House Transportation Subcommittee Agrees to Delay FAA Plan

Last week, we achieved a small victory in our effort to stop the Federal Aviation Administration's controversial airspace redesign plan from moving forward.  I am proud to announce that last Thursday, Congressman Jim Oberstar, the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, gave his assurance on the House floor that the FAA plan will not go into effect until the Government Accountability  Office completes its own investigation of the plan.  

Together, Rep. Joe Sestak and I have asked the General Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study of the FAA Airspace Redesign project; and as a result of Chairman Oberstar’s guarantee, there will be no movement on this plan until a thorough study is complete by the GAO.

I am absolutely convinced that this project is a colossal mistake at the expense of not only taxpayer’s dollars, but their quality of life as well.  I will continue fighting the FAA’s attempt to move forward with this plan and will continue working to develop a new alternative that will adequately address the delays at our region's airports, while also preserving the quality of life for area residents in the most cost effective manner possible. 

Below is a recent Gloucester County Times Article that highlights this issue:
 

Gloucester County Times
 
 FAA plan expected to await scrutiny
 Saturday, September 22, 2007
 By Jonathan Vit jvit@sjnewsco.com
 
 The Federal Aviation Administration's controversial plan to reroute air  traffic throughout the region will be put on hold until a congressional  investigation of the plan is complete, said local lawmakers Friday.
 
 On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat who chairs the  House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, gave his assurance that  the FAA plan will not go into effect until the Government Accountability  Office completes its own investigation of the matter.
 
 For opponents of the plan, this promise comes as a small victory.
 
 "I am confident that because the congressman was able to win this commitment  we will be successful in convincing the FAA there is a better way to do  this," said U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, "that will mean less cost for the  taxpayers and less noise for the people of the Delaware Valley."
 
 The FAA has already decided to move forward with a much-contested plan to  reroute air traffic in and out of Philadelphia International Airport and  could place the plan in action within eight months. Airspace redesign has  been proposed to reduce the average 22-minute delay for Philadelphia  flights.
 
 From day one, the plan has irritated those who live within these flight  paths and could look forward to a previously unseen level of air traffic  above their homes.
 
 At the urging of Andrews and U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, whose Pennsylvania  district is also affected, the GAO began an investigation into claims made  by the FAA's report on the airspace redesign project.
 
 Worried that the FAA would rush the implementation of this project in  anticipation of a negative GAO report, Sestak and Andrews began working with  Oberstar to place it on ice.
 
 "We don't expect this airspace redesign to happen or be implemented while we  are waiting for the GAO report," said Sestak.
 
 The two lawmakers fault the FAA plan on a number of grounds, including an  overestimate of the amount of time a restructuring of the airspace could  save.
 
 "We believe that the review will show two things," said Andrews. "One is  that the reduction in flight delays claimed by the FAA is way off, and that  the amount of savings (from reducing) flight delays is infinitesimal."
 
 This isn't the first strike against the FAA's plan. Last week, Delaware  County officials filed a federal lawsuit with the U.S. Third Circuit Court  of Appeals taking exception to the FAA's numbers.
 
 Sestak, who announced the lawsuit in a press conference with Delaware County  officials last Friday, explained that the county will next file for a delay  in implementing the plan until litigation wraps up.
 
 "If there is irreparable harm from the FAA's failure to follow the  Environmental Protection Act, a stay can be filed," he said.
 
 Even without Delaware County's filing for a stay with federal courts, the  FAA has to wait out the GAO report, which could take months.
 
 "The GAO is truly an independent entity," said Andrews. "They do it right  before they do it fast."
 
 
 C 2007  Gloucester County Times
 C 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
  

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