After three years of misery and sleep loss, residents in the Phoenix area may finally see some relief. This Judgment was just announced:
Using the only legal recourse available to those impacted by FAA’s NextGen implementations, both the City of Phoenix and historic neighborhoods filed a Petition for Review at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. FAA lawyers, aided by attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice, delayed and wrangled for dismissals. It took nearly two years to get the case argued; that happened on March 17, before Judges Griffith, Rogers, and Sentelle. (Click here to go to the USCADC website, where you can read the bios for each judge.)
Nearly six months later, finally, the Judges issued their decision: for the people, and against the FAA. Here’s a copy:
Click on the image below for a scrollable view; the PDF file may be downloaded
The Opinion found that FAA was arbitrary and capricious, and in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of Transportation Act, and the FAA’s Order 1050.1E.
This Decision deserves careful study by all of us who are increasingly impacted, across the nation, by FAA’s brutally impactful NextGen implementations. City officials and airport authorities need to take notice: quit telling everyone that nothing can be done; instead, start advocating for health, quality of life, and real local control at these airports.
See also:
- FAA’s NextGen in Phoenix: Two Years, Zero Relief – 9/18/2016
- NextGen: A Formal Complaint by Phoenix Neighborhoods – 10/30/2015
- GIGO: Lessons Learned from FAA’s Bad NextGen Deployment at Phoenix – 6/24/2015
- City of Phoenix Files Lawsuit Against FAA’s NextGen Implementation – 6/1/2015
- A Closer Look at How FAA is ‘Tone-Deaf’ on NextGen Noise Impacts – 4/18/2015
- [IMPACT]: Loud in Laveen – 3/23/2015
- Video of Regional Administrator Glen Martin, Pausing in Disbelief While Reading FAA’s Written Statement to the People of Phoenix – 10/16/2014