News Archive
Mrs. Evelyn Martinez, AEA-620
Federal Aviation Administration
Eastern Region Headquarters
1 Aviation Plaza
Jamaica, NY 11434-4809
Dear Mrs. Martinez:
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a nonprofit membership association consisting of over 370,000 pilots and aircraft owners nationwide, 14,500 of whom reside in the state of New York. AOPA is committed to ensuring the continued viability, growth, and development of aviation and airports in New York and the United States.
Our members have expressed concern regarding a recent proposal by the town of Islip, New York, to assess a $50,000 night landing surcharge on operations at Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP). The town of Islip apparently believes the existing nighttime operations ordinance adopted by the town board on May 1, 1984, grants them the authority to assess a nighttime surcharge on aircraft operations.
On March 20, 2001, Alfred E. Werner, commissioner for the town of Islip Department of Aviation and Transportation, sent a letter to airport tenants in part saying "...Islip's ordinance essentially prohibits aircraft operations at Long Island MacArthur between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m."
After receiving word of this March 20 letter, I had personally placed telephone calls to the aviation department to seek clarification. I was told to write the commissioner expressing the association's concerns.
We researched the ordinance and determined that there was indeed a nighttime access restriction at the airport but that the restriction, which had been approved by the FAA during the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150 study, did not close the airport to all traffic at night. Rather, aircraft meeting certain "noise" standards based on a dBA level were allowed to use of the airport during the restricted hours.
We believed the Department of Aviation and Transportation was willfully misrepresenting the nighttime operations capability at MacArthur Airport. Accordingly, AOPA attempted to resolve our concerns over the nighttime ordinance misrepresentation with the town of Islip on two occasions. To date, no response to our letters has been received from the town.
The following is information is submitted for your review and included as attachments to this letter.
May 19, 1998—In a report from a Long Island newspaper, the Newsday, Islip Town Supervisor Pete McGowan said the town never imposed a curfew but rather, "There was a noise ordinance put in some five years to 10 years ago, which said that airplanes louder than a certain decibel level can't take off after 11 p.m. or before 6:30 a.m."
March 20, 2001—Alfred E. Werner provides an official letter to all based tenants "reminding" them of the town of Islip ordinance, which "essentially prohibits aircraft operations at Long Island MacArthur between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m."
May 1, 2001—AOPA sends a letter to the commissioner for the town of Islip Department of Aviation and Transportation, pointing out that the March 20, 2001, letter does not depict factually the actual restriction in place under section 3B-2 Noise Limitations, which sets acceptable noise levels of 72 dB(A) for departures and 85 dB(A) for arrivals for aircraft operations between 11 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.
June 26, 2001—AOPA sends a letter to the commissioner for the town of Islip Department of Aviation and Transportation stating, "Since we have received no response to our May 1 letter, we are again respectfully requesting that a revised letter be sent to everyone who received your original letter."
August 15, 2001—Newsday article confirms that the town of Islip is considering levying a $50,000 surcharge for late-night flights.
Having received over $47 million since 1982 in federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funds for the airport, the town of Islip is obligated under a contract with the federal government. Accordingly, Islip is required under Section 47107, USC Title 49, to comply with the AIP grant assurances.
Included in these grant assurances and applicable to this situation is a grant assurance on the operation and maintenance of the airport (assurance 19), which says, "The airport and all facilities which are necessary to serve the aeronautical users of the airport...shall be operated at all times [emphasis added] in a safe and serviceable condition...."
The town of Islip must also comply with a grant assurance on economic nondiscrimination (assurance 22), which says, "It will make its airport available as an airport for public use on reasonable terms and without unjust discrimination."
AOPA feels strongly that the town of Islip is severely misinterpreting the town's own nighttime ordinance. Through misleading communications by the commissioner for the town of Islip Department of Aviation and Transportation and by attempting to enact a nighttime landing surcharge, the town of Islip is attempting to prohibit the aeronautical uses of the airport by enacting unreasonable restrictions. Thus, it is foreseeable and very possible that the town of Islip is quite probably in non-compliance with the AIP grant assurances listed above.
Accordingly, we request that the FAA take the steps necessary to investigate this issue under CFR 14, Part 13.1. Informal resolution to this potential problem will go a long way in preserving the viability and efficiency of the Islip MacArthur Airport in this time of significant airport delays.
The association appreciates your consideration of our views on this matter. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at 301/695-2205.
Sincerely,
Bill Dunn
Vice President
Regional Affairs
Cc: Wayne Heibeck, Manager, FAA Airports Compliance Division (AAS-400)
August 27, 2001
