Colorado Motor Carriers Association v. Town of Vail

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court decision that granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the Town of Vail’s ordinance restricting motor vehicles in the Town’s pedestrian areas. The Tenth Circuit concluded that the plaintiff was not likely to succeed on the merits of the claim that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act and the Airline Deregulation Act preempted the ordinance because safety-related exceptions to preemption applied. (When it first adopted restrictions, Vail described the purposes as to “improve the guest experience by reducing the number of oversize vehicles in the pedestrian areas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of electric vehicles for the final leg of deliveries,” but neither the Tenth Circuit nor the district court’s decision addressed the potential climate change benefits of the ordinance.)