Notes
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals published opinion in Codoni v. Port of Seattle, No. 25-2830 (D.C. No. 2:23-cv-00795-JNW), filed September 23, 2026, authored by Judge Paez, reversing the Western District of Washington (Judge Jamal N. Whitehead) denial of defendants’ motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs Cindy Codoni, Michelle Geer, Horace Cathcart, Amy France, and Tamara Chakos, residents living beneath takeoff and landing paths at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, sued Port of Seattle, Alaska Air Group, Inc., and Delta Air Lines, Inc. alleging state tort and constitutional claims for pollution from aircraft emissions (particulate matter). The panel held that (1) the collateral attack doctrine did not deprive the district court of jurisdiction because defendants could not identify specific agency orders necessarily implicated; and (2) plaintiffs’ state law claims were expressly preempted by Section 233 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7573, prohibiting states from enforcing aircraft emission standards not identical to EPA standards, and plaintiffs’ complaint contained no allegation that defendants violated federal law. Counsel included Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP for plaintiffs and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP for defendants.