In Crenshaw Subway Coalition v. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143642, the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted summary judgment on all but one claim in favor of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“Metro”) and the Federal Traffic Administration (“FTA”) against Crenshaw Subway Coalition’s (“Plaintiff”) challenges to the approval of the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor Project.

The Draft EIS/EIR for the Project analyzed four alternatives—no-build, Transportation System Management (TSM), Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and Light Rail Transit (LRT). The agencies chose LRT as the locally preferred alternative and prepared an EIS/EIR to analyze potentially significant environmental impacts of the Project.

Specifically at issue in the case was the grade separation analysis for a section of track along Crenshaw Boulevard—where the LRT would shift from running below-grade to running at-grade for approximately six blocks until transitioning to an aerial structure. Plaintiff argued that the EIS/EIR violated CEQA and NEPA by failing to evaluate a reasonable alternative to the at-grade segment of the Project, namely a tunnel.

Initially, the Court suggested that CEQA did not require an analysis of any segment specific options (such a below-grade tunnel for the Crenshaw Boulevard section) because these options are just a component of the Project and did not rise to the level of an “alternative.” Therefore, under the Court’s view, Metro had no duty to analyze “alternatives” to the at-grade design feature. Nonetheless, the Court analyzed the issue as if the below-grade option were a CEQA alternative—in part because the issue was briefed as such by both parties.

The Court first held that the EIS/EIR’s alternatives analysis did not violate CEQA because Metro had determined in the scoping process that running the entire length of Crenshaw Boulevard below-grade was economically infeasible as it would increase the cost of the Project by 27 to 35 percent. Infeasible alternatives do not need to be analyzed in an EIR, and courts can look at the administrative record for evidence of infeasibility; specific “infeasibility findings” are not required.

The Court then held that the alternatives analysis did not violate NEPA because the below-grade alternative was not reasonable or necessary. Specifically, an economically infeasible alternative would not meet the Project’s stated goal of cost effective and affordable transit improvements and a study by Metro had determined that at-grade crossings were compatible with the level of traffic on the Boulevard. Accordingly, the Court held that it was not improper for the FTA to only briefly address the below-grade segment in a response to comment. The Court also rejected an argument that FTA had “predetermined” that the segment would be at-grade, holding that a preferred alternative does not equate to an improperly predetermined outcome under NEPA.

The Court next addressed Plaintiffs’ substantive challenges to the EIS/EIR’s land use, urban decay, parking, safety impacts, and environmental justice analyses. Because these were substantive and not procedural challenges, the Court gave more deference to the agencies’ conclusions and determined that they were supported by substantial evidence. The Court also rejected Plaintiff’s claims that the mitigation measures were not described with sufficient detail and that a supplemental EIS should have been prepared under NEPA.

Notably, the Court did not grant summary judgement to either party for Petitioner’s claim that Metro engaged in unlawful racial discriminated in its site selection for the Project in violation of Government Code section 11135, though the Court seemed to imply that Metro seemed “quite likely to succeed” in the litigation. The Court held that there was simply not enough evidence on the administrative record to properly analyze the issue, and thus summary judgment was inappropriate.

Key Point:

Alternatives analysis is a key component of any environmental impact report. However, whether an alternative can be rejected during the scoping process (and thus does not need to be analyzed in an EIR or EIS) depends on whether it is feasible (CEQA) or reasonable (NEPA). This case may provide support for an argument that alternative “design features” within the project do not even rise to the level of a project alternative.