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Chapter 3: Affected Environment

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Chapter 3: Affected Environment NAS Whidbey Island Complex Growler DEIS, Volume 1 November 2016 3 Affected Environment Chapter 3 provides a description of the existing environmental resource areas and existing conditions that could be affected from implementing any of the alternatives. For the affected environment analysis, environmental conditions for each resource are evaluated using the best available data for that specific resource. Depending on the resource and best available data, the affected environment conditions may vary. For example, the noise discussion uses the year 2021 to describe the affected environment because 2021 represents conditions when previous aircraft loading decisions unrelated to the Proposed Action are expected to be fully implemented and complete, whereas the biological resource discussion uses the most current and best available species data sets and surveys to inform the analysis. All potentially relevant resource areas were considered for analysis in this Environmental Impact Statement. In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and United States (U.S.) Department of the Navy (Navy) regulations, the discussion of the affected environment focuses only on those environmental resource areas potentially subject to impacts. Additionally, the level of detail used in describing a resource is commensurate with the anticipated level of its potential environmental impacts. Resources at and in the vicinity of the Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island complex (Ault Field, Seaplane Base, and Outlying Landing Field [OLF] Coupeville) would be affected by changes in aircraft operations, personnel loading, and new construction. Therefore, the analysis of the affected environment includes the following: airspace and airfield operations; noise associated with aircraft operations; public health and safety; air quality; land use compatibility; cultural resources; American Indian traditional resources; biological resources; water resources; socioeconomics; environmental justice; transportation; infrastructure; geological resources, hazardous materials and waste; and climate change and greenhouse gases. Section 1.5, Scope of Environmental Analysis, provides more detail on which environmental resource areas were considered for analysis in this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 3.1 Airspace and Airfield Operations This discussion of airspace includes current uses and controls of the airspace. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) manages all airspace within the U.S. and its territories. Airspace, which is defined in vertical and horizontal dimensions and by time, is considered a finite resource that must be managed for the benefit of all aviation sectors, including commercial, general, and military aviation. This section describes the existing airfield operations at Ault Field and OLF Coupeville, and the airspace in which the EA-18G “Growlers” would operate in the vicinity of their home base location. The study area for airspace is the NAS Whidbey Island complex, which includes Ault Field, OLF Coupeville, and the airspace surrounding the airfields. This chapter does not address training operations occurring at existing range complexes, Military Operations Areas (MOAs), and testing ranges in locations outside of the NAS Whidbey Island complex that support aircraft squadrons stationed at Ault Field because operations in these training and testing areas have been evaluated under separate NEPA documentation listed in Section 1.6. 3.1.1 Airspace and Airfield Operations, Regulatory Setting Specific aviation and airspace management procedures and policies to be used by the Navy are provided by Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Instruction (OPNAVINST) 3710.7U, Naval Aviation Training 3-1 Affected Environment NAS Whidbey Island Complex Growler DEIS, Volume 1 November 2016 and Operating Procedure Standardization (NATOPS) General Flight and Operating Instructions and OPNAVINST 3770.2L, Airspace Procedures and Planning Manual. Airspace management is defined as the direction, control, and handling of flight operations in the “navigable airspace” that overlies the geopolitical borders of the U.S. and its territories. Navigable airspace is considered to be airspace above the minimum altitudes of flight, typically 500 feet or greater, prescribed by regulations under United States Code (U.S.C.) Title 49, Subtitle VII, Part A, and includes airspace needed to ensure safety in the takeoff and landing of aircraft (49 U.S.C. § 40102). Congress has charged the FAA with responsibility for developing plans and policy for the use of the navigable airspace and assigning by regulation or order the use of the airspace necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient use of the airspace (49 U.S.C. § 40103[b]; FAA Order JO 7400.2K [FAA,2014]). The FAA considers multiple and sometimes competing demands for airspace in relation to commercial, general, and military aviation. Specific rules and regulations concerning airspace designation and management are listed in FAA Order JO 7400.2K (FAA, 2014). Special Use Airspace (SUA) is airspace of defined dimensions wherein activities must be confined because of their nature or wherein limitations may be imposed upon aircraft operations that are not a part of those activities (FAA, 2014). The types of SUA areas are Prohibited Areas, Restricted Areas, MOAs, Warning Areas, Alert Areas, Controlled Firing Areas, and National Security Areas. SUA (e.g., MOAs as well as Alert Areas) and Military Training Routes (MTRs) relevant to this EIS are defined below. • Military Operations Area A MOA is established to separate certain non-hazardous military activities from Instrument Flight Rule (IFR)5 aircraft traffic and to identify for Visual Flight Rule (VFR) aircraft traffic where military activities are conducted. MOAs exist at altitudes up to, but not including, 18,000 feet above mean sea level (MSL). Air Traffic Controlled Assigned Airspace (ATCAA) is an extension of the MOA above 18,000 feet. Civilian VFR traffic is allowed in MOAs, in which case both civilian and military aircraft use “see-and-avoid” procedures. Generally, civilian pilots avoid flying through MOAs because of the likelihood of encountering a fast-moving military jet. • Alert Area (A-) An Alert Area is airspace that may contain a high volume of pilot training activities or an unusual type of training activity. • Military Training Route (MTR) MTRs are IFR and VFR flight corridors used by military aircraft for low-altitude, high-speed, terrain-following training. MTRs are generally positioned below 10,000 feet MSL for operations at speeds in excess of 250 nautical miles (nm) per hour, or knots. MTRs have a centerline with defined horizontal limits on either side of the centerline and vertical limits expressed as minimum and maximum altitudes along the flight track. (FAA, 2016) 5 The Federal Aviation Regulations define IFR as “rules and regulations established by the FAA to govern flight under conditions in which flight by outside visual reference is not safe” (U.S. Legal, 2016). 3-2 Affected Environment NAS Whidbey Island Complex Growler DEIS, Volume 1 November 2016 3.1.2 Airspace and Airfield Operations, Affected Environment Airspace Classification and Flight Tracks Ault Field Under the National Airspace System, the airspace above Ault Field is designated as Class C airspace (Figures 3.1-1 and 3.1-2). The Class C airspace around Ault Field is: • airspace extending upward from the surface to 4,000 feet above MSL within a 5-nm radius of Ault Field • airspace that extends upward from 1,300 feet above MSL to 4,000 feet above MSL within a 10- nm radius of the airport from the 050° bearing (toward Bay View in Skagit County) from the airport clockwise to the 345° bearing (toward Cypress Island) from the airport • airspace extending upward from 2,000 feet above MSL to 4,000 feet above MSL within a 10-nm radius of the airport from the 345° bearing from the airport clockwise to the 050° bearing from the airport Air Traffic Control (ATC) services to all aircraft operating within the Class C airspace are provided by the NAS Whidbey Island ATC Facility, located at Ault Field, which is responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of both civil and military air traffic and provides the en-route traffic control service within 2,100 square miles of the airspace surrounding the Class C airspace. Growler aircraft depart Class C airspace to train in the Olympic, Okanogan, Roosevelt, and Boardman MOA/R-5706 and arrive via FAA flight routes and flight handling. That phase of each flight is under control of the FAA. Figure 3.1-1 Cross Section of Controlled and Uncontrolled Airspace Classes 3-3 Affected Environment NAS Whidbey Island Complex Growler DEIS, Volume 1 November 2016 Figure 3.1-2 Aeronautical Chart NAS Whidbey Island Complex 3-4 Affected Environment NAS Whidbey Island Complex Growler DEIS, Volume 1 November 2016 OLF Coupeville The airspace above OLF Coupeville is designated as Alert Area-680, a type of SUA that is designated as such because it may contain a high volume or an unusual type of pilot training activities (Figure 3.1-2) (FAA, 2014). The Alert Area airspace around OLF Coupeville is: • the airspace around OLF Coupeville that extends upward from the surface to 3,000 feet above MSL and within a 1.5-nm radius of the airport in all directions Military Operations Areas The Olympic MOAs overlay both land (the Olympic Peninsula) and sea (extending to 3 nm off the coast of Washington into the Pacific Ocean). The lower limit of the Olympic MOA is 6,000 feet above MSL but not below 1,200 feet above ground level (AGL), and the upper limit is up to but not including 18,000 feet above MSL, with a total area coverage of 1,614 square nautical miles (nm2). Above the Olympic MOAs is the Olympic ATCAA, which has a floor coinciding with the Olympic MOAs’ ceiling. The ATCAA has an upper limit of 35,000 feet. The Chinook A and B MOAs are adjacent to R-6701 over the eastern portion of the Strait of Juan de Fuca (Chinook MOA A) and Admiralty Inlet (Chinook MOA B).
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