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Home of Economy v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad4/6/2005
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
[ ] Home of Economy appealed from a judgment dismissing for lack of subject matter jurisdiction its action for damages and for an injunction to require Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad ("BNSF") to reopen a grade crossing in Grand Forks. We conclude the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 ("ICCTA") does not preempt state jurisdiction over grade crossings. We reverse and remand.
I.
[ ] In 2003, BNSF closed a grade crossing on a spur line connecting BNSF's main line with the State Mill and Elevator in Grand Forks. The grade crossing provided access from State Mill Road across BNSF's spur line to property now owned by Home of Economy, and there was evidence BNSF ran forty to seventy cars per day on the spur line to the State Mill and Elevator. According to Cliff Olson, the previous owner of Home of Economy's property, the grade crossing had existed on BNSF's spur line since 1925. According to Olson, until the early 1950s, the grade crossing provided the only access from State Mill Road to his property, but in the early 1950s, Highway 81 was routed to also provide access to his property, and each access road had been used equally by his customers. According to Olson, there were no signs at the crossing when he owned the property, and BNSF placed a stop sign at the grade crossing after Home of Economy acquired the property from him in 1994. According to Wade Pearson, a vice president of Home of Economy, BNSF informed him in 1994 that it intended to close the grade crossing, but Pearson objected and BNSF placed a stop sign at the crossing.
[ ] In June 2003, without notice to Home of Economy or any other entity, BNSF removed the wooden planks between the tracks, excavated the soil, and bulldozed a barrier on both sides of the spur line, making it impossible for vehicular traffic to cross the spur line from State Mill Road to Home of Economy's property. Home of Economy sued BNSF in a North Dakota state court for damages and to reopen the crossing, claiming an easement for access to its land had existed from the State Mill Road across the spur line since the 1920s. Home of Economy alleged an easement by prescription, easement by necessity, and easement by estoppel. The trial court dismissed Home of Economy's action, concluding the state court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, because the ICCTA vested jurisdiction over the regulation of railroad operations in the federal Surface Transportation Board. The court concluded the closing of the grade crossing constituted regulation of rail transportation under the ICCTA, because the grade crossing affected rail cars going from BNSF's rail yard to the State Mill and Elevator and could also affect liability for accidents at the crossing. The court concluded the ICCTA granted the Surface Transportation Board exclusive jurisdiction over the grade crossing and preempted state jurisdiction over Home of Economy's action.
II.
[ ] Home of Economy argues the ICCTA does not preempt all state court jurisdiction over railroads, but grants exclusive federal jurisdiction to the Surface Transportation Board only in those cases involving substantial economic impact on a railroad's operations. Home of Economy argues the ICCTA does not preclude states from enforcing the public's right of passage across the spur line and claims that, by using the grade crossing for at least 78 years, the public has acquired an easement across the spur line. BNSF responds the ICCTA relegates the dispute over the crossing to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board, and a North Dakota state court does not have jurisdiction to grant Home of Economy's requested relief. BNSF a
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