Volpe v. Federation of Civic Associations

• Decision Date: 27 March 1972
• Docket Number: No. 71-931,71-931
• Citation: 92 S.Ct. 1290,31 L.Ed.2d 489,405 U.S. 1030
• Parties: John A. VOLPE v. D. C. FEDERATION OF CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

405 U.S. 1030

92 S.Ct. 1290

31 L.Ed.2d 489

John A. VOLPE

v D. C. FEDERATION OF CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS.

No. 71-931.

March 27, 1972

On petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER, concurring.

I concur in the denial of certiorari in this case, but solely out of considerations of timing.Questions of great importance to the Washington D.C., area are presented by the petition, not the least of which is whether the Court of appeals has, for a second time, unjustifiably frustrated the efforts of the Executive Branch to comply with the will of Congress as rather clearly expressed in § 23 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968, 82 Stat. 827.^*If we were to grant the writ, however, it would be almost a year before we could render a decision in the case.It seems preferable, therefore, that we stay our hand.In these circumstancesCongress may, of course, take any further legislative action it deems necessary to make unmistakably clear its intentions with respect to the project, even to the point of limiting or prohibiting judicial review of its directives in this respect.

*Certain of the provisions of § 23 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 were apparently enacted in response to the decision in D.C. Federation of Civic Assns., Inc. v. Airis, 129 U.S. App. D.C. 125, 391 F. 2d 478, in which it was held that the planning and construction of this project had to be carried out in strict compliance with the procedural requirements of Title 7 of the D.C. Code.Section 23(a) of the Act provides that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of law, or any court decisions ... to the contrary, the Secretary of Transportation and the government of the District of Columbiashall ... construct" certain specified "routes on the Interstate System within the District of Columbia."(Emphasis added.)...