Sierra Club et al v. McLerran et al, No. 2:2011cv01759 - Document 248 (W.D. Wash. 2021)

Court Description: ORDER granting Parties' 247 Stipulated Motion to Modify Summary Judgment Briefing Schedule to Allow Settlement Discussions. Signed by Judge Barbara J. Rothstein.(MW)

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Sierra Club et al v. McLerran et al Doc. 248 Case 2:11-cv-01759-BJR Document 248 Filed 08/18/21 Page 1 of 6 1 HONORABLE BARBARA J. ROTHSTEIN 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 9 10 11 SIERRA CLUB, et al., Plaintiffs, 12 13 14 and THE SPOKANE TRIBE OF INDIANS, 15 Plaintiff-Intervenor, 16 17 18 19 v. REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, et al., 20 Defendants, 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 and SPOKANE COUNTY; KAISER ALUMINUM WASHINGTON LLC; and STATE OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. C11-1759BJR STIPULATED JOINT MOTION TO MODIFY SUMMARY JUDGMENT BRIEFING SCHEDULE TO ALLOW SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS, AND ORDER Defendant-Intervenors. ___________________________________ 28 29 STIPULATED MOTION TO MODIFY SUMMARY JUDGMENT BRIEFING SCHEDULE AND ORDER -1 Case No. C11-1759BJR David J. Kaplan. United States Department of Justice Environmental Defense Section P.O. Box 7611 Washington D.C. 20044 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:11-cv-01759-BJR Document 248 Filed 08/18/21 Page 2 of 6 1 2 Defendants the Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, et al. 3 (collectively “EPA”), Plaintiffs Sierra Club and Center for Environmental Law & Policy 4 (collectively “Sierra Club/CELP”), and Plaintiff-Intervenor Spokane Tribe of Indians jointly 5 6 submit this motion to extend by 137 days the existing dates set forth in the Court’s order (Dkt 7 245) for briefing on Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and on EPA’s and the Intervenor- 8 Defendants’ prospective cross-motions for summary judgment, to allow for settlement 9 discussions and, if a proposed settlement can be reached, to obtain necessary approvals to enter 10 11 that agreement. Defendant-Intervenor State of Washington, Department of Ecology, Defendant- 12 Intervenor Spokane County, and Defendant-Intervenor Kaiser Aluminum Washington LLC, 13 stipulate to the relief requested by this motion. 14 15 The grounds for this stipulated joint motion and proposed modified briefing schedule are as follows: 16 17 1) Plaintiffs Sierra Club/CELP filed on July 2, 2021, a motion for summary 18 judgment on their claim under the Clean Water Act that EPA has a nondiscretionary duty to issue 19 a total maximum daily load (“TMDL”) for polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”) for the Spokane 20 River, and on their claim under the Administrative Procedure Act that challenges EPA’s Plan for 21 22 23 24 25 addressing PCBs in the Spokane River. Doc. 238. Plaintiff-Intervenor the Spokane Tribe joined that motion on July 6, 2021. Doc. 243. 2) On July 16, 2021, the Parties filed a stipulated joint motion that set out a comprehensive schedule for briefing on Plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion and on the 26 27 28 prospective cross-motions for summary judgment by EPA and the three Defendant-Intervenors. Doc. 244. The Court granted the stipulated joint motion. Doc. 245. Under the Court’s order, 29 STIPULATED MOTION TO MODIFY SUMMARY JUDGMENT BRIEFING SCHEDULE AND ORDER -2 Case No. C11-1759BJR David J. Kaplan. United States Department of Justice Environmental Defense Section P.O. Box 7611 Washington D.C. 20044 Case 2:11-cv-01759-BJR Document 248 Filed 08/18/21 Page 3 of 6 1 2 3 4 EPA’s and the Defendant-Intervenors’ opposition briefs and cross-motions for summary judgment are due August 20, 2021. 3) Based on recent discussions between EPA, Plaintiffs, and the Tribe, these parties believe that it may be possible to reach a settlement of this case within the next 137 days. 5 6 Accordingly, EPA, Plaintiffs, and the Tribe request that the dates in the briefing schedule entered 7 by the Court be extended by 137 days, to allow for settlement discussions and, if a proposed 8 settlement can be reached, to have that settlement approved by the relevant parties. Deferring 9 briefing at this time would facilitate those discussions, both by preserving the resources 10 11 otherwise spent on briefing, and by avoiding briefing that may be counter-productive to efforts to 12 reach an agreement. Granting this extension may also preserve the resources of the Court, by 13 averting the need to adjudicate the claims in this case if a settlement is reached. 14 15 4) Under this proposal, only the dates in the Court’s existing briefing schedule would be modified, by extending each of the dates by 137 days. As so modified, this proposed 16 17 18 schedule is as follows: 1.A. 19 20 1.B. 21 22 23 2.A. 24 25 Jan. 4, 2022 Oppositions to Plaintiffs’ Motion for SJ and Cross-Motions for SJ, by Spokane County, Kaiser Aluminum, and the State of Washington (each limited to 20 pages) Jan. 4, 2022 Plaintiffs’ Consolidated Opposition to the Cross-Motions for SJ and Reply in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for SJ (limited to 30 pages) Jan. 25, 2022 2.B. Spokane Tribe’s Consolidated Opposition to the Cross-Motions for SJ and Reply in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for SJ (limited to 20 pages) Jan. 25, 2022 3.A. EPA’s Reply in Support of its Cross-Motion for SJ (limited to 20 pages) 26 27 28 EPA’s Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for SJ and Cross-Motion for SJ (limited to 30 pages) Feb 8, 2022 29 STIPULATED MOTION TO MODIFY SUMMARY JUDGMENT BRIEFING SCHEDULE AND ORDER -3 Case No. C11-1759BJR David J. Kaplan. United States Department of Justice Environmental Defense Section P.O. Box 7611 Washington D.C. 20044 Case 2:11-cv-01759-BJR Document 248 Filed 08/18/21 Page 4 of 6 1 2 3.B. Replies in Support of EPA’s Cross-Motion for SJ, by Spokane County, Kaiser Aluminum, and the State of Washington (each limited to 10 pages) Feb 8, 2022 3 4 5 6 ORDER 7 8 IT IS SO ORDERED, on this 18th day of August 2021. 9 A 10 11 Barbara Jacobs Rothstein U.S. District Court Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 STIPULATED MOTION TO MODIFY SUMMARY JUDGMENT BRIEFING SCHEDULE AND ORDER -4 Case No. C11-1759BJR David J. Kaplan. United States Department of Justice Environmental Defense Section P.O. Box 7611 Washington D.C. 20044 Case 2:11-cv-01759-BJR Document 248 Filed 08/18/21 Page 5 of 6 1 Respectfully submitted by: 7 By: /S/ David Kaplan David J. Kaplan Attorney for Federal Defendants United States Department of Justice Environmental Defense Section P.O. Box 7611 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 514-0997 David.kaplan@usdoj.gov 8 SMITH & LOWNEY, PLLC 2 3 4 5 6 9 By: /S/ Richard Smith Marc Zemel, WSBA #44325 Richard A. Smith, WSBA #21788 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 2317 E. John St. Seattle, WA 98112 Tel: (206) 860-2883 Fax: (206) 860-4187 richard@smithandlowney.com marc@smithandlowney.com 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 /S/ Theodore Knight Theodore Clare Knight, WSBA# 39683 Attorney for Intervenor the Spokane Tribe of Indians 9121 NE Briar Rose Lane Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 (509) 953-1908 ted@tcklaw.com 17 18 19 20 21 Stipulated to the relief requested, by: 22 FOSTER GARVEY, PC 23 By: /S/ John Nelson John Ray Nelson, WSBA #16393 Lori Terry Gregory, WSBA #22006 Attorneys for Intervenor Spokane County 1111 Third Ave., Ste. 3400 Seattle, WA 98101 (206) 447-4400 john.nelson@foster.com lori.terry@foster.com 24 25 26 27 28 29 STIPULATED MOTION TO MODIFY SUMMARY JUDGMENT BRIEFING SCHEDULE AND ORDER -5 Case No. C11-1759BJR David J. Kaplan. United States Department of Justice Environmental Defense Section P.O. Box 7611 Washington D.C. 20044 Case 2:11-cv-01759-BJR Document 248 Filed 08/18/21 Page 6 of 6 1 PERKINS COIE LLP 2 By: /S/ Margaret Hupp Margaret C. Hupp, WSBA #43295 Attorneys for Intervenor Kaiser Aluminum Washington LLC 1201 Third Ave., Ste. 4800 Seattle, WA 98101 (206) 359-8000 MHupp@perkinscoie.com 3 4 5 6 7 8 BOB FERGUSON Attorney General 9 By: /S/ Ronald Lavigne Ronald L. Lavigne, WSBA #18550 Attorneys for Intervenor State of Washington, Dept. of Ecology P.O. Box 40117 Olympia, WA 98504 (360) 586-6751 RonaldL@atg.wa.gov 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 STIPULATED MOTION TO MODIFY SUMMARY JUDGMENT BRIEFING SCHEDULE AND ORDER -6 Case No. C11-1759BJR David J. Kaplan. United States Department of Justice Environmental Defense Section P.O. Box 7611 Washington D.C. 20044

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