The Role of the Airport Sponsor in Airport Planning and Environmental Reviews of Proposed Development Projects Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and State Mini-NEPA Laws (2014) / Chapter Skim
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32 be more stringent than the potential mitigation measures discussed by the FAA in its EIS.260 III. AIRPORT SPONSORS' LOGISTICAL ROLE Section II addressed the substantive content of an environmental review document required by NEPA, and the relative roles and responsibilities of the airport sponsor and the FAA to prepare that content at different stages of the environmental review process.
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33 expand capacity at a congested airport or relates to aviation safety or security) , then the failure of any participant (the FAA, the airport sponsor, or an outside agency)
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34 Figure 7. Experience of Survey Respondents with Selecting EA Consultants.
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35 pare the EIS.282 The airport sponsor should include the proposed scope of work, as well as the airport sponsor's selection criteria, in any RFQ or RFP for an EIS contractor.283 The proposed scope of work must be prepared by the FAA, not the airport sponsor.284 The selection criteria may be prepared by the airport sponsor, but the FAA must concur with the criteria.285 Based on the responses to the RFQ or RFP, and the airport sponsor's selection criteria, the airport sponsor will typically prepare a "short list" of its preferred EIS contractors.286 The short list will typically include three to five contractors.287 The airport sponsor may conduct interviews of the contractors on its list, but the airport sponsor must invite the FAA to participate in the interviews.288 After any such interviews have been conducted, the airport sponsor will submit the short list to the FAA, and the airport sponsor may indicate its preference or ranking of the contractors.289 However, the FAA ultimately must select the EIS contractor,290 and the FAA is not obligated to base its selection on the airport sponsor's preference or ranking.291 The FAA may even consider environmental consultants who are not on the airport sponsor's list of preferred EIS contractors.292 The FAA will provide the airport sponsor a list of potential EIS contractors ranked according to the FAA's preference.293 If the airport sponsor wishes to proceed with EIS preparation at that time, the airport sponsor must begin negotiating the cost of EIS preparation with the FAA's preferred EIS contractor.294 The FAA cannot participate in those negotiations, but the FAA may consider whether the negotiated cost is reasonable 282 FAA Order 1050.1E, App.
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36 what, if any, role was played by the FAA in naming the airport sponsor's preferred consultant as the new EIS contractor. However, the U.S.
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37 participate in meetings with the EIS contractor.310 The airport sponsor may also hire an independent consultant to participate in public hearings regarding the EIS, to help explain the EIS contractor's technical analysis to the interested public.311 The airport sponsor may also provide funds to the FAA (including AIP grant funds that the airport sponsor received from the FAA) for the FAA to hire additional consultants or staff to expedite processing of the EIS.312 The FAA may independently hire a consultant who was not involved in EIS preparation to evaluate the work of the EIS contractor or the analyses contained within the EIS.313 In particular, where an airport sponsor has prepared an EIS or equivalent EIR to satisfy the requirements of a state mini-NEPA law, the FAA is likely to hire its own consultant to independently review the work of the airport sponsor's consultant before the FAA issues an EIS under NEPA.314 The EIS contractor may hire subcontractors with expertise in special-purpose environmental laws to handle portions of the EIS.
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38 mat,"317 such as emails or draft documents stored on the computers used by agency employees. This search will often reveal preliminary communications or concerns that were later discarded as insignificant or unreasonable, but which can create the appearance of controversy or disagreement regarding the final agency decision.
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39 The airport sponsor and FAA should always keep in mind that correspondence between them may have to be disclosed, regardless of whether such disclosure is required by NEPA.
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40 Figure 8. Experience of Survey Respondents with Public Records Requests for Preliminary NEPA Documents.
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41 ronmental impact data obtained from outside sources (aside from other federal agencies, in which case the documents may be protected under the inter-agency exception)
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42 sibility of the airport sponsor and FAA to publicly disclose NEPA reports (and drafts) after they are no longer preliminary?
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43 (or its EA consultant) may have to perform additional environmental impact analyses for certain impact categories.354 The Final EA should incorporate these subsequent studies that respond to public comments on the Draft EA.
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44 is then the EPA's responsibility to publish a notice of public availability in the Federal Register, although the FAA is encouraged to also publish a notice of availability in "local newspapers" and "other local media" in the area affected by the proposed development project.365 The airport sponsor may need to handle coordination with the local media, especially coordination of the publication date (so that the local notice appears on the same date as the Federal Register notice, so that the end date of the 45-day review period can be accurately determined) .366 The FAA will typically make the Draft EIS available to the public electronically.367 Unlike the Draft EA, which is prepared by the airport sponsor's EA consultant, the Draft EIS is prepared by the EIS contractor who takes direction solely from the FAA.
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45 eral agencies.378 Upon receipt of the FAA's Final EIS, the EPA will publish a notice of availability of the Final EIS in the Federal Register.379 Likewise, the FAA is to announce the availability of the Final EIS in local newspapers and other local media. As with the Draft EIS, the airport sponsor should probably coordinate the publication with the local media to synchronize the timing of that notice with the Federal Register notice, which will be used to start the 30-day "wait period." The FAA is required to make the Final EIS "available to the public at publicly accessible locations."380 The presumption is that the FAA will make hard copies of the Final EIS available in a physical location, although (as with the Final EA)
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46 airport sponsor prepares a Noise Compatibility Program to address the noise impact of the existing airport layout, the airport sponsor must "provide notice and the opportunity for a public hearing" prior to submitting the Noise Compatibility Program to the FAA for approval.393 The submission to the FAA must summarize the comments received at the public hearing, as well as all written submissions received, and the airport sponsor's response to those comments from the public.394 The Noise Compatibility Program should address noise impacts of the existing airport layout rather than proposed developments; proposed new developments should generally be considered in the NEPA process rather than the Noise Compatibility Program.395 However, Noise Compatibility Programs may identify development projects that could better distribute noise impacts. NEPA documents for such proposed development projects have been upheld, despite the airport sponsor's failure to hold public hearings on the NEPA documents, where the proposal resulted from a Noise Compatibility Program that was subject to extensive public involvement and opportunity to comment.396 ii.
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47 Figure 9. Experience of Survey Respondents with Public Hearings on Draft NEPA Documents.
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48 ing, there is generally no requirement to hold additional public hearings to present the results of that analysis. It is in the FAA's discretion whether to require the airport sponsor to hold additional public hearings.413 If the public hearing on the Draft EA is adequately conducted (i.e., proper notice, designation of a "hearing officer," opportunity for the public to "speak and hear,"414 and adequate documentation of the proceedings)
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49 NEPA requirements for each Federal agency involved in a proposed action."423 Likewise, a joint public hearing may be held to satisfy both the FAA's NEPA requirements and the airport sponsor's requirements under a state mini-NEPA law.424 If a public hearing is required (either by the FAA or to satisfy the public participation requirement of some special-purpose environmental law) prior to publication of the Final EIS, the FAA will provide notice of opportunity for public hearing in the same announcement in which it provides notice of availability of the Draft EIS.425 Unlike the notice of availability, the notice of opportunity for public hearing need not be published in the Federal Register unless the proposed development has "national implications."426 If the FAA receives a request for public hearing, the airport sponsor is required to publish a notice of the public hearing in local media at least 30 days in advance of the public hearing.427 The notice must state the time and location of the hearing, as well as "a list of potentially affected environmental resources" drawn from the Draft EIS.428 Like the Final EA, the Final EIS "should include a detailed summary of issues raised during the public hearing and responses to those issues."429 The FAA is to provide the airport sponsor a copy of the transcript of the public hearing.430 However, because the EIS is prepared by the FAA (or the EIS contractor under the FAA's direction)
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50 often in the context of wetlands mitigation. A number of survey respondents indicated that the U.S.
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51 fies that the proposed development project "conforms" to special-purpose environmental laws, but the outside agency with jurisdiction over the special-purpose law disagrees with the airport sponsor's conformity determination.441 To avoid elevating the proposed development project to require an EIS, the airport sponsor should work with the outside agency to get concurrence on the airport sponsor's conformity determination prior to finalizing the EA. In response to the survey conducted for this diget, some airport sponsors expressed frustration with what they perceived as the outside agencies making "unreasonable demands" and raising environmental concerns that go beyond their special-purpose jurisdiction and expertise.
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