Opinion ID: 2538601
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Maximize conformance

Text: Under the habitats standard, wetlands must be managed so as to maintain or enhance the biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of the habitat and so as to... avoid adverse effects on natural drainage patterns, the destruction of important habitat, and the discharge of toxic substances. [64] To allow use of the wetlands, the Division had to show that all feasible and prudent steps to maximize conformance with [these managerial standards] will be taken. [65] The Division determined that the Airport's proposal maximized conformance with the habitats standard. The Division noted that: (1) the only permissible activities would be those dependent on proximity to the runway; (2) mitigating measures incorporated into the permit would attempt to maintain the wetlands' hydrologic functions; (3) permit conditions place further restraints on fill activity by limiting allowable activities, requiring best-management practices, and placing timing restrictions on fill activities; (4) the Department of Fish and Game imposed a timing restriction to reduce impacts to nesting birds; (5) the permit requires the Airport to continue monitoring groundwater levels and to submit reports of fill activity so that the state can ensure that hydrologic functions are maintained and development is tracked; (6) meetings with state and federal agencies must occur before construction can commence, unless specifically waived by the agency; (7) stipulations require non-disturbance setbacks around ponds and buffers around developments to minimize disturbance of wildlife and habitats; (8) stipulations require additional public notice for any Airport lease proposal to ensure consistency of new wetland fill or clearing activity with the permit; (9) stipulations require screening landscaping for wetland fill projects abutting uncovered wetlands to ameliorate habitat impacts and disturbance; (10) the lost habitat and ecological values will be compensated for via offsite mitigation (in Klatt Bog), as required by the FAA; and (11) the habitat value of Turnagain and Postmark Bogs is already compromised because the FAA requires the Airport to actively haze birds and wildlife frequenting the areas to prevent them from posing hazards to planes. In addition, the Division noted that [t]o avoid adverse effects on natural drainage patterns, the [Airport] provided a hydrologic analysis that provides the best estimate of how water circulates through the Turnagain Bog wetlands. The [Airport] 10-year permit will require discontinuous development cells between each filled lot to ensure flow patterns are not altered. [The Airport] is required to monitor affected wetlands. The permit is subject to modification if new information indicates unacceptable hydrological effects. The Department of Environmental Conservation also required its approval of a facility's storm/runoff water collection and treatment system design plan before any fill placement at that facility's site could occur. Furthermore, the Division had before it the conditions that the Corps would impose with the permit, including conditions for maintaining Turnagain Bog's hydrologic pattern and for controlling the order of development to protect wetlands should full build-out not occur; the Airport incorporated these conditions into its description of the project. ACE argues that the Division erred in declaring that only activities dependent on runway proximity would be permissible, since only one of the Revised Uses list's categories consists of runway-dependent uses, with the other category being for aviation and aviation-related commercial and support uses. ACE is correct. It is likely that the Division meant to say something like proximity to the airport instead of proximity to the runway. ACE also maintains that nothing in the text of the maximize conformance factor indicates that it can be satisfied by offsite mitigation. This may be, but at the same time, nothing in the factor indicates that offsite mitigation cannot be one of several feasible and prudent steps to preserve habitat. ACE further asserts that even if the FAA could override 6 AAC 80.130(d)(3) to force destruction of wetlands, the FAA's guidance on hazing birds and wildlife frequenting airport areas discourages only the creation of wildlife hazards, such as by siting landfills or other attractants too close to airports, but not the preservation of existing wetlands. The FAA, however, recommends that airport expansions that result in unavoidable wetlands disturbances may require mitigation off-site so as not to create a wildlife hazard. ACE thus picks out for criticism small parts of the Division's rationale and claims that these challenges show that in finding maximum conformance [the Division] relied on a false premise. Only the first of these small criticisms appears to be accurate, however, and taken together, ACE's challenges still leave the vast majority of the Division's rationale intact. ACE further argues that this criterion of maximizing conformance was not applied for each use and activity on the Airport's list of possible uses. Again, this argument relies on ACE's view of the specificity required in a project, and we again conclude that the Division did not act arbitrarily in considering airport expansion as a whole (with consideration of the likely mix of future uses), rather than whether the permit maximized conformance for each individual use. Given the numerous conditions and stipulations the Division cited in making its determination, we conclude that the Division took a hard look at the maximizing conformance factor and had a reasonable basis for its decision. [66] Since the Division therefore took a hard look at all three conditions and had a reasonable basis for concluding that they were satisfied, we hold that the Division did not act arbitrarily in finding the Airport's project to be consistent with the habitats and coastal development standards.