D.C. Judge Openly Asks Why They Are In Court In Washington Rather Than California

A week ago Monday, representatives from the City of Santa Monica and the FAA sat before a judge in the D.C. Circuit Court jointly defending their consent decree that led to the shortening of the runway at KSMO, and will eventually lead to its closure.

The two were before the court to respond to a Petition to Review filed by aviation interest groups in February 2017 asking the court to invalidate the Settlement Agreement between the FAA and the City. That agreement gave the city the authority to shorten the runway, which it did last December.

The pace with which the Settlement Agreement was signed and ratified by a judge in California was called "unusual" by an attorney familiar with federal law, according to a report from the Santa Monica Mirror.

The question that the D.C. Circuit Court has been asked to answer is whether the FAA has the authority to release the city from its AIP grant assurances and deed obligations to operate the airport "in perpetuity". It will also determine if the agency acted legally in making the agreement with the city with no period for public comments and no documentation of its decision-making process. The Justice Department Attorney speaking for the FAA told the judges that the agreement would "have no force were it not entered as a Consent Decree."

The judges, meanwhile, asked why the case was being heard in Washington, rather than in California. Deanne E. Maynard, the attorney for the City of Santa Monica said, “just the notion that they would have to take an order from this court to the court in California shows what an odd procedure this is.”

A ruling is expected later this year.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report