Environmental Considerations

[Music] welcome to the Federal Aviation administration's Community Education video series the FAA is committed to ensuring the operation of the national airspace system or Nas is environmentally compatible to do so the agency complies with Federal statutes regulations and executive orders through an environmental review process the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA is a statute that requires s all federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of federal actions here at the FAA our Environmental Protection Specialists work with regional service centers to review Air Traffic proposals and determine their environmental impact most proposals are driven by opportunities to further improve safety or efficiency all federal agencies must follow the standardized requirements outlined by NEPA the process is procedural and the technical methods are consistent from one project to the next the FAA establishes the rules and policies that determine when noise is significant and needs further analysis while agency discretion is allowed it's limited it's important for National airspace system operations to be both safe and environmentally compatible the FAA considers the potential effects of noise air quality climate impacts federally protected species and historical sites when assessing proposed actions the NEPA process is about making better more informed decisions NEPA also promotes environmental justice by requiring federal agencies to include a Project's potential environmental economic and public health impacts on lowincome minority tribal and Rural communities the FAA Begins the NEPA process by reviewing proposed action requests for any potential Community or existing environmental concerns within the study area for minor changes without significant impact we recommend a categor iCal exclusion determination that means these changes are excluded from further environmental analysis minor actions may include changes to Runway names and numbering or publishing Air Traffic Control procedures that do not essentially change existing flight tracks flight altitude or concentration of aircraft for major actions like changes to flight paths the process is more involved the purpose and need for the changes are documented and finalized the agency then identifies all NEPA and Environ Al resources within the study area potentially impacted by the new air traffic patterns when necessary our Environmental Protection Specialists consult with other federal agencies to look at potential impacts of The Proposal agency consultations include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the department of the Interior the National Park Service and the US fish and wildlife service the Environmental Protection Specialists analyze airport and airspace operational data and conduct a noise noise screening analysis using special modeling software to look for significant or reportable noise impact the software models the environmental consequences of noise fuel consumption emissions and air quality our environmental subject matter experts use these models to analyze past present and future conditions for an airport airspace or noise sensitive Geographic areas the FAA addresses any potential environmental or noise effects on identified Resources with an external agency cons cons ation or through a community engagement process if they find no extraordinary circumstances to the identified resources we prepare a categorical exclusion that's included with the procedure design package and allows us to implement the proposed action when a proposed action's effects are uncertain or circumstances or extraordinary we will recommend an environmental assessment the FAA generally contracts out the assessment to a qualified thirdparty vendor our environment protection Specialists provide oversight to control the the scope cost and schedule of the assessment when the assessment process reveals significant impact the vendor will recommend a more detailed environmental impact statement through the NEPA process the FAA can be certain it correctly assessed current noise effects and the impact of future airport and airspace [Music] changes the FAA adheres to National Environmental Policy Act requirements to evaluate and analyze the potential environmental effects of proposed projects this process ensures the national airspace system makes environmental compatibility a priority the agency's aim is to produce better more sustainable lower impact solutions for present and future Aviation operations for more information visit faa.gov [Music]