Title
Recommendation to Approve and Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Settlement Agreement between the Port of Oakland, the City of Alameda and Citizens League for Airport Safety and Serenity Regarding the Port of Oakland’s Final Environmental Impact Report for the Oakland Airport Terminal Modification and Development Project. (City Manager 10021833)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On November 21, 2024, the Board of Directors for the Port of Oakland (Port) certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for its proposed Oakland Airport Terminal Modernization and Development Project (Project).
City Council has been closely monitoring this Project and its potential impacts on the community especially in the vicinity of Bay Farm Island. Given the large number of collaborative projects between the Port and City of Alameda (City), both governing bodies directed their professional staff to attempt to resolve their FEIR differences through negotiation before resorting to litigation. To allow for this negotiation, the Port and the City along with the Citizens League for Airport Safety and Serenity (CLASS), a Harbor Bay Isle community organization, agreed to a Tolling Agreement. Under the Tolling Agreement, the Port granted both the City and CLASS until March 24, 2025 to sit down at the negotiation table to resolve their issues before resorting to litigation.
The parties have been meeting twice weekly for the past couple of months to negotiate a settlement. Staff updated City Council on the status of these negotiations in Closed Session on February 4 and 18 and March 4, 2025.
Subject to City Council’s approval, the parties have reached a mutually acceptable Settlement Agreement which puts the City in a better position than it would have been had it simply filed a lawsuit against the Port. Staff recommends City Council authorize the City Manager to execute the Settlement Agreement (Exhibit 1).
BACKGROUND
The Port forecasts an increase in air travel over the next 20 years, in line with a projected rise in nationwide air travel, and the Port is proposing to modernize the passenger terminals at the Oakland Airport (OAK). The proposed Project will include demolition of the 1960’s-era Terminal 1 building and construction of a new terminal that will meet modern safety, seismic, and efficiency standards. The Project will build a new 25-gate terminal and reduce the number of gates at an existing terminal from 29 gates to 20 gates, resulting in a net addition of 16 gates at Project completion. The Project does not include additions or modifications to existing runways or the airfield, which the Port cites as the determining factors for flight capacity, and the Port states that adding 16 gates will not increase the number of flights projected to occur at OAK.
On July 17, 2023, the Port released a public review Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Project. The DEIR was released to the public for review and comment between July 17, 2023 and October 16, 2023. At the direction of City Council, staff submitted an extensive comment letter on October 16, 2023, detailing the community’s concerns relating to the Project, including noise, air quality, safety and transportation issues.
On October 17, 2024, the Port released the FEIR: (www.iflyoak.com/business/terminal-modernization/eir <http://www.iflyoak.com/business/terminal-modernization/eir>). At the direction of City Council, staff submitted a second comprehensive comment letter on the FEIR and attended the November 21, 2024 Port meeting.
On November 19, 2024, City Council directed staff to initiate litigation or seek a settlement with the Port should the Port Board certify the FEIR.
On November 21, 2024, the Port Board certified the FEIR and shortly thereafter filed a Notice of Determination (NOD) per the California Environmental Quality Act.
On December 12, 2024, the Port, City of Alameda, and CLASS entered into a Tolling Agreement and began to meet on possible settlement options.
On February 4, 2025, February 18, 2025, and March 4, 2025, City Council met in Closed Session and provided direction to City staff on the settlement negotiations.
On February 27, 2025, and March 3, 2025, the Port Board and CLASS, respectively, voted to approve the Settlement Agreement (Exhibit 1).
DISCUSSION
CEQA Process
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) law requires that a petitioner raise specific legal concerns regarding the EIR and give the legislative body the opportunity to address them. Both the City and CLASS raised a number of concerns about the Project EIR including air quality, traffic, noise, environmental sustainability, and greenhouse gas reduction and the monitoring and reporting of these metrics. The following is a summary of the FEIR’s responses to the City’s comments on the DEIR (www.iflyoak.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Appendix-P_DEIR-Comments-and-Responses-1.pdf <http://www.iflyoak.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Appendix-P_DEIR-Comments-and-Responses-1.pdf>) along with relevant responses to comments submitted by the air quality and noise experts retained by the City.
It is important to note that filing a CEQA lawsuit does not automatically stop the project. However, if a challenger is successful in such a lawsuit, the court would order the Port to halt construction until further environmental analysis could be conducted. While the court has authority to require additional analysis, it does not have the ability to require the Port to adopt mitigation measures. Recognizing the limitations in the CEQA process to address the community’s concerns, City Council directed staff to pursue settlement negotiations with the Port.
Negotiation Framework
In lieu of proceeding straight to litigation, City Council directed staff to attempt to negotiate a Settlement Agreement that would address the City and CLASS’s concerns in an enforceable and tangible manner. Negotiating teams for the three entities met twice weekly over the course of a month and a half. Additional technical meetings as well as attorney-only meetings were also conducted. The OAK Airport Director and Director of Environmental Programs and Planning for the Port attended the meetings and were involved in crafting outcomes that addressed key Alameda concerns. Overall, the meetings were very professional, collaborative and productive. The Port agreed to most of the City and CLASS’s proposals and a written Settlement Agreement was drafted by the parties.
Key Benefits for the City of Alameda
The Settlement Agreement contains more than 20 terms that address community feedback related to airport operations. These terms translate into ten key benefits for the Alameda community:
1. Improved Airport Noise Plan - This settlement includes a new OAK Noise Plan (Exhibit A to Exhibit 1 Settlement Agreement), which memorializes noise-abatement procedures for pilots and includes updates to OAK noise office procedures and improves monitoring and reporting to the community. The new OAK Noise Plan addresses long-term community concerns about aircraft noise and provides actions by the parties to increase awareness about the OAK noise program.
2. Avoid Increasing North Field Flights - This settlement reinforces the importance of Taxiway Bravo in airport operations while addressing concerns related to North Field departures over Bay Farm Island. The Project will include the construction of a new taxiway parallel to Taxiway Bravo, ensuring a continuous flow of aircraft between the North and South fields. This improvement will avoid increasing North Field flights, a longstanding issue where North Field departures have had a greater impact on Bay Farm Island compared to departures from South Field.
3. Cleaner and Quieter Jets - The Port will work with cargo carriers and airlines to use sustainable jet fuel and quieter aircraft as federal regulations permit. This is intended to address concerns about long-term noise and air pollution.
4. Noise Attenuation During Construction - The Port will provide a Construction Noise Plan and avoid construction on weekends and holidays, and there will be noise monitoring and attenuation during construction. This is intended to address concerns about construction noise.
5. Clean Air Vehicles - Construction vehicles will be clean air (Tier 4) vehicles and zero emission vehicles will be deployed on airport grounds as the technology becomes commercially available. This is intended to address concerns about air pollution from vehicles running on diesel fuel.
6. Air Quality Monitoring and Reporting - The Port will install air quality monitors at the airport and report on air quality data. This is intended to address concerns about air pollution from overall airport operations.
7. Traffic Management - The Port will develop traffic control plans to minimize traffic impacts to Alameda. These plans will include measures to direct traffic away from Alameda using signage, navigation tools, and road design. For example, access to the new Economy Parking will be designed off Air Cargo Way, with no direct access to Alameda roads. The Port will also implement vanpool and employee carpool measures to reduce overall vehicle trips. These measures are intended to address Alameda concerns about cut-through traffic to and from the airport.
8. Sustainable Building Design - The Port will incorporate sustainable or environmentally responsible design methods into the design of the Project, such as utilizing LEED, Envision, or other similar rating systems to yield carbon reduction. This is intended to address concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from airport operations.
9. Increase Community Engagement and Greater Transparency and Accountability - The Port will provide periodic status reports and expand outreach to Alameda stakeholders, including schools, the Harbor Bay HOA, and the City Council before project construction and before major airport events. This responds to community feedback wanting a greater understanding of airport operations and notification about major events such as Fleet Week.
10. Advocacy with the FAA and San Francisco Airport (SFO) - The Port agrees to attend San Francisco Airport Roundtable meetings and advocate SFO and the FAA to address flights from SFO affecting Alameda.
The Settlement Agreement also includes provisions for the Port to provide sufficient staff resources to support the OAK Noise Abatement program, meetings between the Port Board and the Alameda City Council, and flood protection along Doolittle Drive to protect the Bay Farm community. Staff believes the proposed Settlement Agreement addresses community concerns and recommends the City Council approve the settlement.
ALTERNATIVES
• Approve the Settlement as provided in Exhibit 1
• Modify the Settlement and provide direction to staff. Modifying the settlement will require re-opening negotiations after the Port and CLASS has already approved the settlement. This would require the parties to collectively extend the Tolling Agreement for which the Port has stated it would not agree to.
• Reject the Settlement and file a CEQA lawsuit challenging the DEIR and FEIR. Filing a lawsuit does not automatically stop the project. However, if a challenger is successful in such a lawsuit, the court would order the Port to halt construction until further environmental analysis could be conducted. Staff does not recommend filing a lawsuit.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Planning staff time for review and comment on the EIR and negotiating the Settlement is estimated to cost $13,500 and will be charged to the General Fund per previous City Council direction. In addition, the City has spent at least $43,000 for City Attorney and outside expert review of the EIR thus far.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The Alameda 2040 General Plan provides guidance on City actions related to noise, air quality, safety and transportation, among other topics. Specifically, the Health and Safety Element identifies airport noise and air pollution as concerns, and it sets forth policies related to airport expansion. The proposed Settlement Agreement addresses these and other community concerns consistent with the General Plan.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Approving a Settlement Agreement that addresses community concerns about noise and air quality is not itself a project subject to CEQA.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Approving a Settlement Agreement does not have a direct effect on climate change. Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the Port will take measures to increase overall environmental sustainability for the project, including actions that will have result in an overall positive climate impact.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the Settlement Agreement between the Port, City and CLASS regarding the FEIR for the Oakland Airport Terminal Modernization and Development Project.
Respectfully submitted,
Allen Tai, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Cara Silver, Special Counsel
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Acting Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Proposed Settlement Agreement