Airport Environmental Impacts & Conformity

Kaplan Kirsch counsels and litigates on behalf of airports on environmental review, air quality compliance, and noise and land use compatibility matters associated with major facility expansions, runway extensions, airspace changes, and collateral development projects. We represent commercial airports, primary hub airports, and general aviation airports—including some of the largest airports in the country—in comprehensive master planning for long-term capital improvements and in the planning, approval, and implementation of development and infrastructure projects.

NEPA, NHPA, & Environmental Review for Airport Development

Airport projects that require Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval, such as runway extensions, major facility expansions, and certain non-aeronautical development, usually trigger review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and applicable state environmental review statutes.

Many of these projects also implicate Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which requires the FAA to consider a project’s effects on historic properties and consult with state officials before giving final approval. Section 106 review often runs alongside NEPA, but the two do not always coexist: a project excluded from NEPA can still require Section 106 compliance, particularly at older regional airports, facilities built on former military bases, or airports near historic neighborhoods.

Kaplan Kirsch develops NEPA and NHPA strategies for airport development proposals, particularly in light of the emerging regulations concerning non-aeronautical development established most recently in Section 743 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. Firm attorneys are also involved in industry environmental streamlining proposals and discussions, working alongside airports as the regulatory landscape for non-aeronautical development continues to advance.

Air Quality & Conformity

Kaplan Kirsch also has significant experience assisting clients with air quality issues at airports. Airport development can also trigger federal air quality conformity review: general conformity applies to direct federal actions, while transportation conformity applies to certain landside development connected to an airport. Airspace and procedure changes—including the FAA’s NextGen initiative, which consolidates arrival and departure routes through RNAV and RNP navigation procedures—carry their own air quality and environmental review implications, as concentrating flight paths over specific corridors can raise emissions and air quality concerns alongside the noise issues that have driven much of the related litigation. Getting this analysis right and defending it when challenged requires fluency in both the regulatory framework and the underlying technical record.

Kaplan Kirsch advises airports on:

Our Airport Environmental Team

Kaplan Kirsch’s airport environmental work is grounded in direct government experience. John Putnam and Subash Iyer oversaw all NEPA and environmental matters at the U.S. Department of Transportation, including FAA environmental matters relating to hub airports, leaded aviation fuel, commercial spaceports and launches, PFAS phase-out, and intermodal connections to airports. John Putnam also directed environmental permitting, enforcement, and rulemaking for the State of Colorado as the Director of Environmental Programs at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. That regulator-side experience—including reviewing and enforcing the same rules our attorneys now help airports navigate—shapes how Kaplan Kirsch approaches NEPA and NHPA strategies and air quality compliance for our clients.

Representative Experience

Los Angeles NextGen NEPA Remand

Advised the City of Los Angeles on FAA’s NEPA compliance on remand from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, including participation in Section 106 consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).

Airport Modernization Program Environmental Compliance

Advised a city on the environmental impacts arising from schedule and project changes to its airport modernization program, including counsel for an environmental assessment involving extensive NHPA consultation due to the eligibility of on-airport structures for the National Historic Register.

Environmental Impact Statement for Airport Improvements

Represented an airport authority in an environmental impact statement (EIS) for runway safety improvements and terminal upgrades.

Capital Improvement Program Environmental Approvals

Advised an airport on environmental and regulatory approvals for the next phase of a major capital improvement program, with a master plan that includes improvements to airfield, terminals, and landside roadways.

NextGen Noise Litigation

Successfully represented the City of Phoenix in litigation over noise impacts from FAA implementation of NextGen flight procedures at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, including impacts outside the DNL 65 noise contour.

Nevada Airport Development

Represents the Clark County Department of Aviation on projects at Harry Reid International Airport and in the development of a new supplemental commercial service airport on public land, including collateral litigation to protect airport and airspace interests. See more here.

Noise Restrictions and Regulatory Compliance

Represented the sponsor of a large general aviation airport on community noise and regulatory compliance matters, securing adoption of the nation’s first and only successful noise restriction since the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 (ANCA), successfully defending multiple related lawsuits and defending FAA investigations into the sponsor’s federal obligations.

General Aviation Airport Master Plan and Development

Represented a small general aviation airport in master planning, environmental review, litigation over operational restrictions, and aeronautical development.

Airport Relocation and Redesign Strategic Planning

Assisted an airport sponsor through a lengthy and complex strategic planning process to evaluate relocation versus substantial terminal, taxiway, and runway redesign to address safety-driven operational restrictions. Engagement included extensive public outreach; coordination with federal agencies, Indian tribes, state and regional interests, and airlines; environmental review; and greenfield airport planning.

New Terminal Development P3 Procurement

Represents a town in procuring a private team to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a new terminal at a medium-sized airport under a ground lease, advising on state law, real property and land use, NEPA approvals, and federal regulatory requirements under FAA jurisdiction.

Related Practices

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Awards and Recognition

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Representative Cases

Airspace Changes

Represented a municipality in a challenge to new flight patterns in South-Central Florida Metroplex. City of N. Miami v. FAA, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 24842, No. 20-14656 (11th Cir. Sept. 2, 2022). Also successfully challenged FAA-approved area navigation (RNAV) procedures in Phoenix for violating the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and denying the City its right to participate in the review process and object to the findings. City of Phoenix v. Huerta, No. 15-1158 (D.C. Cir. 2017).

Cargo Facility

Litigated a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) challenge to FAA approval of a mid-field cargo facility at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Howard County v. Federal Aviation Admin., 970 F.3d 441 (4th Cir. 2020).

Master Plan Update

Successfully defended an environmental impact statement (EIS) and air quality analyses for the Philadelphia International Airport master plan. Tinicum Township v. U.S. Dep’t. of Transp., 685 F.3d 288 (3d Cir. 2012).

NEPA Challenge Defense

Represented Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority as an intervenor in a D.C. Circuit Petition for Review, challenging the FAA’s environmental review and approval of a new terminal and related airfield improvements. Save Our Sound v. FAA, Case No. 24-1028 (D.C. Cir.).