Chapter 1. Background and Proposed Action
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT MADISON COUNTY, MT 1. BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION ROBERT PECCIA & ASSOCIATES 1. BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION This chapter describes Ennis Big Sky Airport and presents the planning background for the proposed projects. Madison County owns and operates the airport and is the Sponsor for the proposed improvements at the facility. This chapter also describes the Proposed Action the Sponsor is seeking to implement to safely accommodate a change in the “critical aircraft” (the most demanding aircraft type or grouping of aircraft) that make regular use of the Ennis Big Sky Airport. The Proposed Action includes acquiring additional property for the airport, extending and widening the existing runway, and making other facility improvements to better and more safely accommodate the aircraft using the facility. Further, this chapter discusses a timeline for implementation of the proposed improvements. This Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared to identify the potential environmental impacts associated with the Proposed Action, as well as how any identified impacts can be avoided, minimized, or mitigated. The EA was prepared pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations Title 40 CFR §§ 1500-1508, the implementing regulations for NEPA, and in accordance with FAA Order 1050.1F Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures and FAA Order 5050.4B National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Instructions for Airport Actions. 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Airport Location The Ennis Big Sky Airport (also referred to as “Airport” or by its Airport Location Identifier “EKS” in this document) is located approximately seven miles south-southeast of the Town of Ennis in the Madison River Valley of southwestern Montana. The airport property lies 1.5 miles east of Highway 287, which is the major north-south arterial through Ennis and the Madison Valley. The airport is accessed by an east-west oriented gravel access road (Airport Road/County Road 212) maintained by Madison County. A secondary north-south oriented, pulverized asphalt surfaced access road (Runway Road) provides direct access to a small gravel parking area next to the central apron and Fixed-Base Operator (FBO). The Airport lies in Sections 19, 30, and 31 of Township 6 South, Range 1 East and Section 06 of Township 7 South, Range 1 East. Figure 1‐1 shows the Airport’s location. 1.1.2 Airport History The Ennis Big Sky Airport is owned and operated by Madison County and has existed at its present location for more than 40 years. The Airport was originally established in the mid-1970s as the Big Sky Air Park, a private airport within the Shining Mountains land development. The Air Park was a planned development designed and constructed to provide residents with convenient access to an airport from adjoining residential areas. After a planning process that lasted from 1986 to 1989, the FAA accepted the Ennis Big Sky Airport (formerly known as the Big Sky Air Park) into the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems 1-1 1. BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Figure 1-1: Location of Ennis Big Sky Airport (EKS) ENNIS BEAVERHEAD-DEERLODGE NATIONAL FOREST MOONLIGHT BASIN BIG SKY RESORT ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT YELLOWSTONE CLUB 1-2 1. BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (NPIAS). Entrance into the NPIAS made the facility eligible to receive federal funding. The County subsequently received an Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grant in 1990 to design and construct improvements at the existing Ennis Big Sky Airport in order to meet FAA design standards and recommendations. The Airport has conducted numerous projects since 1992 to maintain and improve the airport. Since 2015, Madison County used local funds to acquire lands adjacent to the Ennis Big Sky Airport as they became available to ensure land use compatibility with the airport environs and to protect design and airspace surfaces for aviation purposes. The County used local funds to acquire a parcel from the Longhorn Ranch, Tract 29-A-1, and portions of Tracts 20-A, 20-B, 13-A, and 13-B (See Figure 1‐2). The FAA had no involvement or approvals associated with the acquisitions made with local funds and therefore, there was no federal action triggering NEPA. The FAA has a federal action at the time that the FAA would approve reimbursement of land acquisition costs through the federal grant program and/or for an update to the ALP requiring FAA approval. The Sponsor is now requesting reimbursement for the land acquisitions associated with master plan improvements that require FAA ALP approval, so this prior land acquisition is being evaluated as part of the proposed action in this EA. 1.1.3 Existing Facilities at EKS The general layout of the existing airport is shown in Figure 1‐3. The primary facilities at EKS include Runway 16/34 (a 6,601-foot long x 75-foot wide asphalt runway), and a 35-foot wide partial parallel taxiway beginning at the Runway 34 end (the northern portion of the parallel taxiway is currently closed) with two connecting taxiways. A turnaround and aircraft holding area (with no parallel taxiway connection) exists at the Runway 16 threshold. Runway 16/34 is lighted with a radio-controlled, medium-intensity runway lighting (MIRL) system. The connecting taxiways have dual medium-intensity taxiway lights defining the entrance to the taxiways from the runway and retroreflective markers along the remaining taxiways and aprons. The airfield has three asphalt apron areas (South, Central, and North) encompassing about 5 acres, taxilanes for hangar access, a segmented circle with lighted wind cone, Sponsor-owned AWOS III/P weather system, a rotating beacon, Sponsor-owned Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPI’s) at both runway ends, several guidance signs, and numerous hangars and other airport buildings. Figure 1‐4 provides a detail of the terminal area at the Ennis Big Sky Airport. Several smaller hangars front the taxilane, while two large private hangars are located along the west edge of the central apron. The FBO has been in operation at EKS since September 2012 and operates out of both large hangars. There are several buildings and structures located within the area between the central and south apron including: fuel tanks (located within a concrete containment structure), the 100LL self-serve dispensing unit, a pilot shack, an outhouse, two hangars and some smaller storage buildings, a flagpole, and the airport beacon. 24-hour self-serve 100LL fuel is provided on the taxiway, while Jet A and 100LL are available via fuel trucks during normal business hours or by previous arrangement with the FBO. 1-3 1. BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Figure 1-2: Ennis Big Sky Airport Lands 1-4 1. BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Figure 1-3: Ennis Big Sky Airport Layout Runway 16 End Runway Turnaround and Aircraft Holding Area Currently CLOSED Section of Taxiway A Connecting Taxiway A3 Segmented Circle, Wind Cone, and AWOS III/P Partial Parallel Taxiway A See Figure 1-4 for Detail of Connecting Taxiway A4 Terminal Area Runway 34 End 1-5 1. BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Figure 1-4: EKS Terminal Area North Apron Taxilanes Above Ground Storage Tanks FBO (Fuel Farm) Self-Service Fuel Hangars Dispensing Unit SRE Building (Existing) Beacon Central Apron New SRE/AARF Building (Under Construction 2019) South Apron Connecting Taxiway A4 1-6 1. BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION ENNIS BIG SKY AIRPORT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT There is a Snow Removal Equipment (SRE) storage building located west of the central apron and construction of a new Snow Removal Equipment and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (SRE/AARF) building began in 2019. The Ennis Big Sky Airport has several designated Residential-Through-The-Fence (RTTF) access locations dating to the facility’s initial development as a residential air park. Madison County has an FAA-approved RTTF Access Agreement, which establishes the terms and conditions of use of RTTF access points for users. 1.1.4 Airport Classification and Use The FAA’s National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems 2017‐2021 (NPIAS) identifies airports that are significant for national air transportation. The NPIAS identifies Ennis Big Sky Airport as a nonprimary General Aviation (GA) airport. Nonprimary airports are further categorized based on existing activity, geographic factors, and public interest functions such as national, regional, local, basic, and unclassified airports. The NPIAS lists EKS as a Local airport, one of 25 similarly classified GA airports in Montana. The airport primarily serves the Madison Valley and Ennis areas, but also provides nearby access into the Big Sky and Moonlight Basin resort areas. Airports are typically designed in accordance with the Runway Design Code (RDC) designations from the FAA’s Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5300-13 Airport Design. The RDC provides information needed to determine applicable design standards. Other factors, such as aircraft haul length and Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW), are also considerations in the development of design standards. The RDC has three components. The first component, designated by a letter (A through E), is the Aircraft Approach Category (AAC) and relates to aircraft approach speed. The second component, designated by Roman numerals (I through VI), is the Aircraft Design Group (ADG) and relates to aircraft wingspan and tail height, whichever is most restrictive. The third component relates to the visibility minimums (distance in feet) expressed by Runway Visual Range (RVR). EKS currently meets design standards for an RDC designation of B-II-5000.