Opinion
Case No. 1:15-cv-01900-AWI-SKO
09-01-2016
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. GIBSON WINE COMPANY, Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND CERTAIN DEADLINES IN THE MAY 18, 2016 SCHEDULING ORDER (Doc. 30)
I. INTRODUCTION
On December 19, 2015, Plaintiff United States of America ("Plaintiff") filed this action against Defendant Gibson Wine Company ("Defendant") for violations of Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act ("CAA"), 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r)(1), Section 103 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. § 9603, and Section 304 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act ("EPCRA"), 42 U.S.C. § 11004. On August 30, 2016, Plaintiff filed a "Motion to Extend Certain Deadlines in the May 18, 2016, Scheduling Order." (Doc. 30.) The motion indicates that Defendant does not object to the relief requested (see Doc. 30, 2:6-7; Doc. 30-2, Declaration of Cheryl Luke ("Luke Decl."), ¶ 7 and Ex. 2), and therefore the motion is deemed unopposed. After having reviewed the papers and supporting material, the matter is deemed suitable for decision without oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 230(g), and the Court hereby VACATES the hearing set for September 28, 2016.
For the following reasons, Plaintiff's unopposed "Motion to Extend Certain Deadlines in the May 18, 2016, Scheduling Order" is hereby GRANTED.
II. DISCUSSION
The parties participated in a scheduling conference with the Court on May 17, 2016. (Doc. 26.) At that conference, the Court instructed Plaintiff to review documents produced in a related state court proceeding before seeking additional discovery in this case. The Court issued a Scheduling Order on May 18, 2016 (Doc. 27), which adopted the parties' proposed dates set forth in their Joint Scheduling Report filed May 12, 2016. (Doc. 24.)
Defendant produced the state court documents on May 16, 2016. (Doc. 30-1, 2:3-4; Luke Decl. ¶ 3.) Plaintiff indicates that it has "completed an initial review of the [] documents and has determined that additional discovery, beyond that undertaken in the state court litigation, is needed to more fully understand the circumstances surrounding the allegations in the existing complaint." (Doc. 30-1, 2:4-8; Luke Decl. ¶ 4.) To that end, Plaintiff seeks an extension of deadlines set forth in the Court's Scheduling Order.
The Scheduling Order "may be modified only for good cause and with the judge's consent." Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). Here, the Court instructed Plaintiff to review the state court documents before seeking additional discovery. Plaintiff has now done so and states its good faith belief that additional information is necessitated, in part to support a potential amendment of the complaint. (Doc. 30-1, 2:19-22; Luke Decl. ¶ 6.) Accordingly, the Court finds that Plaintiff has demonstrated good cause to support modifying the Scheduling Order and, in the absence of any actual prejudice to Defendant (as evidenced by its lack of opposition to the motion), Plaintiff's motion shall be granted. // // //
III. ORDER
Based on the foregoing, it is HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff's unopposed "Motion to Extend Certain Deadlines in the May 18, 2016, Scheduling Order" (Doc. 30) is GRANTED;
2. The Scheduling Order (Doc. 27) is MODIFIED as follows:
| EVENT | CURRENT DATE | NEW DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline for motions or stipulationsrequesting leave to amend thepleadings | September 30, 2016 | November 25, 2016 |
| Non-expert discovery deadline | January 13, 2017 | March 10, 2017 |
| Expert disclosures | February 17, 2017 | April 14, 2017 |
| Rebuttal expert disclosures | March 17, 2017 | May 12, 2017 |
| Expert discovery deadline | May 5, 2017 | June 16, 2017 |
| Non-dispositive motion filingdeadline | May 12, 2017 | June 23, 2017 |
| Non-dispositive motion hearingdeadline | June 16, 2017 | |
| Dispositive motion filing deadline | June 23, 2017 | |
| Dispositive motion hearing deadline | August 14, 2017 | |
| Settlement Conference | November 4, 2016 | January 13, 2017 at 11:00 a.m.in Courtroom 6 before UnitedStates Magistrate JudgeMichael J. Seng |
| Final Pretrial Conference | October 13, 2017 | November 1, 2017 at 10:00a.m. |
| Trial | December 5, 2017 |
Plaintiff requested July 21, 2017, as the hearing date for non-dispositive motions, but since Judge Oberto's law and motion calendar is set on Wednesdays, the date has been adjusted to the following Wednesday.
Plaintiff requested July 28, 2017, as the filing deadline for dispositive motions. To allow the Court adequate time to rule on dispositive motions in advance of the pretrial conference, the date has been advanced three days to accommodate the adjusted hearing date (see below).
Plaintiff requested September 11, 2017, as the hearing date for dispositive motions. To allow the Court adequate time to rule on dispositive motions in advance of the pretrial conference, the date has been advanced six days.
To permit the parties sufficient time to prepare their pretrial submissions and to prepare for trial, the Pretrial Conference and Trial dates have been continued. --------
/s/ Sheila K . Oberto
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE