Opinion ID: 768702
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Transportation Act 4(f) Issues

Text: 32 A. Section 4(f) of the Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. 303(c), requires that the FAA take certain measures if it determines that a transportation project will use natural and historic resources protected by the statute. The St. Charles petitioners argue that the FAA's decision violates 4(f) because the noise impacts of Alternative W-1W will constitute a use of St. Charles's unique Historic District. The FAA rejected this contention because the Goldenrod Showboat and Frontier Park lie outside the 65 dB noise contour and therefore will not be significantly impacted by the project. 33 Although noise can constitute a use for 4(f) purposes, no use occurs where an action will have only an insignificant effect on the existing use of protected lands. Allison v. Deparment of Transp., 908 F.2d 1024, 1028 (D.C. Cir. 1990). The FAA's guidelines for determining significant noise impact are found in the Part 150 Noise Compatibility Program, 14 C.F.R. 150 et seq. These guidelines were developed to satisfy the mandate that the agency establish a single system of measuring noise that can be uniformly applied at airports and surrounding areas. 49 U.S.C. 47502(1). In brief, the regulations require airport operators to measure in decibels the yearly day-night average noise level (symbolized as L dn ) at various points near the airport. 5 The operator drafts a noise contour map, connecting points of equal noise exposure. The regulations require contour lines marking 65, 70, and 75 L dn and anticipate that additional contour lines may be appropriate. See 14 C.F.R. 150, app. A, part B,. A150.101. The operator identifies the uses to which land within the 65 L dn contour is put and uses Part 150's land use compatibility table to determine whether each land use is compatible with the noise level to which it will be exposed. For instance, the table provides that an L dn of 65-70 dB is incompatible with the operation of a school. 34 The land use compatibility table provides that all the listed categories of use are compatible with an L dn below 65 dB without restrictions. The implicit conclusion is that an average noise level below L dn 65 dB would not amount to a use of any property whose protected use is fairly encompassed by the compatibility table. Allison, 908 F.2d at 1029; accord City of Grapevine v. Department of Transp., 17 F.3d 1502, 1507-08 (D.C. Cir), cert. denied., 513 U.S. 1043 (1994); Communities, Inc. v. Busey, 956 F.2d 619, 623-25 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 953 (1992). Therein lies the basis of the St. Charles attack. The FAA's reliance on its Part 150 analysis is flawed, petitioners argue, because the St. Charles Historic District is a protected use unlike any of the uses set forth in the Part 150 compatibility table. There is support for this theory in Allison, 908 F.2d at 1029, where the court concluded that the impact of noise on the kinds of land uses listed in Part 150 bears little or no relation to the effect of noise on a wildlife refuge, and further support in dicta in Grapevine, where the court posited that the L dn 65 dB standard might not adequately protect an historic village preserved specifically in order to convey the atmosphere of rural life in an earlier (and presumably a quieter) century, 17 F.3d at 1508. 35 The problem with the theory in this case is that St. Charles's Historic District is not a wildlife refuge or a rustic village. Its uses do find reasonable parallels in the Part 150 compatibility table, for example, the subcategories for auditoriums, concert halls, outdoor music shells, amphitheaters, nature exhibits, zoos, parks, resorts, and golf courses. The FAA does not deny that the Historic District's cultural events, musical festivals, and historic floating theater are worthy of 4(f) protection. But the agency. notes that the District is located just off Interstate 70, permits automobile traffic on its one main street, and includes numerous bars, restaurants, and retail shops. We conclude the FAA was not arbitrary and capricious in applying its Part 150 analysis to determinine that Alternative W-1W will not constitute a 4(f) use of the St. Charles Historic District. 36 B. The City of Bridgeton raises different 4(f) issues, arguing the FAA violated the statute in approving Alternative W-1W because of the parks and historic properties in Bridgeton that will be destroyed or constructively used by this airport expansion. 37 1. Section 4(f)(1) provides that the FAA may not approve a transportation project that will use a public park or historic site unless there is no prudent and feasible alternative to using that land. 49 U.S.C. 303(c)(1). Bridgeton attacks the FAA's reliance on its NEPA alternatives analysis in concluding that Alternatives N-1, NE-1, NE-1a, and C-1 are not prudent and feasible alternatives to the use of protected 4(f) resources which Alternative W-1W will entail. In reviewing this contention, we must determine whether the Secretary reasonably believed that . . . there are no feasible alternatives or that alternatives do involve unique problems. Applying the arbitrary and capricious standard of review, we must consider whether the decision was based on a consideration of the relevant factors and whether there has been a clear error of judgment. Overton Park, 401 U.S. at 416. 38 The alternatives analyses under NEPA and 4(f) are not precisely the same -- an alternative is imprudent under section 4(f)(1) if it does not meet the transportation needs of a project. Burlington, 938 F.2d at 203. However, the analyses are similar in that an alternative that does not effectuate the project's purposes is, by definition, unreasonable, and need not be evaluated in detail under 4(f). Ringsred v. Dole, 828 F.2d 1300, 1304 (8th Cir. 1987). In this case, as we have explained, the FAA. eliminated Alternatives N-1, NE-1, NE-1a, and Alternative C-1 because they would not meet the project's transportation purposes and needs -- increased capacity, reduced delays, and continued hubbing. Thus, the agency reasonably concluded these were not feasible and prudent alternatives for 4(f) purposes. 39 2. The FAA determined that both of the feasible and prudent alternatives, S-1 and W-1W, will use 4(f) resources. In this situation, a project must include[] all possible planning to minimize harm to the park, recreation area, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, or historic site resulting from the use. 49 U.S.C. 303(c)(2). In reviewing an agency's choice among feasible and prudent alternatives, we again apply the arbitrary and capricious standard of review. See Concerned Citizens Alliance, Inc. v. Slater, 176 F.3d 686, 694 (3rd Cir. 1999). 40 Bridgeton argues the FAA was arbitrary and capricious in selecting W-1W over S-1 because S-1 is the less harmful alternative. We disagree for a number of reasons. First, while 4(f)(2) surely requires the FAA to make a comparative 4(f) analysis when there are multiple feasible alternatives, we doubt whether the statute mandates a rigid least-harm standard in airport expansion cases. Such a reading might well conflict with the congressional mandate that airport construction and improvement projects that increase the capacity of facilities to accommodate passenger and cargo traffic be undertaken to the maximum feasible extent so that safety and efficiency increase and delays decrease. 49 U.S.C. 47101(a)(7). 41 Second, the FAA did an extensive comparative 4(f) analysis and concluded that Alternative W-1W will have less impact on parks and wetlands than Alternative S-1 (36 acres versus 68 acres directly affected). Bridgeton quarrels unpersuasively with these findings, arguing the FAA gave parks in the communities affected by S-1 too much protection by presuming that all parks are significant despite the absence of a declaration to that effect by the relevant local authority referred to in 49 U.S.C. 303(c). This contention is without merit. It is perfectly appropriate, indeed environmentally sound, for the FAA to presume that land used as a public park is . . . 'significant' unless explicitly determined otherwise. Arlington Coalition on Transportation v. Volpe, 458 F.2d 1323, 1335-36 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1000 (1972) (reversing the Secretary for presuming otherwise). 42 Bridgeton criticizes the FAA for treating 4(f) resources as fungible, thereby placing undue emphasis on easily replaceable neighborhood parks and not enough emphasis on the five irreplaceable historic sites that lie in the path of Alternative W-1W's construction. The various studies in the record confirm that W-1W would affect historic sites in Bridgeton, while S-1 would have a greater impact on parks in other communities. However, the FAA did far more than merely total up the acres and make a superficial 4(f)(2) decision. The agency catalogued in detail the nature of each property that would be affected under both alternatives. It discussed each site's location, its size, its function, its significance, the activities associated with it, and the degree to which it would be adversely affected. And most significantly, the agency developed detailed plans to avoid, reduce, or mitigate adverse 4(f) impacts, including, with regard to historic properties, a Memorandum of Agreement with interested parties such as the Missouri State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. (Bridgeton declined to enter into that Agreement.) 43 FAA selected W-1W as its preferred alternative, despite S-1's operational advantages, in large part because W-1W was environmentally superior and had less severe impacts on resources protected under special purpose laws, including 4(f). Our review of the record reveals that the FAA based this decision on the relevant factors and an appropriate 4(f) analysis. The decision was not arbitrary or capricious. 44