State by Minnesota Public Lobby v. Metropolitan Airports Com'n

• Decision Date: 05 August 1994
• Docket Number: No. C9-93-854,C9-93-854
• Citation: 520 N.W.2d 388
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota by MINNESOTA PUBLIC LOBBY and by South Metro Airport Action Council, Respondent, v. METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMISSION, Petitioner, Appellant, and Air Transport Association of America, Intervenor, Petitioner, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 388

520 N.W.2d 388

STATE of Minnesota by MINNESOTA PUBLIC LOBBY and by South Metro Airport Action Council, Respondent, v. METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMISSION, Petitioner, Appellant and Air Transport Association of America, Intervenor Petitioner, Appellant.

No. C9-93-854.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Aug. 5, 1994.

Syllabus by the Court

1. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's noise standards set forth at Minn.R. Secs. 7010.0040-.0080 (1991) as applied to the Metropolitan Airports Commission are preempted by federal law.

Michael Berens, Kelly & Berens, Minneapolis, and Jonathan H. Bloomberg, Lucinda E. Jesson, Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly, St. Paul, and Thomas W. Anderson, Gen. Counsel, Metropolitan Airports Com'n, Minneapolis, for Metro. Airports Comm.

Thomas Tinkham, Paul B. Klass, Jean F. Holloway, Creighton R. Magid, Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, for Air Transport Assoc. of America.

Thomas H. Goodman, Jordan M. Lewis, Siegel, Brill, et al., Minneapolis, for respondent.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., Eldon G. Kaul, Lisa R. Tiegel, Asst. Attys. Gen., St. Paul, for amicus curiae State of MN.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

PAGE, Justice.

In this case, we are asked to determine whether the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) noise standards are preempted by federal law as applied to the Metropolitan Airports Commission's (MAC) operation of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). Two nonprofit organizations, Minnesota Public Lobby (MPL) and South Metro Airport Action Council (SMAAC), brought this action in the name of the State of Minnesota ¹ seeking to require the MAC to comply with the MPCA's noise pollution standards set forth at Minn.R. Secs. 7010.0040-.0080 ("noise standards"). ²

The MAC is a public corporation formed under Minn.Stat. Secs. 473.601-.679 (1992). The MAC's responsibilities include the promotion of air navigation and transportation in the state along with "minim[izing] environmental impact from air navigation and transportation, and to that end provid[ing] for noise abatement, control of airport area land use, and other protective measures." Minn.Stat. Sec. 473.602, subd. 2. The MAC has the "use, management, operation, regulation, policing, and control of any or all airports owned by either the city of Minneapolis or St. Paul * * *." Minn.Stat. Sec. 473.621, subd. 2. The MAC can sue and be sued, acquire rights or easements, adopt ordinances, construct and equip new airports, manage airports, and acquire property through eminent domain. Minn.Stat. Sec. 473.608.

The noise standards, promulgated in 1974, pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 116.07 (1992), define maximum permissible noise and apply to all "persons," including public corporations, unless exempted by Minn.Stat. Sec. 116.07, subd. 2a. Minn.R. Sec. 7010.0030. The MAC is not exempted by Minn.Stat. Sec. 116.07, subd. 2a. The standards divide land into three "Noise Area Classifications" and create limits on noise pollution for each classification. Minn.R. Secs. 7010.0040-.0050. Most of the area surrounding the MSP falls within Classification 1, which has the strictest requirements and applies to areas where people have an expectation of peace and quiet such as residential areas. The standards set a maximum noise level for daytime and nighttime which may not be exceeded for more than a certain portion of each hour. A variance may be sought and if "the agency finds that by reason of exceptional circumstances strict conformity with any provisions of any noise rule would cause undue hardship, would be unreasonable, impractical, or not feasible under the circumstances, the agency may permit a variance * * *." Minn.R. Sec. 7010.0080.

Respondents MPL/SMAAC commenced this declaratory judgment action seeking an order (1) declaring that the noise standards set forth at Minn.R. Sec. 7010.0040 apply to the MAC and that the MAC is in violation of the noise standards; (2) enjoining the MAC from continuing to violate the noise standards; and (3) compelling the MAC to implement a plan to comply with the noise standards. In its answer, the MAC admitted aircraft operations at MSP are not in compliance with the noise standards, but asserted among other defenses that the noise standards do not apply to aircraft operations at MSP by virtue of the doctrine of federal preemption.

The parties brought cross-motions for summary judgment. MPL/SMAAC argued that no factual issues existed which would preclude summary judgment in their favor because the MAC admitted being in violation of the noise standards, and therefore, the court could resolve the issue by ruling that the standards apply to the MAC. The MAC argued it was entitled to summary judgment on three grounds: (1) the issues in the case were political questions; (2) federal law preempts the noise standards; and (3) the standards cannot be enforced because they are outside the enabling legislation of the MPCA.

A hearing on the motions was held before Hennepin County District Court Judge Pamela G. Alexander. At the hearing, the Air Transport Association of America (ATA), a non-profit association of federally certified air carriers, sought and was granted permission to intervene pursuant to Minn.R.Civ.P. 24. The ATA supported the MAC's position that the MPCA noise standards as applied to aircraft operations at MSP are preempted by federal law. By order dated January 28, 1993, Judge Alexander denied MPL/SMAAC's motion, and granted the MAC's motion in its entirety holding that the noise standards were preempted by federal law because they could not be enforced "without substantially impacting operations at MSP." The district court followed the reasoning set out by the Supreme Court in City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc., 411 U.S. 624, 93 S.Ct. 1854, 36 L.Ed.2d 547 (1973), which invalidated attempts by airport non-proprietors to regulate airport noise and made clear that noise abatement regulations which impinge on aircraft operations are preempted by federal law. The district court found that the only way the MAC could comply with the standards would be to either substantially reduce aircraft operations at MSP, "convert much of South Minneapolis and Richfield to nonresidential areas," or move the airport.

The court of appeals reversed the district court and instead granted summary judgment to MPL/SMAAC declaring that the noise standards apply to the MAC. State by Minnesota Public Lobby v. Metropolitan Airport Comm'n, 507 N.W.2d 19 (Minn.App.1993). The court of appeals, interpreting Burbank and subsequent federal cases, concluded that a state, even though a nonproprietor, has some authority to control airport noise, although it may not enact regulations which "purport to control aircraft flight." The court of appeals stated:

Because the state noise standards do not purport to control aircraft flight or operations and need not be so applied, they are not preempted by federal law. It is possible that enforcement of the noise standards will result in a claim that specific applications of the noise standards constitute attempts to achieve control over aircraft flight at MSP airport. No such issue is before us, however. As in Crotti, consideration of the validity of enforcement of the state noise control standards against MAC and MSP must await another day.

Id. at 24.

We granted the MAC's and ATA's petitions for further review. We reverse.

The issue is whether federal law preempts the MPCA's noise standards as applied to the MAC. Preemption can be express or implied, and where it is implied "congressional intent to do so must be clearly inferred, either from the extent of federal involvement or from the scope of the federal interest; and even then the state will be preempted only to the extent that state regulation 'actually conflicts' with federal law." Forester v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 437 N.W.2d 655, 658 (Minn.1989).

The Supreme Court considered whether state regulation of aircraft noise is preempted by federal law in Burbank, 411 U.S. 624, 93 S.Ct. 1854, 36 L.Ed.2d 547 (1973). In Burbank, the city enacted an ordinance which imposed a curfew on airplane takeoffs. Although the Noise Control Act of 1972, 49 U.S.C. Sec. 1431 (Supp.II 1970), included no express preemption provision, the Court struck down the curfew ordinance reasoning that the Noise Control Act "reaffirms and reinforces the conclusion that FAA, now in conjunction with EPA, has full control over aircraft noise, pre-empting state and local control." Id. at 633, 93 S.Ct. at 1859. ³ The Court reasoned that "the pervasive nature of the scheme of federal regulation of aircraft noise" indicated Congressional intent to preempt the states in this area. Id. at 633, 93 S.Ct. at 1859. The Court, quoting Northwest Airlines Inc. v. Minnesota, 322 U.S. 292, 303, 64 S.Ct. 950, 956, 88 L.Ed. 1283 (1944), stated:

Federal control is intensive and exclusive. Planes do not wander about in the sky like vagrant clouds. They move only by federal permission, subject to federal inspection, in the hands of federally certified personnel and under an intricate system of federal commands. The moment a ship taxis onto a runway it is caught up in an elaborate and detailed system of controls.

Id. at 633-34, 93 S.Ct. at 1860. The Court realized "[c]ontrol of noise is of course deep- seated in the police power of the states," but read the Noise Control Act as leaving "no room for local curfews or other local controls." Id. at 638, 93 S.Ct. at 1862. "[F]ractionalized control of * * * takeoffs and landings would severely limit the flexibility of FAA in controlling air traffic flow," and "[t]he difficult[y] of scheduling flights to avoid congestion and the concomitant decrease in safety would be compounded." Id. at 639, 93 S.Ct. at 1862. Federal courts have subsequently struck down regulations of nonproprietor municipalities imposing curfews and prescribing air traffic patterns. See Pirolo...