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Indiana Port Commission v. Federal Maritime Commission

521 F.2d 281, 172 U.S. App. D.C. 181, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 12357
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedOctober 16, 1975
DocketNo. 74-1477
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 521 F.2d 281 (Indiana Port Commission v. Federal Maritime Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Indiana Port Commission v. Federal Maritime Commission, 521 F.2d 281, 172 U.S. App. D.C. 181, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 12357 (D.C. Cir. 1975).

Opinion

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge WILKEY.

Circuit Judge TAMM concurs in result.

WILKEY, Circuit Judge:

In this petition for review of an order of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), we are asked to consider the lawfulness of a charge levied by the Indiana Port Commission, a public body, at Burns Waterway Harbor, Portage, Indiana. The charge in question is levied against all commercial vessels engaged in import, export, and/or lake traffic entering the physical limits of the Harbor. In its decision dated 4 March 1974 the FMC found that the charge assessed by the Indiana Port Commission is an unreasonable practice relating to or connected with the receiving, handling, storing or delivering of property, and therefore unlawful as a violation of Section 17 of the Shipping Act of 1916.1 For reasons stated more fully below, we set aside the FMC’s order and remand for further determinations.

1. The Facts

Petitioner Indiana Port Commission (Port Commission) is an instrumentality of the State of Indiana, created inter alia for the purpose of constructing a port and public terminal on the south shore of Lake Michigan near Portage, Indiana. The Port Commission was joined in its efforts to plan and construct the Burns Waterway Harbor By Bethlehem Steel Corporation (Bethlehem) and Midwest Division of National Steel Corporation (Midwest), both of whom already owned land near the proposed harbor site. Bethlehem and Midwest each wanted to construct steel plants on their land and, as a result, needed supporting docking facilities.

In 1962 the Port Commission and Bethlehem entered into an “Agreement between the Indiana Port' Commission, the Indiana Department of Conservation and Bethlehem Steel Corporation.” The salient provisions provided that the Port Commission: 1) purchase some of Bethlehem’s land; 2) grant Bethlehem riparian rights to extend its land holding out into the Lake; 3) waive'in perpetuity its right to condemn Bethlehem’s land; and 4) allow Bethlehem’s vessels access to and across the waters of the outer harbor under the same terms and conditions extended to all other vessels using the Harbor. In return, Bethlehem undertook inter alia to construct a portion of the harbor entrance and the bulkhead on the east end of the Harbor.2

Thereafter, construction of the port and harbor facilities proceeded. Reference is made throughout to the following map of the facility:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
521 F.2d 281, 172 U.S. App. D.C. 181, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 12357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/indiana-port-commission-v-federal-maritime-commission-cadc-1975.