Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

This case arose when SSA filed a complaint with the Commission alleging that the Port Department violated the Shipping Act, 46 U.S.C. 41102(c), 41106(2)-(3). The ALJ denied the City's motion to dismiss the complaint on grounds of sovereign immunity. The Commission affirmed and the City, which managed the port, appealed. The court denied the petition concluding that the City was not entitled to dismissal based on sovereign immunity where there was no record evidence suggesting suits against the Port Department effectively target the State of California. View "City of Oakland v. Federal Maritime Commission" on Justia Law

Petitioners petitioned for review of the EPA's most recent revisions to the primary and secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone. The court rejected Mississippi and the industry groups' challenge to the primary and secondary NAAQS standards; the court denied the governmental and environmental petitions with respect to the primary standard; but the court granted their petition with respect to the secondary standard. Because EPA failed to determine what level of protection was "requisite to protect the public welfare," EPA's explanation for the secondary standard violated the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401. Accordingly, the court remanded the secondary NAAQS to the EPA for reconsideration and denied the petition in all other respects. View "State of Mississippi v. EPA" on Justia Law

Petitioner, an energy trader, challenged FERC's order to pay a $50,000 civil penalty because petitioner had made false statements and material omissions in forms he filed with the Commission and a market operator the Commission regulates. The court agreed with FERC that petitioner's admissions supported summary disposition without a hearing; because petitioner's actions were worse than careless, FERC reasonably concluded that he violated Market Behavior Rule 3; petitioner's arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 500 et seq., were without merit; and petitioner failed to show that FERC increased his penalty to promote general deterrence. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Kourouma v. FERC" on Justia Law

Gentiva, a provider of home healthcare services, contended that the Secretary violated the Medicare statute, 42 U.S.C. 1395ddd(f)(3), by delegating to an outside contractor the authority to determine whether Gentiva's Medicare reimbursement claims exhibited a "sustained or high level of payment error." The court affirmed the district court's decision to defer, under Chevron deference, to the Secretary's reasonable interpretation of section 1395ddd(f)(3). The court also agreed with the district court that section 1395ddd(f)(3) precluded the court from reviewing the merits of the "sustained or high level of payment error" determination. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment in its entirety. View "Gentiva Healthcare Corp. v. Sebelius" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, an attorney, filed suit against the Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Navy and others, alleging violation of his constitutional rights in an administrative decision which suspended him from practice before naval courts. The disciplinary proceedings stemmed from plaintiff's filing of an appellate brief containing statements he knew were false and misleading. The court concluded that the district court did not err in holding that the Navy JAG had authority to discipline plaintiff; plaintiff received ample due process and his Fifth Amendment rights were not violated during the proceedings against him; and the record did not support plaintiff's Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 551, 701, and 706, claim. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims and denied his request for mandamus review. View "Partington v. Houck, et al." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, a group of prisoners, filed suit against the FDA for allowing state correctional departments to import sodium thiopental (thiopental), a misbranded and misapproved new drug used in lethal injection protocols, in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), 21 U.S.C. 381(a), and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 706(2)(A). The court concluded that, because there were clear statutory guidelines for the agency to follow in exercising its enforcement powers, the FDA's compliance with section 381(a) was subject to judicial review under the standards of the APA. The court also concluded that the FDA's policy of admitting foreign manufactured thiopental destined for state correctional facilities were not in accordance with law because section 381(a) required the agency to sample and examine for violations of any drug offered for import that had been prepared in an unregistered facility. The court concluded, however, that the district court erred by failing to seek the joinder of the state governments whose possession and use of the thiopental at issue the court declared illegal. Accordingly, the order of the district court pertaining to the thiopental already in the possession of the states was vacated, but the underlying judgment of the district court was affirmed. View "Cook, et al. v. FDA, et al." on Justia Law

Seeking to construct a natural gas compressor station in Maryland, Dominion applied for and received a certificate of public convenience and necessity from FERC. The Department subsequently twice refused to process Dominion's application for an air quality permit and Dominion sought expedited review from the court. The court granted Dominion's petition and remanded for further action because the Department's failure to act to grant, condition, or deny Dominion's air quality permit was inconsistent with federal law. View "Dominion Transmission, Inc. v. Summers, et al." on Justia Law

Petitioner sought review of the revocation of his pilot and medical certificates based upon the false statement that he made about having never been arrested for drunk driving. The court denied the petition, concluding that the Board's conclusion that petitioner's behavior, by his own description, constituted a violation of 14 C.F.R. 67.403(a)(1) was a straightforward and correct application of the regulation under the interpretation the court affirmed in Cooper v. NTSB. The court also concluded that petitioner was accorded due process of law where, among other things, he was given notice and an opportunity to respond before the FAA's revocation order went into effect. View "Taylor v. Huerta, et al." on Justia Law

CRLA appealed from an enforcement order of a subpoena duces tecum and the OIG cross-appealed the protective order governing disclosure of material discovered by the subpoena and also establishing a notice requirement. The district court concluded that only federal and not California state privileges and protections governed the scope of disclosure compelled under the subpoena. The court affirmed the judgment of the district court summarily enforcing the investigative subpoena issued by the OIG. The court vacated, however, the order insofar as it added a five-day notice requirement to the confidentiality terms otherwise applicable. View "United States, et al. v. California Rural Legal Assist." on Justia Law

HAI challenged the FAA's issuance of a rule requiring helicopter pilots to use a route one mile off the north shore of Long Island, New York for the purpose of noise abatement in residential areas. The court concluded that under the plain text of 49 U.S.C. 40103, the FAA had authority to prescribe air traffic regulations to protect individuals and property on the ground and HAI pointed to no express limitations on the FAA's general authority in such matters; HAI's contentions that the FAA's finding that there was noise problem was unsupported by substantial evidence in the record and that the Final Rule was an impermissible deviation from longstanding FAA authority; and the court rejected HAI's remaining arguments. Accordingly, the court denied HAI's petition for review. View "Helicopter Assoc. Int'l v. FAA" on Justia Law