Aviation and the Environment

Many of the nation's commercial airports are operating at or near capacity and are under growing pressure to expand to accommodate the rising demand for domestic air travel, which is projected to increase by 3.6 percent annually through 2011. This growing demand has heightened concerns among some communities, environmental groups, and others that airport operations may increasingly threaten the environment. Officials from all of the nation's busiest airports report that balancing their operations with their impact on the environment is more difficult than it was a decade ago. This report reviews key environmental concerns and challenges associated with airports' current operations and future growth and the efforts of major airports and federal agencies to address these concerns. GAO cites noise, water and air issues as the leading environmental concerns and challenges for airports and finds that, although the federal government has coordinated some efforts to address environmental issues associated with airport operations and growth, challenges remain.

GAO noted that: (1) the primary environmental concern and challenge facing airports now and for the foreseeable future is noise generated by aircraft operations; (2) airport officials' next greatest concern and challenge is water quality--primarily the potential harmful effects of deicing and anti-icing operations; (3) air quality is the third greatest concern and challenge reported by airport officials, particularly managing the effects on air quality of the increases in emissions due to airport growth; (4) other issues of concern cited by some airport officials were wetlands, endangered species, environmental justice, and historical preservation; (5) airport officials have undertaken a range of activities--either independently or in cooperation with government and industry partners--to more effectively balance airports' current operations and future growth with the environmental impact of these activities; (6) for example, they have established airport/community groups to address environmental issues; (7) coordination has occurred across the federal government to assist airport officials in balancing airport operations and growth with the impact on the environment; (8) for example, FAA has developed and continues to refine models to assess the impact on noise and air quality of proposed airport development projects and has assisted state and local governments and planning agencies with establishing land uses around airports that are compatible with airport operations; (9) furthermore, many airport officials reported that FAA is effective at providing assistance, including answering their questions and addressing their concerns about environmental issues and coordinating activities across the agency; (10) other federal agencies also assist airports with their environmental responsibilities; and (11) for example, the Environmental Protection Agency helps airports address water and air quality issues through regulatory, voluntary, and research efforts, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration assists them primarily through its research and related technology development to reduce aircraft noise and the emission of air pollutants.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Team: Phone: