Section 1. General

  1. PURPOSE

The guidelines, procedures, and criteria detailed in this part supplement those contained in title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 77, Safe, Efficient Use, and Preservation of the Navigable Airspace. They provide clarification and guidance on how to process aeronautical studies conducted in accordance with part 77.

  1. AUTHORITY
  1. The FAA's authority to promote the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace, whether concerning existing or proposed structures, is predominantly derived from Title 49 U.S.C. § 44718 (§ 44718). It should be noted however, that § 44718 does not provide specific authority for the FAA to regulate or control how land (real property) may be used in regard to structures that may penetrate navigable airspace.
  2. 14 CFR part 77, Safe, Efficient Use, and Preservation of the Navigable Airspace, was adopted to establish notice standards for proposed construction or alteration that may result in an obstruction or an interference with air navigation facilities and equipment or the navigable airspace.
  1. POLICY

The prime objective of the FAA in administering § 44718 and 14 CFR part 77 in conducting aeronautical studies is to ensure the safety of air navigation and efficient utilization of navigable airspace by aircraft.

  1. SCOPE
  1. 49 U.S.C. §§ 40103 and 44718, and 14 CFR part 77 apply only to structures located within any state, territory, or possession of the United States, within the District of Columbia, or within territorial waters (12 NM) surrounding such states, territories, or possessions.
  2. Structures that are subject to study requirements associated with 49 U.S.C. §§ 40103, 44718, and 14 CFR part 77 may be man made (including mobile structures) or of natural growth or terrain, and may be existing, proposed, permanent, or temporary.
  1. RESPONSIBILITY

The responsibility for managing the obstruction evaluation program for those structures that may affect the navigable airspace is delegated to the Obstruction Evaluation Group (OEG), except for those structures located on public-use airports covered under FAA Order JO 7400.2, Part 3, Airport Airspace Analysis.

NOTE-

See paragraph 10-1-3.f.

  1. SENSITIVE CASES

The OEG Manager, or designated representative, must brief sensitive or high‐profile cases to the Manager, Rules and Regulations Group before issuing, revising, or extending the determination.

  1. AUTOMATION

To the extent practicable, the Obstruction Evaluation/Airport Airspace Analysis (OE/AAA) automated programs must be used in lieu of manual processing.

  1. OE/AAA AUTOMATED SYSTEM AIRPORT/RUNWAY DATABASE
  1. To ensure the automated 14 CFR part 77 obstruction criteria and the military 14 CFR part 77 obstruction criteria conflict analysis programs consider all known plans on file, the regional Airports Division Responsible Airspace Staffer (RAS) is responsible for maintaining the automated airport/runway database
  2. RAS must enter:
  1. The ultimate airport reference point for any proposed public-use or military airport into the database as soon as possible.
  2. Any change of airport status from private-use to public-use into the database as soon as possible. As workload permits, information on private-use airports must also be entered into the database.
  3. All other public-use and military airport/runway information in the database as soon as possible.
  1. Airports must resolve and correct any discrepancies that have been identified in the automated airport/runway database.
  2. Any required corrections must be forwarded to AIS.
  1. TRAINING

The primary employees involved with the OE/AAA process must complete the Basic Obstruction Evaluation and Airport/Airspace Analysis Course offered by the FAA Academy; or, in the case of division responders to aeronautical studies, an equivalent course developed by their Line of Business and approved by OEG to meet their requirements.

NOTE-

  1. For the purpose of this paragraph “primary employees” includes OEG employees and anyone who either processes petitions or enters responses into the automated system as a division responder.
  2. Completion of the course is not required for developmental employees or those in training. Course completion is required to enter unsupervised responses.
  1. RELEASE OF INFORMATION

Requests from the public for access to or copies of information contained in aeronautical study files must be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552), as implemented by part 7 of the Department of Transportation Regulations and Order 1270.1, Freedom of Information Act Program.