The cities of Des Moines, SeaTac and Burien this week asked a federal appeals court to review a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) decision that cleared a package of expansion projects at Sea-Tac Airport with a finding of no significant environmental impact, according to newly filed court papers.
In a petition for review filed Nov. 24 in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the three neighboring cities challenge a September decision in which the FAA issued what it calls a “Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision for the Sustainable Airport Master Plan Near Term Projects at the Seattle Tacoma International Airport” (read our previous coverage here).
The case is docketed as City of Burien, City of Des Moines, and City of SeaTac v. Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation and federal officials named in their official capacities. The petition cites a federal statute that allows people or local governments affected by an FAA order to seek review in the District of Columbia Circuit or in the regional circuit where they are located.
The filing notes that the cities are within the Ninth Circuit and says the petition meets the sixty day deadline because the sixtieth day after the Sept. 24 decision fell on a Sunday, which extended the deadline to Monday Nov. 24 under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.
The FAA decision at issue approves a group of what it calls near-term projects at Sea-Tac Airport, including airfield changes, terminal and gate construction, cargo facilities, roadway modifications, parking structures, fuel storage and support buildings. Those projects were analyzed in a Final Environmental Assessment completed in September that concluded the work would not cause significant impacts to air quality, noise, water, wetlands, cultural resources or surrounding land uses when mitigation is applied.
According to the FAA document, the airport sits primarily in the city of SeaTac and the study area for the near term projects includes parts of Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, Tukwila and unincorporated King County, where neighborhoods already experience airport related noise and traffic.
The FAA found that future noise from the projects would expand the area inside the sixty five decibel day night average sound level contour but would not cross the federal significance threshold when compared with the no action alternative.
The agency also determined that surface traffic effects at key intersections could be reduced to below significant levels through mitigation coordinated with local governments.
The petition filed by the three cities asks the Ninth Circuit to review the FAA order but does not in the opening pages specify the remedies they will seek.
Further legal briefing will outline their arguments and the agency’s response as the case proceeds.
