5Nov

Fourth Circuit Weighs in on Constitutional Challenges to Airport Metro Service Project

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Fourth Circuit Weighs in on Constitutional Challenges to Airport Metro Service Project

By Agustin Martinez and Ashley Oldfield

Facts

In Kerpen v. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority,[1] the Fourth Circuit addressed numerous constitutional and statutory challenges to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s (“MWAA”) use of toll revenues to build and fund a metro service project. Beginning in 1962, Dulles Airport and an access road linking Dulles to the Washington, DC, area operated under the management of the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”).[2] However, when the need for capital improvements at Dulles and its sister airport, National, became apparent in the early 1980s, the government sought to transfer operation of both airports to an authority with the ability to raise the necessary funds.[3] Subsequently, Virginia and the District of Columbia passed legislation “to create an interstate compact for the management of Dulles and National” which resulted in MWAA.[4] The legislation granted MWAA the authority to acquire the airports and “to operate, maintain, and improve” them.[5] The following year, the Transfer Act (“Act”) authorized the lease of the airports (“Lease”) to MWAA and “the transfer of the airports’ ‘access highways and other related facilities.’”[6] The Act required MWAA to only use the property for “airport purposes” and to “assume responsibility” for the federal government’s Master Plan for the airports, which “contemplated” eventual metro service to Dulles.[7] To facilitate the metro service project, Virginia transferred operation of a toll road to MWAA, and MWAA agreed to use the resulting revenues to finance the metro service’s construction.[8]

Procedural History

Plaintiffs, users of the toll road, brought a putative class action suit challenging MWAA on various constitutional and statutory grounds.[9] They asserted that “MWAA is a federal instrumentality” and that it “violated Article I, Article II, and the Guarantee Clause of the Constitution”; the Administrative Procedures Act (APA); and “the terms of the Transfer Act and the Lease.”[10] In response, MWAA, the District of Columbia, the Secretary of Transportation, and the U.S. Department Of Transportation (collectively, “Defendants”) filed Motions to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim.[11] The district court granted the Motions and dismissed all of Plaintiffs’ claims.[12] Upon appeal, the Fourth Circuit considered whether MWAA was subject to limitations under the Constitution and APA and whether its collection and use of tolls violated the terms of the Transfer Act and Lease.

Plaintiffs’ Arguments

On appeal, Plaintiffs argued that MWAA is a federal instrumentality under the four-factor Lebron standard.[13] First, Plaintiffs asserted that MWAA was created in pursuit of federal policy goals because “the Federal Government has a strong and continuing interest in the efficient operation of [MWAA’s] airports.”[14] Second, they argued that the federal government initiated MWAA’s creation because the Secretary of Transportation appointed the commission that recommended MWAA and Congress conditioned the airports’ transfer on meeting several requirements.[15] Third, Plaintiffs observed that three of MWAA’s directors are federally appointed and suggested that the remaining directors were also “beholden to federal interests . . . .”[16] Finally, they asserted that MWAA is subject to significant congressional oversight because Congress has established several “oversight mechanisms” for MWAA, including its previous Board of Review and current Board of Directors, and has subjected MWAA to oversight by the Department of Transportation.[17]

Plaintiffs further argued that, even if MWAA is not a federal instrumentality, the federal, government, and legislative powers delegated to it violate the nondelegation principle.[18] Plaintiffs listed a “vast panoply” of federal powers granted to MWAA by Congress and the FAA[19] and compared the present case to previous litigation involving MWAA in which the court held that “MWAA’s prior Board of Review was exercising federal power . . . .”[20] Plaintiffs also asserted that MWAA’s clear exercise of governmental power violated the Guarantee Clause because MWAA acts independently and without political accountability.[21] Additionally, Plaintiffs argued that MWAA exercised various legislative powers and particularly noted that its collection of tolls is an improper exercise of the legislative power to tax.[22]

Finally, Plaintiffs argued that the Transfer Act prohibited MWAA’s financing and construction of the Silver Line, a metro line connecting Dulles to Washington, DC, because the Act requires that airport revenues only be spent on the “capital and operating costs of the . . . Airports.”[23] Plaintiffs asserted that construction of the Silver Line could not be a capital cost of the airport because the Silver Line is largely “for the use of non-airport customers, on non-airport property” and will be turned over to its operator, the Metropolitan Washington Area Transit Administration (“WMATA”), upon completion.[24] Plaintiffs noted that a proper construction of the statute “required MWAA to leave space for a potential Metro line,” but prohibited MWAA from building the line itself.[25]

Defendants’ Arguments

Meanwhile, Defendants argued that operating commercial airports is not a core federal power reserved to the federal government by the Constitution.[26] They noted that, other than Dulles and National, the federal government has neither owned nor operated other commercial airports.[27] They asserted, therefore, that the Transfer Act did not violate separation of power principles, including the nondelegation doctrine, because the Act did not entail the delegation of a reserved core federal power.[28] Defendants also argued that, even if the Transfer Act did implicate a core federal power, the Act still satisfied the “intelligible principle” that is required when the federal government delegates a core power.[29] Defendants asserted that the Act’s strict statutory requirements for the Lease with MWAA sufficiently satisfied this broad “intelligible principle.”[30]

Next, Defendants argued that MWAA is not a federal instrumentality.[31] They emphasized that no court has previously held that an interstate compact, like MWAA, is a federal instrumentality that is subject to the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.[32] Defendants further asserted that MWAA was not created by the federal government; that the Transfer Act’s purpose was to transfer the operation and funding of Dulles and National to Virginia and the District of Columbia; and that the federal government did not control MWAA’s day-to-day operations or its governance and management decisions.[33] Defendants maintained, therefore, that the federal government neither created nor controlled MWAA, and thus it is not a federal instrumentality under the Lebron framework.[34]

In addition, Defendants argued that the Transfer Act did not violate the Guarantee Clause of the Constitution because the Act did “not remotely threaten Virginia’s republican form of government.”[35] Specifically, Defendants noted that Virginia and the District of Columbia established MWAA by virtue of statutes that were enacted by their respective legislative bodies and that MWAA’s appointed Board members are accountable to elected officials.[36] They also asserted that the Transfer Act limits MWAA’s authority to operating, maintaining, and improving Dulles and National, thus preventing the Act from running afoul of the Guarantee Clause.[37]

Finally, Defendants asserted that MWAA’s financing and construction of the Silver Line is permitted under the Transfer Act.[38] Defendants first argued that, as matter of law and statutory interpretation, Plaintiffs were barred from bringing an action to enforce the Transfer Act against MWAA.[39] Defendants then asserted that MWAA’s use of toll revenues for the Silver Line project was “reasonably related to improving passenger and cargo access to Dulles,” and thus was consistent with the Transfer Act’s legislative intent.[40]

The Fourth Circuit’s Analysis and Holding

The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims. As an initial matter, the Court rejected Plaintiffs’ arguments that MWAA is a federal instrumentality.[41] Under Lebron, an entity is a federal instrumentality when it is (1) created and (2) controlled by the federal government.[42] The Court held that MWAA did not meet this definition.[43] First, the Court noted that the Transfer Act did not create MWAA because Virginia and the District of Columbia, with congressional pre-approval, had created MWAA through their own statutes.[44] The Transfer Act “simply specified the minimum powers MWAA must have in order to lease Dulles and National,” while also recognizing that Virginia and the District of Columbia were the sources of those powers.[45] Second, the Court explained that MWAA is not controlled by the federal government, as evidenced by the fact that only three of MWAA’s seventeen Board members are appointed by the federal government.[46] Although these three Board members have some influence on MWAA’s decisions, they alone cannot control MWAA.[47]

Moreover, the Court declined to adopt Plaintiffs’ instrumentality arguments because doing so would implicate other constitutionally permissible arrangements, including federal contractor agreements and interstate compacts like the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.[48] Thus, the Court held that Plaintiffs’ Appointments Clause and APA challenges failed because MWAA is not a federal instrumentality.[49] As the Court noted, the Appointments Clause and APA only apply to federal entities.[50]

The Court also rejected Plaintiffs’ claim that MWAA had been unconstitutionally delegated legislative power, government power, or federal power. “The principle of non-delegation requires that ‘core governmental power must be exercised by the Department on which it is conferred and must not be delegated to others in a manner that frustrates the constitutional design.’”[51] The Court held that MWAA’s structure did not violate the nondelegation doctrine.[52] First, the Court explained that MWAA only exercised those powers that originated from the Virginia and District of Columbia statutes; however, the plain text of those statutes did not transfer any legislative power from the federal government to MWAA.[53] Further, the Transfer Act recognized that those statutes had conferred non-legislative powers on MWAA.[54] The Court also indicated that, even if MWAA derived some of its power from the federal government, “[t]he strictures of the Transfer Act are sufficiently detailed as to more than satisfy the requirement of an ‘intelligible principle.’”[55]

Second, the Court noted that the Supreme Court has made it clear that it is unconstitutional for the government to delegate core government power to a private entity.[56] Therefore, the Court reasoned that there was “no unlawful delegation of ‘government power’ to a private entity in this case for the simple reason that MWAA is not a private entity”[57] Rather, MWAA is an interstate compact that is subject to the authority of elected officials.[58] Third, the Court adopted Defendants’ argument that operating a commercial airport is not an inherent federal power, and thus it rejected Plaintiffs’ claim that MWAA had been delegated a federal power.[59]

The Court then addressed Plaintiffs’ contention that MWAA’s establishment violated the Guarantee Clause. The Guarantee Clause states that the U.S. “shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.”[60] The Court concluded that there was no violation of the Guarantee Clause because “MWAA does not deny any state a republican form of government.”[61] Specifically, Virginia and the District of Columbia retained their republican governments, and MWAA is accountable to elected officials.[62] Finally, the Court analyzed whether MWAA’s collection and use of tolls violated the terms of the Transfer Act and Lease. Consistent with case law from its sister circuits, the Court gave significant deference to the Secretary of Transportation’s previous determination that MWAA’s construction of the Silver Line and use of toll revenues to finance the project was permissible under the Act and Lease.[63] The Court also indicated that the Secretary was entitled to such deference because, under the Transfer Act, it is the Secretary who is authorized to determine the scope of an “airport purpose.”[64] Therefore, the Court adopted the Secretary’s determination, noting that the Transfer Act and Lease had required MWAA to adopt the Master Plan for Dulles and National, which had envisioned extending metro service to Dulles.[65] Moreover, the Act and Lease recognized that MWAA could exercise eminent domain powers, indicating that the federal government “must have imagined that MWAA would make improvements to land that is not owned or controlled by [MWAA].”[66] In sum, the Court rejected all of Plaintiffs’ claims.

Conclusion

Plaintiffs raised several constitutional and statutory claims to challenge MWAA’s collection and use of toll revenues for the Silver Line project. However, none of those claims persuaded the Fourth Circuit to decide the case in Plaintiffs’ favor. As to the constitutional claims, the Court declined to subject MWAA to the constraints of Article I, Article II, and the Guarantee Clause of the Constitution. Further, the Court gave significant deference to the Secretary of Transportation’s interpretation of the Transfer Act and Lease, which weighed in favor of Defendants. The Court’s decision was guided by its own precedent, as well as precedent from the Supreme Court and sister circuits. Notably, the Court also made it clear that its decision was influenced by the prospect of “throw[ing] longstanding airport expansion arrangements into turmoil.”[67]

  1. No. 17-1735, 2018 WL 5117169 (4th Cir. Oct. 22, 2018). ↑
  2. Id. at *1. ↑
  3. Id. ↑
  4. Id. ↑
  5. Id. ↑
  6. Id. (citations omitted). ↑
  7. Id. at *1–2 (citations omitted). ↑
  8. Id. at *2. ↑
  9. Id. ↑
  10. Id. ↑
  11. Kerpen v. Metro. Wash. Airports Auth., 260 F. Supp. 3d 567, 570 (E.D. Va. 2017). ↑
  12. Id. at 571. ↑
  13. Opening Brief of Plaintiff-Appellants (Corrected) at 31, 33, Kerpen v. Metro. Wash. Airports Auth., No. 17-1735, 2018 WL 5117169 (4th Cir. Oct. 22, 2018) (citing Lebron v. Nat’l R.R. Passenger Corp., 513 U.S. 374, 397–400 (1995)). ↑
  14. Id. at 26, 33 (quoting MWAA v. Citizens for the Abatement of Aircraft Noise, Inc., 501 U.S. 252, 266 (1991)). ↑
  15. Id. at 22–23, 35. ↑
  16. Id. at 37–38. ↑
  17. Id. at 38–39. ↑
  18. Kerpen, 2018 WL 5117169, at *4. ↑
  19. Opening Brief of Plaintiff-Appellants (Corrected), supra note 13, at 19–22. ↑
  20. Id. at 22. ↑
  21. Id. at 42–45. ↑
  22. Id. at 50–53. ↑
  23. Id. at 56. ↑
  24. Id. at 56. ↑
  25. Id. at 63–64. ↑
  26. Brief for the Federal Appellees at 17, Kerpen v. Metro. Wash. Airports Auth., No. 17-1735, 2018 WL 5117169 (4th Cir. Oct. 22, 2018). ↑
  27. Id. at 18. ↑
  28. Id. at 21. ↑
  29. Id. ↑
  30. Id. at 23–24. ↑
  31. Id. at 24–25. ↑
  32. Id. at 25. ↑
  33. Id. at 26–31. ↑
  34. Id. at 31. ↑
  35. Id. at 34. ↑
  36. Id. at 32–33. ↑
  37. Id. at 33. ↑
  38. Id. at 34. ↑
  39. Id. at 35–37. ↑
  40. Id. at 39–43. ↑
  41. Kerpen, 2018 WL 5117169, at *2. ↑
  42. Id. ↑
  43. Id. at *3. ↑
  44. Id. ↑
  45. Id. ↑
  46. Id. ↑
  47. Id. ↑
  48. Id. at *3–4. ↑
  49. Id. at *4. ↑
  50. Id. at *4. ↑
  51. Id. at *4 (quoting Pittston v. United States, 368 F.3d 385, 394 (4th Cir. 2004)). ↑
  52. Id. ↑
  53. Id. ↑
  54. Id. ↑
  55. Id. ↑
  56. Id. at *5. ↑
  57. Id. at *5. ↑
  58. Id. ↑
  59. Id. ↑
  60. Id. at *6 (quoting U.S. Const. art. IV, § 4). ↑
  61. Id. ↑
  62. Id. ↑
  63. Id. at *7. ↑
  64. Id. ↑
  65. Id. ↑
  66. Id. ↑
  67. Id. at *8. ↑

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