Center For Biological Diversity v. Raimondo

Background

Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network sued Gina Raimondo and the National Marine Fisheries Service over three claims: two under the Endangered Species Act and one under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The defendants filed a motion asking for an extension of time to lodge, or file, the administrative record for the Magnuson-Stevens claim. They sought a deadline of 14 days after the court ruled on their forthcoming motion to dismiss the two Endangered Species Act claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act gives defendants 45 days to respond to the complaint and file the administrative record for the challenged regulation. Defendants argued that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b), together with the local rules, allowed the court to extend that deadline because their motion to dismiss paused the time for responding to the claims.

Court’s Analysis

The court rejected that argument. Although defendants cited Ninth Circuit decisions stating that a partial motion to dismiss can pause a defendant’s response deadline for all claims, the court noted that those decisions did not involve claims with a statutory response deadline. The court explained that Rule 6(b) governs deadlines established by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or by a court order, not deadlines established by statute.

The court also rejected defendants’ request for an extension based on good cause. Defendants cited the National Marine Fisheries Service’s limited staff and competing priorities, but the court found that they had not shown that other employees were unavailable or unable to prepare the record. The court also found that the alleged lack of detail in the plaintiffs’ Endangered Species Act claims did not justify delaying the administrative record for the separate Magnuson-Stevens claim. The defendants acknowledged that this record was closed and concerned a decision dated December 1, 2023.

Ruling

The court denied defendants’ motion to extend the time to lodge the administrative record for the plaintiffs’ Magnuson-Stevens claim. It ordered the parties to submit, within five days, a joint proposed schedule for defendants to file that record. Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin did not rule in this order on the pending motion to dismiss the Endangered Species Act claims.