Opinion ID: 768702
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: NEPA Issues

Text: 12 NEPA requires that a federal agency prepare an FEIS whenever it recommends a major federal action[] that will significantly affect[] the quality of the human environment. 42 U.S.C. 4332(C). NEPA's requirements are more procedural than substantive. Preparation of an FEIS forces the agency to take a hard look at environmental consequences and to inform the public that environmental concerns have in fact been considered. But NEPA does not mandate particular agency decisions, and accordingly judicial review under NEPA is limited to ensuring that the agency has adequately considered and disclosed the environmental impact of its actions and that its decision is not arbitrary or capricious. Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 462 U.S. 87, 97-98 (1983); see Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 490 U.S. 332, 349 (1989). The reviewing court is not empowered to substitute [its] judgment for that of the agency. Friends of Boundary Waters Wilderness v. Dombeck, 164 F.3d 1115, 1128 (8th Cir. 1999). 13 The Environmental Analysis of Reasonable Alternatives. The principal issue on appeal is petitioners' contention that the FAA violated NEPA's mandate that the FEIS include a suitable discussion of alternatives to the proposed action. See 42 U.S.C. 4332(C)(iii). The Council on Environmental Quality's implementing regulations provide that an agency's FEIS must [r]igorously explore and objectively evaluate all reasonable alternatives, but it need only briefly discuss the reasons why other alternatives were eliminated from more detailed study. 40 C.F.R. 1502.14. This standard recognizes that a detailed statement of alternatives cannot as a practical matter include every alternative device and thought conceivable by the mind of man. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519, 551 (1978). We review an agency's selection of the alternatives to be fully discussed in an FEIS under a rule of reason. See Boundary Waters, 164 F.3d at 1128; accord City of Aurora v. Hunt, 749 F.2d 1457, 1467 (10th Cir. 1984); Airport Neighbors Alliance, Inc. v. United States, 90 F.3d 426, 432 (10th Cir. 1996). 14 Drawing on previous studies, the FAA examined the eight Lambert expansion alternatives considered by St. Louis, plus a no-action alternative and off-site options such as expansion of the Scott Air Force Base airport in southern Illinois. The FAA. used a three-tiered screening process to identify those runway expansion alternatives that would meet the project's purpose and need and therefore should be included in the FEIS's detailed environmental analysis. It grouped the eight runway alternatives into families of related options based on their direction from the existing runways. The north family, called N-1, NE-1, and NE-1a, proposed some form of runway expansion to the north of the existing parallel runways. The west family, W-1W, W-1E, and W-2, proposed a new parallel runway west of the existing runways, while Alternative S-1 proposed a new parallel runway to the south, across Interstate Highway 70. Alternative C-1, called the canted alternative, resembled the Alternative F-4 plan that St. Louis had initially rejected; it proposed three new parallel runways on the site of the existing two. 15 To satisfy the FAA's Tier 1 analysis, an alternative had to fulfill basic operational goals of the proposed federal action -- increase airfield capacity, reduce delay time, support independent simultaneous arrival capability in poor weather, enhance the capacity of the National Airspace System, maintain a passenger hub airport in St. Louis, and meet the economic goals of the region. Alternative NE-1a and the off-site options failed this Tier 1 analysis. At Tier 2, the FAA examined whether the remaining alternatives would meet constructibility and benefit/cost parameters. To be constructible, an alternative had to be buildable without an overwhelming amount of potential construction concerns or interference with the ability to maintain hubbing activities. To clear the benefit/cost hurdle, an alternative's capacity-enhancing benefits had to outweigh its construction costs. Alternatives N-1, NE-1, and C-1 were eliminated at Tier 2. At Tier 3, the FAA compared the western family of alternatives against a broad range of economic, environmental, and operational factors and selected Alternative W-1W as the best plan from that family. Thus, Alternatives S-1, W-1W, and the no-action option survived the three-tier screening and were subjected to detailed environmental analysis in the FEIS. 16 Petitioners contend that all the northern alternatives and a Modified S-1 alternative were reasonable within the meaning of 40 C.F.R. 1502.14(a) and therefore should have been included in the FEIS's detailed environmental analysis. To assess the merits of this contention, we must more closely examine the FAA's three-tiered analysis of those alternatives. An alternative that does not accomplish the purpose of the project in question is unreasonable and does not require detailed attention in the FEIS. See City of Richfield v. FAA, 152 F.3d 905, 907 (8th Cir. 1998). 17 Alternative N-1. N-1 called for the construction of two new parallel runways separated by a lateral distance sufficient to support independent simultaneous bad weather arrivals. In the first stage, N-1 proposed construction of a 9,000 foot runway 1,200 feet north of the existing northern runway (12L/30R), on the site of a McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) aircraft factory that would be relocated at a cost of several hundred million dollars. Next, N-1 proposed what we will term a runway-terminal shift, which involved decommissioning the southern parallel runway (12R/30L), constructing a new terminal in its place, demolishing the current terminal, and constructing a second new runway where the present terminal stands. The end result would be three parallel runways, with the northernmost and southernmost at least 3,500 feet apart, thereby meeting the FAA's improved bad weather capacity objective. 18 The FAA determined that the cost of Alternative N-1 would exceed the value of its capacity-related benefits, largely because of the need to relocate the McDonnell Douglas facility. The FAA rejected N-1after Tier 2 analysis because its costs exceed its anticipated benefits, and because the need to decommission one runway, demolish the existing terminal, and build a new terminal make it doubtful Lambert would remain a hub during construction. Petitioners do not make a lengthy case for N-1, and rightly so. We conclude the FAA reasonably eliminated Alternative N-1 from detailed consideration because of its high cost and constructibility concerns. See Airport. Neighbors, 90 F.3d at 432 (upholding the FAA's summary rejection of an alternative requiring the relocation of two Air Force facilities). 19 Alternative NE-1. NE-1 avoided the cost of relocating the McDonnell Douglas facility by shifting the new northern runway 2,000 feet to the southeast. However, NE-1 included the runway-terminal shift, with its attendant constructibility problems. The FAA eliminated NE-1after Tier 2 analysis, explaining that its bad weather capability benefits would not be realized until 2008 or 2009, and its elaborate construction plan would be disruptive to the operations of the airport to such a degree that it could create a major interference with hubbing operations for several years, perhaps even to the extent that airlines would move to another hub location. The FAA's conclusion regarding NE-1 paralleled that of the St. Louis airport consultant, who also determined that NE-1 presented constructibility concerns. 20 Petitioners characterize the FAA's reasoning as mere assertions and unsupported speculation that cannot withstand NEPA scrutiny. This contention conflicts with the requirement that an agency briefly discuss rejected alternatives. 40 C.F.R. 1502.14(a). By pointing out the delayed capacity benefits and the likelihood that wholesale reconstruction of the airport terminal would seriously interfere with hubbing operations, the FAA provided a logical explanation for its decision to reject NE-1 as an unreasonable alternative. Thus, the FAA's rejection of NE-1 easily passes muster under our rule of reason standard of review. 21 Alternative NE-1a. NE-1a is essentially the first phase of NE-1, consisting of only the addition of the northern runway proposed in NE-1. Thus, NE-1a avoids both the relocation of the McDonnell Douglas facility and the runway-terminal shift -- the cost and constructibility factors that led the FAA to eliminate N-1 and NE-1. However, by not relocating the terminal and the more southern of the two existing. runways, NE-1a fails to provide independent simultaneous arrival capacity in bad weather. Therefore, the FAA eliminated Alternative NE-1a after Tier 1 analysis because it would not satisfy a significant purpose of the project. 22 In challenging the elimination of NE-1a from detailed environmental analysis, petitioners argue the FAA imposed an improperly narrow definition of purpose and need by including the independent simultaneous bad weather arrivals requirement. Petitioners further complain that NE-1a would have increased Lambert capacity and reduced delay, and the FAA therefore had an inadequate basis for rejecting NE-1a as a reasonable alternative to W-1W and S-1. We disagree. In the FEIS, the agency explained why it chose the independent simultaneous arrivals capability as a critical element of its overall purpose to increase airport capacity and reduce delays: 23 In general, runway capacity problems at airports can usually be most improved by the construction of another parallel runway. Aircraft delays can be reduced by the construction of a parallel runway at a sufficient spacing, centerline-to-centerline, that allows for dual simultaneous Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations, that is, multiple arrivals, departures or a combination of both occurring at the same time during adverse weather conditions. 24 This logical criterion has been applied by the FAA in rejecting other airport expansion alternatives as infeasible. See Airport Neighbors, 90 F.3d at 432 & n.6. Moreover, the FAA's general preference for independent simultaneous arrivals capability was supported in this case by data showing that the average annual delay, based on the projected level of Lambert operations in 2015, would be 10.4 minutes per operation for NE-1a, compared to 4.7 minutes per operation for W-1W and 2.5 minutes per operation for S-1. Because the worst delays typically occur in bad weather, this average annual data understates the increased delays NE-1a would incur during bad weather. For. example, a Capacity/Delay Analysis submitted by St. Louis to Congressman James Talent projected average peak-hour bad weather delays of 78.8 minutes per operation for Alternative NE-1a, versus 25.5 minutes per operation for Alternative W-1W. This data led the FAA to conclude that NE-1a is essentially a short-term strategy whose delay-reducing limitations would require St. Louis to begin planning for additional runway construction and land acquisition long before the year 2015. 25 In reviewing the FAA's selection of FEIS alternatives, we properly look at whether the agency defined the project's purpose in terms so unreasonably narrow as to make the FEIS a foreordained formality. Citizens Against Burlington, Inc. v. Busey, 938 F.2d 190, 196 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied 502 U.S. 994 (1991); see Simmons v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 120 F.3d 664, 666 (7th Cir. 1997). But we may not dictate to the FAA how much capacity increase and delay reduction it must accept as the minimum airport operational improvement which will justify a project of this expense and magnitude. At the time the FAA selected the alternatives to be given detailed analysis in the FEIS, its extensive experience in airport operations and the data evaluating the possible alternatives for expanding Lambert's operational capacity justified the requirement that the project include independent simultaneous IFR arrivals capacity in bad weather. Therefore, the elimination of NE-1a satisfies our rule-of-reason alternatives review. 2 26 4. Alternative Modified S-1. In late 1996, the Air Line Pilots Association submitted a revised version of a prior Modified S-1 plan. This version shifted the new southern runway proposed by S-1 substantially to the west. The Association argued this new alternative was superior to either S-1 or W-1W, and urged the FAA to include Modified S-1 in the detailed FEIS environmental analysis. After the Association and FAA exchanged drawings and correspondence clarifying the location of the new runway proposed in Modified S-1, the FAA rejected this alternative for detailed analysis because it is not better than the alternative we are including in the EIS (S-1). The Association compares their newest proposal to S-1 when it suits them and compares it to W-1W when it suits them. If we were to take any of the alternatives and begin to shift their location slightly, then we could be faced with an infinite number of alternatives to analyze. On appeal, St. Charles County argues that the FAA was capable of fleshing out the specifics of the Modified S-1 plan and was required to do so. We disagree. An agency is not required to consider alternatives that are so lacking in specificity as to be remote or speculative. See Olmstead Citizens for a Better Community v. United States, 793 F.2d 201, 209 (8th Cir. 1986). Here, the Association provided some details for its eleventh-hour modified alternative. FAA took a hard look at that information and concluded that Modified S-1 did not warrant detailed analysis in the FEIS because it was not a better alternative than S-1, the southern alternative that had been selected for detailed analysis. This was a reasonable basis for excluding Modified S-1 from the FEIS. 27 To summarize, NEPA requires that federal agencies take a hard look at a contemplated major federal action's environmental consequences prior to taking that action. See Baltimore Gas & Elec., 462 U.S. at 97. In this case, after reasonably selecting the alternatives to be analyzed in detail, the FAA prepared an FEIS comprising several hundred pages of findings, analysis, and correspondence with interested parties and government agencies. The FEIS devotes more than two hundred. pages to a comparison of the environmental impacts of Alternatives W-1W, S-1, and X-1, the three alternatives considered in detail. In the Record of Decision, the FAA briefly discussed why the other runway expansion alternatives were eliminated from detailed consideration, and it specifically addressed twenty-two distinct kinds of impacts. NEPA requires no more. 3 28 B. Evaluation of Noise Impacts. The St. Charles petitioners argue the FEIS is inadequate because it fails to address the adverse impact of the increased aircraft overflight noise that Alternative W-1W will entail, particularly on the City of St. Charles's historic properties and activities. We disagree. 29 NEPA requires that the FEIS's detailed environmental analysis of Alternative W-1W include a discussion of adverse environmental consequences and of measures to mitigate those consequences. See 40 C.F.R. 1502.14-.16. Applying the methodology approved in its Part 150 Noise Compatibility Program, which we discuss in greater detail in Part IV of this opinion, the FAA determined that the St. Charles petitioners (City and County) lie outside the sixty-five decibel (65 dB) noise contour, the point at which aircraft noise level is considered compatible with all land uses. Having determined that St. Charles will be below 60 dB, including all noise from the expanded airport, the FAA concluded that further evaluations of aviation noise impacts, such as speech interference and sleep deprivation effects, in St. Charles were not deemed necessary for the FEIS. 30 St. Charles County disputes the FAA's noise measurement findings, arguing its own week-long study in early 1996 showed an average day-night noise level of 63.6 dB. The FAA's standard measures yearly not weekly average noise levels. The agency, not a reviewing court, is entrusted with the responsibility of considering the various modes of scientific evaluation and theory and choosing the one appropriate for the given circumstances. Sierra Club v. United States DOT, 753 F.2d 120, 129 (D.C. Cir. 1985). We decline to second-guess the FAA's noise level findings. 31 Similarly, the St. Charles petitioners fault the FEIS for failing to measure whether there will be aircraft-induced speech interference with historic events in St. Charles, such as Goldenrod Showboat programs and festivals in Frontier Park. Petitioners argue the FEIS was required to consider these single-event noise impacts. 4 However, courts have consistently upheld the FAA's discretion to choose its cumulative noise impact methodology instead of single-event noise analysis. See Morongo Band of Mission Indians v. FAA, 161 F.3d 569, 578-79 (9th Cir. 1998), and cases cited. Congress has instructed the agency to establish a single system of noise measurement capable of uniform application. See 49 U.S.C. 47502. The FAA's methodology was developed with the assistance of federal environmental agencies and has been upheld in numerous court decisions such as Seattle Comm. Council Fed. v. FAA, 961 F.2d 829, 833 (9th. Cir. 1992). We conclude the FAA's analysis of noise impacts and their mitigation complied with NEPA.