ICG Petroleum, Inc. v. United States Department of Energy

883 F.2d 80, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 11374, 1989 WL 76966
CourtTemporary Emergency Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 1989
DocketNo. D.C. 109
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 883 F.2d 80 (ICG Petroleum, Inc. v. United States Department of Energy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
ICG Petroleum, Inc. v. United States Department of Energy, 883 F.2d 80, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 11374, 1989 WL 76966 (tecoa 1989).

Opinion

METZNER, Judge.

Appellants ICG Petroleum, Inc. and Flying J. Petroleums, Inc. (“ICG” and “Flying J”) appeal from an order of the District Court for the District of Columbia granting appellee Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) motion to dismiss appellant’s petition for review of the denial of an application for exceptions relief under section 504(a) of the Department of Energy Organization Act (“DOEOA”), 42 U.S.C. § 7194(a) (1983). The dismissal was granted on the ground that the time period for review of such actions had elapsed. Section 3005(e) of the Petroleum Overcharge Distribution and Restitution Act of 1986 (“PODRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 4504(e) (West Supp.1988). We affirm the district court’s decision.

ICG and Flying J are small independent refiners of petroleum products. In January 1980, ICG applied to the Department of Energy’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (“OHA”) for “exceptions” relief from the impact of transfer payments and other regulations established under the Emergency [81]*81Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973,15 U.S.C. §§ 751 et seq. See 10 C.F.R. § 211.66-69. In April, 1980, ICG’s domestic refining operations were acquired by Flying J. Following the acquisition, ICG and Flying J jointly pursued the application for exceptions relief.

On March 30, 1982, OHA issued a final decision and order denying both ICG and Flying J exceptions relief. ICG Vista Petroleums, Inc., 9 DOE ¶ 81,026 (1982). On April 29, 1982, appellants filed a petition with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) to review the OHA decision and order. Four and a half years later, FERC affirmed the OHA decision and order on November 10, 1986.

On October 21, 1986, less than three weeks prior to the FERC decision affirming the denial of exceptions relief to plaintiffs, Congress enacted PODRA. 15 U.S.C. § 4501-07. Subsection 3005(e) states as follows:

“Any review of a final agency action determined under section 503 and 504 of the Department of Energy Organization Act may not be initiated in any court by any person subject to such action after—
(1) 60 days after the effective date of that action; or
(2) 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, whichever occurs later.”

15 U.S.C. § 4504(e). Under subdivision (2), plaintiffs were required to file suit for review of their section 504 request for exceptions relief by January 19, 1987.

On November 6, 1987, approximately ten months after the running of the PODRA time limit for review of section 504 final actions, and about one year after entry of the order sought to be reviewed, plaintiffs instituted this action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. On October 19, 1988, District Judge Harold Greene dismissed the complaint for failure to comply with the PODRA limitations period. This appeal followed.

Appellants offer three arguments in support of their contention that the district court erred in dismissing their complaint.

First, they argue that the time period provided in section 3005(e) is inapplicable to their appeal because it was not intended to apply to all cases seeking judicial review of denials of exceptions relief. Appellants urge that the time period was intended to apply only to a narrow class of eases in which the applicant for exceptions relief is also the target of a government enforcement action, and is seeking relief from the regulations alleged to have been violated.

In support of their argument, they point to the language and emphasis of PODRA as a whole, which is primarily concerned with creating mechanisms for the speedy resolution of government civil enforcement actions. See 15 U.S.C. §§ 4505(a)-(d).

However, the express language of section 3005(e) states that it applies to “Any review of a final agency action determined under section 503 or 504 of the Department of Energy Organization Act....” There is nothing in the legislative history of PO-DRA which supports appellant’s narrow reading of the time period, apart from the fact that it is imbedded in a statute which is primarily concerned with the expeditious resolution of civil enforcement actions brought by the government.

The Supreme Court has consistently held that the ordinary meaning of a statute’s language must be regarded as conclusive unless there is a clearly expressed legislative intention to the contrary. Escondido Mutual Water Co. v. La Jolla Band of Mission Indians, 466 U.S. 765, 772, 104 S.Ct. 2105, 2110, 80 L.Ed.2d 753 (1984); North Dakota v. United States, 460 U.S. 300, 312, 103 S.Ct. 1095, 1102, 75 L.Ed.2d 77 (1983); Consumer Product Safety Comm’n v. GTE Sylvania Inc., 447 U.S. 102, 108, 100 S.Ct. 2051, 2056, 64 L.Ed.2d 766 (1980). In addition, the Supreme Court has also held that any limitations provisions in a statute must be strictly construed. United States v. Kubrick, 444 U.S. 111, 117,100 S.Ct. 352, 356, 62 L.Ed.2d 259 (1979); Soriano v. United States, 352 U.S. 270, 276, 77 S.Ct. 269, 273, 1 L.Ed.2d 306 (1957).

We agree with the district court’s conclusion that there is no reason to go beyond [82]*82the plain meaning of the language contained in section 3005(e) by narrowing the application of the time period to a limited class of section 504 cases.

Second, appellants argue that the application of this time period to them is an unconstitutional denial of due process because they “were given no notice of the new time limit and had no reasonable opportunity to learn of it because it could not be discovered through exhaustive legal research.”

All persons are presumptively charged with knowledge of the law. See North Laramie Land Co. v. Hoffman, 268 U.S. 276, 283, 45 S.Ct. 491, 494, 69 L.Ed. 953 (1925). However, the Supreme Court recognizes that this presumption “may be overcome in cases in which the statute does not allow a sufficient 'grace period' to provide the persons affected by a change in the law with an adequate opportunity to become familiar with their obligations under it.” Atkins, Comm’r. of the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Welfare v. Parker, 472 U.S. 115, 130, 105 S.Ct.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bush v. United States
989 F.2d 509 (Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals, 1993)
Petrotech Trading Co. v. United States
985 F.2d 1072 (Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals, 1993)
United States v. Metropolitan Petroleum Co., Inc.
743 F. Supp. 820 (S.D. Florida, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
883 F.2d 80, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 11374, 1989 WL 76966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/icg-petroleum-inc-v-united-states-department-of-energy-tecoa-1989.