Opinion ID: 300202
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Inglewood's Standing to Sue, (Count II) Exhaustion of Remedies.

Text: 24 There is a further issue for this Court to resolve-whether or not Inglewood has standing to enforce the Federal Aviation Administration grant agreements with Los Angeles under the provisions of 49 U.S.C.A. sections 1716(c) (3) 12 and 1718(4). 13 The district court found that sec. 1718(4) [then sec. 1110(4)] was only intended to deal with the safety of the airplanes on takeoff or landing; that the plaintiffs were not the intended beneficiaries of the grant agreements; and that the statutes imposed no duty on the defendant City of Los Angeles to give fair consideration to neighboring residents. [C.T., pp. 372-373] Both parties on appeal have treated the question as being whether or not the plaintiffs have standing to sue under the grant agreements. 25 We turn first to the question of the purpose of sections 1716(c) (3) and 1718(4). The legislative history is silent regarding the intention of Congress in enacting sec. 1716(c) (3). However, the legislative history of sec. 1718(4) [sec. 1110(4)] supports the theory that flight safety was not the sole purpose of the section. 14 Rapp v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 264 F.Supp. 673 (E.D.Pa. 1967) cited by the district court and the appellee only deals with sec. 1718(3) [then sec. 1110(3)]. We conclude, contrary to the District Court, from the language of sec. 1716(c) (3) and the legislative history of sec. 1718(4) that each were intended by the Congress to insure that the welfare of persons living close by airports which were to receive government funds to engage in development projects would receive fair consideration by the Secretary of Transportation. 26 The problem then becomes whether or not Inglewood has standing to sue for enforcement of the grant agreements. We feel that the companion cases of Association of Data Processing Service v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 90 S.Ct. 827, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970), and Barlow v. Collins, 397 U.S. 159, 90 S.Ct. 832, 25 L.Ed.2d 192 (1970) are persuasive, even though not controlling. As the first of those cases pointed out,    the question of standing in the federal courts is to be considered in the framework of Article III which restricts judicial power to 'cases' and 'controversies'. 397 U.S. at 151, 90 S.Ct. at 829. In Barlow, the Court set out a three-pronged test for standing. First, do the plaintiffs have the personal stake and interest that impart the concrete adverseness required by Article III? 397 U.S. at 164, 90 S.Ct. at 836. Second, are the plaintiffs within the zone of interests to be protected or regulated by the statute? 397 U.S. at 164, 90 S.Ct. 832. Third, is judicial review precluded by statute? 397 U.S. at 165, 90 S.Ct. 832. 27 The personal stake of the plaintiffs in this case is clear. We have already concluded that the statutes involved were designed to protect the interest of the plaintiffs. While nothing in the statutory language or legislative history provided for judicial review, there is nothing contained therein to preclude it. There is no presumption against judicial review and in favor of administrative absolutism   , unless that purpose is fairly discernible in the statutory scheme. [Citations omitted.] Association of Data Processing Service 397 U.S. at 157, 90 S.Ct. at 831. 28 This Court does not overlook that major differences exist between Association of Data Processing and Barlow and this case. In those cases, the plaintiffs were suing agency administrators to challenge some affirmative acts taken by them. However, the fact that Inglewood is not suing the Secretary of Transportation but the City of Los Angeles directly does not detract from the holdings in Association of Data Processing and Barlow on the question of standing to sue. 29 Los Angeles attempts to find support for its position in a series of cases holding that third parties cannot sue on grant agreements between airports and the Federal Aviation Administration based upon third-party beneficiary contract doctrines. Port of New York Authority v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 259 F.Supp. 745 (E.D. N.Y. 1966); City and County of San Francisco v. Western Air Lines, Inc., 204 Cal.App.2d 105, 22 Cal. Rptr. 216 (1962). We note that in both cases that the plaintiffs were airline companies and the provisions of the Federal Airport Act they were attempting to enforce were not the provisions plaintiffs are attempting to enforce in this case. 30 While we express no opinion as to the merits of those cases, we do not find them controlling in this case. If Los Angeles made the assurances required by sec. 1716(c) (3) and sec. 1718(4) in applying for various grant agreements, then Inglewood must certainly be included within the category of intended beneficiaries of those assurances. Congress had some purpose in enacting these two sections of Title 49. It is not to Los Angeles' benefit to be required to give the Secretary those assurances; nor are the assurances of any independent benefit to the Secretary. The Secretary merely receives them for the benefit of, and in the place of, the surrounding communities and residents of the area. Any other interpretation of sec. 1716(c) (3) and sec. 1718(4) deprives them of any meaning or effect. 31 This Court must conclude, however, that an unresolved question concerning plaintiffs' ability to sue directly on the grant agreements remains. The District Court perceived the problem as being that the Secretary of Transportation, and not the defendant, was the party who should be sued. [C.T., p. 373] We see the question as being one of exhaustion of administrative remedies. Should Inglewood be required to make an attempt to have the Secretary of Transportation enforce the grant agreements before a court should intervene? The plaintiffs cite the petition of Jordan A. Dreifus, FAA Regulatory Docket No. 9071 (July 10, 1969) as evidence of the fact that such an attempt would be futile. However, we find on page three of that order that    the FAA has, in fact, implemented Order 7110.13    with respect to the Santa Monica Airport, in cooperation with the City of Santa Monica. This is evidence that there may be profit in turning to the Secretary before attempting to sue the alleged malefactor in the courts. 32 We hold, therefore, that this is another matter which should be first presented in the district court, especially in light of the fact that in 1970 Congress passed the Airport and Airway Development and Revenue Acts of 1970, P.L. 91-258. Among other changes, this Act substituted the Secretary of Transportation for the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration as the person to whom the various assurances are to be made. We leave the task (of determining what effect this change or any other changes brought about by the new Act may have on the issue of exhaustion of administrative remedies) to the district court. 33 In light of the disposition we are making in this case, we should note that no attempt was made by Inglewood to base the jurisdiction of the district court under 49 U.S.C. sec. 1716(c) (3) and sec. 1718(4), on 28 U.S.C. sec. 1337. We do not express any opinion whether, on remand, an attempt to do so would be successful. See Aircraft Owners & Pilots Ass'n v. Port Authority of N. Y., 305 F.Supp. 93, 103 (E.D. N.Y. 1969). 34 In accordance with the foregoing opinion: (1) we affirm the dismissal of Count I as to the City of Inglewood, only; (2) we affirm the dismissals of Counts III, IV and VI of the Second Amended Complaint, as to all plaintiffs, upon the ground they involve matters subject to state court jurisdiction, which the federal courts are not required to hear; (3) we reverse the dismissal of Count II of the Second Amended Complaint, and Count V of the Third Amended Complaint, as to all plaintiffs, and remand for further consideration; (4) we reverse the dismissal of Count I of the Third Amended Complaint as to all plaintiffs except City of Inglewood, and remand to permit the remaining plaintiffs to attempt to plead the necessary individual amounts required to establish federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331.