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City of Burien v. Elwell: Ninth Circuit Memorandum on FAA NEPA Compliance for Sea-Tac 250 Turn Procedure

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CATEX 250 Turn

The City of Burien challenged the FAA's approval of a flight procedure that automatically routes southbound turboprop planes westward after takeoff from Seattle-Tacoma Airport, concentrating low-flying aircraft noise over the city. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the FAA acted improperly by failing to consider all reasonably foreseeable future actions at Sea-Tac when it assessed whether the procedure's cumulative environmental and noise impacts warranted a full environmental review. The court agreed with Burien that the FAA's use of a categorical exclusion to bypass that review was arbitrary and capricious under the National Environmental Policy Act.

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Notes

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals memorandum (No. 18-71705) filed November 27, 2019, in City of Burien v. Daniel K. Elwell (FAA Acting Administrator). The City of Burien challenges the FAA’s approval of a procedure automating westward turns for southbound turboprops departing Sea-Tac Airport (KSEA) under certain wind conditions — the so-called ‘250 Turn’ — which concentrates low-flying aircraft over Burien after takeoff. The court finds the FAA acted arbitrarily and capriciously under NEPA (42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq.) by failing to consider all reasonably foreseeable future actions at Sea-Tac in its cumulative impacts analysis (40 C.F.R. § 1508.7) before applying categorical exclusion (CATEX) FAA Order 1050.1F ¶ 5-6.5i. Judges Ikuta, Bennett, and Rakoff (S.D.N.Y. by designation) partially agree with Burien’s arbitrary-and-capricious arguments.

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