Update 25 February 2013

Good Morning!

Wow, it is already the end of February, where does the time go?  It's time for an update on what we have been working on over the past month.  There’s a lot going on concurrently right now, so I’ll break up my update by subject to more easily highlight what’s happening.  

Mitigation
While the Kodiak Airport EIS includes several measures to avoid and minimize impacts, we are continuing our work on developing and refining a mitigation plan to mitigate those significant environmental impacts that are unavoidable.  As a quick recap of impacts detailed in the EIS, the preferred RSA alternatives would not completely avoid long-term environmental adverse impacts to wetlands (0.1 acres), waters of the US (17.8 acres), the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (17.8 acres), and subsistence.

As part of developing the appropriate mitigation, we have upcoming agency and tribal coordination meetings in Kodiak and Anchorage the week of March 4th.  We will be discussing potential mitigation measures to develop a reasonable compensatory mitigation package for identified significant impacts.  We are still developing the details of the plan, but I will send everyone an update as the mitigation measures continue to get flushed out.  

Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
In my last message, I mentioned that we would be scheduling ANILCA Title XI hearings to receive comments on the potential impacts on those lands protected by ANILCA, such as the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.  ANILCA requires that we will hold a hearing in both Kodiak and Washington D.C.  Based on our current schedule, the hearings should be held around mid-March.  I’ll send a message out once we officially have those hearings on the calendar.

Since our last update, the FAA has determined that an ANILCA Section 810 Subsistence evaluation will be prepared for the project.  Section 810 applies to projects that could affect subsistence resources on federal lands and because the proposed projects affect subsistence resources, FAA is preparing an 810 Evaluation for the preferred alternatives.  This evaluation will be released publically for review and comment.  As with Title XI, Section 810 also requires public hearings and we plan to hold the hearings for the 810 Evaluation at the same time as the Title XI ANILCA hearings.  

We will also provide a comment period for both Title XI and the Section 810 Evaluation, likely during the month of March.  The comment period will last approximately one month.  Again, once we have these dates cemented, we’ll get the word out.  The team will also place advertisements in local news sources for the hearing times, locations, and comment periods.

Final EIS Release
The team is busily developing responses to all comments received on the Draft EIS.  As mentioned in my last update, responses to all comments will be included in the Final EIS, along with any necessary changes to the document itself based on the comments.  As a reminder, we uploaded all the comments received on the Draft EIS onto the website, so if you have not already gotten a chance to open them up and are interested in what was submitted, take a look.  The link is provided below.
http://www.kodiakairporteis.com/documents/documents.htm

The Final EIS is scheduled to be released later this summer.  As usual, I’ll provide updates as we go.

As always, thank you for your interest in this project.  As we move forward on this project, I will continue to keep you updated with our progress.  But in the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions.  You can always reach me at 907-271-5453 or via email at Leslie.Grey@faa.gov.

Best Regards, Leslie

Leslie A. Grey
Environmental Protection Specialist
FAA - Alaskan Region, Airports Division
907-271-5453

Public Meeting Thursday Dec 6, 5 pm, Convention Center

Good afternoon,

Two weeks ago we convened meetings in Anchorage and Kodiak to talk about the Draft EIS for proposed runway safety area improvements at Kodiak Airport. I’d like to thank those of you who participated. We had some good discussions, and I really appreciate all of the constructive feedback.  We’ll do our best to respond fully to your questions and comments.

If you were unable to attend, or are just interested in reviewing some of the information covered during those meetings, I’ve had the PowerPoint presentation we used posted on the project website at  http://www.kodiakairporteis.com/documents/documents.htm. On that page, scroll down to “Project Reference Documents” and the presentation, in PDF form, is titled “Draft EIS Stakeholder Meetings November 2012.”

I’d also like to remind you that we have scheduled another round of consultations and meetings with tribes, agencies, and other stakeholders next week in Kodiak. If you would like us to meet with you or others in your organization, and haven’t already been contacted, please let me know and we’ll get in touch right away.

There are two events I just know you want to make sure are on your calendar. First, the public hearing for the Draft EIS will be Thursday night, December 6, at the Kodiak Convention Center. An open house with workshop stations will kick things off at 5:00 pm, and the formal hearing for public testimony will begin at 6:00 pm. Secondly, December 18 is the deadline for FAA to receive your comments on the Draft EIS. You can get those to me one of two ways, by 1) mail, to the address below or 2) e-mail, to my address at Leslie.Grey@faa.org<mailto:Leslie.Grey@faa.org>

Thanks, and see you soon!  Leslie

Leslie A. Grey
Environmental Protection Specialist
FAA - Alaskan Region, Airports Division
907-271-5453

Draft Preferred Alternatives – Kodiak Airport DEIS

The preferred alternatives for both runways look pretty good; the FAA seems to have heard the concerns of Kodiak residents in determining their choices.  We urge you to read through the EIS and comment in favor of these preferred alternatives.
Copies of the Draft EIS are now on shelves and on-line for review at the following locations:

 *   Federal Aviation Administration, Airports Division, 222 W. 7th Avenue #14, Anchorage, AK 99513-7504
 *   A. Holmes Memorial Library, 319 Lower Mill Bay Road, Kodiak, AK 99615
 *   On the website at:  www.kodiakairporteis.com
 
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Draft Preferred Alternatives – Kodiak Airport DEIS

Of the alternatives described above, the FAA has identified a preferred RSA-improvement alternative for runways 07/25 and 18/36. These Preferred Alternatives are illustrated in Figure 3 (see page 2). The Preferred Alternatives were selected based upon their ability to meet the project purpose and need while minimizing the anticipated environmental impacts.

For Runway 07/25, Alternative 2 was chosen as the Preferred Alternative because it would require the smallest fill footprint, therefore minimizing the environmental impacts compared to Alternative 3.

For Runway 18/36, Alternative 7 was chosen because it represented the only alternative that avoided placing fill in the sensitive Buskin River area and associated freshwater plume, which was identified as an important resource and a major concern for both the community and relevant agencies. Runway 18/36 Alternative 7 also minimizes fill toward the Buskin River State Recreation site. The best available information was used in identifying these Preferred Alternatives.

Kodiak Airport EIS Project Update 08 August 2012

Kodiak Airport EIS Project Update
Hello!

For some time, the FAA has been preparing an environmental impact statement considering impacts associated with runway safety area improvements at Kodiak Airport. I think it is safe to say, at least on behalf of the FAA and consultants, that we are more than ready for the Draft EIS to be published for everyone to see. We aren’t quite finished; but we are very close. Our environmental analyses are undergoing review here in Anchorage and at FAA headquarters, and I think those will be the last hurdles before starting the public review portion of the work. My current goal is to publish a Draft EIS, including an ANILCA Title XI application and preliminary analysis, sometime this fall and most likely in October. We will provide 60 days for everyone to

review the Draft EIS and submit comments, and hold at least one public hearing for the Draft EIS in Kodiak during the review period. We will also hold public hearings concerning the ANILCA application in both Alaska and Washington, D.C.

I will keep you informed as we get closer to release of the Draft EIS. In the meantime, let me know if you have questions, comments or concerns. My phone number is 271-5453 or you can email Leslie.Grey@faa.gov.

Best regards, Leslie Grey

Leslie A. Grey
Environmental Protection Specialist
FAA - Alaskan Region, Airports Division
907-271-5453
Leslie.Grey@faa.gov

UPDATE 25 May 2012 from Leslie Grey, FAA

Good Morning,

In keeping with our recent practice, I’m sending you this monthly update for the Kodiak Airport EIS.  We skipped April because we had face-to-face meetings with some agencies.  I much prefer those in-person conversations, but since we don’t have the time and budget to meet very often I’ll get back on schedule with our regular update.

As you are aware, it is typical although not required for federal agencies to identify a preferred alternative in draft NEPA analyses, for both environmental assessments and environmental impact statements.  There are many reasons why identification of a preferred alternative can be helpful, to the agencies and public, but for projects involving complicated alternatives or sensitive environmental resources the preference isn’t always easy to determine.  That is the case for proposed runway safety area improvements at Kodiak Airport. FAA and our consulting team needed to work through many challenging issues, including constraints on aviation operations at Kodiak.  Further, we realized (with help from many of you) that the environmental analysis for some resources needed to be more rigorous.

I’m pleased to report that we are now in a position to identify what FAA intends to include in the Draft EIS as preferred alternatives for runway safety area improvements to Runways 07/25 and 18/36.  They are:

·        Runway 07/25 - Alternative 2. This alternative would improve runway safety area on the primary, east-west runway by placing fill into marine waters east of Runway end 25.  A 600-foot long RSA would be constructed that includes an EMAS (engineered materials arresting system) bed measuring 340 feet long by 170 feet.  The EMAS would provide a 70-knot stopping capability for the B737-400, design aircraft.

·        Runway 18/36 – Alternative 7.  This alternative would improve runway safety areas on both ends of the north-south Runway 18/36.  At the north, Runway end 18, no additional disturbance would occur beyond the current airport boundary but an EMAS bed measuring about 155 feet long by 170 feet wide, offering a 40-knot stopping capability for the B737-400 would be installed on the existing pavement.  At the south, Runway end 36 the runway would be shifted about 240 feet further south, and a 360-foot RSA would be constructed for a combined 600 linear feet of new fill beyond the existing runway threshold.
The preferred alternatives and other build alternatives that will be evaluated in the Draft EIS are shown in the figure Kodiak RSA Alternatives Comparison on the EIS web site at http://www.kodiakairporteis.com/documents/Kodiak%20RSA%20Alternatives%20Comparison.pdf
Now that we have preferred alternatives we can move forward with some final work necessary to the environmental evaluations and compliance with other state and federal laws.  For example, we recently met with USFWS and NOAA Fisheries to re-initiate consultation required by the Endangered Species Act.  FAA will be submitting draft biological assessments to both of these agencies concurrent with publication of the Draft EIS.  Similarly, concurrent with the Draft EIS ADOT&PF will be submitting to the U.S. Coast Guard and USFWS an application for an ANILCA Title X permit.  The Draft EIS will serve as the requisite NEPA documentation supporting their application.
We still have much other work to be completed, including further consultation and coordination with many of you, but I fully expect the Draft EIS will be released to the public later this summer.  As I mentioned in the last project update, FAA will provide 60 days for everyone to review the Draft EIS and submit comments, and at least one public hearing will be held in Kodiak during the review period.
I will keep you informed as we get closer to release of the Draft EIS.  In the meantime, let me know if you have questions, comments or concerns.   My phone number is 271-5453 or you can email Leslie.Grey@faa.gov.  

Best regards, Leslie

Leslie A. Grey
Environmental Protection Specialist
FAA - Alaskan Region, Airports Division
907-271-5453