As
Bill Sees It (Editorial): Did
Legal Suits Force FAA To Try New Ways Of
Presenting Airspace Redesign Scheme? I
was surprised to see that after the FAA has spent years looking for ways to hide
impacts of their airspace redesign plan that they now making it "look"
like they are trying to 
months ago. Maybe they released them to congress but didn't bother
to put them on their web site until now. I noticed that the just released
Airspace Redesign "
Commission which
consisted of local
businessmen and political hacks. This time they are adding a few carefully
chosen "environmentalists" on the committee to show that they care
about the health impacts. The only one who I think will be in the least bit
objective and concerned about the health and environmental impacts of the
massive airport expansion is Maureen Radl, founder of the Ulsterites Fight
Overflight Noise (UFO).
Her lone voice of moderation will be drowned out by pro-expansion people on the
committee. I hope at least they allow their meetings to open to the public and
be recorded on videotape. Expanding Heathrow Airport
Still I don't know how the
British government is going to square their efforts to reduce
toxic aviation global warming gases with
their plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Aparently they are trying
to do just that as revealed in a 
Will
Airport "Citizens" Panel Be Composed Of Just More Pro-Expansion
Political Hacks? Stewart
Airport – The new Citizens’ Advisory Panel being formed in the Mid-Hudson
Valley by the Port Authority to gain input from local people about their future
plans for Stewart Airport, is about to be launched. Airport Manager Diannae
Ehler said its membership is being finalized and the first meeting will be held
shortly. Appointed members will be notified shortly with the first meeting held
before the holidays, she said. Maureen Radl (pictured on the left),
co-chairwoman of an umbrella group of concerned Hudson Valley residents, and a
founder of Ulsterites Fight Overflight Noise, noted her involvement. “It was
out proposal and our request to have a citizens’ advisory panel formed, so we
are delighted that the first meeting will be occurring soon.” While the Port
Authority has not publically announced members, it is believed membership will
include representatives from Radl’s group, the Stewart Park and Reserve
Coalition, Scenic Hudson and the Stewart Airport Commission.
Massachusett's
Logan Airport: Congressman Angry That The FAA Ignores Community Complaints!!!
Three times as many planes are flying over Somerville in 2007 compared to last
year and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials are ignoring noise
complaints from 
city
residents and their congressman. U.S. Rep. Michael E. Capuano, D-Somerville,
said when he tried to meet with FAA officials about the complaints he received
from constituents they “stiff-armed” him and refused to acknowledge his
concerns.
and
ignored.” The FAA declined a request this month from the Board of Aldermen
to appear before the board and address concerns about the skyrocketing use of
runway 33L at Logan Airport and the resulting increase in planes flying over
Somerville. According to Wig Zamore, who represents Somerville on the Logan
Airport Citizens Advisory Committee, the number of planes flying over the city
has tripled this year. Massachusetts Port Authority officials have said the
increase is due to unusually strong Northwestern winds but Alderman-at-Large
William A. White said that is not the only reason. “The FAA made their own
decision to use runway 33L more often,” he said.
Mayor Pat Murphy had invited Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi to
address the council concerning the FAA plan, which is designed to combat
increased air traffic in the mid-Atlantic area. The council voted after his
presentation.
On Nov. 1, a suit filed by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on behalf of
the state Department of Environmental Protection asking the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 2nd District in New York to rescind the new flight paths
officially brought the state into the fray.
The FAA had released its voluminous plan, which is the result of nine years of
research, in September.
"We're not being supplied with truthful information," Mr. Marconi
claimed. "All they've done is look at their own planes," he observed
of the FAA's study. "They haven't looked at general aviation."
"If traffic comes in over the area, it will push down general
aviation," he said, describing the impact on the smaller, privately owned
planes as "similar to taking I-95 and putting it over our heads."
By 2011, the day-night average sound level of the planes in the FAA system
would, according to computations by the Southwestern Regional Planning Agency,
move from 5.1 to 7.5 decibels in the New Milford area if the redesign holds,
with an increase of three decibels representing a doubling of noise.
Mr. Marconi said there was no real benefit from the FAA plan to those who
would be impacted by the redesign. "It's a greening of the bottom
line," he said, noting that the new paths with a gentler slide slope
would reduce the use of fuel on the part of the largely commercial planes.
With the addition of New Milford, the alliance which the council approved
joining currently functions independently of the action brought by the state.
The Town Council will seek the appropriation of $85,000 from the Board of
Finance to fund the town's participation.
Currently, the alliance consists largely of towns in Connecticut-New Canaan,
Wilton, Danbury, Darien, Norwalk, Stamford, Greenwich, Redding, Ridgefield,
Weston, Westport, Bridgewater and New Milford-and also Pound Ridge in New
York.
The Alliance for Sensitive Airspace Planning, as the group of municipalities
is known, has a budget of $1 million. Of that, the group is presently
allocating at least $500,000 for legal fees, with $180,000 dedicated to
lobbying and $200,000 for the grass-roots effort. The alliance filed its own
petition against the FAA scheme in the 2nd circuit court in New York on Nov.
2.
The municipalities that have joined pay $30,000 as an entrance fee, with the
rest of the cost of their participation in the fight determined on a per
capita basis, Mr. Marconi said. He said as additional towns join-he noted he
is scheduled to speak before the selectmen in Brookfield and Bethel-those
costs may come down. He also said that aggressive efforts on the part of the
state may reduce costs. Municipalities could withdraw from the alliance at any
time, he said.
Mr. Marconi observed that the FAA has already hired legal counsel. "Never
before has the FAA sought outside council," he said. Of the state's
action in early November, he remarked, "Better late than never." He
noted that the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have already
sought legal redress from the FAA's airspace redesign, making Connecticut more
vulnerable to increased flights in its airspace should it not act on its own
behalf.
In his action, Mr. Blumenthal faulted the FAA for failing to consider
environmental and quality of life issues. He also noted that the FAA had not
factored the impact of noise on residents and states into its decision.
"The FAA needs to cool its jets and change course," Mr. Blumenthal
has said.
Indeed, the report the FAA released said, "Noise reduction is not a
Purpose and Need for Airspace Redesign.
In the case of the national airspace redesign (NAR), reduction of noise is not
appropriately identified as a Purpose," although the report said the FAA
had committed to using techniques where feasible and appropriate to reduce
airport noise and other potential environmental impacts.
The Record of Decision released by the FAA on Sept. 5 noted that the FAA had
looked at the increase in traffic levels, safety, delays and changes in the
types of aircraft in navigable airspace in an airspace structure that had been
designed in the 1960's. The last large-scale airspace changes were made in
1988, according to the report.
The New Milford council vote to approve the appropriation of the funds, most
likely from the undesignated fund balance, was unanimous, with Councilman Mary
Jane Lundgren also expressing her concern about the environmental pollution
that would result from a lower-level use of fuel.
