City of Carmel-by-the-Sea v. United States Department of Transportation

This appeal arises from a proposed realignment of California State Highway 1 from the outskirts of the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea to nearby Hatton Canyon in order to relieve traffic congestion.

Plaintiffs City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District, Hatton Canyon Coalition and Sierra Club (collectively, “Carmel”) appeal the *897 district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants United States Department of Transportation, other Federal defendants (collectively, “Federal defendants”), California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”) and other State defendants (collectively, “State defendants”). Carmel challenges the adequacy of an Environmental Impact Statement/Report (“EIS/R”) under applicable provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). Carmel also challenges the adequacy of the Federal Highway Administration’s statement of compliance with Executive Orders 11,988 and 11,990.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm in part, vacate in part, reverse in part, and remand.

I

California State Highway 1 suffers severe traffic congestion problems…

dissenting.

Homer, The Odyssey, E.V. Rieu and D.C.H. Rieu Trans., Penguin Classics (1991).

I

THE PROJECT GOAL AND ITS ALTERNATIVES

In holding the Final EIS/R deficient because “it failed to consider reasonable alternatives,” the majority concludes that the important “purpose and need” section of that document is materially and thus fatally different from its articulation in the Draft EIS. I respectfully disagree. The record simply does not support the conclusion that the statement of the problem in the Draft EIS/R materially changed between that document and the final product. Reading the two relevant documents in their entirety and in context demonstrates that everything material to the purpose and need identified in the final product and used to devise and examine alternatives, as well as needed to generate relevant and informed public comment and input, was explicitly presented in the Draft and in other relevant documents that contributed to this dynamic process. The predicate required by NEPA for informed decision-making was certainly present. As Judge Williams correctly said in the district court, “Defendants did not pull the LOS C requirement out of the air.” Let me…