Stewart Park & Reserve Coalition v. Slater

• Decision Date: 12 December 2003
• Docket Number: Docket No. 02-6272.
• Citation: 352 F.3d 545
• Parties: STEWART PARK AND RESERVE COALITION, INCORPORATED (SPARC), Orange County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Inc., Sierra Club, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Rodney E. SLATER, as United States Secretary of Transportation, United States Department of Transportation, Kenneth R. Wykle, as Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Harold J. Brown, as New York Division Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Louis R. Tomson, as Chairman of the New York State Thruway Authority, New York State Thruway Authority, Joseph Boardman, as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation, New York State Department of Transportation, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

352 F.3d 545

STEWART PARK AND RESERVE COALITION, INCORPORATED (SPARC), Orange County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Inc., Sierra Club, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Rodney E. SLATER, as United States Secretary of Transportation, United States Department of Transportation, Kenneth R. Wykle, as Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Harold J. Brown, as New York Division Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Louis R. Tomson, as Chairman of the New York State Thruway Authority, New York State Thruway Authority, Joseph Boardman, as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation, New York State Department of Transportation, Defendants-Appellees.

Docket No. 02-6272.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: April 29, 2003.

Decided: December 12, 2003.

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JOHN W. CAFFRY, ESQ., Glens Falls, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

JAMES C. WOODS, Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Albany, N.Y. (Glenn T. Suddaby, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Kenneth Dymond, Assistant Regional Counsel, Federal Highway Administration, on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees Rodney E. Slater, United States Department of Transportation, Kenneth R. Wylke, and Federal Highway Administration.

LISA M. BURIANEK, Assistant Attorney General of the State of New York, Albany, N.Y. (Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York, Marion R. Buchbinder, Assistant Solicitor General, Daniel Chepaitis, Assistant Solicitor General, on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees Louis R. Tomson, New York State Thruway Authority, Joseph H. Boardman, and New York State Department of Transportation.

RICHARD B. GOLDEN, Burke, Miele & Golden, LLP, Goshen, NY, for Amicus Curiae Stewart Regional Alliance.

Before: VAN GRAAFEILAND, MINER and POOLER, Circuit Judges.

Judge VAN GRAAFEILAND dissents in part in a separate opinion.

MINER, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiffs-appellants commenced the action giving rise to this appeal seeking a declaration that defendants-appellees had violated various federal and state environmental and transportation laws in approving a proposed project to construct an interchange connecting an interstate highway to an airport. On cross motions for summary judgment, the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Treece, M.J.)¹ dismissed the action upon a finding that defendants-appellees had complied with all relevant federal and state laws. See Stewart Park & Reserve Coalition, Inc. v. Slater, 225 F.Supp.2d 219 (N.D.N.Y.2002) ("SPARC I").

The principal question we must answer in this appeal is whether the publicly owned properties surrounding the airport, which for almost thirty years have been made available to the public for use as a park, are "parklands" subject to the protections of Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. § 303(c), notwithstanding the fact they were never permanently designated as such. Defendants-appellees concluded that they were not and consequently failed to perform the required analysis set forth in Section 4(f) before approving the proposed construction of the interchange, which was to traverse these properties. Because we find that defendants-appellees' interpretation of Section 4(f) is not supported by the plain meaning or legislative history of the statute, we conclude that their interpretation of Section 4(f) is unreasonable and not entitled to deference and that they should have performed the analysis set forth in Section 4(f) before approving the proposed construction of the interchange. We therefore reverse the District Court's summary judgment to the extent that it dismissed plaintiffs-appellants' claim that defendants-appellees were required to perform the analysis set forth in Section 4(f), and remand the case to the District Court for proceedings consistent with this opinion. Additionally, for the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the District Court in all other respects.

BACKGROUND

The undisputed facts giving rise to this appeal are set forth in the District Court's comprehensive published opinion, see SPARC 1, 225 F.Supp.2d 219, familiarity with which is assumed. We therefore summarize below only those facts and proceedings relevant to the present appeal.

I. Development History of Stewart International Airport and the Surrounding Area

In 1969, the United States transferred ownership of the Stewart Air Force Base (consisting of 1552 acres) to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority ("MTA"). The MTA acquired the property with the intention to create Stewart International Airport as a fourth major airport to service the New York City metropolitan area. To that end, the property adjacent to the airbase was identified as necessary for transportation purposes, including airport access and expansion, as well as compliance with Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") requirements. In 1971, the New York State Legislature authorized defendant-appellee New York State Department of Transportation ("NYSDOT") to acquire 8675 acres of land adjacent to, and in the vicinity of, the airbase for airport expansion purposes ("Stewart Buffer Lands") on behalf of the MTA.

In 1974, MTA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("NYSDEC") executed a revocable management agreement pursuant to which NYSDEC would manage about 7000 acres of the Stewart Buffer Lands on behalf of MTA. The agreement, which was terminable upon sixty days' notice, permitted interim use of the Stewart Buffer Lands for hunting, fishing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. This area became known as the Stewart Airport Cooperative Hunting Area. In 1982, jurisdiction over Stewart International Airport, including the Stewart Buffer Lands and the Crestview Lake property (which was located on the original airport property), was transferred from MTA to NYSDOT, which chose to continue management of the property through NYSDEC. In 1982, the Town of New Windsor entered into a revocable license agreement with NYSDOT that allowed the Town to operate the Crestview Lake property as the Charles Martin Recreation Facility pending airport expansion. Since then, the Town and its residents have used this facility for swimming, picnicking, tennis, boating, and fishing. The formal license expired in April 2002.

For almost thirty years, the Stewart Buffer Lands have been heavily used for hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, birdwatching, horseback riding, and numerous other outdoor pursuits. Hunting alone results in several thousand visits per year. Indeed, NYSDEC adopted regulations for the use of these lands entitled "Public Use in the Stewart Airport Cooperator Area," see N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 6, pt. 92, and issued annual reports on usage levels.

II. The Interchange Construction Project

In 1991, the New York State Legislature directed defendant-appellee New York State Thruway Authority ("NYSTA") to acquire Interstate Highway 84 ("I-84"). The Legislature transferred ownership of the New York portion of I-84 from the State and NYSDOT to NYSTA, effective March 19, 1992. In 1992, the Legislature directed NYSTA to undertake a project to provide direct access to Stewart International Airport from I-84 to relieve traffic congestion to and from the airport on local roads.² Accordingly, in 1992, NYSDOT proposed a series of three new I-84 interchanges at Drury Lane, Barron Road, and Ridge Road, with development nodes along each corridor. During that same year NYSDOT and defendant-appellee United States Department of Transportation ("DOT") issued a final Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") analyzing these and other proposals for the development of Stewart International Airport.

During the comment period on the 1992 EIS, the United States Department of the Interior ("DOI") submitted comments in which it indicated that it did "not entirely agree" with a determination made by FAA that the Stewart Buffer Lands were not subject to Section 4(f) protection because the use of the properties as a hunting cooperative was "permitted under an agreement that recognize[d] such use as an interim use which [could] be terminated upon 60 days['] notice." According to DOI, "[f]or all practical purposes, the [properties were] now a significant publicly-owned recreation and wildlife management area, and they [were] likely, in part at least, to remain so in the future." DOT's response to DOI's comments in the 1992 final EIS disagreed with DOI's conclusion that the Stewart Buffer Lands were subject to Section 4(f) protection. In particular, the 1992 EIS cited to a provision in FAA's Airport Environmental Handbook, which "clearly state[d] that where property is owned by and currently designated for use by a transportation agency and a park or recreation use of the land is being made only on an interim basis, a Section 4(f) determination is not required." Thus, "[t]he fact that the agreement between NYSDOT and NYSDEC was intended to and [did] set up an interim use and that the land covered by the agreement was acquired for transportation purposes and continue[d] to be held for transportation purposes, clearly indicate[d] that the [Stewart Buffer Lands were] not subject to protection under Section 4(f)."

The proposed development projects were never implemented, however, due to intervening events, including: (i) the privatization of Stewart International Airport; and (ii) the permanent transfer of 5264 acres of the Stewart Buffer Lands from NYSDOT to NYSDEC jurisdiction for restoration purposes (which included "recreation and kindred purposes," see N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 9-0501(1)). Consequently, the 1992 EIS became obsolete. Because of these changed circumstances, in the mid-1990s, NYSTA and NYSDOT (collectively, "State Defendants"), together with DOT and the Federal Highway...