Description: Standing / Sovereign Immunity / Water Rights. The panel affirmed in part, and reversed in part, the district court’s dismissal of the Navajo Nation’s Second Amended Complaint, and denial of the Nation’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion for relief, in their challenge to the Department of the Interior’s published Guidelines in 2001 and 2008 clarifying how it would make “surplus” and “shortage” determinations for delivery to Western states of the waters of the Colorado River. The Nation is a federally recognized tribe, and the United States is trustee of the Nation’s tribal lands. The Navajo Reservation covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, and lies almost entirely within the drainage basin of the Colorado River. The Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, operates dams and reservoirs that control the flow of the Colorado’s waters. The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the Nation’s National Environmental Policy Act claims for lack of Article III standing. The panel held that, although the district court considered the Nation’s interests in adequate water too narrowly, it agreed with the district court that the Nation failed to show it “reasonably probable” that the new 4 NAVAJO NATION V. DEP’T OF INTERIOR Guidelines threatened either the Nation’s unadjudicated water rights or its practical water needs. The panel held that the Nation’s breach of trust claim was not barred by sovereign immunity, and remanded to the district court to consider the claim on its merits. The panel held that the broad waiver of sovereign immunity found in § 702 of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) waived sovereign immunity for all non-monetary claims, and § 704 of the APA’s final agency action requirement constrained only actions brought under the APA. The panel concluded that the Nation’s breach of trust claim sought relief other than money damages, and the waiver of sovereign immunity in § 702 applied squarely to the claim. Because the panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of the Nation’s breach of trust claim, the panel held that the Nation’s appeal from the district court’s denial of its Rule 60(b) motion was moot to the extent it sought to amend its complaint to plead additional or alternative waivers of sovereign immunity. The panel held that the Nation was not entitled to relief under Rule 60(b) to amend its pleadings for its National Environmental Policy Act allegations.
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