Chapter 21. General

Section 4. Coordination of Proposals

21-4-1. POLICY

The Service Center OSG military representatives are the points of contact for the coordination of the respective ­military service's SUA proposals for their designated geographic service area. The Service Center OSG will han­dle all coordination of nonmilitary SUA proposals.

21-4-2. PRE-PROPOSAL COORDINATION

  1. Before submitting a SUA proposal to the Service Center OSG, the military proponent will coordinate their ­proposal concept, at a minimum, with locally affected ATC facilities and military units, local FAA Air Traffic ­Representatives (ATREPs) and Military Representatives (MILREPs), and the ARTCC having jurisdiction over ­the affected airspace.
  2. Inquiries from nonmilitary sources regarding the establishment or amendment of SUA will be referred to ­the appropriate Service Center OSG for assistance.

21-4-3. ATC FACILITY COORDINATION

  1. The proponent will coordinate with affected ATC facilities as needed to discuss the proposal. Proponents ­should provide the facility with specific information about the mission requirement. This information should ­include:
    1. the types of activities to be conducted;
    2. the number and types of aircraft involved;
    3. duration of flights;
    4. desired airspace parameters (boundaries and altitudes), and;
    5. why existing SUA within a reasonable distance are not suitable to accommodate the requirement (see ­paragraph 21-3-1).
  2. Affected ATC facilities will review the concept to evaluate its potential impact on aeronautical and facility ­operations. The ATC facility's evaluation must conclude whether the SUA concept is:
    1. operationally feasible;
    2. operationally feasible with specified alternatives or modifications, or;
    3. not operationally feasible, detailing the specific reasons and providing alternative suggestions.
  3. Proponents are cautioned that ATC facility concurrence with the proposal concept only represents the ­facility's preliminary assessment of the aeronautical and ATC operational feasibility of the proposal concept. ­The proposal will still be subject to the further processing requirements of this order (e.g., aeronautical study, ­safety risk management, public comment period, and environmental analysis), and the development of a letter ­of agreement. Therefore, ATC facility favorable consideration must not be interpreted as the FAA's endorsement ­or as a final approval of the proposal concept.
  4. ATC facilities are responsible to inform the proponent if their assessment of the SUA proposal concept ­changes or becomes operationally unfeasible. Proponents are responsible to inform ATC facilities if their ­proposal concept changes.
  5. In the event a proponent's airspace proposal concept has failed to receive ATC facility(ies) concurrence, ­constructive feedback, or operationally feasible alternatives/ mitigations, then the proponent should coordinate ­with the service center MILREP and FAA ATREP to resolve the concern.
  6. For guidance on environmental pre-coordination actions, refer to paragraph 21-1-9 and Chapter 32 of this ­order.

21-4-4. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

  1. SUA proposals are submitted to the appropriate FAA Service Center OSG for formal processing. Military ­SUA proposals must be submitted to the appropriate Service Center OSG military representative. Before ­submitting the proposal to the Service Center OSG, the military representative will review the package to ­determine compliance with the requirements of this order and applicable military service policies.
  2. SUA proponents must promptly notify the Service Center OSG if there is a change in requirements that ­would alter the requested effective date or cancel the need for the proposed airspace. Military SUA proponents ­must make this notification through their appropriate Service Center OSG military representative.