Opinion
20-CV-2343 JLS (DEB)
06-08-2021
BACKCOUNTRY AGAINST DUMPS; DONNA TISDALE; and JOE E. TISDALE, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS; DARRYL LACOUNTE, in his official capacity as Director of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs; AMY DUTSCHKE, in her official capacity as Regional Director of the Pacific Region of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs; UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; DAVID BERNHARDT, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior; and TARA SWEENEY, in her official capacity as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, Defendants. TERRA-GEN DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, LLC, Intervenor-Defendant.
ORDER REGARDING SEQUENCING OF MOTIONS (ECF Nos. 68-72)
Hon. Janis L. Sammartino United States District Judge
On May 27, 2021, Plaintiffs Backcountry Against Dumps, Donna Tisdale, and Joe E. Tisdale (collectively, “Plaintiffs”); Intervenor-Defendant Terra-Gen Development Company, LLC (“Terra-Gen”); and Defendants United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Darryl LaCounte, Amy Dutschke, United States Department of the Interior, David Bernhardt, and Tara Sweeny's (collectively, “Federal Defendants”) (all together, the “Parties”) filed a Joint Motion for Continuance of Hearing on Motion for Preliminary Injunction, Extension of Briefing Deadlines and Special Briefing Schedule, and Status Conference (“Joint Mot., ” ECF No. 66) seeking, in part, to schedule a status conference to apprise the Court of the Parties' respective positions concerning the proper sequencing of the pending motions in this matter. See Joint Mot. at 2-3. In a May 28, 2021 order, “the Court request[ed] briefing from the Parties concerning their views on the proper sequencing of the pending motions in this matter” in lieu of scheduling the requested status conference. See ECF No. 67 (the “Order”) at 2. Pursuant to the Order, Plaintiffs (ECF No. 70), Terra-Gen (ECF No. 69), and Federal Defendants (ECF No. 68) filed opening briefs addressing the issue, and Plaintiffs (ECF No. 71) and Terra-Gen (ECF No. 72) filed responsive briefs.
Having considered the Parties' arguments and the relevant law, the Court determines that the most efficient way to proceed is to first decide the Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians' (the “Tribe”) Motion to Intervene (ECF No. 49). Depending on the outcome of said motion, the Court will request briefing and next decide the Tribe's proposed motion to dismiss, given that said motion could be dispositive of this matter in its entirety, as well as the fully briefed partial motions to dismiss filed by Terra-Gen (ECF No. 46) and Federal Defendants (ECF No. 60), which could narrow the issues before the Court. Finally, given that Terra-Gen has represented to the other Parties and this Court that no construction will begin on the project at issue in this litigation until at least late November 2021, see Joint Mot. ¶ 4, the Court is confident that it can dispose of the aforementioned motions in time to decide Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 65) without the status quo being altered or Plaintiffs' interests being prejudiced. The Court finds that this sequence will best conserve the resources of both this Court and the Parties.
IT IS SO ORDERED.