A.G. Ferguson Enabled Sound Transit Debacle

Like presumably many in the area I recently received a “Ferguson File” email detailing the latest efforts by Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s recent efforts to “Continue standing up for Washingtonians”.  It included the following introduction:

This May, my office filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency to maintain fuel efficiency standards for vehicles that will protect the environment and save consumers money. We also asked a court to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for promoting their products while knowing the harmful effects they have on the environment.

The suit to “maintain fuel efficiency standards” is not about “maintaining current fuel efficiency standards” but to prevent the EPA from requiring vehicles average 50 mpg by 2025, approximately double the current average.  Achieving 50 mph average would require most cars be battery powered, not an attractive option for many.  Also of very little effect on environment since most of the country’s car batteries would be powered by fossil fueled generators.

Ferguson decides to hold fossil fuel companies “accountable” but fails to hold Sound Transit and the WSDOT accountable.  There would be no East Link if Ferguson had held WSDOT lawyers “accountable” in the 2013 Freeman litigation. Instead he praised the WSDOT attorneys for getting a federal judge to reject concerns from Sound Transit confiscation of I-90 Bridge center roadway.

The Department of Transportation and Sound Transit developed an effective and fair partnership to upgrade and address traffic issues on the I-90 floating bridge.  This agreement respects the law and the Constitution while addressing a critical need.

The “agreement” was the result of WSDOT lawyers  “misleading” the federal judge, claiming the center roadway could be used for light rail because their addition of a 4^th lane (Alternative R-8A) on the outer roadway would make the center roadway unneeded for vehicles.  Yet the document they cited stipulated the center lanes were still needed for vehicles.  That “agreement” allowed Sound Transit to confiscate the I-90 Bridge center roadway for a light rail extension that only a fraction of those who pay taxes for it will ever be able to use, will devastate the route into Bellevue and increase not decrease cross-lake congestion. 

Ferguson’s office ignored concerns Sound Transit made a mockery of federal environmental laws.  Telling the FHA and FTA East Link would not impact noise levels in the Mercer Slough Park at the same time planning to spend millions shielding homes hundreds of feet away and across a major roadway from this “non-existent" noise.  Ending forever the quiet solitude of the park.

However, the most egregious example of Attorney General Ferguson connivance was his failure to hold Sound Transit “accountable” for not complying with the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), the permanent laws now in force.   RCW 81.104.100 details the code requirement for high capacity transit system planning.  The relevant excerpted portions of the RCW are as follows:

To assure development of an effective high capacity transportation system, local authorities shall follow the following planning process only if their system plan includes a rail fixed guide-way system component or a bus rapid transit component that is planned by a regional transit authority:

 (2) High capacity transportation system planning is the detailed evaluation of a range of high capacity transportation system options, including: Do nothing, low capital, and ranges of higher capital facilities.  High capacity transportation system planning shall proceed as follows:

 (b) Development of options. Options to be studied shall be developed to ensure an appropriate range of technologies and service policies can be evaluated. A do-nothing option and a low capital option that maximizes the current system shall be developed. 

When I raised the issue with A.G. Ferguson’s Consumer Protection Division I received the following response

Dear William James Hirt,

Thank you for contacting the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office. Your complaint has been reviewed and it was determined that the issues presented are under the regulatory authority of another agency. Your complaint has been closed accordingly.

We referred your complaint to the following agency. Please contact the identified agency directly with questions about the status of your complaint.  

Sound Transit Board of Directors

c/o Board Administrator

401 Jackson S

Seattle, WA 98104

While his office apparently admitted I had a “legitimate concern” they delegated the response to whether Sound Transit had violated the RCW to Sound Transit.  The below excerpts from Sound Transit’s response gives a whole new meaning to attempting to “exculpate” their approach.

As you noted in your complaint, Chapter 81.104 RCW requires development of a high capacity transportation system plan, and RCW 81.104.100 specifically sets forth the requirements that must be included in that system-wide plan. Sound Transit developed draft and final system plans that complied with these requirements and included extensive public outreach from 2005 to 2008.

Yet there is no indication Sound Transit ever considered BRT on limited access lanes as a low cost alternative for any of the Prop 1 light rail extensions.  The below Sound Transit response concerning East Link was even more absurd.

Project level reviews are not subject to the requirements in RCW 81.104.100. As noted in your complaint, the project level review of the East Link project did include a no-build option. Your presumption that this was due to the requirement in RCW 81.104.100(2)(b) is not correct. As indicated above, this statutory requirement applies to system-wide plans, not project level reviews.

Sound Transit simply “decided” East Link wasn’t required to comply with RCW.   When I contacted Ferguson’s office attempting to hold Sound Transit “accountable” for their refusal to comply the response included the following:

Thank you for your recent e-mail to the office of the Attorney General regarding Sound Transit RCW compliance.

Regarding Sound Transit, our office does not advise or represent regional transit authorities, nor does our office have the role of supervising or correcting the activities of such authorities. 

Apparently A.G. Ferguson, who has filed countless lawsuits attempting to hold other agencies “accountable”, fails to see the need to "Stand up for Washingtonians" when it comes to dealing with Sound Transit and WSDOT.  His failure to hold them accountable has played a major role in allowing the Sound Transit’s light rail debacle.