Commentary: Get informed before JWA settlement expires
The county of Orange has announced that the environmental impact report for the proposed amendment of the John Wayne Airport Settlement Agreement is now available. In general, an EIR serves to inform governmental agencies and the public of a project’s anticipated effects on the environment.
Also, the EIR proposes mitigation measures and analyzes alternatives to the proposed project. The EIR is available for review at the Newport Beach Central Library. Comments may be sent to the county by 5 p.m. July 8 at deir617@ocair.com.
The current settlement agreement is set to expire Dec. 31, 2015. Accordingly, beginning in early 2012, the county, city, the Airport Working Group (AWG) and Stop Polluting Our Newport (SPON) began discussing a second extension to the settlement agreement.
The parties entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that defines the proposed project and project alternatives to be analyzed pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and provides general procedures and protocols that would be followed regarding the preparation of the EIR. However, it clearly states that the acceptance of the MOU is not intended as an approval of the project. The county retains its full discretion to adopt an alternative, impose mitigation measures, or disapprove the project altogether once the requisite CEQA review is complete.
The Board of Supervisors authorized execution of the MOU on April 16, 2013. The city of Newport Beach, AWG and SPON all signed the MOU in April 2013. Again, it must be further emphasized that the county is under no legal obligation to even agree to negotiate, let alone to extend the settlement agreement, since it is the owner and operator of the airport. The city does not own or operate the airport.
With the proposed extension of the settlement agreement, the city is hopeful that it will establish certain operating parameters at the airport that will safeguard the community for years to come and allow for a clear understanding of operations in the future. The proposed project, the one strongly preferred by the city and arrived at over a period of time after discussions with the county, SPON and AWG, is being considered in the EIR.
The city’s preferred project consists of the following:
• Protection and extension of the noise-based curfew through 2035 — no commercial departures before 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday or before 8 a.m. Sundays, and no arrivals on any day after 11 p.m.
• Maintenance of the million annual passenger cap (the so-called MAP CAP) of 10.8 MAP through 2020, with an additional 1.0 MAP allowed in 2021-25. During 2026-30, an additional 0.7 MAP may be allowed if JWA’s use shows at least 11.21 MAP in any calendar year during 2021-2025. If the 11.21 MAP trigger is not reached, then only an additional 0.4 MAP would be authorized between 2026 and 2030.
Maintenance of the cap on average daily departures of the Class A (loudest) commercial air carriers of 85 passenger flights plus four cargo flights per day through 2020, with an additional 10 Class A passenger average daily departures allowed per year (for a total of 95 annually) starting in 2021.
Newport Beach is of the belief that this alternative best protects the city’s residents, recognizes the policy decisions that the Board of Supervisors must make as it balances the competing interests of the residents who surround the airport and the airline industry, and takes into account the requirements of the federal Airport and Noise Capacity Act as well as the operational restrictions at JWA.
And in the end, I hope the board provides some certainty regarding planning for the future.
LESLIE DAIGLE is a Newport Beach city councilwoman.