Environmental Assessment of Rose Quarter Improvement Project Discussion

You are asked toadvise 3 nonprofit organizations that oppose the Portland, Oregon, Interstate 5(I-5) Rose Quarter Improvement Project: No More Freeways, Neighbors for CleanAir, and the Eliot Neighborhood Association.

In conjunctionwith the Oregon Department of Transportation (“ODOT”), the United StatesDepartment of Transportation (“DOT”) and the United States Federal HighwayAdministration (“FHWA”) completed an Environmental Assessment (“EA”) and issueda Finding of No Significant Impact (“FONSI”) decision for the I-5 Rose QuarterImprovement Project.

To approve thefunding for the project, Section 4(f) of the Transportation Act requires that atransportation project is permitted only if there is no prudent and feasiblealternative to using a public park, recreation area, or historic site ofnational, State, or local significance. The project must include all possibleplanning to minimize harm to the park, recreation area, or historic site if noprudent and feasible alternatives exist.

When completingthe Environmental Assessment, the agencies only considered two alternatives:build and no-build. The project will add highway lanes and widen shoulders toincrease vehicle capacity and improve smooth traffic flow where threeinterstates meet at the top traffic bottleneck in Oregon. It will createhighway covers on top of I-5 and new crossings over I-5, and one new pedestrianand bicycle bridge along with upgrades to other local streets. The agencies’analysis of air quality, transportation impacts, noise impacts, climateemissions, and so forth are based on transportation modeling, much of which hasbeen kept from the public’s scrutiny.

The project is inthe Albina neighborhood, a historically Black neighborhood of Portland that wasdivided when I-5 was originally built. Properties in the neighborhood areproposed for the National Register of Historic Places for their significance toPNW Black History. The project is near Harriet Tubman Middle School and itsoutdoor play area, which will be closer to the highway if the project iscompleted. The Lillis-Albina Park will be impacted, and the project calls forbuilding a “noise wall” in the park to protect it from highway impacts.

Questions

Identify three(3) legal issues that plaintiffs could raise in a challenge to the agencydecisions on the Rose Quarter Improvement Project.

For each legalissue that you identify, articulate rule that you would apply to the issue,then the reasoning for why this legal issue is relevant to the facts of thissituation.

For example(do not use this example! You don’t have these facts in the scenario):

Issue: Do theplaintiff organizations have standing to sue DOT, FHWA, and ODOT?

Rule: [State thelegal rule for establishing standing to sue]

Reasoning: Thisissue is relevant because without standing, any case will be dismissed andfurther claims could not be considered by a court. Because they alleged [fact1, fact 2] but not [fact 3…], the defendant agencies can challenge theorganizations’ standing to sue and the court could dismiss the case….etc

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