ELR Citation: ELR 20938
No(s). 91-5050 (Fed. Cir. May 24, 1994)

The court holds that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims had jurisdiction to hear a claim that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' denial of a permit to fill wetlands constituted an unconstitutional taking, even though a claim challenging the permit under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) was pending in federal district court. The court holds that it therefore has jurisdiction to hear an appeal of the Claims Court's decision. The court first holds that 28 U.S.C. §1500, which precludes the Claims Court from exercising jurisdiction over any claims that are also pending in another court, does not bar jurisdiction over claims that are distinctly different from those pending in the other court. For the statute to preclude the Claims Court from hearing a claim, the claim pending in another court must arise from the same operative facts and also seek the same relief. The court next holds that although the claims pending in both district court and the Claims Court in this case arose from the same operative facts, they sought distinctly different relief. Both claims sought declarations that the permit denial was an unconstitutional taking; however, the use of the term "declare" was not intended to request formal declarations under the Declaratory Judgment Act. Additionally, the request for a declaration of taking in the district court was without legal significance because that court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the takings claim. Thus, the district court's complaint sought only review of the permit denial, while the Claims Court's complaint sought only just compensation.

Dissenting judges would hold that the Claims Court lacked jurisdiction because the complaints both sought just compensation.

[Prior opinions in this litigation are published at 19 ELR 20092 and 20 ELR 21207; briefs in litigation are digested at ELR PEND. LIT. 66143, 66148, 66203, and 66317; related decision is published at 15 ELR 20088.]

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Kevin J. Coakley
Connell, Foley & Geiser
85 Livingston Ave., Roseland NJ 07068
(201) 535-0500

Counsel for Defendant
Robert L. Klarquist
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Before Archer,^* Rich, Nies, Newman, Mayer, Michel, Plager, Lourie, Clevenger, Rader, and Schall, JJ.:^*