Western Watersheds Project et al v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al, No. 2:2023cv00435 - Document 12 (D. Nev. 2023)
Court Description: SCHEDULING ORDER granting in part and denying in part 11 Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order. Motions due by 12/29/2023. Signed by Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Albregts on 7/24/2023. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - CT)
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Western Watersheds Project et al v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al Doc. 12 Case 2:23-cv-00435-CDS-DJA Document 12 Filed 07/24/23 Page 1 of 6 1 TODD KIM Assistant Attorney General 2 6 DANIEL LUECKE (CA Bar No. 326695) Trial Attorney Natural Resources Section United States Department of Justice P.O. Box 7611 Washington, D.C. 20044-7611 (202) 598-7863 daniel.luecke@usdoj.gov 7 Attorneys for Federal Defendants 8 11 SCOTT LAKE NV Bar No. 15765 CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY P.O. Box 6205 Reno, NV 89513 Phone: (802) 299-7495 Email: slake@biologicaldiversity.org 12 Attorney for Plaintiffs 3 4 5 9 10 13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 14 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT and the CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, Plaintiffs, v. Case No. 2:23-cv-435-CDS-DJA U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, JARED BYBEE in his official capacity as Field Manager of the Bureau of Land Management Bristlecone Field Office, and ALICIA STYLES, in her official capacity as Acting Field Manager of the Bureau of Land Management Caliente Field Office, JOINT DISCOVERY PLAN AND SCHEDULING ORDER As amended on page 5 Defendants. 25 26 27 Pursuant to this Court’s Order requiring the parties to submit a Discovery Plan/Scheduling Order (ECF #10), Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f), and Local Rule 26-1, counsel for 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:23-cv-00435-CDS-DJA Document 12 Filed 07/24/23 Page 2 of 6 1 Plaintiffs and Federal Defendants met and conferred on June 22 and July 11, 2023, via 2 telephone and jointly propose the following discovery plan and briefing schedule in this matter. 3 4 Discovery Plan: 5 6 1. Initial Disclosures: Plaintiffs bring claims under the National Environmental Policy Act 7 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321–4370h, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 8 (FLPMA), 43 U.S.C. § 1701-1787, and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 9 5 U.S.C. §§ 701–706, challenging Federal Defendants’ decision to approve the South 10 Spring Valley and Hamlin Valley Watershed Restoration Plan. The parties agree that 11 these claims shall be resolved following the lodging and review of an administrative 12 record. This case is therefore exempt from initial disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 13 26(a)(1)(B)(i). 14 15 2. Amending the Pleadings and Adding Parties: Plaintiffs filed their Complaint on 16 March 23, 2023. Plaintiffs do not expect to add any additional parties. At this time, 17 Plaintiffs believe it unlikely they will seek to further amend the pleadings but cannot 18 rule it out until after the administrative record is lodged. Federal Defendants answered 19 the Complaint on June 2, 2023. Federal Defendants do not presently anticipate 20 amending their pleadings other than to respond to any amendment by Plaintiffs. 21 22 3. parties do not anticipate conducting fact discovery or expert discovery. 23 24 25 Discovery: This case will be decided on an administrative record. Consequently, the 4. Electronically Stored Information: Federal Defendants plan to lodge the administrative record with the Court on electronic media, such as a DVD or USB drive. 26 27 2 Case 2:23-cv-00435-CDS-DJA Document 12 Filed 07/24/23 Page 3 of 6 1 5. 2 administrative record, the parties do not anticipate seeking entry of a protective order in 3 4 Issues Related to Privilege or Protection: Because this case will be decided on an this matter. 6. Dispositive Motions: The parties agree that this case will be resolved on cross motions 5 for summary judgment after resolution of Plaintiffs’ anticipated motion for preliminary 6 injunction. 7 8 7. 9 motions for summary judgment and therefore pretrial disclosures and a pretrial order 10 11 Pretrial Order and Disclosures: The parties agree that this case will be resolved on cross will not be necessary. 8. Alternative Dispute Resolution: The parties certify that they have met and conferred 12 about the possibility of using alternative dispute-resolution processes to resolve this 13 case. 14 15 9. Alternative Forms of Case Disposition: The parties certify that they considered consent 16 to trial by a magistrate judge under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 73 and the 17 use of the Short Trial Program but that these are not applicable to this case. 18 19 Proposed Briefing Schedule 20 Plaintiffs anticipate filing a motion for preliminary injunction before the first 21 22 implementation of the South Spring Valley and Hamlin Valley Watershed Restoration Plan, 23 which will begin on or after October 1, 2023. The parties met and conferred and jointly 24 propose the following briefing schedule: 25 A. 26 Plaintiffs shall file their motion for preliminary injunction by no later than August 23, 2023. 27 3 Case 2:23-cv-00435-CDS-DJA Document 12 Filed 07/24/23 Page 4 of 6 1 B. 2 3 4 Federal Defendants shall file their opposition to Plaintiffs’ motion by no later than September 6, 2023. C. Plaintiffs shall file their reply in support of their motion by no later than September 13, 2023. 5 6 Upon resolution of Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction, the parties agree to meet and 7 confer again to discuss a schedule for lodging the administrative record and briefing the merits. 8 The parties will file a new proposed briefing schedule within two weeks of the Court’s order 9 on Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction. 10 11 Respectfully submitted this 15th day of July, 2023. 12 13 TODD KIM Assistant Attorney General 14 19 /s/ Daniel Luecke DANIEL LUECKE (CA Bar No. 326695) Trial Attorney Natural Resources Section United States Department of Justice P.O. Box 7611 Washington, D.C. 20044-7611 (202) 353-1389 daniel.luecke@usdoj.gov 20 Attorneys for Federal Defendants 21 24 /s/ Scott Lake _ SCOTT LAKE (NV Bar No. 15765) Center For Biological Diversity P.O. Box 6205 Reno, NV 89513 Phone: (802) 299-7495 Email: slake@biologicaldiversity.org 25 Attorney for Plaintiffs 15 16 17 18 22 23 26 27 4 Case 2:23-cv-00435-CDS-DJA Document 12 Filed 07/24/23 Page 5 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Having reviewed the parties' stipulated discovery plan, the Court notes that it is missing certain deadlines necessary to governing the case progression. While the Court recognizes that the parties do not anticipate conducting discovery and thus wish to forego discovery deadlines, the IT IS SO ORDERED parties have indicated that they may amend their pleadings and file dispositive motions. Deadlines with calendar dates governing these events is thus necessary. The Court calculates the deadlines below in accordance Local Rule 26-1. DATED this _____ day of July,with 2023 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the parties' stipulated discovery plan is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. It is denied in part regarding the plan's exclusion of a ____________________________ deadline to amend pleadings or add parties and for dispositive motions. It is granted in part in all Daniel J. Albregts other respects. United States Magistrate Judge IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the deadline to amend pleadings or add parties shall be August 31, 2023. 8 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the dispositive motion deadline shall be December 29, 2023. 9 10 11 12 __________________________________ DANIEL J. ALBREGTS UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 DATED: July 24, 2023 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 5 Case 2:23-cv-00435-CDS-DJA Document 12 Filed 07/24/23 Page 6 of 6 1 2 3 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on July 15th, 2023, I electronically filed the foregoing using the CM/ECF system, which will automatically send email notification to the attorneys of record. 4 /s/ Daniel Luecke DANIEL LUECKE 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 6
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