Opinion ID: 162578
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Maximum Transit Alternative

Text: 26 Appellants assert that the Agencies violated NEPA by inadequately evaluating whether mass transit was a reasonable alternative to the Legacy Parkway. Appellants have raised a host of contentions under this issue. 27 1. Failure to Respond to Recommendations and Criticism of an FHWA Headquarter's Expert that No Alternative Analysis had been done on Aggressive Transit 28 Appellants protest that the FHWA approved the Legacy Parkway without responding to the recommendations and stinging criticism of the transit analysis from a leading expert from headquarters. Aplt. Br. at 34. The Appellants identify this headquarters expert as Dr. Bruce Spear, and point out that the Appellees have cited to nothing in the record indicating that they made any effort to undertake Dr. Spear's recommendations or to explain why they rejected them. The Appellants conclude that [a] decision is arbitrary and capricious if an agency ignores the uncontradicted advice of any expert, let alone its own. Aplt. Reply Br. at 14 (citing Northern Spotted Owl v. Hodel, 716 F.Supp. 479, 483 (W.D.Wash.1988)). To support their argument, the Appellants cite to a five-page document entitled Comments on the Sierra Club Critique of the Travel Demand Models for the Legacy Parkway FEIS and WFRC Response. III Aplt.App. at 1137-41. No date or name appears on the document. 8 The Appellants also cite to Dr. Spear's curriculum vitae which appears at IV Aplt.App. at 1249. While this does establish that Dr. Spear works for the United States Department of Transportation, it does not establish a date or author for the five-page Comments document. Consequently, the Appellants have established only that the author of the Comments document had a difference of opinion on whether aggressive transit had been adequately considered as a reasonable alternative. The author's opinion was clearly not uncontradicted. I Aplee. App. at 267-80. Even assuming that the author of the Comments document was an expert, it is well established that agencies are entitled to rely on their own experts so long as their decisions are not arbitrary and capricious. Custer County, 256 F.3d at 1036. Therefore, the Appellants have failed to establish a violation of NEPA as to this document. 29 Unexplained Failure of Agencies to Perform a More Complete Alternative Transit Analysis 30 Appellants assert that the Agencies violated NEPA by not requiring the more complete alternative transit analysis recommended by the Applicant's contractor. Aplt. Br. at 34-35. NEPA requires that an agency [r]igorously explore and objectively evaluate all reasonable alternatives. 40 C.F.R. § 1502.14(a). However, there is nothing in NEPA to suggest that the transit alternative could not be rigorously explored and objectively evaluated absent the alternative transit analysis recommended by an Applicant's contractor. The FEIS contains four independent methods of analysis to determine what contribution transit could make in serving transportation demand. I Aplee. App. at 275-79. The Appellants have failed to establish that the Agencies acted improperly in not performing the analysis recommended by the contractor. 3. Use of Erroneous Ridership Projections 31 The Appellants next take issue with the light rail ridership estimates. The Agencies assumed only 14,000 daily riders by the year 2010. Yet actual daily ridership of UTA's new commercial light rail system has been approximately 19,000 since operations commenced in December 2000. The Appellees rebut that while daily ridership has been higher than predicted, the peak-hour ridership has been nearly equal to predictions. I Aplee. App. at 278. The FEIS ridership projections are for peak-hour ridership, not daily ridership. This argument is without merit. 4. Use of Outdated Survey Results 32 The Appellants attest that the Agencies relied on outdated and questionable household survey results to determine the public's interest in using mass transit. As support, the Appellants cite to a document prepared for the Sierra Club by a Ph.D. student and a professor at the University of California, Davis, in September of 1998, reviewing the WFRC's Travel Forecasting Model, I Aplt.App. at 398, and what appears to be a flyer for Envision Utah, III Aplt.App. at 985. Due to the poor quality of the copy, the court was unable to read a large portion of the flyer. However, Appellants tell us that it states that a recent survey indicated that 86 percent of residents favor the expansion of transit. Aplt. Br. at 35. 33 The Appellees point out that the Travel Demand Model Peer Review found the household survey to be adequate. III Aplee. App. at 1054. The Agencies are entitled to rely on their own experts. Custer County, 256 F.3d at 1036. Additionally, the surveys with which the Appellants take issue were only used in two of four independent methods of projecting transit demand. I Aplee. App. at 275-77 (FEIS). The FEIS relied on the higher projection that was generated by the Financial Constraint Method which did not take into consideration the household survey. I Aplee. App. at 277, 279. We conclude that the attack on the home surveys is unavailing. 34 5. Failure to Consider both Commuter Rail and Light Rail 35 Appellants' entire argument on this issue consists only of the statement that [t]he EIS transit analysis underestimated the potential for mass transit to meet future travel demand by failing to consider implementation of both community light rail and regional commuter rail. Aplt. Br. at 35. The Appellants cite only to a document entitled Inter Regional Corridor Alternative Analysis: Preliminary Alternative Screening, which is dated March 1, 2001, and consists of two maps. I Aplt.App. at 205-07. The Appellants fail to explain how maps from March 2001, establish that the Agencies were arbitrary and capricious in not including both community light rail and regional commuter rail as a reasonable alternative in the June 2000 FEIS. We, therefore, deem this argument waived for failure to brief. Phillips v. Calhoun, 956 F.2d 949, 954 (10th Cir.1992). 36 6. Failure to Consider Alternative Sequencing of the Shared Solution 37 The Appellants claim that an alternative sequencing of the Shared Solution, such that public transit is expanded before the Legacy Parkway is built, is a reasonable alternative and the FEIS is inadequate under NEPA because it failed to explore rigorously and evaluate objectively this alternative. The Shared Solution includes: (1) improving and expanding I-15, (2) an extraordinary expansion of the public transit system, and (3) constructing the Legacy Parkway. I Aplee. App. at 285. Appendix G of the FEIS contains a detailed discussion of why the Legacy Parkway should be built before I-15 is improved and expanded. II Aplee. App. at 729-47. However, no mention is made in Appendix G as to when the extraordinary expansion of the public transit system should occur relative to the Legacy and I-15 projects. The Appellants have provided expert opinion and comments submitted to the Agencies on the importance of expanding public transit prior to constructing new roads. III Aplt.App. at 924, 914-15, 917, 895-96, 933, 1128. 38 The Appellees respond that the implementation of rail transit is five to fifteen years behind the Legacy Parkway, IV Aplee. App. 1315, and argue that Utah has not begun to meet the requirements for federal rail funding. Aplee. Br. at 23. They conclude that [r]egional transit choices that may be made in the future are not reasonable alternatives to off-set [sic] the need for new roadway construction now. Aplee. Br. at 23. 39 There are three problems with Appellees' response. First, the expansion of public transit under consideration is broader than just rail transit. Second, the regional transit choices that are at issue here are not ones that may be made in the future, but are being made. The FEIS is relying on public transit to meet 12 percent of the 2020 demand and maybe the additional 10 percent of demand that will not be met under the Shared Solution. A WFRC study on the best modes of mass transit was expected to be completed in 2001. IV Aplee. App. at 1315. There is no question as to whether a regional transit choice will be made. Third, while the project may address a need for new road construction now, the decided focus of the FEIS and its evaluation of alternatives is to provide a solution to meet the 2020 transportation needs of the North Corridor. Aplee. App. 261. The estimated time to construct the Legacy Parkway and reconstruct I-15 is seven years. II Aplee. App. at 730. Delaying the Legacy Parkway and I-15 project until after all or part of the public transit expansion is in place is an alternative that could be reasonable and one the Agencies did not include in the FEIS, thus rendering it inadequate. 40 Appellees rely upon North Buckhead Civic Ass'n v. Skinner, 903 F.2d 1533, 1541-43 (11th Cir.1990), holding that while an agency must consider realistic possibilities, it need not consider unreasonable, speculative possibilities. In that case, however, the panel held that a detailed discussion of a contended-for alternative (heavy rail transit) was unnecessary because nothing suggested it would have a less severe environmental impact, and it would not solve the problem at hand — surface street congestion. Id. at 1543. Here, the Agencies were not faced with an unreasonable or speculative alternative; indeed, the Agencies relied upon public transit to meet part of the demand in 2020, and simply did not take a hard look at whether public transit could alleviate the immediacy of the need for the I-15 expansion or Legacy Parkway construction. 41 7. Failure to Consider Integration of the Legacy Parkway and Transit 42 In an argument closely related to an alternative sequencing, the Appellants assert that NEPA was violated by a failure to consider integrating the construction of the Legacy Parkway with the expansion of public transit as a reasonable alternative. As discussed in I.C.6, no mention is made in Appendix G of when public transit should be expanded relative to the Legacy Project. Appellants have cited comments by the FTA and comments submitted to the Agencies discussing the significant savings to be gained by building the Legacy Parkway and expanding public transit simultaneously. I Aplt.App. at 227. Appellees' only response is to cite to comments in the COE's ROD, COE, and FHWA comments made after the FEIS, and a January 2001 letter from the COE to the EPA. Aplee. Br. at 28 (citing I Aplee. App. at 61; IV Aplee. App. at 1315, 1428). All of these came after the June 2000 FEIS; none of them demonstrate that integration was considered; and none of them explain why integrating the Legacy Parkway with the expansion of public transit is not a reasonable alternative. We, therefore, conclude that omitting integration as a reasonable alternative in the FEIS renders it inadequate. 43 8. Failure to Consider Expanding I-15 and Transit First 44 Appellants argue that the Agencies failed to consider whether I-15 could be expanded without the Legacy Parkway. Appendix G of the FEIS contains a detailed discussion of options for the construction sequence. II Aplee. App. at 729-47. The FEIS concludes that it would be safer, cheaper, and better for the environment to construct the Legacy Parkway prior to expanding I-15. II Aplee. App. at 736. Although [d]ocumentation in the administrative record indicates that I-15 could be expanded without the Legacy Parkway, Aplt. Br. at 36, it also demonstrates the reasonableness of the Agencies' conclusion that it would be better to build the Legacy Parkway before reconstructing I-15. II Aplee. App. at 729-47. As we have noted before, it is well established that agencies are entitled to rely on their own experts so long as their decisions are not arbitrary and capricious. Custer County, 256 F.3d at 1036. 45 9. Failure to Give Basis for Financial Constraints Estimates on Transit Expansion 46 Appellants suggest that NEPA was violated because the FEIS limited the amount of transit capacity that could be developed based on assumptions of the likely future financial resources of the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) without setting forth those assumptions in either the FEIS or the record. Aplt. Br. at 37-38. As discussed at I.A., NEPA regulations require the agency to verify the accuracy of information supplied by an applicant. 40 C.F.R. § 1506.5(a). However, UDOT, not UTA, is the Applicant in this case. Additionally, the FEIS states and the record supports that the information used in the FEIS for projecting UTA's future financial resources was developed by the Agencies in consultation with the UTA, not merely supplied by the UTA without verification by the Agencies. I Aplee. App. at 277. See also III Aplee. App. at 931 (statement made in 1998 by representative of UTA that UTA has reached the limit of its resources), 1110 (letter written in February 2000 from UTA to UDOT stating that it is confident it can meet the 10 percent of 2020 demand allocated to it if sufficient resources can be found); II Aplee. App. at 750 (document apparently included in the appendix to the FEIS which gives estimates of the cost and capacity of different forms of transit and citing to the Long Range Transit Analysis done by WFRC); I Aplee. App. at 268 (Table 2-1 of FEIS giving estimates of cost per mile for rail transit based on the North Front Range Transportation Alternative Feasibility Study of 1999). The fact that Appellants disagree with the financial projections that UTA and the Agencies made does not by itself make those projections inadequate. 47 The Appellants also charge that [t]he Federal Agencies failed to anticipate the hundreds of millions of dollars of additional revenue from the sales tax for transit projects passed by referendum in November 2000. Aplt. Br. at 38 n. 13. However, Appellants have failed to explain how a FEIS from June 2000 violated NEPA by not anticipating a sales tax that was passed in November 2000, especially when voters had previously rejected a tax increase to support transit. III Aplt.App. at 1019. 48