January’s message to COER members

January 1, 2020
The state of the pleadings:

State of Washington v. U.S. Department of the Navy, et al., (“the Navy”), Case No. 2:19-cv-01059 was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on July 9, 2019;

Citizens of the Ebey’s Reserve & Paula Spina (“COER”) v. the Navy, Case No. 2:19-cv-01062 was filed on July 9, 2019;

COER filed its First Amended Complaint against the Navy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (jointly “defendants”) on October 11, 2019 adding Endangered Species Act (“ESA”)counts and the Fish and Wildlife Service as a defendantfollowing the expiration of COER’s 60 day ESA demand letter;

The two cases against the defendants were consolidated by mutual consent on October 22, 2019, the merged case number is 2:19-cv-01059;

The defendants filed their answer in the consolidated case on October 25, 2019;

A scheduling order was entered by the court on November 4, 2019 (see below); and COER is currently preparing a motion seeking a Preliminary Injunction to stop Growler training at the Coupeville OLF pending a decision in the NEPA action.  It is anticipated that this motion will be filed with the court during the second week of January, 2020.

The timetable pursuant to the scheduling order:
• On or before January 3, 2020 – the defendants are required to confer and decide upon a draft index and provide copies of the documents proposed to be included in the Administrative Record in this case;
• On or before January 17, 2020 – all parties shall meet and confer regarding the proposed Administrative Record and shall attempt to address any disputes regarding completeness or sufficiency;
• On or before January 31, 2020 – the defendants are required to file the certified Administrative Record with the court;
• On or before February 28, 2020 – the plaintiffs shall file any appropriate motions with regard to the completeness or sufficiency of the Administrative Record filed with the court by the defendants;
• On or before March 20, 2020 – the defendants shall file responses to any such motions filed by the plaintiffs;
• On or before March 30, 2020 – the plaintiffs may file a reply in support of their motions;
• On or before March 30, 2020 – the parties shall meet and agree, if possible, on a briefing schedule; and
• On or before April 6, 2020 – the parties shall provide the court with their proposed briefing schedule.

Additional information:
The parties have and are continuing to engage in procedural discussions regarding timing, motions and briefing.  There are no settlement discussions ongoing at this time.