Section 6. Processing of Airport Proposals
By
Service Area Offices
11-6-1. EFFECT ON AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROL OPERATIONS
The air traffic office shall conduct an airspace review
to evaluate the effect on the safe and efficient
utilization of airspace by aircraft and the effect that
such proposals may have on the movement and
control of air traffic, associated resources (personnel,
facilities and equipment), and ATC program
planning.
a. The depth of the review shall commensurate
with the location, complexity, and timing of the
proposed development. The range of the study may
vary from no need to review (e.g., the closing of an
airport reported for record purposes) to a large effort
required to process and study a proposal for a new
major air carrier airport to serve a high density
terminal area.
b. An airspace review shall be conducted for
activation, deactivation or alteration of any landing
area, reported in compliance with part 157 or an
airport owner's federal obligations, for military
construction projects, and at any other time deemed
necessary for assessing the utilization of airspace.
Include studies associated with existing airports and
with disposal or conveyance of Federal property for
public airport purposes, as appropriate.
c. Upon completion of the airspace review,
forward the response (via the OE/AAA automation
program, electronic mail, or memorandum) to the
responsible Airports Office. The airspace response
shall recommend approval or disapproval of the use
of the airspace associated with the proposal. This
response shall be in the form of no objection without
conditions, no objection provided certain conditions
are met, or objectionable. If the recommendation of
the finding to the proposed use of the associated
airspace is objectionable or to disapprove the
proposal, clearly state the reasons why. If the finding
is conditional, also clearly state the conditions. Care
must be exercised when issuing conditional findings.
When the conditions are such that a substantial
adverse effect would result if not corrected (such as
the blocked view to a portion of the movement area
from the airport traffic control tower), then an
objectionable or disapproval finding should be
recommended. Include a statement that the FAA will
reconsider the proposal after provisions are made to
resolve the objectionable conditions.
11-6-2. COORDINATION
The reviewing air traffic office shall coordinate
airport proposals with other air traffic offices and
facilities as appropriate.
a. Projects contemplated at airports served by an
ATCT or flight service station must be coordinated
with the facility manager or his/her representative
prior to arriving at a finding. Documentation of the
coordination performed shall be entered in the case
file. The ATCT responds on the proposal to the
service area office in accordance with local
procedures.
b. Military Airport Proposals which are not part of
the Military Construction Program (MCP) are
normally submitted to service area offices through
the regional military representatives. Those
proposals shall be processed in the same manner as
civil proposals except that the air traffic office is
responsible for coordinating the proposals with the
Airports, Flight Standards, and technical operations
services offices. The air traffic office is also
responsible for any coordination necessary with the
military regarding the proposal and issuance of the
regional determination.
c. The Airports Office will coordinate and
negotiate with the airport owner/sponsor to resolve
problems with proposals on civil, public use airports.
The Airports Office may request the air traffic office
to assist in the negotiation if the problem relates to the
safe and efficient utilization of the airspace.
11-6-3. AIRPORT TRAFFIC PATTERNS
a. If the appropriate VFR or IFR traffic pattern
airspace area requirements overlap or if airspace
requirements cannot be developed to accommodate
the category and volume of aircraft anticipated at an
existing or planned airport, the airport, in all cases,
need not be found objectionable from an airspace
utilization standpoint if adjustments to traffic
patterns (such as establishing non-standard traffic
patterns, assigning specific traffic pattern altitudes,
and/or developing special operational procedures)
would mitigate the conflict. Such action may reduce
the capacity, operational flexibility, and compatibility of the airports involved. The air traffic office
shall determine if airspace areas overlap. If the
airport proposal's traffic pattern conflicts with the
pattern of an adjacent airport and the conflict could
be eliminated by adjusting only the proposal's
pattern, the air traffic office will specify the traffic
pattern to be used as a condition of the proposal's
determination.
b. If an adjacent traffic pattern needs to be adjusted
to solve a conflict and the pattern adjustment can be
made safely, the Airports Office will request
assistance from the air traffic office in negotiating
with the adjacent airport owner/manager for
agreement in writing to the traffic pattern adjustment.
If a non-standard traffic pattern adjustment is made
at a public-use airport with other than a full-time
control tower, then visual indicators at the airport are
required, in accordance with AC 150/5340-5,
Segmented Circle Airport Marker System. If night
operations are conducted or planned at the airport,
then floodlighting of the segmented circle is
necessary.
c. The traffic pattern airspace associated with an
airport proposal may not overlap the traffic pattern of
an adjacent airport.
11-6-4. PART 77 REVIEW
Review proposed structures and existing terrain or
objects that exceed part 77 obstruction standards to
determine the extent of adverse effect and
recommend marking/lighting if needed. If the
review indicates obstructions that are potential
hazards to the airport proposal, forward the airspace
finding to the Airports Office. The airspace use
associated with a new airport or airport alteration
proposal should normally be considered as
objectionable (or disapproved for AIP) if the study
discloses an adverse effect that cannot be mitigated.
11-6-5. DESIGNATION OF INSTRUMENT
RUNWAY/CHANGE IN AIRPORT STATUS
VFR TO IFR
The processing required by air traffic offices depends
upon the action necessary for establishment of the
instrument approach procedure. This can involve the
establishment of NAVAIDs, nonrule or rulemaking
circularization and associated actions, the need for
communications, weather reporting, and the
capability of providing air traffic control service. In
conducting the airspace review, determine the
viability of establishing a reasonable instrument
approach procedure and the acceptability of the
airport environment for the proposed procedure.
Also, evaluate the effect of the proposed procedure on
existing or proposed IFR or VFR aeronautical
operations at the airport in question and/or adjacent
airports. Be particularly alert to previously issued "no
objection" determinations which include a provision/condition for VFR only operations. Forward the
finding to the responsible office. Airports shall
coordinate and circularize all VFR to IFR changes for
all part 157 proposals and airport layout plans (see
paragraph
11-2-9).
11-6-6. ONSITE EVALUATION
The need for onsite evaluations will be determined by
the airspace review results. Onsite evaluations may
be especially necessary when the review indicates the
presence of unsafe conditions. The air traffic office
should assist the Airports, Flight Standards, and
FPOs in the onsite evaluation, as appropriate.
NOTE-
Noise consideration, see paragraph
11-1-6.
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