City of Tacoma v. Taxpayers of Tacoma

1958-06-23

Headline: Federal license for Tacoma’s Cowlitz River dams upheld as precluding state-court relitigation, reversing Washington decision and preventing the State from blocking the city’s federally authorized takings.

Holding: The Court held that the federal licensing process and the Court of Appeals’ affirmance became final under §313(b), so the State and taxpayers could not relitigate Tacoma’s authority to take the state fish hatchery.

Real World Impact:

Prevents states from relitigating federal license issues after federal appeals review.
Allows municipal licensees to rely on final federal approval to proceed with projects.
Requires parties to raise objections during federal proceedings or lose them later.

Topics: hydropower projects, federal licensing, state and federal authority, eminent domain

Summary

Background

The dispute involved the City of Tacoma, the State of Washington, and local taxpayers over Tacoma’s plan to build two dams on the Cowlitz River under a license from the Federal Power Commission. The Mayfield reservoir would inundate a state-owned fish hatchery. The Commission granted a license in 1951 after hearings in which the State opposed the project. The Court of Appeals affirmed the Commission’s order, and this Court denied review. Tacoma later sought bond validation in state court while construction and financing proceeded.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the earlier federal licensing process and the Court of Appeals’ decision made the issue final so the State could not relitigate whether Tacoma had authority to take the hatchery. The Court relied on § 313(b) of the Federal Power Act, which gives exclusive review to the Court of Appeals and provides that its judgment is final (subject to Supreme Court review). Because the State had raised its objections before the Commission and in the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court held those issues were finally decided and that later state-court cross-complaints were improper collateral attacks. The result reversed the Washington Supreme Court and left the federal review outcome controlling.

Real world impact

The decision bars relitigation in state court of issues already decided through the federal licensing and appeals process under the Power Act. It lets municipal licensees rely on the finality of federal approvals when proceeding with navigable-water projects, and limits a State’s ability to reopen those same issues in later state proceedings.