STIPULATION AND ORDER TO VACATE COSTS ORDER (DOCKET NO. 96)

JOHN A. MENDEZ, District Judge.

WHEREAS Plaintiffs in this case have challenged the legality of the May 1998 continuations of certain geothermal leases entered into between the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") and Calpine Corporation ("Calpine") pursuant to the Geothermal Steam Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the federal government's fiduciary trust obligations to Indian Tribes, as set forth more specifically in Plaintiffs' Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive Relief ("Pit River Tribe II");

WHEREAS, on July 30, 2013, the District Court granted Federal Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings (Docket No. 84), and, on the same day, entered judgment for Federal Defendants and Calpine (Docket No. 85);

WHEREAS, on September 25, 2013, Plaintiffs timely filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ("Ninth Circuit") of the District Court's July 30, 2013, order and judgment (Docket No. 89);

WHEREAS, on November 26, 2013, the District Court entered an order overruling Plaintiffs' objections to the Federal Defendants' bill of costs and awarding Federal Defendants $19,851.60 in costs (Docket No. 96);

WHEREAS, on January 21, 2013, Plaintiffs timely filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit of the District Court's November 26, 2013, order awarding costs (Docket No. 97), which appeal was docketed as Ninth Cir. No. 14-15123;

WHEREAS, the United States subsequently recorded abstracts of judgment in Shasta and Siskiyou Counties against Plaintiffs' real property interests;

WHEREAS, in March 2015, Plaintiff Pit River Tribe, though the Kwhan Corporation, deposited $19,851.60 into the Court's Registry in order to obtain a release of the Judgment Lien pending adjudication of the the merits appeal and the cost appeal in this matter;

WHEREAS, the Ninth Circuit, at Plaintiffs' request and without opposition from the Federal Defendants or Calpine, has stayed Plaintiffs' appeal of the District Court's costs award until and including October 15, 2015;

WHEREAS, on July 20, 2015, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision reversing the District Court's July 30, 2013, judgment and remanded the case "for further proceedings consistent with this opinion" (Docket No. 110);

WHEREAS, the Ninth Circuit's July 20, 2015, decision requires the District Court to vacate its costs award under well-established Ninth Circuit precedent (see, e.g., Amarel v. Connell, 102 F.3d 1494, 1523 (9th Cir. 1996) ("Where a reviewing court reverses adistrict court's judgment for the prevailing party, however, both the underlying judgment and the taxation of costs undertaken pursuant to that judgment are reversed."));

WHEREAS, the parties have agreed that Plaintiffs will voluntarily dismiss their appeal of the District Court's November 26, 2013, costs award within three (3) business days following the District Court's entry of this Stipulation and Order;

NOW THEREFORE, the Parties stipulate to the foregoing and respectfully request that the Court enter an order approving this stipulation.

ORDER

Pursuant to the Ninth Circuit's July 20, 2015, decision and the parties' stipulation, this Court's November 26, 2013, order awarding costs to Federal Defendants (Docket No. 96) is hereby VACATED. Within 30 days of the filing of this order, the United States shall file releases of all abstracts of judgment filed in this case which it has not previously released. The Clerk of Court is directed to release to the Kwahn Corporation, on behalf of plaintiff Pit River Tribe, the funds deposited into the Court's registry on March 19, 2015 (as reflected on receipt number CAE200065779).

IT IS SO ORDERED.