FAA view appears to ease on Hanscom
Environmental review policy may not change

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent, 8/26/2001

BEDFORD - The Federal Aviation Administration appears to be backing away
from its statements that stricter-than-normal environmental assessments
would be required of any airline changing or beginning service at Hanscom
Field.

Shuttle America has been operating at Hanscom since September 1999, and
Boston-Maine Airways is going through the FAA certification process to begin
scheduled service to Hanscom and other airports.

That the FAA may be changing its stance is based on a recent letter from
Jane F. Garvey, the agency's administrator, to Representative Michael E.
Capuano, a Democrat from Somerville.

Shuttle America and Boston-Maine officials say they have not heard anything
from the FAA about a change of policy on environmental review.

Richard Walsh, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority,
owner-operator of Hanscom and Logan International Airport, disclosed the
FAA's purported reversal on the environmental issue at the end of Tuesday
night's meeting of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission.

Walsh cited the Aug. 16 letter from Garvey to Capuano, concerning
Boston-Maine's interest in serving Hanscom. Other previously published
reports have also mentioned the letter.

Garvey wrote, ''Despite recent press reports to the contrary, the FAA has
not determined that an Environmental Assessment is necessary with respect to
... additional operations proposed by Boston-Maine.

''The facts are, Boston-Maine is in the process of securing a certificate to
operate and, as part of the process, has answered our questions related to
environmental review. We are in the process of analyzing that information
now.''

Those comments, Walsh said later, appear to have resolved the matter. ''We
had been concerned that airlines would be required to do this additional
layer of studies,'' he added, referring to detailed environmental
assessments of airline operations at Hanscom.

However, an FAA spokeswoman in Washington, Laura Brown, puts a different
spin on the situation. And officials of Shuttle America and Boston-Maine,
who said they had been told two months ago by the FAA that environmental
assessments would be required, said they are awaiting confirmation that the
agency is altering its position.

While acknowledging that the FAA has ''not determined that environmental
assessments would be required of Boston-Maine,'' Brown noted that the
carrier ''is not operating yet. So, we have to get further answers from
them, especially if jet service is proposed.''

John Nadolny, a senior vice president of Boston-Maine, a unit of Portsmouth,
N.H.-based Pan American Airways, countered, ''We've never proposed jet
service; we've said we'd be using two turbo-prop Gulfstreams.''

Mark Cestari, marketing vice president of Shuttle America, said in his view,
''there's a lack of absolute clarity of what will be required'' by the FAA
concerning additional environmental reviews.

The regional commuter airline filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this
year and is now undergoing a restructuring. It has suspended service to
LaGuardia Airport in New York until further notice. It is operating nine
roundtrips a day between Trenton, N.J. and Buffalo.

Brown said Shuttle America was told that an environmental asssessment
wouldn't be required if it continues current operations. A detailed review
probably would be called for if the airline merged with another carrier, she
said.
Two weeks ago, the FAA did ask Massport ''to look at the environmental
effects of additional service at Hanscom,'' she said.
Walsh, the Massport spokesman, said that won't be necessary because a 1999
environmental impact report indicated that Hanscom could handle 48 daily
commercial flights without adverse effects on the environment.

The Save Our Heritage group of Concord, which along with others has been
battling the FAA in court over the impact of Hanscom operations on historic
landmarks, says it is confident the agency will review its environmental
policies.

''We appreciate Jane Garvey's continued, thoughtful review. ... We are
confident that the FAA will recognize its clear, legal obligation to fully
review the impact of airport expansion on the historic, natural and cultural
resources surrounding Hanscom Field,'' Anna Winter, the group's executive
director, said in a statement.

A lawsuit spearheaded by Save Our Heritage against the FAA is still pending
in the US First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.


This story ran on page W1 of the Boston Globe on 8/26/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
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