Opinion ID: 186101
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Selection and Supervision of the EIS Contractor

Text: 24 CEQ's NEPA guidelines permit an EIS to be prepared by a contractor if (1) the lead federal agency, or the lead agency in cooperation with cooperating agencies, selects the contractor; (2) the contractor executes a disclosure statement specifying that it has no financial or other interest in the outcome of the project; and (3) the responsible federal officials furnish guidance and participate in the preparation of the EIS, evaluate the EIS prior to its approval, and take responsibility for its scope and contents. 40 C.F.R. § 1506.5(c) (2003); see also 40 C.F.R. § 1501.6 (2003) (defining a cooperating agency as a qualified federal agency). In addition, the FAA has issued an internal third-party contracting guidance addressing the preparation of an EIS by a contractor selected by the FAA and engaged by an airport sponsor. See EIS Preparation Guidance — Third Party Contracting (July 24, 1995), http://www1.faa.gov/arp/app600/5054a/3rd pty.htm. 25 CARE asserts that the FAA violated the CEQ regulation and the third-party contracting guidance by failing properly to select SH&E as the contractor, allowing SH&E to be selected despite a potential conflict of interest, and abdicating its responsibility to oversee the preparation of the EIS. Contrary to the FAA's assertion, petitioners did not waive these claims by failing to raise them during the EIS process. Under 49 U.S.C. § 46110(d), we may consider objections not raised during the administrative proceeding if there was a reasonable ground for the omission. CARE plausibly asserts that it had no reason during the EIS process to suspect the alleged defects in the selection and supervision of SH&E, and we agree that this excuses CARE's failure to raise the claims below. This is no great help to CARE, however, as we hold that its claims either lack merit or do not entitle it to relief. 26 There is no evidence showing that the FAA itself selected SH&E as the contractor for the EIS, nor, on the other hand, is there any conclusive evidence that the FAA failed to do so. In December 1993, the FAA selected Cortell Associates to be the prime contractor for the EIS, and SH&E later became a member of the consultant team for the initial feasibility study. FAA official John Silva's notes from an October 1996 meeting indicate that Massport official Betty Desrosiers announced SH&E as the new prime contractor. J.A. 56. SH&E certified in its disclosure statement that it was selected on the basis of a competitive selection process, but the statement gives no indication as to who made the selection. J.A. 59. 27 We need not determine the FAA's precise role in SH&E's selection, however, because even assuming that the FAA did not properly discharge its obligations, petitioners would not be entitled to relief. We find, as in Citizens Against Burlington, Inc. v. Busey, 938 F.2d 190 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 994, 112 S.Ct. 616, 116 L.Ed.2d 638 (1991), that there is no cause to invalidate the EIS, because any error in the selection of the contractor did not compromise the `objectivity and integrity of the [NEPA] process.' Id. at 202 (quoting Forty Most Asked Questions Concerning CEQ's National Environmental Policy Act Regulations, 46 Fed.Reg. 18,026, 18,031 (Mar. 23, 1981)). CARE has not alleged any substantive flaws in the FEIS itself, such as a failure to discuss significant impacts or to consider reasonable alternatives, and there is no indication in the record before us that the manner in which SH&E was chosen prejudiced the FAA's review of the project. 28 As required under 40 C.F.R. § 1506.5(c), SH&E executed a disclosure statement specifying that it had no financial or other interest in the outcome of the project. The statement certified that Massport had engaged SH&E for four other clearly identified projects, but that this would not influence SH&E's ability to participate objectively in the preparation of the EIS. J.A. 59. CARE has identified no conflict of interest that would disqualify SH&E from preparing the EIS, nor is any evident in the record before us. 29 CARE's claims that the FAA abdicated its responsibility to oversee the preparation of the EIS, and that SH&E improperly acted as an advocate for Massport in the environmental review process, likewise lack merit. The record confirms that the FAA consistently exercised control over the scope, content, and development of the EIS. Contrary to CARE's assertions, there was nothing improper in Massport's participation in joint meetings and its review of and comment on draft documents during the EIS process. As a cooperating state agency in a joint federal-state environmental review, Massport had a significant official role to play in jointly overseeing the preparation of the EIS. See 40 C.F.R. § 1506.2(c) (requiring federal agencies to cooperate with State and local agencies to the fullest extent possible including in the preparation of joint environmental impact statements). As proprietor and operator of Logan, moreover, Massport was in a unique position to provide valuable information about the project; its exclusion from the environmental review process would have been counterproductive, to say the least.