[MA-RPC] FW: Queen City Airport
Walt Daniels
wdhiker at optonline.net
Tue Oct 25 08:25:41 EDT 2005
While hiking past South Mountain, MD and again at the road crossing just
north of Bear's Den, we got sprayed for Gypsy moths, once while eating
lunch. Hopefully they went through the right channels for permits. There
were postings about the spraying on the shelter, but we saw them after being
sprayed, i.e. posted for SOBOs not NOBOs.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ma-rpc-bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org
> [mailto:ma-rpc-bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org] On Behalf Of
> Bob Proudman
> Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 6:26 AM
> To: Donald_Owen at nps.gov
> Cc: ma-rpc at commerce-02.cilia.org
> Subject: [MA-RPC] FW: Queen City Airport
>
> Dear Don and the MA-RPC:
>
> Thanks to Don Owen for assembling policy from ATC and NPS
> affecting our response, should that become necessary, to the
> Queen City Airport relocation proposed in eastern
> Pennsylvania. See his attached Word document and text below.
>
> Barb: Could you brief Don on location and where ATPO might
> direct its concerns as per the underlined policy at the
> bottom of p. 2 of his memo?
> ATC and ATPO frequently write letters to inform local
> officials of impacts that they may fail to address unless
> they're aware of the national park in their backyards.
>
> Bob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Donald_Owen at nps.gov [mailto:Donald_Owen at nps.gov]
> Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 3:37 PM
> To: Bob Proudman
> Subject: RE: Queen City Airport
>
> BP-
>
> Attached.
>
> DO
>
> (See attached file: 290 Queen City Airport ATC NPC policy.doc)
>
> Don Owen
> Environmental Protection Specialist
> Appalachian National Scenic Trail
> (deliveries: Third Floor, Civil War Story Building) Harpers
> Ferry Center Harpers Ferry, W.Va. 25425
> phone: (304) 535-4003
> fax: (304) 535-6270
> email: donald_owen at nps.gov
>
>
>
>
> "Bob Proudman"
>
> <bproudman at appalachia To:
> "Don Owen -
> NPS" <Donald_Owen at nps.gov>
>
> ntrail.org> cc:
>
> Subject:
> RE: Queen City
> Airport
>
> 10/24/2005 02:09 PM
>
> AST
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Don!
>
> Wow, thanks!
>
> The underlining didn't come through... maybe put your emailer on HTML?
>
> Or attach as a Word doc... I'd like to forward to the RPC MARO.
>
> Bob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Donald_Owen at nps.gov [mailto:Donald_Owen at nps.gov]
> Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 12:29 PM
> To: Bob Proudman
> Cc: Caroline Dufour; Karen Lutz; Michele Miller
> Subject: Re: Queen City Airport
>
> Bob -
>
> ATC's policy on overflights is contained in Chapter 4(K) of
> the Planning Guide. The third paragraph references ATC's
> policy on overflights:
>
> "Low-level overflights, particularly repeated overflights,
> intruce on the quiet and solitue that have always been
> considered essential to the A.T.
> experience. Consistent with FAA recommendations for flights
> over national park units, a minimum floor of 2,000 feet above
> ground level should be required for all aircraft, incluing
> military aircraft, for the entire length of the Appalachian Trail."
>
> However, NPS and FAA policy on overflights has advanced on
> several fronts since ATC policy was passed in 1989. Most of
> the NPS policy is a result of the National Park Air Tour
> Management Act of 2000. I've underlined the portions of the
> policy that seems particularly relevant below:
>
> 8.4 Overflights and Aviation Uses
>
>
> A variety of aircraft, including military, commercial,
> general aviation, and aircraft used for National Park Service
> administrative purposes, fly in the airspace over national
> parks. While there are many legitimate aviation uses,
> overflights can adversely affect park resources and values
> and interfere with visitor enjoyment. The Service will take
> all necessary steps to avoid or to mitigate adverse effects
> from aircraft overflights.
>
>
> Because the nation's airspace is managed by the Federal
> Aviation Administration (FAA), the Service will work
> constructively and cooperatively with the FAA, as well as
> with national defense and other agencies, to ensure that
> authorized aviation activities affecting units of the
> national park system occur in a safe and appropriate manner,
> with minimal impact on park resources and values and visitor
> experiences. The Service will build and maintain a
> cooperative and problemsolving relationship with national
> defense agencies to address the congressionally mandated
> mission of each agency, and which will prevent or mitigate
> any adverse effects of military training or operational
> flights on park resources or visitors. Cooperation is
> essential because the other agencies involved have statutory
> authorities and responsibilities that must be recognized by
> the Service.
>
>
> (See Soundscape Management 4.9. Also see Director's Orders #47:
> Soundscape
> Preservation and Noise Management; #60: Aviation Management)
>
>
> 8.4.1 Alaska and Remote Areas
>
>
> Aviation can provide an important, and in some cases the
> preferred, means of access to remote areas in certain parks,
> especially in Alaska. In such cases, access by aircraft may
> make an important contribution to the protection and
> enjoyment of those areas. Dependence on aviation will be
> fully considered and addressed in the planning process for
> those parks.
> Alaska parks have specific regulations concerning fixed- wing
> aircraft, published at 36 CFR Part 13, and 43 CFR 36. 11( f).
>
>
> 8.4.2 Education
>
>
> The Service will develop educational materials for the
> general public and for aviation interests, describing the
> importance of the natural soundscape and tranquility to park
> visitors, as well as the need for cooperation from the
> aviation community.
>
>
> (See Chapter 7: Interpretation and Education; Soundscape
> Management 4.9)
>
>
> 8.4.3 General Aviation
>
>
> The Service will work closely with the FAA and with general
> aviation organizations to ensure that general aviation
> operations over units of the national park system are
> conducted in accordance with applicable FAA advisories and
> "fly- friendly" techniques and procedures designed to help
> pilots minimize impacts on national parks. The Service will
> seek the assistance of these organizations in problem
> resolution if general aviation concerns arise over national parks.
>
>
> 8.4.4 Administrative Use
>
>
> Aviation is a necessary and acceptable management tool in
> some parks when used in a manner consistent with the NPS
> mission. Aviation activities will comply with all applicable
> policies and regulations issued by the Department of the
> Interior, the FAA, and the NPS. In its administrative use of
> aircraft, the Service will:
>
>
> Use, to the maximum extent practicable, the quietest air
> craft available for its aviation operations. Limit official
> use of flights over parks to those needed to support or carry
> out emergency operations or essential management activities
> in cases where there are no practical alternatives or when
> alternative methods would be unreasonable. Full consideration
> will be given to safety; wilderness management implications;
> impacts on resources, values, or visitors; impacts on other
> administrative activities and overall
> cost- effectiveness. Plan, schedule, and consolidate flights
> so as to avoid or minimize adverse impacts on park resources
> and values and visitor enjoyment. Require other agencies that
> request to use aircraft within park boundaries to comply with
> the standards and policies applicable to NPS aircraft.
>
>
> (Also see Director's Order #60: Aviation Management)
>
>
> 8.4.5 Military Aviation
>
>
> The Service will work cooperatively with agencies of the
> Department of Defense in order to address the congressionally
> mandated missions of all agencies. In addition, the Service
> will prevent or strive to mitigate any adverse effects of
> overflights related to military training or operational
> low- level overflights on park resources, values, or visitor
> experiences in national park units. Superintendents are
> responsible for opening lines of communication with base
> commanders controlling Military Training Routes or Military
> Operations Areas that may affect their parks, and for
> developing formal agreements that mitigate identified impacts.
>
>
> 8.4.6 Commercial Air Tour Management
>
>
> The National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000, and
> implementing FAA regulations, provide for a joint FAA/ NPS
> planning process that will lead to the management of
> commercial air tours over national parks by the FAA (with the
> exception of parks in Alaska, which are specifically excluded
> from the process). The NPS, as a cooperating agency, will
> assist the FAA in developing an air tour management plan
> (ATMP) for each park with existing or proposed air tours.
> Superintendents will work cooperatively with the FAA, air
> tour operators, and other stakeholders in the development of
> ATMPs, and will determine the nature and extent of impacts on
> natural and cultural resources and visitor experience
> opportunities inside park boundaries. The FAA, with
> responsibility for ensuring the safe and efficient use of the
> nation's airspace and for protecting the public health and
> welfare from aircraft noise, will implement the ATMP and
> regulate commercial air tours in accordance with it.
>
>
> 8.4.7 Permitted Overflights
>
>
> When issuing permits for activities such as filming or
> research, in which the use of aircraft is proposed, the
> superintendent will impose conditions to protect park
> resources and values from adverse impacts. Permit requests
> will be denied if the activity will have unacceptable impacts
> on a park's resources, values, or desired visitor experiences.
>
>
> 8.4.8 Airports and Landing Sites
>
>
> Private or commercial aircraft may be operated in parks only
> on lands or water surfaces designated by the Park Service as
> landing sites through special regulation. (See section 8. 4.
> 1 regarding Alaska and some remote
> areas.) The Service will evaluate and manage aircraft landing
> sites under its jurisdiction to ensure that the use of the
> sites will have no unacceptable impacts on park resources and
> values, public safety, or visitor enjoyment. Existing sites
> that meet these criteria and that have been designated as a
> result of previously established use may be retained as long
> as the administrative need for them continues. New sites will
> be designated only where essential to provide administrative
> access to remote areas (other than wilderness), and only
> where the site can be established, used, and maintained
> without the need for new construction or major site improvements.
>
>
> The National Park Service will also work with entities having
> jurisdiction over landing sites and airports adjacent to
> parks for the purpose of preventing, reducing, or otherwise
> mitigating the effects of aircraft operations. Whether
> landing sites or airports are situated within or adjacent to
> parks, the objective will be to minimize noise and other
> impacts, and confine them to the smallest and most
> appropriate portion of the park as possible, consistent with
> safe aircraft operations.
>
>
> (Also see 36 CFR 2.17; 43 CFR 36.11( f); Reference Manual 47)
>
> The only other information that I can think of that might be
> helpful at this point is attached. In 1997, we wrote a
> letter expressing our concern to the state of Massachusetts
> when they proposed an expansion of the Harriman West Airport
> in North Adams, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, it was written
> back in the early Precambrian Era when dinasours ruled the
> earth and the NPS was still using Word Perfect, and I can't
> open the file.
> Perhaps Bob Too can open it if you can't.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> Don
>
> p.s. Is this a commercial airport or a military airport? And
> how close is it to the A.T.? And are there any NPS A.T. Park
> Office lands that might be affected?
>
> (See attached file: 290 Harriman West Airport. 2 Baystate.wpd)
>
>
> Don Owen
> Environmental Protection Specialist
> Appalachian National Scenic Trail
> (deliveries: Third Floor, Civil War Story Building) Harpers
> Ferry Center Harpers Ferry, W.Va. 25425
> phone: (304) 535-4003
> fax: (304) 535-6270
> email: donald_owen at nps.gov
>
>
>
>
> "Bob Proudman"
>
> <bproudman at appalachia To:
> "Don Owen -
> NPS" <Donald_Owen at nps.gov>
>
> ntrail.org> cc: "Caroline
> Dufour" <cdufour at appalachiantrail.org>, "Michele Miller"
>
>
> <mmiller at appalachiantrail.org>, "Karen Lutz"
> <klutz at appalachiantrail.org>
> 10/24/2005 10:45 AM Subject:
> Queen City
> Airport
>
> AST
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Don:
>
> Attached are Barb Wiemann's excellent minutes from the MA-RPC
> meeting 10/15.
>
> Note the Airport news on p. 2. Would you and Caroline be
> willing to help me locate ATC policy and documentation
> regarding past airport issues (I recall military overflights,
> airport beacons in Massachusetts, etc).
>
> Do any past TLC issue papers come to mind?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Bob(See attached file: RPCDraftMinutes-0001.doc)
>
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