FAA Issues ROD Approving Expansion of Ft. Lauderdale Airport

Posted on January 9, 2009 by Steven Taber

In the January 9, 2009, edition of the Federal Register, the FAA announced that the Record of Decision (ROD) for the development and expansion of Runway 9R/27L and other associated airport projects at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is now available.  With the publication of this notice in the Federal Register, opponents of the project have 60 days (i.e., until Tuesday, March 10, 2009) to file a Petition for Review of the ROD and the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).

The FAA identified "Alternative B1b" as its "preferred alternative" in the ROD.  That was also its preferred alternative in the FEIS.  This alternative includes the expansion of Runway 9R/27L ti an overall length of 8,000 feet and width of 150 feet.  The runway will extend to the east without encroaching onto NE 7th Avenue and would be elevated over the Florida East Coast Railway and U.S. Highway 1.  The western extent of the runway is the Dania Cut-Off Canal.  Alternative B1b also includes the following projects:

  • construct a new full-length parallel taxiway 75 feet wide on the north side of Runway 9R/27L with separation of 400 feet from 9R/27L;
  • contruct an outer dual parallel taxiway that would be separated from the proposed north side parallel taxiway by 276 feet;
  • construct connecting taxiways from the proposed full-length parallel taxiway to existing taxiways;
  • construct an Instrument Landing System (ILS) for landings on Runways 9R and 27L;
  • Runway 13/31 would be decommissioned and permanently closed due to the increased elevation of the expanded Runway 9R/27L at its intersection with Runway 13/31.

Opposition to the expansion centers around the increased noise that the expansion will bring, as well as damage to the surrounding environment.


Although the Federal Register notice states that the ROD is available on the FAA's website, as of the posting of the article it was not.  The Airport's website does have a copy of the unsigned, undated ROD, along with the appendices, which includes responses to the comments that the FAA received.  N.b., since the ROD on the Broward County site is unsigned and undated, we calculated the 60 days based on the letter sent from the FAA to Broward County that indicates that the FAA does not consider the ROD "published" until the announcement appears in the Federal Register.

 
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Recent Court Decisions Regarding Aviation and Airport Development Law

Posted on June 5, 2008 by Steven Taber
Here are a few court  decisions that have come down recently regarding aviation and airport development law:
  1. Nadal v. FAA, Case No. 08-9509 (10th Cir., April 30, 2008).  Petitioner sought review of a NTSB order affirming the forty-day suspension of his pilot certificate.  The court concluded that his petition for review was not timely filed and he did not show reasonable grounds for the failure, so it dismiss the petition for lack of jurisdiction.
  2. Clark County v. FAA, Case No. 06-1377 (D.C. Cir., April 18, 2008).  County petitioned for review of FAA's decision that a proposed windfarm would not obstruct airspace near the proposed Ivanpah Valley airport by interfering with radar systems at the new airport.  The court held that the FAA did not have sufficient evidence in the record to support its conclusion in its order and therefore did not satisfy the reasoned decionsmaking requirement.  To the contrary, the court pointed out that the only evidence in the record supported conclusion that the windfarm turbines would exceed the FAA's obstruction standards and would interfere with radar systems at the new airport.
  3.  BMI Salvage Corp. v. FAA, Case No. 07-12058 (11th Cir., April 8, 2008).  Tenant and sublessee filed complaint alleging that airport unjustly discriminated against it in violation of the airport's grant assurances by awarding long-term development leases to other tenants, but not to it.  The court held that there was insufficient evidence in the FAA's record to support a finding that differences between aircraft demolition business and aircraft repair business justified airport's disparate treatment and that there was insufficient evidence to support FAA's finding that aeronautical service providers were not "similarly situated."
  4. St. John's United Church of Christ v. FAA, Case No. 06-1386 (D.C. Cir., March 21, 2008).  FAA gave the City of Chicago a grant under the Airport Improvement Project for Chicago's expansion of O'Hare airport.  A group of villages and other entities in the surrounding area petitioned for review of the FAA's grant.  The court held that the petitioners lacked standing to challenge the grant, since they failed to show that the grant had caused their injuries or that the court redress any injuries that they might incur, since the the federal money played a "minor role."
  5. R/T 182, LLC v. FAA, Case no. 07-3678 (6th Cir., March 11, 2008).  The owner of an airplane appealed the decision of the FAA that allowed a local airport to charge maintenance fee for based aircraft, but did not charge the fee to transient users.  The court decided that there was substantial evidence to support the FAA's determination that airport's based-users were not similarly situated to transient users and that since the process resulting in the FAA's order was adjudicatory in nature, it was not subject to notice -and-comment procedures under the Administrative Procedures Act.
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