Cnty. of San Mateo v. Chevron Corp.

32 F.4th 733

COUNTY OF SAN MATEO, individually and on behalf of the People of the State of California, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.CHEVRON CORPORATION; Chevron U.S.A. Inc.; ExxonMobil Corporation; BP PLC ; BP America, Inc. ; Shell PLC ; Shell Oil Products Company LLC; CITGO Petroleum Corporation ; ConocoPhillips; ConocoPhillips Company; Phillips 66 Company ; Peabody Energy Corporation; Total E&P USA, Inc.; Total Specialties USA, Inc.; Arch Coal Inc.; Eni Oil & Gas, Inc.; Rio Tinto Energy America, Inc.; Rio Tinto Minerals, Inc. ; Rio Tinto Services, Inc.; Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ; Occidental Petroleum Corporation ; Occidental Chemical Corporation ; Repsol Energy North America Corp. ; Repsol Trading USA Corp.; Marathon Oil Company; Marathon Oil Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corp.; Hess Corp.; Devon Energy Corp. ; Devon Energy Production Company, LP; Encana Corporation; Apache Corp., Defendants-Appellants.

City of Imperial Beach, individually and on behalf of the People of the State of California, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Chevron Corporation; Chevron U.S.A. Inc.; ExxonMobil Corporation; BP PLC ; BP America, Inc. ; Shell PLC ; Shell Oil Products Company LLC; CITGO Petroleum Corporation ; ConocoPhillips; ConocoPhillips Company; Phillips 66 Company ; Peabody Energy Corporation; Total E&P USA, Inc.; Total Specialties USA, Inc.; Arch Coal Inc.; Eni Oil & Gas, Inc.; Rio Tinto Energy America, Inc.; Rio Tinto Minerals, Inc. ; Rio Tinto Services, Inc.; Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ; Occidental Petroleum Corporation ; Occidental Chemical Corporation ; Repsol Energy North America Corp. ; Repsol Trading USA Corp.; Marathon Oil Company; Marathon Oil Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corp.; Hess Corp.; Devon Energy Corp. ; Devon Energy Production Company, LP; Encana Corporation; Apache Corp., Defendants-Appellants.

County of Marin, individually and on behalf of the People of the State of California, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Chevron Corporation; Chevron U.S.A. Inc.; ExxonMobil Corporation; BP PLC ; BP America, Inc. ; Shell PLC ; Shell Oil Products Company LLC; CITGO Petroleum Corporation ; ConocoPhillips; ConocoPhillips Company; Phillips 66 Company ; Peabody Energy Corporation; Total E&P USA, Inc.; Total Specialties USA, Inc.; Arch Coal Inc.; Eni Oil & Gas, Inc.; Rio Tinto Energy America, Inc.; Rio Tinto Minerals, Inc. ; Rio Tinto Services, Inc.; Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ; Occidental Petroleum Corporation ; Occidental Chemical Corporation ; Repsol Energy North America Corp. ; Repsol Trading USA Corp.; Marathon Oil Company; Marathon Oil Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corp.; Hess Corp.; Devon Energy Corp. ; Devon Energy Production Company, LP; Encana Corporation; Apache Corp., Defendants-Appellants.

County of Santa Cruz, individually and on behalf of The People of the State of California; City of Santa Cruz, a municipal corporation, individually and on behalf of The People of the State of California; City of Richmond, individually and on behalf of The People of the State of California, Plaintiffs-Appellees,

v.Chevron Corporation; Chevron U.S.A. Inc.; ExxonMobil Corporation; BP PLC ; BP America, Inc. ; Shell PLC ; Shell Oil Products Company LLC; CITGO Petroleum Corporation ; ConocoPhillips; ConocoPhillips Company; Phillips 66 Company ; Peabody Energy Corporation; Total E&P USA, Inc.; Total Specialties USA, Inc.; Arch Coal Inc.; Eni Oil & Gas, Inc.; Rio Tinto Energy America, Inc.; Rio Tinto Minerals, Inc. ; Rio Tinto Services, Inc.; Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ; Occidental Petroleum Corporation ; Occidental Chemical Corporation ; Repsol Energy North America Corp. ; Repsol Trading USA Corp.; Marathon Oil Company; Marathon Oil Corporation; Marathon Petroleum Corp.; Hess Corp.; Devon Energy Corp. ; Devon Energy Production Company, LP; Encana Corporation; Apache Corp., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 18-15499

No. 18-15502

No. 18-15503

No. 18-16376

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Filed April 19, 2022

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. (argued), Andrea E. Neuman, William E. Thomson, and Joshua S. Lipshutz, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Los Angeles, California; Herbert J. Stern and Joel M. Silverstein, Stern & Kilcullen LLC, Florham Park, New Jersey; Neal S. Manne, Johnny W. Carter, Erica Harris, and Steven Shepard, Susman Godfrey LLP, Houston, Texas; for Defendants-Appellants Chevron Corporation and Chevron U.S.A. Inc.

M. Randall Oppenheimer and Dawn Sestito, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Los Angeles, California; Theodore V. Wells Jr., Daniel J. Toal, and Jaren Janghorbani, Paul Weis Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York, New York; for Defendant-Appellant Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Jonathan W. Hughes, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, San Francisco, California; Matthew T. Heartney and John D. Lombardo, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Los Angeles, California; Philip H. Curtis and Nancy Milburn, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, New York, New York; for Defendants-Appellants BP PLC and BP America Inc.

Daniel B. Levin, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, Los Angeles, California; Jerome C. Roth and Elizabeth A. Kim, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, San Francisco, California; David C. Frederick and Brendan J. Crimmins, Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick PLLC, Washington, D.C.; for Defendants-Appellants Shell PLC and Shell Oil Products Company LLC.

Craig A. Moyer and Peter Duchesneau, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP, Los Angeles, California; Stephanie A. Roeser, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP, San Francisco, California; Nathan P. Eimer, Lisa S. Meyer, Pamela R. Hanebutt, and Raphael Janove, Eimer Stahl LLP, Chicago, Illinois; for Defendant-Appellant CITGO Petroleum Corporation.

Sean C. Grimsley and Jameson R. Jones, Bartlit Beck LLP, Denver, Colorado; Megan R. Nishikawa and Nicholas A. Miller-Stratton, King & Spalding LLP, San Francisco, California; Traci J. Renfroe and Carol M. Wood, King & Spalding LLP, Houston, Texas; for Defendants-Appellants ConocoPhillips and ConocoPhillips Company.

Steven M. Bauer and Margaret A. Tough, Latham & Watkins LLP, San Francisco, California; for Defendant-Appellant Phillips 66 Company.

William M. Sloan and Jessica L. Grant, Venable LLP, San Francisco, California, for Defendant-Appellant Peabody Energy Corporation.

Christopher W. Keegan, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, San Francisco, California; Andrew R. McGaan, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Chicago, Illinois; Anna G. Rotman, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Houston, Texas; Bryan D. Rohm, Total E&P USA Inc., Houston, Texas; for Defendants-Appellants Total E&P USC Inc. and Total Specialties USA Inc.

Thomas F. Koegel, Crowell & Moring LLP, San Francisco, California; Kathleen Taylor Sooy and Tracy A. Roman, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, D.C.; for Defendant-Appellant Arch Coal Inc.

David E. Cranston, Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Defendant-Appellant Eni Oil & Gas Inc.

Mark McKane, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, San Francisco, California; Andrew A. Kassoff and Brenton Rogers, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Chicago, Illinois; for Defendants-Appellants Rio Tinto Energy America Inc., Rio Tinto Minerals Inc., and Rio Tinto Services Inc.

Bryan M. Killian, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Washington, D.C.; James J. Dragna and Yardena R. Zwang-Weissman, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Los Angeles, California; for Defendant-Appellant Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.

Marc A. Fuller and Matthew R. Stammel, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Dallas, Texas; Stephen C. Lewis and R. Morgan Gilhuly, Barg Coffin Lewis & Trapp LLP, San Francisco, California; for Defendants-Appellants Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and Occidental Chemical Corporation.

Christopher J. Carr and Jonathan A. Shapiro, Baker Botts LLP, San Francisco, California; Scott Janoe, Baker Botts LLP, Houston, Texas; Evan Young, Baker Botts LLP, Austin, Texas; Megan Berge, Baker Botts LLP, Washington, D.C. for Defendants-Appellants Repsol Energy North America Corp. Repsol Trading USA Corp., Marathon Oil Company, Marathon Oil Corporation, and Hess Corp.

Shannon S. Broome and Ann Marie Mortimer, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, San Francisco, California; Shawn Patrick Regan, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, New York, New York; for Defendant-Appellant Marathon Petroleum Corp.

Gregory Evans, McGuireWoods LLP, Los Angeles, California; Steven R. Williams, Joy C. Fuhr, and Brian D. Schmalzbach, McGuireWoods LLP, Richmond, Virginia; for Defendants-Appellants Devon Energy Corp. and Devon Energy Production Company LP.

Michael F. Healy, Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, San Francisco, California; Michael L. Fox, Duane Morris LLP, San Francisco, California; for Defendant-Appellant Encana Corporation.

Mortimer Hartwell, Vinson & Elkins LLP, San Francisco, California; Patrick W. Mizell and Deborah C. Milner, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Houston, Texas; for Defendant-Appellant Apache Corp.

Victor M. Sher (argued), Matthew K. Edling, Katie H. Jones, and Martin D. Quiñones, Sher Edling LLP, San Francisco, California; Kevin K. Russell, Sarah H. Harrington, and Charles H. Davis, Goldstein & Russell P.C., Bethseda, Maryland; for Plaintiffs-Appellees.

John C. Beiers, County Counsel; Paul A. Okada, and David A. Silberman, Chief Deputies; Margaret V. Tides and Matthew J. Sanders, Deputies; Office of the San Mateo County Counsel, Redwood City, California; for Plaintiff-Appellee County of San Mateo.

Jennifer Lyon, City Attorney; Steven E. Boehmer, Assistant City Attorney; Imperial Beach City Attorney, La Mesa, California; for Plaintiff-Appellee City of Imperial Beach.

Brian E. Washington, County Counsel; Brian C. Case and Brandon Halter, Deputy County Counsel; Office of the Marin County Counsel, San Rafael, California; for Plaintiff-Appellee County of Marin.

Dana McRae and Jordan Sheinbaum, Office of the Counsel Counsel, Santa Cruz, California, for Plaintiff-Appellee County of Santa Cruz.

Anthony P. Condotti, City Attorney, Office of the City Attorney, Santa Cruz, California, for Plaintiff-Appellee City of Santa Cruz.

Bruce Reed Goodmiller and Rachel H. Sommovilla, Office of the City Attorney, Richmond, California, for Plaintiff-Ap...