Martin Marceau v. Blackfeet Housing Authority

MEMORANDUM

In this putative class action, plaintiffs— American Indian individuals whose homes were built in the late 1970s with the financial assistance of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”)—appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of HUD. Because the district court certified its judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b), we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

1. The district court correctly rejected plaintiffs’ Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) claim that HUD, in violation of its statutory and regulatory authority, required the use of wooden foundations in the construction of plaintiffs’ houses. Civil actions against federal agencies must be “filed within six years after the right of action first accrues,” 28 U.S.C. § 2401 (a); a substantive challenge to an agency decision as beyond its authority accrues when the disputed decision is first “appli[ed] ... to the challenger,” Wind River Mining Corp. v. United States, 946 F.2d 710, 715-16 (9th Cir.1991). Plaintiffs’ claim against HUD accrued in the late 1970s, when the agency purportedly decided to require wooden foundations. At that time, plaintiffs knew about…