United States v. El Dorado County

The United States of America (government) entered into a consent decree with El Dorado County (County) concerning the clean up of an abandoned landfill located near Lake Tahoe in California. The County shortly thereafter moved to modify the decree, and the district court suspended the decree pending further hearings. The government appealed. The County later moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the order was not appealable because it is nonfinal. We have jurisdiction to determine our own jurisdiction, Special Invs., Inc. v. Aero Air, Inc., 360 F.3d 989 , 992 (9th Cir.2004), and we dismiss the appeal.

I.

The County and the government have a long history with respect to the landfill. Much of the detail is irrelevant to our jurisdiction decision and we will therefore only recount the facts relevant to our determination.

*1263 The United States Forest Service (Forest Service) gave the County a permit to operate a landfill on Forest Service land from 1955 through 1971, after which the landfill was closed. In 1996, toxic chemicals were discovered in the groundwater near the landfill. After several rounds of investigation, planning, and negotiation, the…