Institute for Fisheries Resources, et al. v. Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, et al.

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 4 INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES Case No. 23-cv-05748-JD RESOURCES, et al., 5 Plaintiffs, ORDER RE SUMITOMO SUMMARY 6 JUDGMENT v. 7

CONTINENTAL TIRE THE AMERICAS,

8 LLC, et al., Defendants. 9 10 The crux of this environmental case is whether the use of N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N’- 11 phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) in car and truck tires made by defendants resulted in road 12 runoff in the form of 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-q) that is toxic to protected salmonid fish species in 13 West Coast populations and caused a “take” under Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act, 14 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq. (ESA). Dkt. No. 19 (first amended complaint). Defendant Sumitomo 15 Rubber USA, LLC (SRUSA), which is one of many tire suppliers named as a defendant, asks for 16 summary judgment on the grounds that it exited the tire manufacturing business in the United 17 States in 2024, and so cannot be liable under Section 9. See Dkt. No. 237. Another Sumitomo 18 defendant, Sumitomo Rubber North America, Inc. (SRNA), did…