City of Los Angeles v. Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport’s plan to double the size of its terminal. This being a “major federal action” the FAA prepared an environmental impact statement which asserts, inter alia, that building' a larger terminal won’t materially affect the number of people who use the airport. “ ‘[I]f you build it, they will come,’ ” the appellants parry and scoff at their opponents for the “ ‘[Air] Field of Dreams’ conclusion: ‘if you don’t build it, they will come anyway.’ ” Blue brief at 5-6.

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For years the FAA and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority (the Authority) have planned to expand and modernize the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. The federal government would help fund an expansion which would nearly double the number of gates, triple the number of parking spaces, and quadruple the size of the terminal. The project would also move the terminal, now perilously close to Runway 8.

The FAA and the Authority drafted an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as the National Environmental Policy Act requires, see 42 U.S.C. § 4332 , and an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as California law requires, see Cal. Pub.…