Hanford v. United States

63 Fed. Cl. 111, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 309, 2004 WL 2676343
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 23, 2004
DocketNo. 04-504 L
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 63 Fed. Cl. 111 (Hanford v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hanford v. United States, 63 Fed. Cl. 111, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 309, 2004 WL 2676343 (uscfc 2004).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

HEWITT, Judge.

Before the court are Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Pl.’s Mot.) and Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Def.’s Mot.). Plaintiff has moved for summary judgment on numerous theories of recovery for a 147-day delay in the issuance of a California permit to maintain an explosives magazine on his property. Defendant has moved to dismiss plaintiffs complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, see Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) 12(b)(6), and/or for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, see RCFC 12(b)(1). Because subject matter jurisdiction is a “threshold matter” that must be addressed before the court reaches the merits of plaintiffs claim, the court considers defendant’s motion under RCFC 12(b)(1) first. See Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 94-95, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998); see also Nippon Steel Corp. v. United States, 219 F.3d 1348, 1352 (Fed.Cir.2000).

For the following reasons, defendant’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED and plaintiffs motion for summary judgment is rendered MOOT.

I. Background

A. Plaintiffs Application for a Local Mining Permit1

Plaintiff Bartlett J. Hanford is a “mining engineer” who claims to have owned a “patented mining claim” in California for more than ten years. Complaint (Compl.) at i. In January 1999, plaintiff applied to the Calaveras County, California, Sheriffs Department for a permit to maintain an explosives magazine on his property. Id. at 1, 23; Def.’s Mot. at 2; see also Cal. Health & Safety Code § 12101(a)(3) (West 2003) (“No person shall [receive, store or possess explosives] without first having made application for and received a permit in accordance with this section.”). California law required the Sheriffs Department to “inspect and approve the [explosives] storage facility” located on plaintiffs property before issuing a permit, to ensure the facility’s “strict compliance with the regulations adopted by the State Fire Marshal.” § 12105; see also § 12107 (granting the Sheriff “reasonable discretion” to “deny a permit to any person if it is his opinion that the handling or use of explosives by such person would be hazardous to property or dangerous to any person”).

Because “[t]he preliminary information [in plaintiffs application] indicated that Mr. Hanford operated a mine,” Compl. Ex. 9A (Letter from J. Davitt McAteer, Assistant Secretary, Mine Safety and Health Administration, to Hon. John T. Doolittle, U.S. House of Representatives of May 26,1999 (McAteer Letter), at 1); Def.’s Mot. Ex. 1 (same), the Sheriff believed that plaintiffs property “might be subject to regulation by [the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ].” Id. Accordingly, “[bjefore granting the permit, the sheriffs department [115]*115wanted to be assured Mr. Hanford met Federal explosives storage requirements,” and an MSHA inspector was “asked to accompany the sheriffs deputy when he went on site.”2 Id. The parties agree that “[t]he County Sheriff refused to grant [p]laintiff a permit unless he inspected the magazine with MSHA.” Def.’s Mot. at 3.

Plaintiffs complaint indicates that the Sheriff sought to harm plaintiff by delaying and/or complicating the permitting process. Compl. at 24 (“I told Officer Ross [from the Sheriffs Department] ... there would be no need for MSHA. Officer Ross stated: ‘MSHA was coming to the mine whether I liked it or not[.]’ ”); see also id. at 23 (“The inspection process ... was cancelled three times [between January and February 1999] and [0]fficer Ross [from the sheriffs department] knew I needed my permit renewed because I was out of explosives.”); id. at 25 (“Still no inspection of magazine by sheriff. Had my [a]ttorney [e]all Sheriff. Sheriff Downum did not return calls.”); id. at 26 (“Hanford asked Officer Ross whether this was personal.”); id. at 27 (“Officer Ross was upset because he could not get MSHA to act. He said he will be back [and] I construed [f]or the purpose of harming me.... Officer Ross [w]anted in the worst way to harm me.”). Plaintiff further alleges that “MSHA ... form[ed] an organized enterprise with the sheriff for the purpose of making the explosives permit contingent upon inspection of the mine.” Id. at 8; see also Pl.’s Opp’n of Mot. to Dismiss (Pl.’s Opp’n) at 1 (accusing “Deputy Ross of the Sheriffs Department and Mr. Davis of MHSA” of conspiracy, racketeering and extortion).

Plaintiff disagreed with the Sheriffs determination that MSHA’s involvement in the inspection was necessary, and plaintiff refused to allow an MSHA representative to visit or examine plaintiffs explosives storage facility. Plaintiff stated that “MSHA destroys small mines, because the cost of their regulation often exceeds the annual cost of operating the mine.” Pl.’s Mot. at 11. Therefore, plaintiff sought “to protect [him]self from any jurisdiction MSHA may have.” Id.

It appears that plaintiff believed that relocating his explosives magazine away from his mine would defeat MSHA’s jurisdiction. Accordingly, plaintiff refused to cooperate with MSHA during a meeting and site visit on April 13,1999:

[On April 13, 1999,] [t]he MSHA supervisor and the Calaveras County deputy met with Mr. Hanford in the Sierra Nevada Mountains where Mr. Hanford had moved his explosives magazine, but not where he conducts his business. Mr. Hanford declined to discuss his activities with the supervisor and would not show him the [mining] work site.

McAteer Letter at 1; Compl. at 26-27 (describing plaintiffs relocation of his explosives magazine, the inspection of plaintiffs magazine, and plaintiffs refusal to discuss his mining activities). At the April 13, 1999 meeting, a sheriffs deputy inspected plaintiffs explosives magazine.3 Compl. at 26 (“[Deputy] Ross said to make the improvements, photograph them, and submit them back for approval. If it appeared satisfactory[,] a permit would be issued.”).

Plaintiff alleges that, at the April 13, 1999 meeting, “Willie Davis of MSHA made a jurisdictional statement claiming he had jurisdiction over all mines.” Id. Plaintiff further alleges that, through this statement, Mr. Davis “violated] the separation of powers doctrine, ma[de] a legal determination ... [and] impersonated] a judge[,] causing Plaintiff a deprivation of rights under the color of law.” Id. at 9. However, plaintiff also admits that Mr. Davis clarified the limits of MSHA’s jurisdiction by explaining that “if there were no mines [where plaintiff had moved his explosives magazine] ... [t]he Sheriff could inspect the magazine,” and MSHA would not have jurisdiction. Id. at 26.

[116]*116“MSHA [was neither] able to obtain a definitive description of Mr. Hanford’s activities” nor permitted to inspect plaintiffs work site; therefore, MSHA could not “make a determination on [its] jurisdiction.” McAteer Letter at 2. Because he could not “resolve whether MSHA ha[d] jurisdiction over [plaintiffs] activities,” the MSHA official never inspected plaintiffs work site. Id.; Compl. at 26 (“Inspector Davis from MSHA asked consent to look around. I denied him that right____ Davis said he would decline forcible entry at [t]his time.”); id. Ex. 9B (Letter from Earnest C.

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Bluebook (online)
63 Fed. Cl. 111, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 309, 2004 WL 2676343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanford-v-united-states-uscfc-2004.