Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/443/1273/245718/
Timestamp: 2020-08-05 23:19:49
Document Index: 185947289

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 13', '§ 101', '§ 101', '§ 4', '§ 18', '§ 1653', '§ 138', '§ 128', '§ 13', '§ 13', '§ 116', '§ 116', '§ 128', '§ 128', '§ 128']

Wildlife Preserves, Inc., Appellant, et al. v. John A. Volpe, Secretary U. S. Department of Transportation, 443 F.2d 1273 (3d Cir. 1971) :: Justia
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Wildlife Preserves, Inc., Appellant, et al. v. John A. Volpe, Secretary U. S. Department of Transportation, 443 F.2d 1273 (3d Cir. 1971)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit - 443 F.2d 1273 (3d Cir. 1971) Argued April 6, 1971
Plaintiff, a non-profit New Jersey corporation dedicated to the preservation of wildlife and waterfowl areas, appeals from an order of the district court granting the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The complaint seeks temporary and permanent injunctive relief against the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation and other State officials to bar further action with respect to Federal-Aid Highway Project No. I-280-6 (28)-47. That project involves the erection of part of Interstate Highway No. 280, an east-west connector road from Newark to a westerly terminus at Interstate Highway No. 80. Project No. I-280-6 includes a part of the route which traverses Troy Meadows, a fresh water marsh in the Passaic River drainage basin. The plaintiff owns land in the marsh, part of which was condemned for the project in proceedings in the New Jersey courts. The State also owns land in the marsh, acquired under its Green Acres Program for preservation as a wildlife refuge and recreational area. N.J.Rev.Stat. § 13:8A-1 et seq. The project highway in issue does not traverse the State owned wildlife area. The complaint alleges that completion of the project as proposed will do irreparable harm to the unique and irreplaceable ecology of the Troy Meadow. It charges that disbursement of federal funds for the project is illegal: (1) because neither the Secretary of Transportation nor the State of New Jersey have held the public hearings required by the Federal-Aid Highways Act, 23 U.S.C. § 101 (1964) et seq., as amended by the Federal-Aid Highways Act of 1968, 23 U.S.C. § 101 (Supp. V, 1970) et seq., and set forth in Policy and Procedure Memorandum 20-8 issued by the federal Bureau of Public Roads, 23 C.F.R., Chapter 1, appendix A; and (2) because the Secretary has not made the findings required by § 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966, as amended by § 18(b) of the Federal-Aid Highways Act of 1968, 49 U.S.C. § 1653(f) (Supp. V, 1970) and 23 U.S.C. § 138 (Supp. V, 1970). See Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402, 91 S. Ct. 814, 28 L. Ed. 2d 136 (1971).
The public hearing statute, 23 U.S.C. § 128 (Supp. V, 1970), had a much earlier genesis. It appears at least as early as § 13 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1950, Act of Sept. 7, 1950, Ch. 912, § 13, 64 Stat. 791. It was broadened in § 116(c) of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, Act of June 29, 1956, Ch. 462, § 116(c), 70 Stat. 385 and was included as § 128 in the Recodification of Title 23 enacted as Pub. L. No. 85-767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 902. Until 1968, however, State or local officials were required to certify to the Secretary only that a hearing had been held to afford the public an opportunity to voice objections about the economic impact of the project. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 amended § 128 to require that the State or local officials certify that hearings have been held, and that the submitting department "has considered the economic and social effects of such a location, its impact on the environment, and its consistency with the goals and objectives of such urban planning as has been promulgated by the community." 23 U.S.C. § 128 (Supp. V, 1970) (emphasis supplied). As pointed out above, the effective date of the Federal-Aid High-way Act of 1968 is August 23, 1968.
The district court concluded that there was no factual dispute as to when final design approval was given. It accepted Kellum's uncontradicted testimony that design final approval was made on November 18, 1966. That testimony, by the administrator charged with the administration of the statutes in question, is consistent with the statutes and the regulations of the Department of Transportation. Summary judgment was proper. Rule 56(c), Fed. R. Civ. P.