Noise

NextGen Flight Procedures: Kaplan & Kirsch has represented multiple governmental clients addressing community concerns over new federal flight procedures through litigation and participation in the federal environmental review process. We represented the City of Phoenix in precedent-setting litigation requiring the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to redesign flight procedures for arriving and departing flights at Sky Harbor International Airport and obtained similar results in Los Angeles and the Seattle area. We obtained a rare writ of mandamus from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of the City of Los Angeles, requiring the FAA to change flight procedures in response to the court’s earlier finding that the FAA had violated NEPA when adopting the new procedures.

City of Chicago Inverse Condemnation Litigation: Our team defended the City of Chicago in state court against claims for inverse condemnation and nuisance based on noise and vibrations from a new runway at O’Hare International Airport. After substantially narrowing the case through motions to dismiss and taking extensive discovery from all plaintiffs, we obtained summary judgment dismissing the case on statute-of-limitations grounds, a dismissal upheld on appeal.

City of Naples (Florida) Airport Authority Stage 2 Aircraft Ban: We represented the Authority in its implementation of a ban on noisy “Stage 2” aircraft, resulting in the only new noise rule adopted since enactment of the Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA). We guided the Authority through the complex administrative review process under ANCA and successfully defended the ban from constitutional challenges by industry groups. We also represented the Authority in a rare Part 16 evidentiary hearing and later obtained a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturning the FAA’s initial adverse decision and upholding the ban.