SEPTEMBER 2020
CITY OF SCOTTSDALE AND FAA IN MEDIATION TALKS
The petition the City of Scottsdale filed against the FAA has not seen any court room action to date other than to see extensions granted as to when briefings will begin. The third extension, granted on July 24th, set the briefing schedule to begin on October 16th. It also stated the reason for the extension was to allow time for the two parties to enter into mediation discussions.
In recent conversations SCANA has had with City of Scottsdale legal and government relations staff, the City was able to confirm that subsequent to the July 24th extension filing, the City and the FAA are in current mediation discussions. The mediation discussions are taking place to presumably see if a resolution can be worked out between the two parties that would alleviate the illegal flight paths the FAA placed over Scottsdale at the end of 2014. Back then, The City of Phoenix successfully sued the FAA over nine flight paths the FAA illegally paced over parts of Phoenix as part of the FAA's new NextGen navigation system at Sky Harbor International Airport. The NextGen flight paths were put into place over both Phoenix and Scottsdale at the same exact time using the FAA's same exact processes the U.S. Court of Appeals found to be illegal in the Phoenix lawsuit. The Phoenix law suit did not include the flight paths placed over Scottsdale. The Court forced the FAA to vacate the Phoenix NextGen flight paths and return them to their original locations. The Scottsdale lawsuit would hope to have the same result for the NextGen flight paths placed over Scottsdale.
Due to confidentiality that the two parties have agreed to, the City is not able to disclose the specifics of what, or how the discussions are actually going. The City only states that it is "cautiously optimistic". However, the City has also indicated that If the FAA won't resolve the issue via mediation, the City is prepared to continue litigation.
The FAA has rarely provided any meaningful relief to communities through mediation. It routinely uses the 'complexity', 'compromising safety' and 'it takes years' argument that flight path changes are just impossible to make. Yet, when it was told to do so by the Court from the Phoenix litigation, It moved 9 flight paths back to original locations in just seven months, proving those arguments are nothing but false posturing.
Regardless, SCANA is supportive and encourages the City to continue to pursue successful mediation talks. SCANA also encourages the City to remain focused on the end game and to not buy into the FAA's technical posturing as to why it just can't do certain things. There is no doubt that our nations air traffic navigation system is very complex. However, the FAA has vast technical resources and capability. It can assuredly modify the flight paths over Scottsdale as it did over Phoenix, safely and timely.
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With the last extension, here is the current schedule for Court activities if mediation fails:
Petitioner's Brief: October 16, 2020
Respondent's Brief: November 16, 2020
Petitioner's Reply Brief: December 7, 2020
Deferred Appendix: December 14, 2020
Final Briefs: December 28, 2020
Once the above briefing process is complete, the Court will schedule oral arguments. It is not known how or when those might be scheduled. If mediation were to result in acceptable outcomes, pending Court action could be canceled.
As new developments in the case become known, SCANA will send out updates and post them on the SCANA website at airplanenoise.org.
CLICK HERE to read the original City petition. 3/9/2020
CLICK HERE to read the City's Statement of Issues. 4/2/2020
CLICK HERE to read the Court's 1st extension document 4/21/2020
CLICK HERE to read the Courts 2nd extension document 5/8/2020
CLICK HERE to read the Courts 3rd extension document 7/14/2020
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CHECK OUR WEBSITE OFTEN: AIRPLANENOISE.ORG
You can email us at scanaphx@gmail.com
PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE EFFORTS TO RESTORE THE QUIET AND SAFE SKIES SCOTTSDALE ENJOYED BEFORE THEY WERE STOLEN BY THE FAA
WE DID NOT MOVE TO THE FAA, THE FAA MOVED TO US!
Thousands of homeowners in Scottsdale and across the Country purchased their homes before an airplane superhighway was "arbitrarily and capriciously" placed over their neighborhoods without their knowledge or input.
