TagCATEX(24)

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.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unpublished memorandum decision in City of Burien v. Daniel K. Elwell and Federal Aviation Administration, No. 18-71705, filed November 27, 2019. The court partially agreed with Burien that the FAA acted arbitrarily and capriciously under NEPA (42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq.) by approving the ‘Burien 250 Turn’ procedure —

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals partly sided with the City of Burien in its challenge against the FAA's approval of a flight procedure that routes low-flying turboprop planes westward over Burien after takeoff from Seattle-Tacoma Airport. The court found that the FAA acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to consider all reasonably foreseeable future actions at Sea-Tac when evaluating whether the procedure's cumulative environmental and noise impacts required a full environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FAA had attempted to exempt the procedure from such review by classifying it as a 'categorical exclusion,' but the court determined that the agency's cumulative impacts analysis was incomplete.

This 2018 FAA memorandum explains how a special environmental review shortcut—called a Categorical Exclusion (CATEX 1)—can be used to streamline approval of certain GPS-based flight procedures (RNAV/RNP) at major airports, including core hub airports like Sea-Tac, without requiring a full environmental impact study. The exclusion applies unless officials determine that extraordinary circumstances exist that could cause significant environmental harm, such as notable noise impacts on surrounding communities. Specific documentation and approval from FAA environmental and legal offices are required before the exclusion can be applied.

This document presents a community challenge to the FAA's environmental review (CATEX) of new flight routes near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, arguing that the FAA's own noise analyses show significant noise increases in the surrounding General Study Area that exceed the agency's own significance thresholds. The authors contend that the FAA could not rely on the outdated 2013-2018 Port of Seattle Part 150 noise study, and that the FAA's independent analyses revealed noise level jumps ranging from 5.2% to nearly 60% across various decibel contours. The document concludes that the FAA's declaration of 'no noise impacts' is implausible given data showing that portions of previously quiet neighborhoods now experience non-compatible land use noise levels above 65 dB DNL.

In April 2018, the FAA issued a Categorical Exclusion allowing Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's control tower (SEA ATCT) to automatically direct southbound turboprop aircraft to turn westward to a 250-degree heading within one nautical mile of the runway end, rather than waiting for the Seattle TRACON radar facility to issue the turn after takeoff. This procedural change, active between 6 am and 10 pm during north-flow operations, was designed to improve safety and efficiency by reducing delays in aircraft transitioning to their filed flight routes. The FAA determined the action would not significantly increase noise over sensitive areas and therefore required no further environmental review beyond this Categorical Exclusion.

This April 2018 Federal Aviation Administration document describes a proposed procedural change at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to automatically direct southbound turboprop aircraft to a 250-degree westerly heading during north-flow operations between 6 am and 10 pm, rather than requiring air traffic controllers to manually coordinate each turn. The nighttime hours of 10 pm to 6 am were excluded from the automatic turn procedure in response to community concerns from the City of Burien and other residents about flight noise over sensitive areas. The document evaluates this preferred alternative alongside other options, including changes to heading angles and missed approach procedures, which were ultimately eliminated due to safety and airspace separation requirements.