Texas Commission on Environmental Quality & Post Oak Clean Green, Inc. v. Guadalupe County Groundwater Conservation District

ACCEPTED 04-15-00433-cv FOURTH COURT OF APPEALS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 8/10/2015 4:55:08 PM KEITH HOTTLE CLERK NO. 04-15-00433-CV FILED IN IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 4th COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 08/10/2015 4:55:08 PM KEITH E. HOTTLE Clerk POST OAK CLEAN GREEN, INC., and TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, Appellants, v. GUADALUPE COUNTY GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT, Appellee. UNOPPOSED FIRST JOINT MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE BRIEFS OF APPELLANTS POST OAK CLEAN GREEN, INC. AND TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Christopher L. Dodson John A. Riley State Bar No. 24050519 State Bar No. 16927900 chris.dodson@bgllp.com jriley@jgdpc.com BRACEWELL & GIULIANI LLP JACKSON GILMOUR & DOBBS, PC 711 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300 1115 San Jacinto Blvd., Suite 275 Houston, Texas 77002-2770 Austin, Texas 78701 Telephone: (713) 223-2300 Telephone: (512) 574-8861 Facsimile: (713) 221-1212 Facsimile: (512) 574-8861 ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT POST OAK CLEAN GREEN, INC. Bill Davis State Bar No. 24028280 Bill.Davis@texasattorneygeneral.gov Nancy Olinger State Bar No. 15254230 Nancy.Olinger@texasattorneygeneral.gov Cynthia Woelk State Bar No. 21836525 Cynthia.Woelk@texasattorneygeneral.gov OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS P.O. Box 12548 MC-059 & MC-066 Austin, Texas 78711 Telephone: (512) 936-1896 Facsimile: (512) 370-9191 ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY -2- Pursuant to Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 10.5(b) and 38.6(d), Appellants Post Oak Clean Green, Inc. (“Post Oak”) and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) file this Unopposed First Joint Motion for Extension of Time to File Briefs of Appellants. Appellants’ Briefs are currently due on August 18, 2015. Appellants request an extension of time of 30 days to file their Briefs, i.e., an extension of time to and including September 17, 2015. This is Appellants’ first request for an extension of time to file their Briefs. Counsel for Appellee Guadalupe County Groundwater Conservation District has indicated that Appellee is not opposed to this request. Appellants need an extension of time because of the complex issues in this appeal. Appellant Post Oak’s trial counsel substituted into this case after the underlying briefing regarding the appealed order was completed; therefore Appellant Post Oak’s counsel was not involved in the case in the trial court until recently and needs additional time to analyze the issues and the record in order to prepare a brief that will be helpful to the Court in resolving the case. Moreover, in addition to assisting the preparation of the brief in this appeal, counsel for Post Oak is, among other matters: (1) preparing to argue seven motions for summary judgment in Civil Action No. 2012-33666, Vertical North America, Inc. now known as Raizen North America, Inc. v. Vopak Terminal Deer Park, Inc. in the 61st Judicial District Court of Harris County, on August 28, 2015; (2) drafting an -3- appellate brief to the Federal Circuit on an expedited schedule due August 10, 2015 in Civil Action No. 15-1870, M-I LLC, v. FPUSA LLC; (3) conducting depositions; other discovery, including a site visit; and preparing pre-filed testimony and exhibits for the administrative hearing pertaining to the TCEQ permit for the proposed Post Oak landfill that have been ordered to be completed by September 18, 2015. Similarly, Bill Davis, TCEQ’s lead appellate counsel, was not involved in this case in the trial court, was on vacation when the time for submitting an opening brief began to run, and did not receive a copy of the record on appeal until August 5, 2015. He is also assisting several clients in evaluating a recently published Environmental Protection Agency rule in connection with a forthcoming challenge to the rule in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and consulting on two pending matters with court-set deadlines this week. For these reasons, appellant TCEQ likewise requires additional time in order to prepare a thorough and helpful brief in this case. PRAYER Appellants Post Oak Clean Green, Inc., and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality pray that this Court grant a 30-day extension of time to file their Briefs of Appellants, to and including September 17, 2015, and for any other relief to which it may be entitled. -4- Respectfully submitted, /s/ Christopher L. Dodson John A. Riley State Bar No. 16927900 jriley@jgdpc.com JACKSON GILMOUR & DOBBS, PC 1115 San Jacinto Blvd., Ste. 275 Austin, Texas 78701 Telephone : (512) 574-8861 Facsimile : (713) 355-5001 Christopher L. Dodson State Bar No. 24050519 chris.dodson@bgllp.com BRACEWELL & GIULIANI LLP 711 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300 Houston, Texas 77002-2770 Telephone: (713) 223-2300 Facsimile: (713) 221-1212 ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT POST OAK CLEAN GREEN, INC. Bill Davis State Bar No. 24028280 Bill.Davis@texasattorneygeneral.gov Nancy Olinger State Bar No. 15254230 Nancy.Olinger@texasattorneygeneral.gov Cynthia Woelk State Bar No. 21836525 Cynthia.Woelk@texasattorneygeneral.gov OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS P.O. Box 12548 MC-059 & MC-066 Austin, Texas 78711 Telephone : (512) 936-1896 Facsimile : (512) 370-9191 -5- ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE I hereby certify that I conferred with counsel for Appellee Guadalupe County Groundwater Conservation District, and Appellee does not oppose the relief sought in this motion. /s/ Christopher L. Dodson Christopher L. Dodson CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a copy of this Unopposed First Joint Motion for Extension of Time to File Briefs of Appellants Post Oak Clean Green, Inc., and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was served on counsel of record by E-File as follows on August 10, 2015, addressed as follows: Marisa Perales FREDERICK, PERALES, ALLMON & ROCKWELL PC 707 Rio Grande, Ste. 200 Austin, Texas 77552-6894 Attorney for Appellee Guadalupe County Groundwater Conservation District /s/ Christopher L. Dodson Christopher L. Dodson -6-