National Parks Conservation Association v. Federal Aviation Administration

Case stayed pending further order by the court.

In an action filed in the federal district court for the District of Columbia, plaintiffs challenged the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) issuance of a launch site operator license for operation of a proposed commercial spaceport in Camden County, Georgia. The plaintiffs alleged that rockets would launch directly over the Cumberland Island National Seashore as well as populated areas. The complaint asserted claims under NEPA, FAA regulations for launch sites, Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, the Cumberland Island National Seashore Enabling Legislation, and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The NEPA allegations included that the EIS failed to adequately evaluate risk posed to the site by sea level rise and storm surge events and that the EIS’s mitigation measures to address the effects of climate change were “undefined, incomplete, and speculative.”