Sutton v. U.S. Dept. of Transp.
| Decision Date | 24 October 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 1930,D,1930 |
| Parties | Paul R. SUTTON; Doris H. Sutton; Elwin Henderson; Robert Henderson; and Bernard S. Fullagar, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION; Federal Aviation Administration; Philip Brito, as Manager of the New York Airports District Office of the FAA; Louis P. Derose, Manager of the Airports Division of the FAA Eastern Region; the County of Yates, New York; the Yates County Legislature; and the Chairman of the Yates County Legislature, Defendants-Appellees. ocket 94-6085. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Anthony J. Adams, Jr., Davidson, Fink, Cook & Gates, Rochester, NY, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Richard A. Palumbo, Boylan, Brown, Code, Fowler & Wilson, Rochester, NY, for defendant-appellee Yates County.
Anne Van Graafeiland, Asst. U.S. Atty., W.D.N.Y., Rochester, NY (Patrick H. NeMoyer, U.S. Atty., W.D.N.Y., on the brief), for federal defendants-appellees.
Before: ALTIMARI, WALKER, and McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiffs-appellants Paul R. Sutton, Doris H. Sutton, Elwin Henderson, Robert Henderson, and Bernard S. Fullager (the "Plaintiffs") appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Telesca, C.J.) granting defendants-appellees' motions to dismiss the Plaintiffs' complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1486(a). The complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief from a decision of defendant-appellee Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") to approve and fund the Penn Yan Airport Expansion Project, made pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 701, et seq., the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321, et seq., the Airport and Airway Improvement Act ("AAIA"), 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 2201, et seq., and the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, 31 U.S.C. Sec. 6506. The district court held that because the Plaintiffs were seeking review of an FAA determination that was made in part pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Federal Aviation Act (the "Act"), 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1301, et seq., the courts of appeals had exclusive jurisdiction to review the agency action. See 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1486(a).
On appeal, the Plaintiffs contend that the district court erred in holding that it was without jurisdiction to hear the merits of the claims alleged in their complaint. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
This appeal centers on the Penn Yan Airport Expansion Project, which involves the construction of a 4,500 foot paved runway at the Penn Yan Airport. More than a decade ago, defendant-appellee Yates County (the "County") proposed to acquire an existing, privately owned airport for the purpose of operating a County general aviation airport. The County's proposal contemplated improvements to the airport, including the construction of a new runway. FAA regulations required the County to submit for approval, among other things, a proposed airport layout plan and an environmental assessment.
An airport layout plan depicts existing and proposed development projects and actions at an airport. The approval of an airport Several preliminary plans were prepared by the County and submitted to the FAA for review during the early 1980s. The project, however, was held in abeyance until 1989. In that year, the County re-examined the previously proposed project and prepared an airport layout plan as well as a draft environmental assessment. The draft environmental assessment was circulated for review and comment to several federal, state and local agencies including the FAA, to all interested parties, and other members of the public. In August 1990, a final environmental assessment was prepared by the County and circulated.
layout plan by the FAA is an agency determination, made pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Act as well as the AAIA, that the proposed development meets federal aviation design and safety standards. An environmental assessment examines the potential environmental impact of the contemplated airport layout plan on the human environment, as required by the NEPA, and provides an evaluation of possible alternative airport sites, runway alignments, and layouts.
On August 31, 1990, defendant-appellee Philip Brito, manager of the FAA New York Airport District Office, determined that the airport layout plan met all applicable FAA standards, and approved the airport layout plan for the Penn Yan Airport Expansion Project pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Act. The FAA's approval, however, imposed a condition that the proposed runway construction could not be undertaken without the written environmental approval of the FAA.
On May 3, 1991, the FAA determined that the proposed airport layout plan, including the runway construction, would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment and issued a finding of no significant impact on the environment. The FAA's finding of no significant impact documents essentially reiterated the contents of the County's environmental assessment. The FAA did not compile an independent environmental assessment of the airport expansion proposal. Thereafter, on May 8, 1991, the FAA issued its final approval of the airport layout plan, finding that the issuance of a finding of no significant impact fulfilled the condition imposed on August 31, 1990. This approval triggered the next step in the administrative process--the application by the County for federal funding. On September 5, 1991, the County submitted its project application to the FAA for federal grant assistance under the AAIA. On September 25, 1991, the FAA incorporated the project application into the grant agreement and awarded federal funding for 90% of the airport acquisition and airport layout plan expansion costs.
In January 1992, the Plaintiffs, five Yates County landowners, commenced an Article 78 proceeding in New York State Supreme Court against defendants-appellees Yates County, the Yates County Legislature, the Yates County Planning Board, various county officials, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the FAA (the "Defendants"), claiming principally that the manner in which the FAA adopted the environmental assessment, issued its finding of no significant impact based upon that environmental assessment, and approved funding violated the NEPA, the AAIA, and New York environmental law. The federal defendants were dismissed from the state court action by stipulation. Thereafter, the New York State Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the County from proceeding with the expansion project, and then issued a permanent injunction against the County halting the expansion project until an environmental assessment was completed that complied with state law.
Pursuant to the injunction, the County performed a revised environmental assessment. On February 10, 1994, the New York State Supreme Court vacated the permanent injunction, finding that the County's revised environmental assessment complied with state law. On February 14, 1994, the Yates County Legislature passed a resolution to proceed with the expansion project and solicited bids for construction contracts.
On March 11, 1994, the Plaintiffs commenced the instant action in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. While the complaint alleged violations of NEPA and AAIA, the gravamen of the action was the Plaintiffs' The Plaintiffs made a motion to this Court for a preliminary injunction pending appeal and an expedited appeal. On March 30, 1994, this Court denied the motion as to the injunction, but granted the motion as to the expedited appeal. On May 6, 1994, we heard oral argument on this expedited appeal. In view of the urgency of this appeal, we issued a decision from the bench that affirmed the district court's judgment and stated that this opinion would follow.
claim that the FAA improperly approved funding for the Penn Yan Airport Expansion Project upon a finding of no significant impact without first performing pertinent environmental analyses and preparing an environmental impact statement. By Order to Show Cause, the Plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction enjoining the Defendants from proceeding with the airport project. The Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), claiming that review of the disputed FAA decision is vested exclusively with the courts of appeals. On March 23, 1994, the district court dismissed the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Plaintiffs then moved for reargument, or in the alternative, for an Order staying the County from proceeding with the project pending appeal. The district court denied the motion, and the Plaintiffs moved to appeal.
On appeal, the Plaintiffs challenge the district court's dismissal of the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1486(a). The district court held that because the Plaintiffs were seeking review of an FAA determination that was made, at least in part, pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Act, the courts of appeals had exclusive jurisdiction to review the agency action. We review de novo the district court's decision to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. See Seetransport Wiking Trader Schiffarhtsgesellschaft MBH & Co., Kommanditgesellschaft v. Navimpex Centrala Navala, 989 F.2d 572, 580 (2d Cir.1993).
The courts of appeals are vested with exclusive jurisdiction to review decisions rendered by the FAA pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Federal Aviation Act. See 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1486. Specifically, 49 U.S.C.App. Sec. 1486(a) states in relevant part:
Any order, affirmative or negative, issued by the Board or Secretary of Transportation under [Chapter 20] ... shall be subject to review by the courts of appeals of the...
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