T.F. Green Airport Improvement Program - FEIS Chapters - PVD

T.F. Green Airport Improvement ProgramEnvironmental Impact Statement and Final Section 4(f) EvaluationAccording to most international reviews, aviation emissions comprise a small but potentially importantpercentage of man-made GHG and other emissions that contribute to global warming. The IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that global aircraft emissions account for about 3.5 percent of thetotal quantity of GHG from human activities. 189 In terms of U.S. contribution, the U.S. General Accounting Office(GAO) reports that aviation accounts “for about 3 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions from human sources”compared with other industrial sources, including the remainder of the transportation sector (23 percent) andindustry (41 percent). 190The scientific community is developing areas of further study to enable them to more precisely estimateaviation's effects on the global atmosphere. The FAA is also currently leading or participating in several effortsintended to clarify the role that commercial aviation plays in GHG emissions and climate change. The mostcomprehensive and multi-year program geared towards quantifying climate change effects of aviation is theon-going Aviation Climate Change Research Initiative (ACCRI) funded by FAA and NASA and commenced in2007. ACCRI will reduce key scientific uncertainties in quantifying aviation-related climate impacts and providetimely scientific input to inform policy-making decisions. FAA also funds Project 12 of the Partnership for AirTransportation Noise & Emissions Reduction Center of Excellence research initiative to quantify the effects ofaircraft exhaust and contrails on global and U.S. climate and atmospheric composition.In April of 2009, the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP)Project 02-06 published the Guidebook on Preparing Airport Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (ACRP Report 11),which provides recommended instructions to airport operators on how to prepare an airport-specific GHGemissions inventory. 191 The FAA is presently reviewing this guidebook and is expected to provide a version of aGHG Emissions Inventory Guidebook that is specifically applicable to NEPA documents.RIAC has prepared annual GHG emissions inventories since 2008 at T.F. Green Airport in accordance with theState of Rhode Island Permanent Air Quality Monitoring Act.4.6.1 MethodologyFAA Order 1050.1E states that an air quality assessment prepared under NEPA should include an analysis andconclusions of a proposed action’s impacts on air quality. It further directs that when NEPA analysis is needed, theproposed action should be assessed by evaluating the impact on the NAAQS. FAA Order 5050.4B provides that forNEPA purposes environmental analyses must determine if the air quality impacts of any reasonable alternativewould exceed a NAAQS for the time periods analyzed and for General Conformity requirements under the CAA 192only the proposed or preferred alternative need be analyzed.FAA Order 1050.1E references the FAA's Air Quality Procedures for Civilian Airports & Air Force Bases(AQPCAAB) which provides more detailed guidance on air quality procedures. Pursuant to the AQPCAAB as wellas the FAA’s Environmental Desk Reference, a NAAQS Assessment is required for actions at commercial service189 Aviation’s Effects on the Global Atmosphere Are Potentially Significant and Expected to Grow, IPCC Report as referenced in U.S. General AccountingOffice (GAO) Environment: GAO/RCED-00-57, February 2000, p. 4.190 Ibid, p. 14; GAO cites available EPA data from 1997.191 Guidebook on Preparing Airport Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories. Transportation Research Board, Airport Cooperative Research Panel, ACRPReport 11, Project 02-06,. See onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/acrp/acrp_rpt_011.pdf for the full report (in production).192 Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.Chapter 4 – Affected Environment 4-34 July 2011\\mawatr\ev\09228.00\reports\FEIS_Final_July_2011\PVD_CH04_Affected_Env_JUL_2011.doc