SEPTEMBER 2021 UPDATE
IN THIS UPDATE:
- FAA FILES FOR ANOTHER EXTENSION OF SCOTTSDALE LAWSUIT; MEDIATION TALKS COME TO AN END
- INDIAN COMMUNITIES AND FOUNTAIN HILLS FILE AN AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF SCOTTSDALE LAWSUIT AGAINST THE FAA
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FAA FILES AN EXTENSION REQUEST YET AGAIN WITH THE COURT TO EXTEND THE DATE ITS RESPONSE BRIEF IS DUE
On August 30th, the FAA filed a request with the U.S. Court of Appeals to extend the date its Response Brief is due for an EIGHTH time. The latest schedule called for the FAA to file its Response Brief to the City of Scottsdale's petition on September 7th, 2021. The FAA stated that mediation talks, which have been conducted over the last year, have failed. The FAA stated their attorney who had been working on the case moved on to a new position so that additional time is needed to bring the new attorney up to speed. This is not the first time the FAA has shuffled attorney's to plead for additional time in the case.
That mediation talks have failed is no surprise given the FAA's continued refusal to consider changes to the illegal flight paths it placed over Scottsdale at the end of 2014. After Phoenix won a similar lawsuit against the FAA in 2017, the FAA was instructed by the Court to conduct public hearings in 2019, called Step Two, to consider community input. Afterwards, the FAA again refused to grant consideration of any changes even though the public comments overwhelmingly demanded changes. With no other options available, Scottsdale filed its lawsuit, and soon after, the FAA encouraged mediation talks and began requesting extensions to the Court schedule. Phoenix had also attempted mediation talks with the FAA prior to filing its suit, but ultimately met with the same refusal from the FAA to address the issues and went on to win its case with the Court. The path of the Scottsdale efforts would seem to be following the same route, with hopefully the same outcome.
Scottsdale filed an opposition to the extension on September 9th. Of the seven extensions granted to date, six have been at the request of the FAA for a variety of reasons, one of which was for replacement of attorneys as mentioned above. One was requested by the City of Scottsdale to allow an amicus brief to be filed by interested parties as described in the following article.
Scottsdale states the following reasons as to why this extension should not be granted and should be limited to 10 days:
- Scottsdale's original brief was filed on March 10, 2020. The FAA has had over a year and a half to prepare a response brief. The FAA has requested a total of 406 days of extensions and has had more than enough time to file a brief.
- Scottsdale agreed to previous extensions on good faith that mediation talks would yield progress on a resolution. That did not happen.
- FAA previously shuffled attorneys on December 2020, and is now shuffling attorneys once again at the last minute. It then says the current shuffled attorney is only a place holder for yet another attorney to be determined.
- The FAA has had ample time to figure out its personnel situation and sufficient information to get its Response Brief filed. The conclusion is that the FAA has not been diligent.
- More delays prejudices (harms) Scottsdale. More delays means Scottsdale and its residents continue to be harmed by the increased flight paths over Scottsdale, which began at the end of 2014.
On September 10th, a day after Scottsdale filed its opposition to the extension request, the FAA filed a reply asking the Court to ignore Scottsdale's arguments and to grant the extension. The Court will likely rule on the matter in the near future. At the best, the FAA will be required to file it's Response Brief around 10 days after the Court's Order. At the worst, it will be around November 29th. Once the FAA files its Response Brief, oral arguments and the rest of the trial schedule can be determined, barring any further delays the FAA may attempt to come up with.
To see the extension request by the FAA, CLICK HERE
To see Scottsdale's opposition to the request, CLICK HERE
To see the FAA's objection to Scottsdale's opposition, CLICK HERE
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INDIAN COMMUNITIES AND FOUNTAIN HILLS FILE AN AMICUS BRIEF WITH THE COURT SUPPORTING THE SCOTTSDALE LAWSUIT AGAINST THE FAA
The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Fort McDowel Yavapai Nation and the town of Fountain Hills filed an amicus curiae brief with he U.S. Court of Appeals in support of the Scottsdale lawsuit against the FAA. An entity or person that files an amicus brief is treated as "a friend of the Court". While these parties cannot participate in the Court proceedings directly, they can educate the court on points of law that are in doubt, gather or organize information, or raise awareness about some aspect of the case that the court might otherwise miss. Such amicus curiae briefs are commonly filed in appeals concerning matters of a broad public interest. Since these three parties have jointly filed this amicus, it demonstrates they have a keen interest in the case. The brief states they are in support of the City of Scottsdale and shows they are concerned about the outcome of the case since they are neighboring communities.
To see the Amicus Brief, CLICK HERE
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FILE A NOISE COMPLAINT AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!
While it may feel useless to continue to file noise complaints, it is important that complaint statistics show continued resident opposition to the NextGen flight paths. Complaints should be filed with both the FAA and Sky Harbor Airport. For the FAA, CLICK HERE FAA to go to their complaint form and CLICK HERE SKY to go to the Sky Harbor compliant form to log a complaint. No log in is required and it only takes a minute!
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Please take a few moments to do the following:
1. If you haven't already, please go to the SCANA website at airplanenoise.org and vote YES to support SCANA's efforts to restore Scottsdale's quiet skies.
2. Go to the SCANA Facebook page at Scottsdale Coalition for Airport Noise Abatement
https://www.facebook.com/airplanenoise and "Like" the page and "Follow" it.
3. Contact our elected representatives often to voice your concerns over the FAA's arbitrary actions in the implementation of these flight paths. Go to the Complaint page on our website to click on the parties you wish to contact. Contact the Scottsdale City Council members via email here: citycouncil@scottsdaleaz.gov
4. Spread the word about SCANA and our website to neighbors and friends who are also concerned about the loss of their safety and the loss of the enjoyment of their home life and outdoor activities. Ask them to sign up on our website to receive our updates.
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.