On February 14, 2017, the City of Burien petitioned the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to review final decisions by the FAA related to flight departures using the “New Route” at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The petition also asks the Court to review FAA’s denial of requests to modify or cease flights using the New Route as well as the FAA’s decision to not reopen consultation or conduct the required environmental review of alternative routes that would cause less harm to the City and its residents.
 
In the summer of 2016, without notice to the City or its residents, the FAA began experimenting with the New Route, resulting in significant noise impacts to parks, schools, residential neighborhoods and other noise-sensitive areas.
 
The City and its residents spent a considerable amount of time and effort trying to obtain information from the FAA about the New Route, the implementation of the New Route, and whether and when the FAA’s decision-making process had been completed. The FAA did not provide a formal response to those inquiries until December 16, 2016, after which it upheld—and refused to reconsider—the New Route. The City and its residents have suffered—and will continue to suffer—significant, adverse impacts as a result of the FAA’s New Route.
 
Mayor Lucy Krakowiak says, “We have an obligation to represent the interests of our community through legal action.”