RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, District Judge.
For the last ten years, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association ("ARTBA") has sought to alter the
In 1990, Congress amended the Clean Air Act to authorize the federal regulation of emissions from nonroad engines,
In 1994, the EPA published two regulations interpreting the preemptive scope of section 209(e). One regulation — the "preemption rule" — defined statutory terms and clarified the class of preempted state law, see Preemption of State Regulation for Nonroad Engine and Vehicle Standards, 59 Fed.Reg. 36,969, 36,986-87 (July 20, 1994) ("1994 Preemption Rule") (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 85.1602-03 (1995)), while the other — the "interpretive rule" — emphasized the types of state regulation that were permitted without federal authorization, see Emission Standards for New Nonroad Compression-Ignition Engines At or Above 37 Kilowatts, 59 Fed. Reg. 31,306, 31,339-40 (June 17, 1994) ("1994 Interpretive Rule") (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 89 subpt. A, App'x A (1995)). The agency's rationales for the two regulations were nearly identical. Compare id. at 31,328-31 with 1994 Preemption Rule, 59 Fed.Reg. at 36,971-74. In justifying both the preemption rule and the interpretive rule, the EPA acknowledged the "clear preemption of state regulation of nonroad engines ... in section 209(e)(1)" and determined that, although "[t]he language of section 209(e)(2) does not state any clear preemption," some preemption was nonetheless implied.
1994 Interpretive Rule, 59 Fed.Reg. at 31,339 (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 89 subpt. A, App'x A (1995)).
An industry group challenged the preemption rule's definition of "new" and its limitation of section 209(e)(2)'s preemptive effect to new nonroad engines, as well as the interpretive rule's assertion that section 209(e)(2) did not preempt state regulation of the use of nonroad engines. Engine Mfrs. Ass'n v. EPA, 88 F.3d 1075 (D.C.Cir.1996) ("EMA"). This suit was brought in the D.C. Circuit under Clean Air Act § 307(b)(1), which provides that review of "nationally applicable regulations promulgated" under the Act "may be filed only in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia." 42 U.S.C. § 7607(b)(1) (emphasis added). The D.C. Circuit upheld the definition of "new," ruling that the statutory term was ambiguous and the agency's interpretation permissible. EMA, 88 F.3d at 1087. Turning to the question "whether, as the EPA decided, only new nonroad sources are covered by § 209(e)(2), or, as [the industry group] argue[d], both new and non-new sources are covered," id. at 1088, the court concluded that Congress had spoken to the issue by omitting the word "new" from
The EPA revised its regulations to conform to the Circuit's decision in EMA. See Preemption of State Regulation for Nonroad Engine and Vehicle Standards; Amendments to Rules, 62 Fed.Reg. 67,733, 67,735 (Dec. 30, 1997) ("Amendments to Rules") ("Today's direct final rule implements the opinion of the Court regarding the scope of preemption of section 209(e)(2) by amending the language of the implementing regulations to reflect that California must request authorization for its emissions standards and other related requirements for all nonroad vehicles and engines.") (emphasis added). The agency removed the word "new" from the preemption rule's description of the engines whose emissions could not be regulated without federal approval, see id. at 67,736 (amending 40 C.F.R. § 85.1603(d)), and revised the language of the interpretive rule's "determination that states are not precluded from regulating the use of nonroad engines," id. at 67,734.
In 2002, ARTBA petitioned the EPA to amend its regulations. Petition to Amend Rules Implementing Clean Air Act § 209(e), EPA Docket HQ-OAR-2004-0008, Doc. 531 (July 12, 2002) ("Petition to Amend Rules"). The association asked the agency to declare that certain types of state regulation which the revised interpretive rule
The EPA put ARTBA's petition out for comment in 2007, see Control of Emissions from Nonroad Spark-Ignition Engines and Equipment, 72 Fed.Reg. 28,098, 28,209-10
ARTBA challenged the denial of its petition before the D.C. Circuit. ARTBA v. EPA, 588 F.3d 1109 (D.C.Cir.2009). This challenge was also brought directly to that court under Clean Air Act § 307(b)(1), which provides that petitions for review of regulations promulgated under the Act "shall be filed within sixty days from the date notice of such promulgation ... appears in the Federal Register," unless the "petition is based solely on grounds arising after such sixtieth day." 42 U.S.C. § 7607(b)(1). The Circuit held that ARTBA's suit was an untimely attack on the 1997 re-promulgation of the preemption and interpretive rules rather than a timely challenge to the EPA's denial of its 2008 petition because Clean Air Act § 307(b)(1) enacted an exception to "[t]he general rule... that it is a perfectly valid `method of obtaining judicial review of agency regulations once the limitations period has run... to petition the agency for amendment or rescission of the regulations and then to appeal the agency's decision.'" ARTBA, 588 F.3d at 1112 (quoting NLRB Union v. FLRA, 834 F.2d 191, 196 (D.C.Cir.1987)) (second ellipsis in original). Because ARTBA had not filed suit within sixty days of either the 1997 re-promulgation or a later event that ripened its claim, the Circuit dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Id. at 1113-16.
In 2010, ARTBA submitted comments on California's proposed revisions to a portion of its state implementation plan ("SIP"),
On July 8, 2011, ARTBA filed suit in the Ninth and D.C. Circuits. ARTBA petitioned the D.C. Circuit to review (1) the EPA's approval of the SIP revisions, (2) the agency's refusal to designate its action as having "nationwide scope or effect" under section 307(b)(1) and therefore subject to challenge in the D.C. Circuit instead of the Ninth Circuit, and (3) its denial of ARTBA's petition to amend or repeal the rules concerning the preemptive scope of section 209(e). See Petition for Review, ARTBA v. EPA, No. 11-1256 (D.C.Cir. July 8, 2011). ARTBA petitioned the Ninth Circuit to review only the approval of the SIP revisions. See Petition for Review, ARTBA v. EPA, No. 11-71897 (9th Cir. July 8, 2011). The Ninth Circuit case is currently stayed pending the resolution of the D.C. Circuit case.
On September 22, 2011, ARTBA brought this case "to challenge EPA's final agency action with respect to" the 2008 rulemaking at issue in ARTBA v. EPA, 588 F.3d 1109 (D.C.Cir.2009), as well as the 2011 rulemaking regarding the California SIP revisions, both of which "relate to the preemptive scope of Clean Air Act § 209(e), 42 U.S.C. § 7543(e)." Compl. ¶ 1. ARTBA seeks, in essence, a declaratory judgment approving its interpretation of that provision and requiring the EPA to amend its regulations accordingly. ARTBA also asks this court to void decisions of the United States Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit. The association has named as defendants the United States, the EPA, and its Administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, acting in her official capacity (collectively, "the government"). The government has moved to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.
Sovereign immunity, which shields from suit the federal government, its agencies, and federal officials acting in their official capacities, is "jurisdictional in nature." FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471, 475, 114 S.Ct. 996, 127 L.Ed.2d 308 (1994) (the federal government and its agencies); Jackson v. Donovan, 844 F.Supp.2d 74, 75-76 (D.D.C.2012) (citing Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165-66, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985)) (federal officials in their official capacities); see also United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206, 212, 103 S.Ct. 2961, 77 L.Ed.2d 580 (1983) ("It is axiomatic that the United States may not be sued without its consent and that the existence of consent is a prerequisite for jurisdiction"). "A waiver of the Federal Government's sovereign immunity must be unequivocally expressed in statutory text, and will not be implied." Lane v. Pena, 518 U.S. 187, 192, 116 S.Ct. 2092, 135 L.Ed.2d 486 (1996) (citations omitted). "Indeed, the `[statutory] terms of [the United States'] consent to be sued in any court define that court's jurisdiction to entertain the suit.'" Meyer, 510 U.S. at 475,
Section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act "channels review of final EPA action exclusively to the courts of appeals, regardless of how the grounds for review are framed." Virginia v. United States, 74 F.3d 517, 523 (4th Cir.1996); Missouri v. United States, 109 F.3d 440, 441 (8th Cir. 1997) ("The Clean Air Act ... channels all petitions for review of EPA actions into the courts of appeals.") (abbreviation expanded); see also Massachusetts v. EPA, 415 F.3d 50, 54 (D.C.Cir.2005), overruled on other grounds, 549 U.S. 497, 127 S.Ct. 1438, 167 L.Ed.2d 248 (2007) ("Section 307(b)(1), 42 U.S.C. § 7607(b)(1), gives this court exclusive jurisdiction over `nationally applicable regulations promulgated, or final action taken, by the Administrator' under chapter 85 of the Act.") (emphasis added); Envtl. Def. Fund v. Thomas, 870 F.2d 892, 896 (2d Cir.1989) ("Because Section 307 embodies a grant of exclusive jurisdiction, it appears that if the District of Columbia [Circuit] has jurisdiction over the present action, the district court does not.") (emphasis added); Royster-Clark Agribusiness, Inc. v. Johnson, 391 F.Supp.2d 21, 25-26 (D.D.C.2005) ("It is well-settled that subsection 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act provides the exclusive means of obtaining review of final actions by EPA under the Clean Air Act.") (emphasis added) (abbreviation expanded). This case seeks review of final agency action by the EPA under the Clean Air Act. Compl. ¶ 1. It must therefore be brought in the appropriate court of appeals — where, indeed, ARTBA has already sought identical relief.
In an attempt to avoid that conclusion, ARTBA principally invokes the citizen-suit provision of the Clean Air Act, § 304(a)(2), 42 U.S.C. § 7604(a)(2), and the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706. The government responds that neither waives the sovereign immunity of the United States nor gives the plaintiff a cause of action. It might have added — and this court is obliged to note — that ARTBA must also identify a source of statutory jurisdiction. When a party challenges administrative action, the three inquiries are closely related. For instance, if the Administrative Procedure Act provides a cause of action, then it also provides a waiver of sovereign immunity, and the federal question statute grants jurisdiction to the district courts. See Trudeau v. FTC, 456 F.3d 178, 185 (D.C.Cir.2006) ("[T]he APA ... provide[s] ... a limited cause of action for parties adversely affected
The citizen suit provision of the Clean Air Act authorizes "any person" to sue the EPA in district court "where there is alleged a failure of the Administrator to perform any act or duty under this chapter which is not discretionary with the Administrator...." 42 U.S.C. § 7604(a)(2). In doing so, it provides jurisdiction to the district courts, waives the sovereign immunity of the United States, and establishes a cause of action. See Royster-Clark, 391 F.Supp.2d at 25-26 ("The Clean Air Act provides its own waiver of sovereign immunity and procedures for review....") (abbreviation expanded). To invoke this court's jurisdiction under the citizen suit provision, a plaintiff must point to an "act or duty under [the Clean Air Act] which is not discretionary with the Administrator." The provision "has been construed narrowly," Monongahela Power Co. v. Reilly, 980 F.2d 272, 276 n. 3 (4th Cir.1992), because "Congress provided for district court enforcement under section 304 in order to permit citizen enforcement of clear-cut violations by polluters or defaults by the Administrator where the only required judicial role would be to make a clear-cut factual determination of whether a violation did or did not occur," Sierra Club v. Thomas, 828 F.2d 783, 791 (D.C.Cir.1987) (quotation marks omitted); see also Envtl. Def. Fund v. Thomas, 870 F.2d 892, 899 (2d Cir.1989) ("[T]he district court has jurisdiction, under Section 304, to compel the Administrator to perform purely ministerial acts, not to order the Administrator to make particular judgmental decisions."); Mountain States Legal Found. v. Costle, 630 F.2d 754, 766 (10th Cir.1980) ("Congress ... restricted citizens' suits to actions seeking to enforce specific non-discretionary clear-cut requirements of the Clean Air Act."); Kennecott Copper Corp. v. Costle, 572 F.2d 1349, 1355 (9th Cir.1978) (describing the citizen suit provision as "intended to provide relief only in a narrowly-defined class of situations in which the Administrator
ARTBA next argues that it can bring this suit under the APA. As discussed above, "[u]nder APA § 704, only `final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in a court [is] subject to judicial review,'" Transohio Sav. Bank v. Dir., Office of Thrift Supervision, 967 F.2d 598, 608 (D.C.Cir.1992) (quoting 5 U.S.C. § 704) (second alteration in original), and "[t]he APA excludes from its waiver of sovereign immunity ... claims for which an adequate remedy is available elsewhere." Fornaro v. James, 416 F.3d 63, 66 (D.C.Cir.2005) (quoting Transohio, 967 F.2d at 607) (alterations in original). The D.C. Circuit, "in determining whether an adequate remedy exists, has focused on whether a statute provides an independent cause of action or an alternative review procedure." El Rio Santa Cruz Neighborhood Health Ctr., Inc. v. HHS, 396 F.3d 1265, 1270 (D.C.Cir.2005). Section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act provides just such a procedure. The fact that, as the Circuit ruled when ARTBA first sought relief there, a particular petition is filed after the statutory period for review does not make the statutory review procedure inadequate. Martinez v. United States, 333 F.3d 1295, 1319-20 (Fed.Cir.2003) ("The fact that the complaint was untimely filed ... does not mean that that court could not offer a full and adequate remedy; it merely means that [the plaintiff] did not file his complaint in time to take advantage of that remedy."); Town of Sanford v. United States, 140 F.3d 20, 23 (1st Cir. 1998) ("A legal remedy is not inadequate for purposes of the APA because it is procedurally inconvenient for a given plaintiff, or because plaintiffs have inadvertently deprived themselves of an opportunity to pursue that remedy."); Sable Commc'ns of California, Inc. v. FCC, 827 F.2d 640, 642 (9th Cir.1987) (holding that the remedy provided by 28 U.S.C. § 2342 was adequate within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. § 704 when it was the plaintiff's "own inaction which foreclosed review under section 2342"). ARTBA argues that the review procedures of the Clean Air Act are inadequate because another provision of the Act limits judicial review to "objection[s]... raised with reasonable specificity during the period for public comment." 42 U.S.C. § 7607(d)(7)(B). The association argues that many of its objections to the preemption rule and the interpretive rule arose more than sixty days after those rules were re-promulgated in 1997. (ARTBA does not explain why its challenges to the California SIP revisions now pending in the courts of appeals will not provide an
Id. The judicial review provision, in turn, allows for the review of petitions based on grounds arising after the statutory period for review has expired. Id. § 7607(b)(1). Such grounds include "the occurrence of an event that ripens a claim," although "a petition predicated on any such new event [must] be filed within 60 days of the event." ARTBA, 588 F.3d at 1113-14. The D.C. Circuit held that "none of the[] events" that ARTBA cited there and now cites here occurred within sixty days of its petition either to the EPA or to the court of appeals. Id. at 1114. Had ARTBA filed its claim no more than sixty days after an event that ripened its claims, those claims would have been heard as timely brought.
ARTBA raises other arguments, which the court addresses briefly. There is a narrow exception to sovereign immunity for suits alleging that a federal officer has acted outside of his delegated power, see Larson v. Domestic & Foreign Commerce Corp., 337 U.S. 682, 689-90, 69 S.Ct. 1457, 93 L.Ed. 1628 (1949); Chamber of Commerce v. Reich, 74 F.3d 1322, 1329 (D.C.Cir.1996), but "[a] claim of error in the exercise of that power is ... not sufficient." Larson, 337 U.S. at 690, 69 S.Ct. 1457; see also Royster-Clark, 391 F.Supp.2d at 24-25. There is no doubt that the Administrator had the power to promulgate regulations implementing Clean Air Act section 209(e). 42 U.S.C. § 7543(e) ("The Administrator shall issue regulations to implement this subsection."). To claim that she erred in doing so is not to state a claim that she acted ultra vires. ARTBA also invokes Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908), which is simply the first instance of the theory at work in Larson. See Vann v. Kempthorne, 534 F.3d 741, 751 (D.C.Cir.2008) (discussing the "rationale set forth in Ex parte Young and described in Larson"). Moreover, "since 1976 federal courts have looked to § 702 of the Administrative Procedure Act to serve the purposes of the Ex parte Young fiction in suits against federal officers." EEOC v. Peabody W. Coal Co., 610 F.3d 1070, 1085 (9th Cir.2010) (citation omitted). In Leedom v. Kyne, 358 U.S. 184, 79 S.Ct. 180, 3 L.Ed.2d 210 (1958), "the Supreme Court held that, even though there is a statutory prohibition against review of representation
The Clean Air Act gives the courts of appeals exclusive jurisdiction over the claims that ARTBA would raise here. In doing so, it provides an adequate remedy at law. There is no basis for jurisdiction over ARTBA's claims in this court, and no applicable waiver of the federal government's sovereign immunity. The court will therefore grant the government's motion to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.
Engine Mfrs. Ass'n v. EPA, 88 F.3d 1075, 1087-88 (D.C.Cir.1996) (citations omitted).
Amendments to Rules, 62 Fed.Reg. at 67,736 (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 89 Subpt. A, Appx. A (1998)).