Description: Challenge to order relieving agency of obligation to prepare EIS for proposed airport.
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Barnes v. United States Department of Transportation
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/25/2011 Opinion Download Petition for review granted and case remanded to the FAA. Several individuals challenged an order of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), relieving the Department of Transportation (DOT) from preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) concerning the proposed construction of an airport runway. After preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA), the FAA determined that an EIS was not necessary because, among other things, there would not be a significant increase in air emissions. Among other things, the plaintiffs alleged that the EA was deficient because its analysis of greenhouse gas emissions was not specific to the locale. The court disagreed, finding that given that greenhouse gas emissions are a global problem, it was adequate for the agency to discuss the greenhouse gas emissions from the construction of this runway by using percentages and comparing this percentage to all U.S. emissions.