Airports in the Region Initiative

The APA Divisions Council continues to advance the Airports in the Region (AIR) initiative, primarily through the activities of the Transportation Planning Division. The Divisions Council endorsed the AIR Work Program at its Fall 2004 Business Meeting. Since then, work activities have continued, including the following:

• Establishment of a Legislative & Policy Task Force to examine "airfront" trends and issues, with the objective of preparing an Issue Paper for review and action by the APA Chapter Delegate Assembly in 2006. The Task Force is multidisciplinary in nature, and will draw upon the expertise within APA's divisions to address the various socioeconomic and intergovernmental factors associated with airport and community development.

• Publication of articles and scheduling of presentations to increase awareness of the issues and needs for further research. Articles have been printed in Planning magazine, division newsletters and publication of a short chapter on airport landside and airside considerations in Planning and Urban Design Standards, the new reference book APA is developing for the Wiley & Sons publishing firm. Presentations have occurred about airport-land use issues at the Aviation Noise & Air Quality Symposium in Palm Springs, California, and organizing well attended by-right and volunteer sessions at the 2005 APA National Planning Conference.

• Participation in meetings with the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Airport-Land Use Committee and the Airports Council International-North America Environmental Committee to create a dialogue about planning for airfront districts/land use compatibility.

Budget Request

This budget request seeks to continue and expand those activities under the leadership of the APA Divisions Council. This includes and expanded role for divisions other than TPD in the initiative, primarily focused on the Issue Paper, and other activities. Presented below is a summary of the items for which Divisions Council financial support is requested. It should be noted that this amount is in addition to the budget allocation of $2,000 provided by the Transportation Planning Division. The total funding requested from the Divisions Council is $3,260.

Legislative & Policy Committee Task Force ($360)

This request is to cover teleconference calls for task force members, assuming six calls will take place prior to the 2006 Conference in San Antonio. We are in the process of initiating the task force's work. It will include a geographic diversity of members from each of the APA divisions who have indicated an interest in supporting/participating in the AIR work program.

Travel ($1,000)

Travel reimbursement is requested for three meetings over the next year. The first entails two meetings of the FAA Airport-Land Use Committee, which meets in Washington, D.C. The funds requested are for the TPD's Airports Committee Chair, Dan Wong, to attend both meetings. Dan participated in the first two meetings, held last fall and in February of 2005. APA Washington staff (Peter Hawley and others) have also participated in the first two meetings.

In addition, APA has been invited to make a presentation to the Airports Council International – North American Environmental Committee at its September 19-20 meeting in Toronto. The request is for Airport Committee Chair Dan Wong and TPD Secretary Larry Fabian to travel to the meeting. Both offer different perspectives of airfront/airport planning issues, and will make a joint presentation. It should be noted that APA has agreed to off-set travel costs for this forum with a contribution of $400.

Work Products ($1,500)

Over the next year, the AIR Initiative will develop and distribute a survey to relevant agencies/entities involved in airport/airfront planning issues. The survey is identified in the AIR Work Program, and will entail an assessment of best practices, lessons learned and policy guidance regarding airfront districts. The funding request is for seed money to develop and test the survey instrument, and conduct outreach to define the target recipients. This is intended to be a web-based survey, which may include collaboration with the InfoTech Division. The product of the survey — a report on best practices will be funded through alternative sources, potentially including advertising. Again, the survey would be developed jointly with participation among APA's divisions.

Finally, APA/TPD has been requested to participate in a "webinar" program in conjunction with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The idea would be to use this funding to support TPD, Environmental & Natural Resources & Energy Division, City Planning & Management, and Economic Development Division members, among others, to provide input and guidance into a "webinar" on Airport District Infrastructure Needs. The funds would be used to support development of APA's "component" of the webinar through conference calls, etc.

APA will be a cooperating organization with the ASCE, which has a whole process of generating and putting on "webinars" on many topics. It is to be developed this fall and initially implemented this winter. This requires no financial commitment from APA — just that we help publicize it to our members who then get the discount available to ASCE members. The key contact person is Jon Esslinger, Director of the Transportation and Development Inst. of ASCE, jesslinger@asce.org.

September 2005