Dear Friends,
We hope you are well; our thoughts go out to those who have been affected by the fires, and the ongoing challenges with Covid. Stay safe.
Below please find:
- PACC Elections - Call to Action!
- Update - The Role of Elected Officials and Airports
PACC Elections:
Today all candidates running for a position on the Palo Alto City Council will receive a Sky Posse Airport Noise Questionnaire. Questions focus on how council members can work with the FAA to advocate for community concerns. We also want candidates to be informed and aware of how important their role is, as "advisors” to the FAA.
CALL TO ACTION!
- Please encourage all PACC candidates to respond to the Sky Posse Questionnaire by October 3rd.
Update - The Role of Elected Officials and Airports:
On page 5, FAA states
"Elected and/or appointed officials should advise in determining the type of outreach to the public and the number and location of public workshops, if needed."
The new guidance also covers the role of airports. In a nutshell, per this report - FAA gives airports and local officials a leading role in determining the level of community involvement for airspace matters. In combination with the FAA's Report on Alternative Metrics encouraging the use of alternative metrics, there is an opportunity for our leaders to take a more active role in advising the FAA, and move past the idea that citizens have little influence on FAA practices. This is critical if the public is to be able to address Nextgen.
Local airport projects under the jurisdiction of the FAA also allow community involvement, as described in Report 176. Elected officials, in advising the FAA, can be decisive in how projects are defined, disclosed, reviewed, and implemented.
We are pleased that the FAA has clarified roles for community involvement. With these new guidelines, we are counting on airports and local officials to more proactively address the items described in our June letter regarding the IFP gateway, and questions about GBAS and Nextgen. Moreover, we are relying on airports and local officials to ensure that recently announced Environmental Assessments for several SFO procedures including SERFR FIVE employ alternative metrics to more appropriately involve the community in understanding potential impacts. On a more long term basis, we are following up on the 2018 Reauthorization provision 173 to review NEPA thresholds but this does not need to hold up best practices outlined in FAA reports 176 and 188.
THANK YOU because it is thanks to YOUR outreach and advocacy that the above important process steps receive attention.