Jones v. United States

121 F.3d 1327, 97 Daily Journal DAR 10404, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6367, 28 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20112, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 21137, 1997 WL 450664
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedAugust 11, 1997
DocketNo. 96-16457
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 121 F.3d 1327 (Jones v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. United States, 121 F.3d 1327, 97 Daily Journal DAR 10404, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6367, 28 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20112, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 21137, 1997 WL 450664 (9th Cir. 1997).

Opinion

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge:

I. Overview

Plaintiffs are former holders of an unpatented mining claim on federally-owned land. The Interior Board of Land Appeals affirmed the decision of the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) holding that their claim was voided by operation of law. Plaintiffs challenged that decision in the district court on constitutional grounds. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the government and plaintiffs timely appealed. We review de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment. King v. AC & R Advertising, 65 F.3d 764, 767 (9th Cir. 1995). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

Plaintiff William E. Jones (“Jones”)1 first argues that his procedural due process rights were violated because the government did not afford him a reasonable opportunity to familiarize himself, and comply with, the pro[1329]*1329visions of a statute which assertedly operated to deprive him of his unpatented mining claim. Jones also asserts, for the first time on appeal, that his equal protection rights were violated when the government provided individual notices of the statute’s requirements to all other similarly situated holders of unpatented mining claims, but failed to provide him with such individual notice. We agree with the district court that the government did not violate Jones’ due process rights, and wre decline to address his equal protection claim.

II. Statutory Background

By legislation enacted on October 5, 1992, every holder of an unpatented mining claim on federal land, such as Jones, was required to pay a per-claim annual fee of $100 to the Secretary of the Interior (the “Secretary”) by August 31,1993. Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993, Pub.L. No. 102-381, 106 Stat. 1374, 1378 (1992) (“1992 Act”). The statute provided that failure to pay the required fee would “conclusively constitute an abandonment of the unpatented mining claim” by the claimant. 1992 Act, 106 Stat. at 1379. The 1992 Act also provided an exemption from the $100 fee requirement for small miners. Id. at 1378. See generally, Kunkes v. United States, 78 F.3d 1549, 1550-51 (Fed.Cir.) (describing in detail provisions of 1992 Act), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 117 S.Ct. 74, 136 L.Ed.2d 34 (1996). Jones did- not make the payment required by the 1992 Act nor did he seek to qualify under the small miner’s exemption, thus losing his mining claim.

Prior to the enactment of the 1992 Act, Jones and other holders of unpatented mining claims were not required to make any payments to the government. Instead, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (“1976 Act”) required an annual filing with state authorities and with the BLM prior to December 31st. 43 U.S.C. § 1744(a). Ordinarily, mining claim holders satisfied the 1976 Act’s requirements by filing an “affidavit of assessment work” certifying that at least $100 worth of labor had been performed on each claim held during the prior assessment year. 43 U.S.C. § 1744(a); 30 U.S.C. § 28.2 Under both the 1976 Act and the 1992 Act, each assessment year started at 12:00 noon on September 1st. 30 U.S.C. § 28; 1992 Act, 106 Stat. at 1378; 43 C.F.R. § 3833.0-5(n) (1991); 43 C.F.R. § 3833.1-5 (1993). Failure to comply with the 1976 Act’s filing requirements was “deemed conclusively to constitute an abandonment of the mining claim.” 43 U.S.C. § 1744(c). Jones had regularly complied with these requirements by making an appropriate and timely filing for each prior year.

The 1992 Act suspended the requirements of the 1976 Act. As a result, the requirements Jones needed to fulfill in order to keep his mining claim changed and so did the deadline for meeting those requirements. Under the 1976 Act, the requirements for the 1992-93 assessment year would have been met by filing an affidavit of assessment work with BLM by December 30, 1993. The 1992 Act instead required Jones, for the 1992-93 assessment year, to make a $100 payment to the Secretary by August 31, 1993, or, if he qualified for the small miner’s exemption, to comply with the 1976 Act’s filing requirements by August 31, 1993. 1992 Act, 106 Stat. at 1378.3

III. Discussion

In order to comply with due process in connection with the enactment of the 1992 Act, the government was required to “afford the citizenry a reasonable opportunity to familiarize itself with [the Act’s] terms and to comply.” Texaco, Inc. v. Short, 454 U.S. 516, 532, 102 S.Ct. 781, 793, 70 L.Ed.2d 738 (1982); see United States v. Locke, 471 U.S. 84, 108, 105 S.Ct. 1785, 1799, 85 L.Ed.2d 64 (1985) (same) (citing Texaco). We agree [1330]*1330with the district court that the period between the enactment of the statute and the August 31st deadline, a period of almost 11 months, afforded affected claim holders a reasonable opportunity to familiarize themselves, and to comply, with the new requirements imposed by the 1992 Act.

Jones is presumed to have acquired knowledge of the new requirements sometime in October or, at least, by mid-November of 1992. The statute was enacted on October 5, 1992, and published in the Statutes at Large, soon thereafter. “All persons in the United States are chargeable with knowledge of the Statutes-atALarge.” Bollow v. Federal Reserve Bank, 650 F.2d 1093, 1100 (9th Cir.1981).

Jones is also charged with knowledge of the 1992 Act’s requirements by virtue of the notice published in the Federal Register on November 16, 1992. See Notice, Department of the Interior, 57 Fed.Reg. 54102 (1992). This notice contained a clear statement describing the new requirements imposed by the 1992 Act. Id. “Publication in the Federal Register is legally sufficient notice to all interested or affected persons regardless of actual knowledge or hardship resulting from ignorance.” Friends of Sierra R.R., Inc. v. ICC, 881 F.2d 663, 667-68 (9th Cir.1989).4

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121 F.3d 1327, 97 Daily Journal DAR 10404, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6367, 28 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20112, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 21137, 1997 WL 450664, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-united-states-ca9-1997.