BNSF Railway Company v. Alameda County
Opinion
trial_court Opinion
1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY, Case No. 19-cv-07230-HSG
8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S
MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY
9 v. INJUNCTION
10 ALAMEDA COUNTY, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 35 11 Defendants.
12 13 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff BNSF Railway Company’s (“BNSF”) motion for a 14 preliminary injunction (Dkt. No. 35 (“Mot.”)), for which briefing is complete. Dkt. Nos. 43 (“SD 15 Opp.”), 44 (“Counties’ Opp.”), 53 (“Reply”). BNSF requests a preliminary injunction against 16 fifteen counties (“Defendants,” or “Defendant Counties”) under 49 U.S.C. § 11501(b)(3), which 17 prohibits applying higher tax rates to railroad property. On March 12, 2020, the Court held a 18 hearing on the motion. Dkt. No. 58. The Court GRANTS the motion for preliminary injunction. 19 I. BACKGROUND 20 A. The 4-R Act 21 The 4-R Act (now codified at 49 U.S.C. § 11501 (“Section 11501”)) was passed in 1976 to 22 “restore the financial stability of the railway…