Elk Grove files NEPA lawsuit v. FAA- Mayor Johnson says FAA should be fair and share ORD noise.
Elk Grove Village took an important step today to protect the rights of all residents affected by CHICAGO OHARE AIRCRAFT NOISE. The Village filed a lawsuit to compel the FAA to essentially do what is required of them by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). When an airport proposes a significant change to airport operations, NEPA requires the FAA to evaluate all reasonable alternatives when evaluating a major airport change to understand the real-world impacts prior to moving forward with the change.
Earlier this year, the Chicago Department of Aviation forwarded the Fly Quiet Program Proposal based on a single alternative B3 to the FAA. Elk Grove Village petitioned the FAA and CDA to also evaluate alternative H3. CDA did not respond, and the FAA refused the request.
Craig Johnson, Mayor of Elk Grove Village emphasized the goal of the lawsuit is the same as the goal of the last 8 years of partnering with ONCC and the FQ Committee which is for all communities that share equal benefit from the O’Hare Airport also share equal burden.
The Fly Quiet Program is comprised of a nighttime runway rotation program intended to bring periods of relief to communities surrounding O’Hare. THE ROTATION PROGRAM WAS ONE OF 21 RECOMMENDATIONS DEVELOPED BY JDA TO MITIGATE NOISE IMPACTS AT O’HARE IN 2015. Since that time, CDA has conducted 4 runway rotation tests to determine viability and optimize a rotation program to formally adopt. For each rotation test, CDA shared rotation and flight track data with JDA for technical analysis by Dr. Antonio Trani. JDA provided the runway rotation technical analysis and reporting to FQ Committee members.
CDA and the FAA have departed from the past transparency and public input employed in previous environmental evaluations. There is no public docket nor is there any declaration of the lead agency for this environmental analysis. In contrast to the last runway rotation environmental analysis in 2019 which evaluated three alternatives (two of which were requested by a special interest group outside of the ONCC process). This environmental analysis is limited to one alternative despite the fact that the alternative this lawsuit compels the FAA to evaluate has the same runway loadings as the alternative in the 2019 EA that resulted in the least significant impacts and best environmental justice outcomes.
Former FAA Chief Counsel, me, commented “Elk Grove Village should be commended for standing up for more impacted communities and seeking equal benefit and equal burden to all O’Hare stakeholders.” JDA’s original intent with the rotation program recommendation was to provide communities relief while minimizing the noise impacts. Both are possible with appropriate technical analysis to measure each alternatives performance. The FAA and CDAs reluctance to do that analysis is either an administrative error or suspect behavior.
