Paralyzed Veterans of Am. v. U.S. Dep't of Transp.

286 F. Supp. 3d 111
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit·Decided December 21, 2017·No. Civil Action No. 17–1539 (JDB)·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

JOHN D. BATES, United States District Judge

In 2016, the Department of Transportation issued a final rule (the "Reporting Rule") that will require airlines to report the number of wheelchairs and scooters that are mishandled after being transported as checked luggage on passenger flights. Although the Reporting Rule was initially scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2018, the Department later issued another final rule (the "Extension Rule") that delayed the Reporting Rule's effective date by one year. Several months later, plaintiffs filed this action challenging the Extension Rule, arguing that it is arbitrary and capricious and that it should have been issued using notice-and-comment procedures.

Before the Court, the Department defends neither the substance of the Extension Rule nor the procedures that were used to promulgate it. Instead, the Department argues only that the Court lacks jurisdiction over plaintiffs' challenge, because a statute vests that jurisdiction exclusively in the federal courts of appeals. Indeed, the Department agrees that summary judgment should be entered for plaintiffs if there is jurisdiction here. But while plaintiffs' arguments against the Extension Rule may have merit, the Court's first consideration-and here, its only one-is jurisdiction. For the reasons that follow, the Court agrees with the Department that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over this case.

I. Background

In 2011, the Department of Transportation (the "Department") proposed a new rule that would require airlines to report the number of wheelchairs and scooters that are delayed, damaged, or lost after being transported as checked luggage on domestic passenger flights. See Reporting Ancillary Airline Passenger Revenues, 76 Fed. Reg. 41,726 (July 15, 2011). In its notice of proposed rulemaking, the Department noted that "[m]any air travelers who use wheelchairs are reluctant to travel by air because of concern that the return of their wheelchairs or scooters will be delayed, or the wheelchair/scooter will be damaged or lost." Id. at 41,728. The proposed rule, the Department explained, would enable a traveler to select an airline based on its track record of handling mobility devices and would encourage airlines to handle such devices with greater care.

After receiving hundreds of comments from airlines, industry groups, disability-rights organizations, and other members of *113the public, the Department issued the final Reporting Rule in November 2016. The rule will require air carriers to "report monthly to the Department ... [t]he total number of wheelchairs and scooters that were enplaned in the aircraft cargo compartment for any domestic nonstop scheduled passenger flight," as well as the number of such bags that were "mishandled." 14 C.F.R. § 234.6(b)(2)-(3) ; see also 14 C.F.R. § 234.2 (defining a "[m]ishandled checked bag" as one that was "lost, delayed, damaged or pilfered"). Though the Reporting Rule took effect on December 2, 2016, it initially applied only to flights taking place on or after January 1, 2018. See Reporting of Data for Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and Scooters Transported in Aircraft Cargo Compartments, 81 Fed. Reg. 76,300, 76,306 (Nov. 2, 2016) [hereinafter " Reporting Rule"]. This deadline was in response to comments from airlines that it would take "12 to 24 months" to come into compliance with the rule because of the need to "reprogram[ ] existing systems, install[ ] new equipment, and train[ ] employees." Id. at 76,305.

A few months later, without following the notice-and-comment procedures provided for in the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"), see 5 U.S.C. § 553, the Department issued another final rule that extended the Reporting Rule's compliance deadline to January 1, 2019. See Reporting of Data for Mishandled Baggage and Wheelchairs and Scooters; Extension of Compliance Date, 82 Fed. Reg. 14,437 (Mar. 21, 2017) [hereinafter " Extension Rule"] (codified at 14 C.F.R. part 234). The Extension Rule pointed to requests from Airlines for America ("A4A"), an industry group, and Delta Air Lines, Inc., both of which cited a January 20, 2017 memorandum circulated to executive agencies by then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, which instructed agencies to "temporarily postpone the effective dates of regulations that had been published in the Federal Register, but were not yet effective, until 60 days after the date of the memorandum." Id. at 14,437. A4A's request also stated that "industry is facing challenges with parts of this regulation and needs more time to implement it." Id.

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Paralyzed Veterans of Am. v. U.S. Dep't of Transp., 286 F. Supp. 3d 111 (D.C. Cir. 2017).

286 F. Supp. 3d 111 (Paralyzed Veterans of Am. v. U.S. Dep't of Transp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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