Opinion
SAM HIRSCH, Acting Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, SETH M. BARSKY, Chief, S. JAY GOVINDAN, Assistant Chief, ETHAN CARSON EDDY, Trial Attorney, Wildlife and Marine Resources Section, Washington, D.C., Attorneys for Defendants.
Peter M.K. Frost, admitted pro hac vice, Western Environmental Law Center, Eugene, OR, Attorney for Plaintiff.
KAMALA D. HARRIS, Attorney General of California, GAVIN G. MCCABE, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, DANIEL S. HARRIS, JONATHAN WIENER, Deputy Attorneys General, MARC N. MELNICK, Deputy Attorney General, Attorneys for State Defendants.
THOMAS P. SCHLOSSER, Attorney for Defendant-Intervenor Hoopa Valley Tribe.
NATHAN VOEGELI, Attorney for Defendant-Intervenor Yurok Tribe.
STIPULATION REGARDING CLAIMS FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND [PROPOSED] ORDER
MAXINE M. CHESNEY, District Judge.
This Stipulation to resolve the claim for attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses in this matter is made between Plaintiff Environmental Protection Information Center ("EPIC"), State Defendants Stafford Lehr and Charlton H. Bonham ("State Defendants"), Federal Defendants U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, S.M.R. Jewell, Michael L. Connor, and David Murillo ("Federal Defendants"), and Defendant-Intervenors Hoopa Valley Tribe and Yurok Tribe.
In support of this stipulation, the stipulating parties state as follows:
WHEREAS, on May 20, 2013, EPIC filed this lawsuit, alleging that Federal Defendants and State Defendants have violated and are in violation of the ESA, based upon operations of the Trinity River Hatchery and effects on coho salmon in the Trinity River Basin; and
WHEREAS, the parties requested that the Court order them into mediation, and the Court did so, with the assistance of Magistrate Judge Nandor J. Vadas; and
WHEREAS, the parties then reached agreement in principle as to settlement of this suit; and
WHEREAS, the parties negotiated a Consent Decree and filed it with the Court on April 25, 2014; and
WHEREAS, the Court entered an Order adopting the Consent Decree on April 28, 2014; and
WHEREAS, the Consent Decree provides: "Federal Defendants and State Defendants shall pay EPIC's reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses (as allowed under section 11(g)(4) of the [Endangered Species Act]) in an amount to be agreed upon by these parties...."; and
WHEREAS, counsel for EPIC and for State Defendants and Federal Defendants have subsequently engaged in good faith and confidential settlement negotiations concerning EPIC's claims for attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses; and
WHEREAS, EPIC, State Defendants and Federal Defendants have reached a settlement of EPIC's claims for attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses.
NOW THEREFORE, in the interests of judicial economy and to avoid the need for a motion for attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses, EPIC, State Defendants, Federal Defendants, and Defendants-Intervenors Hoopa Valley Tribe and Yurok Tribe for good and valuable consideration, the adequacy of which is hereby acknowledged, hereby STIPULATE AND AGREE AS FOLLOWS:
1. State and Federal Defendants shall pay EPIC's reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, pursuant to Section 11(g) of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g), in the amount of $175, 000.00, payable to the IOLTA client trust account of the Western Environmental Law Center. Specifically, Federal Defendants will pay $160, 000.00 and State Defendants will pay $15, 000.00.
2. EPIC agrees to provide written notice to Federal Defendants of the form in which it elects to receive the funds, including all information necessary for defendants to process the disbursement (including the payee's tax identification number), as soon as possible upon an Order of the Court approving this Stipulation.
3. Federal Defendants agree to submit all necessary paperwork for the processing of the attorneys' fees award to the Department of the Treasury's Judgment Fund Office, pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g), within ten (10) business days of a court order approving this stipulation, provided Plaintiff has submitted the information in paragraph 2.
4. EPIC agrees to provide State Defendants with a completed state standard form 204 (payee data record) as soon as possible upon the signing of this Stipulation regarding settlement.
5. This Stipulation resolves all claims for attorneys' fees, costs, and/or other expenses related to this action.
6. EPIC agrees to accept payment of $175, 000.00 in full satisfaction of any and all claims for attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses of litigation to which EPIC is entitled in the above-captioned litigation, through and including the date of this agreement.
7. EPIC agrees that receipt of this amount from State and Federal Defendants shall operate as a release of EPIC's claims for attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses in this matter, through and including the date of this agreement.
8. Nothing in this agreement shall be interpreted as, or shall constitute, a requirement that Federal Defendants are obligated to pay any funds exceeding those available, or take any action in contravention of the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1341, or any other appropriations law.
9. By this agreement, State and Federal Defendants do not waive any right to contest fees claimed by EPIC or EPIC's counsel, including the hourly rates, in any future litigation, or continuation of the present action. Further, this stipulation as to attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses has no precedential value and shall not be used as evidence in any other attorneys' fees litigation.
10. The parties agree that this Stipulation was negotiated in good faith. By entering into this agreement the parties do not waive any claim or defense.
11. The undersigned representatives of each party certify that they are fully authorized by the party or parties they represent to agree to the Court's entry of the terms and conditions of this agreement and do hereby agree to the terms herein.
12. The terms of this agreement shall become effective upon entry of this stipulation as an Order by the Court.
Pursuant to the stipulation of the parties, IT IS SO ORDERED.