83 FR 4953 - Notice of Modification to Previously Published Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 23 (February 2, 2018)

The FAA is publishing this notice to advise the public of a modification to the Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) and notice of opportunity for public comment published in the Federal Register on April 21, 2014, at 79 FR 22177. Specifically, FAA is withdrawing Wildlife Fence Project from the scope of the EA, and the project will be subject instead to a discrete environmental review.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 23 (Friday, February 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4953-4954]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02132]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Notice of Modification to Previously Published Notice of Intent 
To Prepare an Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FAA is publishing this notice to advise the public of a 
modification to the Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and notice of opportunity for public comment published 
in the Federal Register on April 21, 2014, at 79 FR 22177. 
Specifically, FAA is withdrawing Wildlife Fence Project from the scope 
of the EA, and the project will be subject instead to a discrete 
environmental review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Parks Preston, Assistant Manager, 
Atlanta Airports District Office, 1701 Columbia Avenue, Room 220, 
College Park, Georgia 30337-2747, (404) 305-6799.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport (PUJ) is 
located outside Atlanta, Georgia, in the town of Dallas, Georgia. 
Paulding County and the Paulding County Airport Authority (PCAA) own 
the airport. PUJ opened in 2008 and is designated as a general aviation 
airport. An EA for the construction of PUJ was completed in 2005.
    In September 2013, the PCAA submitted an application to the FAA 
requesting an Airport Operating Certificate under title 14 Code of 
Regulations, Part 139. A Part 139 Airport Operating Certificate allows 
the airport to accommodate scheduled passenger-carrying operations, 
commonly referred to as ``commercial service.'' In November 2013, 
several Paulding County residents filed a Petition for Review in the 
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia of two 
categorical exclusions (CATEXs) issued by the Georgia Department of 
Transportation (GDOT), as authorized by the FAA's State Block Grant 
Program, for airfield improvement projects. The petitioners argued that 
the two projects were connected to the proposed introduction of 
commercial service at PUJ. On December 23, 2013, the petitioners and 
the FAA entered into a settlement agreement under which the FAA agreed 
to prepare, at a minimum, an EA for the proposed Part 139 Airport 
Operating Certificate and all connected actions. The FAA is currently 
in the process of preparing that EA (current EA). While the settlement 
agreement contemplated that the current EA would include all actions 
connected with the proposed issuance of the Part 139 Airport Operating 
Certificate, the FAA opted to include in the current EA all reasonably 
foreseeable airport improvement projects, whether or not connected with 
the proposed introduction of commercial service.
    On April 21, 2014, the FAA published a ``Notice of Intent to 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment and Notice of Opportunity for 
Public Comment'' in the Federal Register, 79 FR 22177. The Notice of 
Intent identified all of the projects intended to be reviewed in the 
EA, including ``Install approximately 19,000 linear feet of wildlife 
fencing around the perimeter of the Airport''. PUJ owners now desire to 
move forward with the Wildlife Fence Project more expeditiously than 
will be possible if the project remains within the scope of the current 
EA. The primary need for expediting this project is enhance aviation 
safety to General Aviaion operations at PUJ.
    The Wildlife Fence has independent utility, is not connected to the 
Part 139 Airport Operating Certificate, and is therefore not required 
by the National Environmental Policy Act or the terms

[[Page 4954]]

of the 2013 settlement agreement to be included in the EA. Accordingly, 
the current EA will no longer consider direct impacts of the Wildlife 
Fence Project, but will address potential cumulative impacts associated 
with the project.
    To satisfy the requirements of FAA Order 1050.1F, GDOT has prepared 
a Categorical Exclusion (CATEX) for the project. The CATEX is available 
for review at PUJ and online at http://www.paulding.gov/DocumentCenter.

    Issued in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 29, 2018.
Parks Preston,
Assistant Manager, Atlanta Airports District Office, Southern Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-02132 Filed 2-1-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P