Duarte Nursery Inc. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, 2:13-cv-02095

Background

Duarte Nursery and John Duarte were found to have violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) by discharging pollutants into "waters of the United States" without a permit; the court treated the CWA as a strict‑liability statute.
The United States sought injunctive relief and civil penalties; only remedies (scope of injunction and penalty amount) remained for a bench trial scheduled for August 2017.
Duarte moved to stay the proceedings pending the Ninth Circuit's decision in United States v. Robertson, arguing Robertson may overturn the Ninth Circuit precedent adopting Justice Kennedy’s Rapanos “significant nexus” test.
The United States opposed the stay, arguing delay would impede mitigation and that litigation costs alone do not justify a stay, especially where only remedies remain.
The district court applied its inherent discretionary power to stay, weighing potential damage from a stay, hardship from proceeding, and whether a stay would simplify or complicate the litigation.
The court denied the stay, finding uncertainty over the timing and effect of Robertson, the absence of clear hardship to Duarte from proceeding, and the risk of ongoing harm and delay that weighed against staying the remedial trial.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether to stay the case pending the Ninth Circuit's decision in Robertson	Stay warranted because Robertson may change the controlling CWA jurisdiction test (Rapanos/Kennedy), potentially mooting or altering liability analysis and saving litigation costs	Stay not warranted because timing of Robertson is uncertain, only remedies remain, and litigation costs alone don't justify a stay; delay would impede mitigation and cause ongoing harm	Denied — stay not justified; competing interests (possible damage, hardship, orderly administration) weighed against stay
Whether ongoing litigation costs constitute hardship justifying a stay	Duarte: trial and related expenses are burdensome and avoidable if Robertson changes law	U.S.: defending a suit is not a clear hardship under Landis/Lockyer; costs alone insufficient	Held for U.S.: litigation costs do not establish the clear hardship required to stay
Risk of ongoing or future environmental harm if proceedings are stayed	Duarte: did not emphasize; focused on legal standard change and cost savings	U.S.: a stay would delay injunctive relief and mitigation of onsite environmental damage, causing ongoing harm	Held for U.S.: potential for ongoing harm weighs against a stay
Whether reliance on Rapanos-based precedent is sufficiently unsettled to warrant pause	Duarte: Robertson might overturn Healdsburg/Davis-era Ninth Circuit adoption of Kennedy’s test, creating a circuit split and undermining this court’s reliance on Rapanos	U.S.: Ninth Circuit and most circuits have applied or accepted Kennedy’s test; uncertain Robertson outcome and availability of appellate review mean no need to pause remedies proceedings	Held for U.S.: uncertainty and longstanding circuit precedent do not justify staying remedial proceedings

Key Cases Cited

Rapanos v. United States, 547 U.S. 715 (2006) (Supreme Court fractured; Justice Kennedy’s "significant nexus" concurrence often applied for CWA jurisdiction)
Healdsburg v. N. Cal. River Watch, 496 F.3d 993 (9th Cir.) (adopting Kennedy’s Rapanos significant‑nexus test for CWA jurisdiction)
Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248 (1936) (standard for district court stays; burden on movant to show necessity of stay)
CMAX, Inc. v. Hall, 300 F.2d 265 (9th Cir. 1962) (district court’s inherent power to stay cases to promote docket economy)
Leyva v. Certified Grocers of Cal., 593 F.2d 857 (9th Cir. 1979) (stay pending resolution of independent proceedings that bear upon the case)
Lockyer v. Mirant Corp., 398 F.3d 1098 (9th Cir. 2005) (litigant’s burden under Landis and that defending suit alone is not clear hardship)
Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418 (2009) (movant bears burden to justify stay; articulating standards for stays pending appeal)