Opinion ID: 329593
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alternatives and consistency with local urban planning.

Text: 88 23 C.F.R. § 790.9(b)(1) requires that a design study report include 89 (d)escriptions of the alternatives considered and a discussion of the anticipated social, economic, and environmental effects Of the alternatives, pointing out the significant differences and the reasons supporting the proposed location or design. In addition, the report must include an analysis of the relative consistency of the alternatives with the goals and objectives of any urban plan that has been adopted by the community concerned. 90 (emphasis added). 91 The AEE describes three alternatives: (1) construction of a frontage road along the northwest side of the I-80 right of way from a point near Putah Creek to the Pedrick Road Interchange; (2) construction of the project as currently planned except without exit and entry ramps; and (3) abandonment of plans for the interchange and all frontage roads. A fourth alternative, construction of a tight diamond interchange that would provide access and accommodate the asserted need for a farm crossing but which would not be suitable for industrial traffic, was suggested at the public hearings and discussed in the DSR. 92 But neither the AEE nor the DSR contains any discussion of the respective social, economic and environmental effects of these alternatives or their relative consistency with the urban planning of either Davis or Dixon. Aside from the mere descriptions of the four alternatives, the only discussion is directed at establishing that each alternative would be unworkable because of excessive economic cost. The source of the cost estimates upon which this conclusion is based is not specified, and the estimates are not presented in a manner conducive to comparison or analysis. 93 We reject the notion that considerations of economic cost, however weighty, suffice to release CDHW from its obligation to discuss the social, economic, environmental and planning impacts in the DSR. The 1968 and 1970 amendments to § 128 which require, respectively, consideration of social, economic, environmental and planning impacts and the submission of a report indicating the nature of the consideration of these impacts clearly show congressional sentiment that the decisionmaking calculus with respect to federal-aid highway projects should not be limited to economic factors. See generally, Lathan v. Brinegar, supra, 506 F.2d at 688-89. 94 A properly drafted DSR should allow FHWA, which has the final say on commitment of federal funds, and for whose benefit the DSR is prepared, to compare the project as planned and the alternatives not only on the scale of economic costs and benefits but also with respect to social, economic and environmental impacts and consistency with local planning. It is not for us to say what weight FHWA or state highway departments should, in particular cases, accord to these often conflicting considerations, but when a DSR entirely omits analysis of the social, environmental and planning effects of alternatives, a crucial element in the congressionally mandated decisionmaking calculus is lacking, and the consideration which the statute and regulations contemplate cannot take place. 95 The DSR and AEE also fail to take into proper account the effect of the project as proposed on Davis' urban planning. Davis submitted hundreds of pages of its planning documents and they have been included as a separate volume of the hearing transcript. But neither the DSR nor the AEE makes even a single reference to the contents of these documents. The Kidwell's project's consistency with the urban planning of Dixon and Solano County does not relieve the defendants of their obligation to consider the project's consistency with Davis' urban planning and to disclose in the DSR the nature and extent of any conflict. 96