Town of Fairview, Tex. v. City of McKinney, Tex. (1999)-172

FAA Docket No:

16-99-04

Author:

Woodward, Woodie, Acting Associate Administrator for Airports

Author Title:

Acting Associate Administrator for Airports

Complainant(s):

Fairview (Tex.)|Phillips, Donald T.

Respondent(s):

McKinney (Tex.)

Airport(s):

Collin County Regional Airport at McKinney (TKI)|McKinney Municipal Airport, formerly

History:

Violation found in part by Director's Determination on Remand of July 26, 2000. See Determination No. 69.

Holding:

Withdrawing Director's Determination of Sept. 20, 1999 and remanding. See Determination No. 55.

Abstract:

In the original complaint, the Mayor of Fairview, Texas alleged on behalf of Complainant, Town of Fairview, that Respondent, the City of McKinney, Texas, owner and operator of McKinney Municipal Airport, violated Grant Assurances 5, 6, 7, 10, 19(a), 20, and 29, by allowing the threat to safety posed by birds traversing the aircraft flight pattern to the south of the Airport in order to land in a nearby landfill. The Director found Respondent not in violation and dismissed the Complaint and Complainant appealed.|The Associate Administrator found that the record did not support the Director's finding and that the Director's reliance on Respondent's bird harassment program as a wildlife mitigation measure sufficient to ensure compliance with grant assurances was not supported by the record evidence. The Associate Administrator did not make additional findings based on Complainant's other arguments; the Associate Administrator remanded all issues to the Director for further investigation.|The Director erred in finding Respondent's remedies sufficient for compliance with grant assurances where the remedies were based on speculative and projected mitigation activities and Respondent had a history of disregarding its duty to comply with FAA guidance. (p. 16).|The proposed remedies were speculative because (1) there was no record evidence to indicate that FAA found the responses provided by Respondent sufficient to resolve the four inconsistencies between the USDA site visit report and Respondent's Bird Harassment Program; (2) the FAA staff wildlife biologist's review of the Bird Harassment Program on appeal revealed concerns about the adequacy of the program and Respondent's responses to the four inconsistencies identified during the investigation; and (3) the scope of work and qualifications of the wildlife biologist to be hired by Respondent were not known at the time of the Director's Determination. (p. 16).

Index Terms:

Town of Fairview, Tex. v. City of McKinney, Tex. (1999) -- No. 16-99-04