It’s a good thing that Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has finally begun to pull the mask of safety from its plan to move Runway 24R in the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) North Airfield Complex closer to Westchester Homes. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), only three of the total twelve runway incursions reported at LAX during FY 2010 occurred on the North Airfield. This follows a long pattern of imbalance of incursions preponderantly occurring on the South Airfield.

 

On Friday, October 8, 2010, the FAA announced that the number of minor runway incursions at LAX increased from eight in FY 2009 to twelve during the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2010. No serious incursions that could endanger aircraft or passengers were reported at LAX during FY 2010. Nationwide, the number of serious runway incursions dropped from twelve in FY 2009 to eight in FY 2010. According to FAA officials, ten of the LAX incursions were caused by pilots who strayed across “hold lines,” while two were caused by air traffic controllers. Three of the incursions occurred on the North Airfield and nine were reported on the South Airfield, where LAX officials recently spent $83 million to further separate two parallel runways and add a centerline taxiway in an effort to reduce incursions on the South Airfield.

The FAA comparison of North and South Airfield runway incursions, showing three times as many incursions on the South Airfield as on the North Airfield, follows the recent LAX North Airfield Safety Study which found that the North Airfield is safe as presently configured, and that LAX officials’ plans to further separate the North Airfield runways and add a parallel center taxiway cannot be based on increased safety reasons.

In an article posted on this blog on September 2, 2010, Chevalier, Allen & Lichman, LLP (CA&L) reported that the California Department of Transportation (Department) had announced that the Draft 2010 California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook (Handbook) would be available for review and comment from September 7 through October 4, 2010. CA&L has learned that the Handbook will not be available until November, 2010.

 

 

The Handbook provides guidance to airport land use commissions (ALUCs), their staffs and consultants, and local agencies having jurisdiction over land use surrounding California airports. ALUCs rely extensively on the Handbook in preparing and updating the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plans (ALUCPs) they use to determine whether development project plans submitted to local planning agencies by property developers and planners can be approved.

CA&L has worked extensively with property owners, developers and planners, as well as ALUCs and local agencies, in interpreting, applying and incorporating the Handbook criteria in land use planning since the Handbook was published in 2002. We encourage landowners, developers and planners who have an interest, or may have a future interest, in development projects near a California airport to submit comments on the Draft Handbook when it becomes available. The Handbook, when completed, will have a significant influence on land use development approvals throughout California for years to come.

In response to requests by law enforcement and other government agencies to provide more accurate, up-to-date aircraft registration information, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has amended its aircraft registration regulations. The FAA estimates that approximately one-third of the 357,000 registered aircraft records it maintains are inaccurate, and that many of the aircraft listed in its Civil Aviation Registry database are likely ineligible for U. S. registration. Those inaccuracies result from failures by aircraft owners to report aircraft status and address changes under the current voluntary compliance based system. The FAA Final Rule, published in the July 20, 2010 Federal Register, will become effective on October 1, 2010. The re-registration or renewal fee will be $5.00. (See 47 CFR Sec. 47.17).

 

Continue Reading FAA Aircraft Re-Registration and Registration Renewal Rule Becomes Effective October 1, 2010

The California Department of Transportation (Department) has announced that the Draft 2010 Airport Land Use Planning Handbook (Handbook) will be available for review and comment from September 7 through October 4, 2010. The Department’s Division of Aeronautics has been working with Environmental Science Associates to update the January 2002 version of the Handbook.

 

 

The Handbook supports and amplifies the California State Aeronautics Act (California Public Utilities Code, Section 21670, et seq.) which establishes statewide requirements to ensure that all land use and development in the vicinity of California public use airports is compatible with airport operations. The Handbook provides guidance to airport land use commissions (ALUCs), their staffs and consultants, and to local agencies having jurisdiction over land use surrounding California airports.

The Handbook is also a valuable technical resource for real property owners, developers and planners who are planning development projects near a California airport. It contains guidance and criteria which an ALUC will use in determining whether a proposed project is compatible with the applicable Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan. Chevalier, Allen & Lichman, LLP has worked extensively with property owners, developers and planners, as well as ALUCs and local agencies, in interpreting, applying and incorporating the Handbook criteria in land use planning since the Handbook was published in 2002.

The draft update will be available at www.esassoc.com. Land owners, developers and planners, and local agencies are encouraged to review and submit comments on the Draft Handbook to the Department during the review period. The Handbook is expected to be completed in December 2010.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that, unless it receives adverse comments by the close of the comment period on August 13, 2010, it will approve revisions to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). A SIP is an enforceable plan, developed at the state level and submitted to the EPA for approval, that explains how the state will attain and maintain National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set by the EPA for certain criteria pollutants. The Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) requires each state to develop and regularly update a SIP. SIPs are necessary and important. They play a key role in defining compliance with the CAA. The revisions proposed by the EPA are revisions to the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) and South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) portions of the California SIP. Approval of the revisions will enable California and the EPA to regulate volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from “vanishing oils, rust inhibitors, plastic coatings, rubber coatings, glass coatings and aerospace operations.”  Information on how to submit comments on-line or by e-mail or by mail is available at http://www.regulations.gov. Comments should contain the docket number EPA-R09-OAR-2010-0514.

Section 21670 of the California State Aeronautics Act requires that every county in which there is an airport that is served by a scheduled airline establish an Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) “to protect public health, safety, and welfare by ensuring the orderly expansion of airports and the adoption of land use measures that minimize the public’s exposure to excessive noise and safety hazards within areas around public airports to the extent that these areas are not already devoted to incompatible uses.” One of the duties of the ALUC is to adopt an Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP). In formulating an ALUCP, an ALUC has the power to develop height restrictions on buildings, specify use of land and determine building standards within the Airport Influence Area (AIA) designated by the ALUC.

 

Continue Reading Land Use Planning Near California Airports Could Change Your Development Plans

A recently announced plan by the San Bernardino County Association of Governments (SANBAG) to convert carpool lanes on the 10 and 15 freeways to toll lanes will not realize the proposal’s intended purpose, i.e., to reduce traffic in the carpool lanes. Rather, it will temporarily serve to push freeway carpool lane traffic out of the carpool “frying pan” into the main lanes “fire.”

 

Continue Reading Proposed Carpool Lane Tolls in San Bernardino Won’t Reduce Traffic

Proponents of California’s proposed high-speed rail project envision a high-speed rail network connecting Sacramento, San Francisco, Central Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire and San Diego. However, there are many obstacles, real or imagined, that could delay or derail the project. First, the House Subcommittee on Transportation voted to fund only $1.4 billion for high-speed rail in FY 2011, compared to the $4 billion they approved last year. The project appears to be plagued by unreliable cost, ridership and revenue projections, uncertainty about private investment and, given the State of California’s finances, the possibility that taxpayers may have to subsidize the project if revenue projections are not met. A high-speed rail system would reduce revenues for Metrolink and Amtrak. A number of cities and communities along the proposed routes oppose the project. Finally, the proposed project will require environmental review. Environmental review will include at least two alternatives (in addition to the mandatory “no-action” alternative) – a “shared track” alternative and a “dedicated track” alternative. Both present problems.

 

Continue Reading California High-Speed Rail Project Could Be Derailed

Residents of Eastern Long Island are awaiting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Final Rule regarding the New York North Shore Helicopter Route. If the Final Rule tracks the FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), helicopters flying along Long Island’s northern shoreline will be required to use the North Shore Helicopter Route. Pilots may deviate from the route only if necessary for safety or when required by weather conditions. The North Shore Route was added to the New York Helicopter Chart in 2008. However the route was developed for visual flight rules (VFR), and use of the route has been voluntary. The new rule would direct pilots to fly at an altitude of 2,500 feet, one mile offshore, and require that when crossing overland they overfly the least populated areas.

 

 The FAA cites 49 U.S.C. sections 40103 and 44715 as authority for the rule. Under section 40103(b)(2), the FAA Administrator has authority to “prescribe traffic regulations on the flight of aircraft (including regulations on safe altitudes) for . . . (B) protecting individuals and property on the ground.” Section 44715(a) provides that to “relieve and protect the public health and welfare from aircraft noise” the Administrator, “as he deems necessary, shall prescribe . . . (ii) regulations to control and abate aircraft noise . . .” If implemented, the Rule would establish the first-ever mandatory regulations that will set minimum altitudes and establish flight patterns for helicopters on Long Island based on noise abatement, rather than on safety or efficient airspace management. The FAA acknowledges in the NPRM that the rule is in response to complaints from, among others, New York Senator Charles Schumer and former senator Hillary Clinton.

Continue Reading Eastern Long Island (NY) Awaits Federal Aviation Administration Final Rule on North Shore Helicopter Route

Historically, General Aviation (GA) airports have not been subject to Federal rules governing airport security. Prior to September 11, 2001, the Federal government’s role in airport security focused exclusively on airports serving scheduled operations. Following 9/11, Congress enacted the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), which created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA was established to develop, regulate and enforce security standards for all modes of transportation. In the ATSA, Congress transferred most of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) civil aviation security responsibilities to the TSA.

In May 2004, TSA published Information Publication A-001, Security Guidelines for General Aviation Airports (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines provide GA airport owners, sponsors and operators a set of security best practices and a method for determining when and where security enhancements would be appropriate. The Guidelines do not contain regulatory language, and do not require that GA airports meet the same security requirements as commercial airports. The Guidelines are not mandatory, and do not establish any criteria that must be met in order to qualify for Federal funds. (TSA does require GA facilities located within the Washington D.C. Airspace Defense Identification Zone Flight Restricted Zone to implement security measures.)

 

Continue Reading General Aviation Airport Security