Oxy USA, Inc. v. Babbitt

Nos. 98-5222 et al. (230 F.3d 1178) (10th Cir. October 23, 2000)

ELR Digest

The court holds that neither the six-year statute of limitations set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 2415(a) nor the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act (FOGRMA) bars U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) administrative orders requiring mineral lessees to pay additional royalties and interest on oil produced between 1980 and 1988. The court first holds that although in a previous case it stated that 28 U.S.C. § 2415(a) applies to agency orders seeking royalty payments, this statement was dicta and cannot be regarded as binding precedent. The court then holds that § 2415(a) is inapplicable because the DOI's orders do not constitute "actions." Statutes of limitations running against the sovereign are to be strictly construed, and throughout 28 U.S.C. § 2415, Congress linked the term "action" to the filing of a complaint. Moreover, the phrase "action for money damages" typically refers to judicial proceedings, and nothing in the legislative history indicates that Congress intended to ascribe a specialized meaning to the term "action" in § 2415. The court next holds that FOGRMA does not independently require the government to collect unpaid royalties in a timely fashion. Congress' use of the words "timely" and "prompt" in the Act was not intended to create a statute of limitation in which the government must act to collect royalties. The court, therefore, reverses the district court's grant of summary judgment against the government and remands for entry of summary judgment in favor of the government.

The full text of this opinion is available from ELR (32 pp., ELR Order No. L-294).

Counsel for Plaintiff
Patricia D. Bragg
Gardere & Wynne
200 Oneok Plaza
100 W. 5th St., Tulsa OK 74103
(918) 699-2900

Counsel for Defendants
Sean H. Donahue
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

[31 ELR 20241]

[OPINION OMITTED BY PUBLISHER IN ORIGINAL SOURCE]