Franks Investment Co. LLC v. Union Pacific Railroad

593 F.3d 404, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 227, 2010 WL 22337
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 6, 2010
Docket08-30236
StatusPublished
Cited by88 cases

This text of 593 F.3d 404 (Franks Investment Co. LLC v. Union Pacific Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Franks Investment Co. LLC v. Union Pacific Railroad, 593 F.3d 404, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 227, 2010 WL 22337 (5th Cir. 2010).

Opinions

LESLIE H. SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judge:

The question before the en banc court is whether the preemption provision of a federal statute preempts a state law possessory action filed by a landowner to preserve a long-existing crossing over railroad tracks. We conclude that this landowner’s state law action, removed to federal court based on diversity of citizenship, is not preempted. Consequently, we REVERSE the district court and REMAND for adjudication of the merits of the state law claims.

I. BACKGROUND

Franks Investment Company owns a large tract of land in Louisiana. It leases portions of that land for farming. One boundary of the Franks land is parallel to Louisiana Highway 1 for about two miles. The tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad are laid on a 100-foot-wide strip of land it owns between the Franks property and Highway 1. The Union Pacific operates freight service on this line between Shreveport and Alexandria.

For decades, four private railroad crossings provided access to the Franks property from Highway 1. Wooden planks were laid between the rails, while the approaches consisted of dirt and gravel. In 2005, the Union Pacific posted notices of intent to close two of the four crossings that accessed Franks’s property. Franks and the railroad entered negotiations, but there was no satisfactory resolution.

In December 2007, the Union Pacific closed and removed two of the crossings. It then threatened to remove the other two. In January 2008, Franks filed suit in state court under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3655, claiming that it possessed a real right to use the four crossings. Franks sought an injunction to prevent the Union Pacific from closing the two remaining crossings and to compel it to replace the two crossings it removed.

The Union Pacific removed the case to federal court, as there was diversity of citizenship. Following a two-day bench trial, the district court ruled in favor of the railroad. The court found that Franks’s state law action was preempted by a federal statute that we will discuss. A unanimous panel of this court affirmed, agreeing that Franks’s possessory action was expressly preempted. Franks Inv. Co., LLC v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 534 F.3d 443 (5th Cir.2008). Franks’s petition for rehearing en banc was granted, causing the panel opinion to be withdrawn. Franks Inv. Co., LLC v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 562 F.3d 710 (5th Cir.2009). We now address the preemption issues anew.

II. DISCUSSION

The statutory provisions at the center of this dispute are in the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (“ICCTA”). Pub.L. 104-88, 109 Stat. 803. In one of its sections, the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board (“STB”) is defined and the preemptive effect of the statute is declared.

The jurisdiction of the Board over—

(1) transportation by rail carriers, and the remedies provided in this part with respect to rates, classifications, rules (including ear service, interchange, and [407]*407other operating rules), practices, routes, services, and facilities of such carriers; and
(2) the construction, acquisition, operation, abandonment, or discontinuance of spur, industrial, team, switching, or side tracks, or facilities, even if the tracks are located, or intended to be located, entirely in one State, is exclusive. Except as otherwise provided in this part, the remedies provided under this part with respect to regulation of rail transportation are exclusive and preempt the remedies provided under Federal or State law.

49 U.S.C. § 10501(b).

We will explore this language at length. First, we review some basics.

The preemptive effect of a federal' statute is a question of law that we review de novo. Friberg v. Kan. City Southern Ry. Co., 267 F.3d 439, 442 (5th Cir.2001).

In determining the existence and reach of preemption, Congress’s purpose is “the ultimate touchstone” to use. Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr, 518 U.S. 470, 485, 116 S.Ct. 2240, 135 L.Ed.2d 700 (1996) (quoting Retail Clerks v. Schermerhorn, 375 U.S. 96, 103, 84 S.Ct. 219, 11 L.Ed.2d 179 (1963)). Congress can show its purpose in one of two ways. First, it may “indicate pre-emptive intent through a statute’s express language.” Altria Group, Inc. v. Good, — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 538, 543, 172 L.Ed.2d 398 (2008). However, even when there is an express preemption clause in a statute, “the question of the substance and scope of Congress’ displacement of state law still remains.” Id. Second, Congress may impliedly preempt state law “if the scope of the statute indicates that Congress intended federal law to occupy the legislative field, or if there is an actual conflict between state and federal law.” Id.; see Friberg, F.3d at 442.

There is also a presumption that the “historic police powers of the States [are] not to be superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress.” Altria Group, 129 S.Ct. at 543 (quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947)). The presumption is relevant even when there is an express pre-emption clause. That is because “when the text of a pre-emption clause is susceptible of more than one plausible reading, courts ordinarily ‘accept the reading that disfavors pre-emption.’ ” Id. (quoting Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC, 544 U.S. 431, 449, 125 S.Ct. 1788, 161 L.Ed.2d 687 (2005)). Thus, the presumption operates both to prevent and to limit preemption.

This court has explained that the presumption against preemption is applicable to “areas of law traditionally reserved to the states, like police powers and property law .... ” Davis v. Davis, 170 F.3d 475, 481 (5th Cir.1999) (en banc). More recently and topically, we discussed the presumption against preemption in another railroad crossing case. New Orleans & Gulf Coast Ry. Co. v. Barrois, 533 F.3d 321 (5th Cir.2008). We found the no-preemption presumption to apply “with full force to this generally applicable state property law, even if applied to permit a private, at-grade railroad crossing.” Id. at 334.

However, the specific preemption issue in Barrois was different. We considered whether there was “complete preemption” under the ICCTA. Under that doctrine, a state law claim will be transformed into one that arises under federal law when a federal statute commands the entire legal arena and in effect displaces any competing state law. Id. at 331.

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Bluebook (online)
593 F.3d 404, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 227, 2010 WL 22337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/franks-investment-co-llc-v-union-pacific-railroad-ca5-2010.