Sierra Club v. United States Department of Transportation

245 F. Supp. 2d 1109, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2573, 2003 WL 402241
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedFebruary 14, 2003
DocketCV-S-02-0578-PMP(RJJ)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 245 F. Supp. 2d 1109 (Sierra Club v. United States Department of Transportation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sierra Club v. United States Department of Transportation, 245 F. Supp. 2d 1109, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2573, 2003 WL 402241 (D. Nev. 2003).

Opinion

*1112 ORDER

PRO, Chief Judge.

Presently before this Court are four motions. Defendants United States Department of Transportation (“USDOT”); Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta; Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”); FHWA Administrator, Mary Peters; and FHWA Division Administrator, John Price (collectively “Defendants”) filed a Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 11) on August 7, 2002. Plaintiff Sierra Club filed an Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss ([hereinafter “Dismissal Opp’n”] Doc. # 18) on September 20, 2002. Defendants filed a Reply to Sierra Club’s Opposition to Motion to Dismiss ([hereinafter “Dismissal Reply”] Doc. # 23) on November 8, 2002.

Sierra Club filed a Motion to Convert Defendants’ FRCP 12(b)(6) Motion to a FRCP 56 Motion, to Compel the Filing of the Administrative Record and Proposed Briefing Schedule (Doc. # 19) on September 20, 2002. Sierra Club also filed a Corrected Motion to Convert Defendants’ FRCP 12(b)(6) Motion to a FRCP 56 Motion, to Compel the Filing of the Administrative Record and Proposed Briefing Schedule (Doc. # 20) 1 on September 24, 2002. Defendants filed a Response to Sierra Club’s Motion to Convert ([hereinafter “Convert Opp’n”] Doc. # 24) on October 24, 2002. Sierra Club filed a Reply to Defendants’ Response to Sierra Club’s Motion to Convert ([hereinafter “Convert Reply”] Doc. #27) on November 7, 2002.

Defendants filed a Motion to Stay Discovery (Doc. #22) on October 10, 2002. Sierra Club filed an Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Stay Discovery ([hereinafter “Stay Opp’n”] Doc. # 26) on October 28, 2002. Defendants filed a Reply to Sierra Club’s Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Stay Discovery ([hereinafter “Stay Reply”] Doc. # 28) on November 8, 2002.

Sierra Club filed a Motion to Compel Discovery [FRCP 37(a) ] on October 28, 2002. Defendants filed a Response to Sierra Club’s Motion to Compel Discovery ( [hereinafter “Compel Opp’n”] Doc. #29) on November 8, 2002. Sierra Club filed a Reply in Support of Motion to Compel Discovery [FRCP 37(a) ] ([hereinafter “Compel Reply”] Doc. # 30) on November 22, 2002.

I. BACKGROUND

Sierra Club seeks injunctive and declaratory relief relating to the widening of a section of US-95 located in northwest Las Vegas (“US-95 Widening Project”). (Comphlffl 34-36.) Prior to the preparation of the final Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”), Sierra Club and the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) both expressed concern about the accuracy of the population estimates and traffic forecasts utilized for the EIS. (Compl.1ffl 60, 63.) Despite this input, Defendants utilized the original estimates and forecasts to complete the final EIS. On January 28, 2000, FHWA Division Administrator, John Price, signed the Record of Decision approving the US-95 Widening Project. (Mot. to Dismiss, Ex. 3, Record of Decision.)

Sierra Club claims that in reaching the decision to approve the US-95 Widening Project, FHWA did not adequately discharge various statutory duties. (Comply 1.) Specifically, Sierra Club claims that the FHWA: (1) violated its duty to inform the public of the health risks associated with the project; (2) failed *1113 to conduct proper public hearings; (3) failed to adequately perform impact analy-ses to compare the health risks posed by the various alternatives; and (4) failed to adopt mitigation efforts to eliminate or reduce the health risks. (Compl.1111 1, 3, 5, 6.) Sierra Club also challenges the adequacy of the EIS prepared for the project and the FWHA’s refusal to prepare a Supplemental EIS (“SEIS”). (Compl.1111 2, 4.)

Sierra Club requested a SEIS on June 20, 2000, citing the use of inadequate traffic forecasts and the FHWA’s alleged failure to consider studies indicating the potential health risks associated with exposure to air pollutants emitted from motor vehicles on major highways. (Comply 84.) The FHWA rejected Sierra Club’s first request for a SEIS on July 17, 2000. (Compl.1196.)

Sierra Club then commissioned independent consultants to perform two studies regarding the effect that the US-95 Widening Project would have on people who live, work, or attend school near that portion of the highway. (CompLUH 98-100.) In the first study (“RSG Study”) a research company was commissioned to estimate air toxin exposure by modeling motor vehicle emissions, using the traffic forecasts prepared by the Regional Transportation Commission. 2 (Compl.li 99.) The RSG Study then utilized the resulting emission estimates to determine how the increased emissions would affect the exposure levels to certain toxins which contribute the greatest cancer risk. 3 The RSG study “concluded that the proposed expansion [would] significantly increase the exposure of the public to [these] air toxins ... and recommended that FHWA complete a SEIS to evaluate the health risks posed by this increased exposure and identify alternatives to mitigate those effects.” (Id.)

Sierra Club commissioned a second study “EHE Study” to consider whether the increased exposure projected by the RSG Study would likely result in “risks of cancer and other adverse health outcomes high enough to exceed the [EPA] threshold of public health concern.” (Compl.11100.) The EHE Study concluded that the increased exposure to vehicle emissions found near heavily traveled highways would result in significantly increased health risks, including a higher risk of cancer and harmful respiratory and cardiovascular effects. (Id.) The EHE Study concluded that the US-95 Widening Project would likely result in a significant number of excess cancers. (Id.) Like the RSG Study, the EHE Study recommended that a SEIS be prepared to evaluate the health risks and identify alternatives to mitigate the risks. (Id.)

On February 25, 1991, the EPA published data indicating that, based upon a review of federal agency policies regarding acceptable cancer risks under various statutes requiring protection of public health, it had found that cancer “risks less than 1 in 1 million generally can be found acceptable ... while risks greater than that level require further analysis as to their acceptability.” (Compl. ¶ 102; see also 56 Fed. Reg. 7757 (February 25, 1991).) Further, *1114 the EPA noted that “federal agencies have generally taken action to reduce exposures when cancer risks are greater than 1 in 10,000.” (Id.)

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245 F. Supp. 2d 1109, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2573, 2003 WL 402241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sierra-club-v-united-states-department-of-transportation-nvd-2003.