Final Joint Statement on the BATFE lawsuit by the NAR/TRA

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2010 Archived News by TRA/NAR Joint Task Force

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

On May 24, 2010 we agreed to a settlement with the Department of Justice (DoJ) attorneys representing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) on the issue of recovery of legal fees. This fee recovery was our right under the Equal Access to Justice Act, because this federal agency was found by the court to have been "arbitrary and capricious" in the regulatory actions on ammonium perchlorate composite propellant that we had successfully argued for the court to overturn.

The amount of fee recovery that we had sought under the limitations of the court decision was $81,498. The DoJ attorneys planned to challenge this amount in detail, which would have forced us into a series of cross-filings and potentially a court hearing, further increasing our legal expenses and postponing an end to this ten-year legal struggle. To avoid this and to bring a prompt end to this issue we have agreed to settle for a recovery of $70,000, which will result in a net of approximately $64,000 after final legal expenses are paid. One half of this amount will go to NAR and one-half to TRA. This represents about ten percent of the amount of your money that we actually spent on winning this case, but getting any fee recovery in a case like this is vindication that the party that defeated the federal government's position was absolutely in the right. We were right, BATFE was wrong, and now it's over.

We extend our thanks to all of the members of our two organizations who have supported us financially and emotionally throughout this ten-year battle to defend our rights and to defeat BATFE's unnecessary and unjustified regulation of APCP as an "explosive" requiring federal licensing to possess or use and requiring storage in high-security magazines. Because of your steadfast support we can continue our safe and responsible pursuit of our hobby without the wholly unjustified added burden that BATFE had sought to impose. It is very rare for any group or individual to completely defeat a federal agency's attempt to impose a regulation. We did so through sound technical arguments that many of you helped formulate; through brilliant legal representation by Marty Malsch, John Lawrence, and the late Joe Egan; and through a completely unified cooperative effort between the nation's two rocketry organizations. Be proud of what we have accomplished, and fly safely and responsibly with the freedom that we have earned.

Trip Barber, NAR President
Ken Good, TRA President

Documents: Stipulation of Settlement and Voluntary Dismissal (26KB Adobe PDF)

Reader comments:

#1 Re: Article: Final Joint Statement on the BATFE lawsuit by the NAR/TRA

And that, is that.

Well done, all of us.

David Smith, ME

David, ME on 05-25-2010 09:24 PM

#2 Re: Article: Final Joint Statement on the BATFE lawsuit by the NAR/TRA

Hurrah! Congrats all the way around.

This weekend, be sure to fly something to commemorate "V-W Day" (Victory in Washington)

CF-105 on 05-25-2010 10:00 PM

#3 Re: Article: Final Joint Statement on the BATFE lawsuit by the NAR/TRA

Thanks to the NAR and the Tripoli leadership both past and present who fought on our behalf and also to the lawyers both past and present who worked on our behalf. This means 32K for both organizations, which is great! But at today's costs and prices even 32K can be gone quickly.

Bob

aerostadt on 05-25-2010 11:25 PM

#4 Re: Article: Final Joint Statement on the BATFE lawsuit by the NAR/TRA

Just wish that Joe were here to celebrate with us.