The Sierra Club et al v. United States Environmental Protection Agency

Filing 64

ORDER GRANTING REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL TIME re 63 Status Report filed by The Sierra Club, Environmental Integrity Project, United States Environmental Protection Agency. Signed by Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James on 7/16/2013. (rmm2S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/16/2013)

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David A. Bahr (Oregon Bar No. 90199)
Bahr Law Offices, P.C.
1035 ½ Monroe Street
Eugene, OR 97402
[phone]
[e-mail]
Elena Saxonhouse (California Bar. No. 235139)
Sierra Club Environmental Law Program
85 Second St., 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
[phone]
[phone] (facsimile)
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
MELINDA HAAG (CSBN 132612)
United States Attorney
ALEX TSE (CSBN 152348)
Acting Chief, Civil Division
ABRAHAM A. SIMMONS (CSBN 146400)
Assistant United States Attorney
450 Golden Gate Avenue, 9th Floor
San Francisco, California 94102-3495
Telephone:
[phone]
Facsimile:
[phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Attorneys for Federal Defendant
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

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Case No. C-11-0846-MEJ

THE SIERRA CLUB and ENVIRONMENTAL
22 INTEGRITY PROJECT,

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FIFTH SUPPLEMENTAL JOINT CASE
MANAGEMENT REPORT

Plaintiffs,

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vs.

25 UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
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Defendant.
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Fifth Supplemental Joint Case Management Report
11-846 MEJ

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BAHR LAW OFFICES, P.C.
1035 ½ Monroe Street
Eugene, OR 97402
[phone]

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This is an action brought by Plaintiffs pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. §
552, to compel production of documents. The information request upon which this suit is based, sought
information submitted to defendant relating to the operations of coal-fired power plants owned by the
Luminant Corporation.
After the parties completed briefing cross-motions for summary judgment, but before oral argu-

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ment on same, on May 20, 2012, the Court vacated the scheduled hearing and ordered the parties to

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meet and confer in her chambers on May 30, 2012. Dkt. No. 50. After fruitful discussion in chambers,

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the parties agreed to continue with informal settlement discussions in an effort to resolve this matter

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without further litigation. Accordingly, the parties engaged in a number of direct and informal settlement
conference calls and have exchanged a settlement proposal. Additionally, as the Parties informed the
Court, recent EPA enforcement activities involving Luminant have impacted EIP and Sierra Club’s interest in the documents at issue in this matter. Because the parties required additional time in which to

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explore possible resolution of this case, when they reported back to the Court on September 20, 2012,

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they requested that the case be stayed until November 21, 2012 by which time they would inform the

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Court of the status of their settlement efforts. Dkt. No. 52. The Court so ordered. Dkt. No. 53.

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The parties reported to the court on November 21, 2012, that they desired additional time to explore a possible settlement of this case. Dkt. No. 54. Accordingly, the Court set December 21, 2012 as a

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deadline for the parties to report their progress in this regard. Dkt. No. 55.

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The parties then reported to the court on December 19, 2012, that they desired an additional 60

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days to explore a possible settlement of this case. Dkt. No. 56. Accordingly, the Court set February 21,

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2013 as a deadline for the parties to report their progress in this regard. Dkt. No. 57.

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On February 27, 2013, the parties again reported that they desired additional time to explore a
possible settlement of this case. Dkt. No. 58. Accordingly, the Court set May 28, 2013 as a deadline for

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Fifth Supplemental Joint Case Management Report
11-846 MEJ

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BAHR LAW OFFICES, P.C.
1035 ½ Monroe Street
Eugene, OR 97402
[phone]

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the parties to report their progress in this regard. Dkt. No. 59. The Parties apologize to the Court that

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they did not submit this report by May 28, 2013.

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On May 31, 2013, the parties again reported that they desired additional time to explore a possible settlement of this case. Dkt. No. 61. Accordingly, the Court set July 15, 2013 as a deadline for the
parties to report their progress in this regard. Dkt. No. 62.
The Parties have continued their dialogue, believe they are making substantive progress toward

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reaching a settlement, have exchanged additional substantive settlement proposals — including drafts of

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a settlement agreement, including a new draft exchanged today — and are closer to a general consensus

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on how to settle the case. However, because of the complexity of the issues involved, the Parties require

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additional time to negotiate the details of the settlement terms and obtain approval for a final settlement
from their respective organizations. They therefore desire additional time in which to explore a negotiated resolution to this dispute.

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Accordingly, the Parties request that they be provided an additional 21 days in which to attempt

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to conclude their settlement negotiations and report back to the Court on the status of same no later than

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August 6, 2013.

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Respectfully submitted for the Court’s consideration, this 15th day of July, 2013.

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MELINDA HAAG
United States Attorney

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RT

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a James

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Judge M

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Fifth Supplemental Joint Case Management Report
11-846 MEJ
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UNIT
ED

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_s/ Abraham Simmons _____
ABRAHAM SIMMONS
Assistant United States Attorney
Attorneys for Federal Defendant
The parties' request
for an additional 21
days is GRANTED. A joint
status report shall be
filed on August 6, 2013.

RT
U
O

S

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__s/ David Bahr__________________
David Bahr (Oregon Bar No. 901990) IC
S DISTR T
Bahr Law Offices, P.C.ATE
C
T
1035 ½ Monroe Street
Eugene, OR 97402
[phone]
TED
G N
[e-mail] RA

A

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3F C

D IS T IC T O
R

DATED: 7/16/2013
BAHR LAW OFFICES, P.C.
1035 ½ Monroe Street
Eugene, OR 97402
[phone]