Citizens For Mobility Lawsuit

The following information is provide by Citizens For Mobility about its lawsuit against Sound Transit:

Citizens for Mobility (CFM) is "an association of concerned citizens dedicated to promoting cost-effective, environmentally-friendly mobility solutions to traffic congestion in the central Puget Sound area." In October of 2000 CFM filed a lawsuit against Sound Transit and the FTA in federal court in Seattle. The grounds of the lawsuit were the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Air Act, the Federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

On September 18, 2002, CFM filed a motion for partial summary judgment, arguing that defendants must prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) or supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the Initial Segment project, and must compare the Initial Segment plan to reasonable alternatives, including bus alternatives, before any further action is taken on the project.

In its motion CFM contends that by failing and refusing to prepare an EIS or SEIS and failing to conduct alternatives analysis for Initial Segment, defendants have violated NEPA, USDOT's NEPA Regulations, and the FTA's own Regulations.

Further motions will be filed in the next several months. The timing of any decision is up to the discretion of the Court, but could be expected in early 2003.