Chapter 13. Military, NASA, and Other Agency Airport Proposals

Section 1. General

13-1-1. PRIOR NOTICE TO FAA

49 U.S.C. § 44718 provides, in part, that the Department of Defense (DoD), the National Aeronautics and Space ­Administration (NASA), or other agencies must not acquire, establish, or construct any military airport, missile ­or rocket site, or substantially alter any runway layout unless reasonable prior notice is given to the FAA ­Administrator so that the appropriate committees of Congress, and other interested agencies, may be advised ­as to the effects of such projects upon the use of airspace by aircraft.

13-1-2. FORM OF NOTICE

The DoD forwards military airport or missile site projects to FAA Washington Headquarters in the form of an ­annual Military Construction Program (MCP). Military projects not involved in the annual program are ­submitted to the FAA regional office by the individual services or commands through the regional military ­representatives (see paragraph 13-1-5). NASA and other agencies submit their projects directly to FAA ­Washington Headquarters.

13-1-3. FAA HEADQUARTERS REVIEWS

Annual MCPs and proposals submitted by NASA or other agencies are forwarded to Rules and Regulations ­Group for review and processing. Rules and Regulations Group must coordinate with appropriate headquarters ­ATP, Flight Technologies and Procedures, and Technical Operations Spectrum Engineering Services ­Group/Spectrum Assignment and Engineering Team Offices prior to forwarding the proposal to the ­regional/service area office for study. Any problems with the proposal at the headquarters level should be ­resolved prior to requesting regional/service area input.

13-1-4. REGIONAL/SERVICE AREA OFFICE REVIEW

Rules and Regulations Group will then forward the projects to the appropriate regional office for processing in ­the same manner as civil airport proposals, except that service area offices are responsible for the study. The ­determination and recommendation on the proposal, plus all pertinent comments and related material, must be ­forwarded to Rules and Regulations Group by the service area office. The official FAA determination must be ­formulated by Rules and Regulations Group after review and any required inter-services coordination and ­forwarded to DoD, NASA, or other agencies as appropriate. A copy of the determination must be forwarded to ­the affected regional/service area office.

13-1-5. MILITARY PROPOSALS OTHER THAN MCP

Other military airport proposals may be submitted by individual services through the appropriate regional ­military representatives to the regional/service area office. These proposals must be processed in the same ­manner as civil airport proposals except as indicated below. This exception does not apply to notices on joint-use ­airports received under part 157 or AIP projects.

  1. The regional Airports Division must coordinate with the service area office, Flight Standards Division, ­technical operations services area office, FPT, and other offices as required for formulation of the official FAA ­determination. The determination must be issued to the appropriate regional military representative with a copy ­to Rules and Regulations Group.
  2. When a controversial proposal is referred to Washington Headquarters for resolution, the airspace finding ­and official agency determination must be formulated by the AAS-100 in coordination with Rules and ­Regulations Group and other offices, as required, and forwarded to the appropriate regional military ­representatives through the regional/service area office.