AOPA members help block anti-airport bill in California
AOPA member action, along with association lobbying efforts, has blocked an anti-airport bill in a California state Senate committee.
Assembly Bill 2501 would have imposed crippling aircraft operations monitoring on Santa Monica Municipal Airport. The airport would have been required to record taxi and idle times of all aircraft operating at the airport, ostensibly to obtain environmental data.
But the data might have been used to regulate aircraft operations, something that is the responsibility of the federal government, not state or local entities. The bill could have set a precedent threatening all California public-use airports. AOPA's California Regional Representative John Pfeifer lobbied against the bill.
And AOPA asked selected California members to contact their state senators sitting on the Transportation and Housing Committee. Members called and e-mailed, and according to at least one senator's chief of staff, information from the affected pilots made a difference in the vote.
"Our California members sent a very clear message that the committee members heard: Don't mess with our airports!" said Andy Cebula, AOPA executive vice president of government affairs.
The bill has already passed the California Assembly. Although it is dead for the moment in the Senate, there is a remote chance it could be called for reconsideration.
Night operations given extension at Lake Tahoe
Night operations at Lake Tahoe Airport, in the city of South Lake Tahoe, have been temporarily restored until September 15 based on the actions of the city to proactively and aggressively work with other government agencies having overlapping jurisdiction to obtain tree-cutting permits. City fathers had argued that the ban on night activities because of trees near the airport interfered with numerous community activities important to the local economy. However, the state Division of Aeronautics wants to see progress by September 15 on getting permits to cut trees that must be removed for safety. If progress is not made, the night restrictions will be reimposed.
The conditions placed on the continuance of night operations were spelled out in a letter from the state to local officials. The city was to have obtained Timber Harvest Waivers from the California Department of Forestry and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board by July 31, 2006. The city must obtain a tree-removal permit from Tahoe Regional Planning Agency by September 15, 2006, the letter said.
The reopening of the airport to all night operations in early July resulted from an interdepartmental conference call with local and regional authorities and the state.
The force descends on California's Oceanside airport
It was an impressive display of force — AOPA, the FAA, representatives of Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.), the state of California, local pilots — all arrayed before the media to defend Oceanside Municipal Airport in Southern California.
As the local newspaper, the North County Times, put it, "The city's municipal airport got a boost from the nation's largest aviation association Tuesday."
"We are committed to doing whatever it takes in any way, shape, or form to keep the Oceanside Municipal Airport open," said Bill Dunn, AOPA vice president of airports.
Mark McClardy, manager of the Airports Division of the FAA's Western-Pacific Region, said the city could do more to make the airport profitable, and he offered FAA resources to do so. "These airports are jewels," he said.
"If you lose them, you don't get them back."And McClardy explained the federal grant process. Because Oceanside had accepted grants to buy airport land, the city was obligated to keep the airport open forever. The FAA rarely allows an airport sponsor to return the money to get out of the obligation.
In some cases, it's taken an act of Congress to close an airport. That's not likely in the case of Oceanside. Issa, who represents the Oceanside area in Washington, D.C., made that very clear.
"The Oceanside Municipal Airport continues to play a vital role in the aviation infrastructure of Southern California and needs to remain open," Issa stated in a press release. "Southern California already lacks the airport capacity necessary to meet increasing aviation demands. Closing Oceanside Municipal Airport would only worsen the problem." (Issa couldn't personally be at the press event, but he sent two of his office staff to demonstrate his personal commitment to the airport.)
"I am certainly not going to be intimidated by the people on the Hill or by the pilots association," Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood told the North County Times. "I have to represent the whole city on this one."
Oceanside officials have hired a consultant to determine the airport's "highest and best use" and have retained an aviation law firm to review state and federal regulations regarding airport closings. Oceanside airport is some of the last open land in the area. Its location next to a major California state route makes that land very attractive to developers.
