ELR Citation: 42 ELR 20151
No(s). 11-1472 (3d Cir. Jul 6, 2012)

The Third Circuit denied petitions for review under NEPA challenging the FAA's approval of an expansion project at the Philadelphia International Airport. The FAA prepared an EIS and conducted an air quality analysis to meet the overlapping requirements of NEPA and the CAA, and EPA submitted comments on the draft EIS citing alleged data omissions in the FAA’s air quality analysis. The FAA considered and responded to each of EPA’s comments in the final EIS, adopting some, but not all, of EPA's recommendations. The petitioners claim that five technical errors in the FAA’s air quality analysis—each pertaining to a category of data excluded from the FAA analysis—rendered its environmental review inadequate. But the FAA gave serious consideration and reasonable responses to each of the EPA’s concerns. As the lead agency, the FAA has some latitude to determine the level of analytical detail necessary to support an informed decision and to adequately disclose air quality impacts to the public. The alleged technical errors, therefore, do not make the FAA’s air quality analysis arbitrary or capricious. Nor did two post-decision studies require a supplemental EIS, as they merely confirmed the agency’s original analysis.