Opinion
PAIGE M. TOMASELLI (State Bar #237737), SYLVIA SHIH-YAU WU (State Bar #273549), GEORGE A. KIMBRELL (Pro Hac Vice), PETER T. JENKINS (Pro Hac Vice), Center for Food Safety, San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiffs.
ROBERT G. DREHER, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, JOHN H. MARTIN (CO Bar No. 32667), U.S. Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Division Wildlife & Marine Resources Section, Denver, CO.
LESLIE M. HILL (D.C. Bar No. 476008), U.S. Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Environmental Defense Section, Washington D.C., Attorneys for Federal Defendants.
BEVERIDGE & DIAMOND, P.C., Kathryn E. Szmuszkovicz (Pro Hac Vice), Anthony L. Michaels (Pro Hac Vice), Patrick R. Jacobi (Pro Hac Vice), Sean M. Roberts (Pro Hac Vice), Washington, D.C.
BEVERIDGE & DIAMOND, P.C., Gary J. Smith (SBN 141393), San Francisco, CA.
CROWELL & MORING LLP, J. Michael Klise (Pro Hac Vice), Kirsten L. Nathanson (Pro Hac Vice), Washington, D.C.
CROWELL & MORING LLP, M. Kay Martin (SBN 154697), San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Defendant-Intervenors Bayer CropScience LP, Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, and Valent U.S.A. Corporation.
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP, CLAUDIA M. O'BRIEN, (D.C. Bar No. 447354) (pro hac vice), WILLIAM K. RAWSON, (D.C. Bar No. 367167) (pro hac vice), STACEY L. VANBELLEGHEM, (D.C. Bar No. 988144)(pro hac vice), Washington, D.C. ANDREA M. HOGAN (Ca. Bar No. 238209), LATHAM & WATKINS LLP, San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Intervenor-Defendant CropLife America.
STIPULATION TO STAY ALL PROCEEDINGS AND [PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON
MAXINE M. CHESNEY, District Judge.
Pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-11, the parties hereby stipulate and request that the Court stay all proceedings in the above-captioned case and adopt the parties' Proposed Order. In support of their Joint Stipulation, the parties state the following.
1. Federal Defendants represent that at the end of the day on September 30, 2013, the appropriations act that had been funding the Department of Justice expired and appropriations to the Department lapsed. The same is true for most Executive agencies, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"). Federal Defendants do not know when funding will be restored by Congress.
2. Federal Defendants further represent that, absent an appropriation, Department of Justice attorneys, Federal Defendants, and employees of the EPA are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property." 31 U.S.C. § 1342.
3. The parties therefore request a stay of all proceedings, including all deadlines pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and this Court's Orders, until Congress has restored appropriations to Federal Defendants and the Department of Justice and Department of Justice attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions. The proceedings to be stayed include Plaintiffs' filing of a response to Defendants' Motions to Dismiss (Dkts. 59 & 74) presently due October 18, 2013; Defendants' replies in support of their respective motions to dismiss, due November 1, 2013; oral argument on the motions to dismiss, set for December 6, 2013; and a Case Management Conference, set for December 13, 2013. See Order filed August 6, 2013 (Dkt. 65); Order filed July 22, 2013 (Dkt. 26); and Order filed October 11, 2013 (Dkt. 77).
4. If this stipulation to stay of all proceedings is granted, Federal Defendants will notify the Court as soon as Congress has appropriated funds for EPA and the Department of Justice. The parties request that, at that point, the stay be lifted and that the parties file a joint status report within seven days thereafter stating the parties' proposal(s) for a new litigation schedule.
5. In the event the Court approves this stipulation, Plaintiffs' pending Motion to Enlarge Time for Plaintiffs to Respond to Motions to Dismiss (Dkt. 75) is moot and the Court's Order approving this stipulation would supersede the Order filed October 11, 2013 (Dkt. 77), granting Plaintiffs a limited interim extension of time to file their opposition to Federal Defendants' and Intervenor Defendants' respective motions to dismiss.
Respectfully submitted,
[PROPOSED] ORDER
Before the Court is the Parties' Joint Stipulation to Stay All Proceedings. (Dkt. 78.) The Stipulation requests a stay of all proceedings, including all deadlines pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and this Court's Orders, until Congress has restored appropriations to the Department of Justice and EPA. Plaintiffs and Intervenor-Defendants join in this Stipulation. The Court has reviewed the same and finds good cause has been shown to grant the requested stay.
NOW THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED that the Parties' Stipulation to Stay All Proceedings is granted.
1. All proceedings in the above-captioned matter are stayed until such time as Congress has appropriated funds for EPA and the Department of Justice and Department of Justice attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions.
2. Federal Defendants shall promptly notify the Court and parties as soon as Congress has appropriated funds for EPA and the Department of Justice.
3. The parties shall file a joint status report within seven days of Federal Defendants' notice stating the parties' proposal(s) for a new litigation schedule.
IT IS SO ORDERED.