Airport Environmental Impacts
Fact Sheet

1.	Airports are highly regulated as sources of potentially serious environmental pollutants.  They are required to prepare stormwater pollution prevention plans, spill control and countermeasures plans, and, often, wildlife management plans.  In air quality nonattainment areas, they can also be required to take action to improve air quality through air quality improvement plans.  

2.	Airport operators also must maintain regular reporting on compliance with these plans.  O'Hare International Airport is developing an environmental management information system for tracking environmental data and reports.  It is a geographic information system with a web-based interface for entering and updating data and producing reports.  

3.	Aircraft noise:  This is the most significant environmental issue from the standpoint of airport area residents.  It has been a problem since the dawn of the jet age.  Congress has dealt with this by establishing aircraft noise certification requirements, mandating the phase-out of the loudest aircraft, and authorizing the establishment of airport noise compatibility planning programs.  According to the FAA, the number of people exposed to significant levels of airport noise has decreased from 7 million in 1975 to 0.3 million in 2002. 

4.	Air pollution:  Airports are relatively minor sources of metropolitan air pollution.  For example, in the six counties of the South Coast Air Quality Management District in California, airports were estimated to account for 3 percent of NOx, 1 percent of SOx, and 4 percent of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in 2000.  
a.	Modern aircraft engines are quieter, more fuel efficient, and, except for NOx, produce fewer emissions than older designs.  Based on current engine technology, noise reduction has tended to result in increased NOx.
b.	Major sources of emissions on airport include ground support equipment on the airside, and automobiles on the landside.
c.	Many airports participate in the USDOE's Clean Cities Program, which promotes public/private partnerships for energy efficiency and air pollutant reduction.  Airports are working with their tenants to convert their vehicle fleets to cleaner, alternative-fueled vehicles.  An example is Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where the airport is working with its tenants to convert to compressed natural gas fueling.        

5.	Water Pollution:  At airports with cold winter weather, deicing compounds pose potentially serious water quality problems.  The most deicing materials are glycol compounds, urea, and road salt.  Glycol is used to deice aircraft and is often used to deice runways and taxiways.  Urea and road salt are commonly used on the automobile parking lots and airport roads.  Approaches to this problem:
a.	Many airports rely on variations of conventional stormwater systems.  Catch basins and storm sewers direct the runoff to detention basins.  The water can be pumped through a force main into the sanitary sewer system during the winter when significant quantities of pollutants are present.  O'Hare International Airport has a sophisticated system that also provides flood control. 
b.	Albany International Airport has developed a biological glycol digestion facility that fully metabolizes the glycol, yielding methane and Class A drinking water as outputs.  The digestion plant runs on the methane produced by the process.  In fact, the plant is a net energy producer.
 
6.	Wildlife Conflicts:  Collisions of wildlife with aircraft can cause damage and even catastrophic accidents.  For this reason, the FAA strongly recommends that various wildlife attractants be removed from the immediate vicinity of aircraft movement areas.  Bird attractants are to be avoided under the runway approaches.  In some situations, removal of wooded areas and wetlands is needed to ensure aircraft safety.  FAA Advisory Circular 150/5200-33, Hazardous Wildlife Attractants on or Near Airports, discusses this issue and explains criteria for identifying and resolving potential hazards.    

RESOURCES

The Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Environment and Energy has a website, www.aee.faa.gov/, with information about the FAA's policies and programs related to aircraft noise and air quality.     FAA Advisory Circulars can be downloaded from the following website: www1.faa.gov/arp/150acs.cfm.

Albany International Airport's website is www.albanyairport.com/.

O'Hare International Airport's website is ohare.com/.

Information about the Clean Cities Program is on the Department of Energy's website: 
www.ccities.doe.gov/.