Last year many of the major cities in Iowa -- including Bettendorf -- kicked in $25,000 each to fund a lawsuit by the Iowa League of Cities against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The lawsuit, challenging the EPA's authority to enforce regulations concerning discharge of partially treated sewage, didn't get to first base because the league's Washington, D.C. law firm missed a filing deadline.
The case was dismissed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and that was thought to be the end of the intergovernmental legal feud underwritten on both sides by taxpayers.
The league, however, is now making a second legal run on the EPA, thanks, in part, to the Washington law firm's agreement not to charge the league any more than its original $170,000 fee agreed to the last time around.
(League officials say Bettendorf opted not to participate in the new lawsuit and its cost last year came in far less than the $25,000 commitment approved by the city council.)
The lawsuit was refiled November 4, and legal motions between the league's lawyers -- Hall & Associates -- and EPA attorneys are now flying.
The EPA lawyers in their motion to dismiss the "new" lawsuit, parroted Yogi Berra's famous line saying: "This truly is a case of déja vu all over again."
The EPA's 15-page motion for dismissal was answered by the league attorneys asking the judge for permission to file a 50-page response, rather than the normally allowed 15-page motion.
That was met by an EPA motion opposing the 50-page response saying "since EPA's motion is quite short, it is unclear why the League would need so many pages to respond."
The league then responded to the EPA motion, pointing out the EPA had used 12 point type in its written motion and that "Using 14 point font, the League estimates that EPA's motion would have been 17-18 pages in length."
Furthermore, league attorneys argued, 50 pages of text with 14 point type would still fall short of the 14,000-word limit for opening briefs in federal appellate cases.
The league attorneys also conceded they already had prepared a 50-page response.
Recognizing the looming December 23 deadline for filing its response -- and not receiving a ruling from the presiding judge -- league attorneys dashed off a letter to the court saying they could fit their motion into a 40-page, 10,000-word motion.
And, apparently worried they may again miss a deadline, league attorneys filed a request December 22 for an extension to file their response.
Will the Iowa League of Cities strike out again? Will the league attorneys be able to carve their 40-page motion down to the 15-page limit? Will the judge find that 12-point type is too small and order inflation in the size of its motions?
Stayed tuned. . .
(In an order issued Dec. 23, the court gave the Iowa League of Cities not 50 pages, not 40 pages, but 30 pages to respond to the EPA's motion to dismiss the case. The filing deadline for the 30-page response was set for Dec. 30.)
