Talks between the Commonwealth Ports Authority and the Marine Forces Pacific on a proposed airport layout plan inclusive of the military\u2019s aim to build on the Tinian Westfield Airport will continue this month.<\/p>\n
According to CPA executive director Maryanna Lizama, the meeting is scheduled on Jan. 29 at the CPA conference room on the second floor of the Francisco C. Ada International Airport. The meeting will include CPA, its stakeholders, MARFORPAC, and Federal Aviation Administration officials, who will probably attend via teleconference, she said.<\/p>\n
A time has not been set. The meeting continues the \u201cinformal\u201d dialogue began between FAA and military working groups and CPA at a meeting in Seattle, Washington last November.<\/p>\n
MARFORPAC would like CPA to submit an airport layout plan to the FAA that includes its plans to build a parallel runway, an air traffic control tower, power and waste management facilities, fuel storage facilities, and other infrastructure at the Tinian airport.<\/p>\n
Also being considered is an amendment to FAA rules to allow restricted airspace over the Tinian airport to support live fire training there. FAA restricts military activity from 1,500 feet above and below ground level within three nautical miles of airports or civilian use.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat goes where\u201d and \u201cwhere do they want things\u201d have to be learned from the military, according to Lizama.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to address that with our concerns\u201d and \u201clook into it to see what the impacts\u201d are, she said.<\/p>\n
On the kind of artillery and guns involved with live fire training, Lizama said the military has not \u201cgotten back to us yet\u201d on this question. She said the question was posed at their meeting in November but the military appeared \u201chesitant to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right now, she said CPA\u2019s position is, \u201cWork with us.\u201d And to \u201csit down and talk details.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said there was the assumption in the November meeting that the authority the military had in siting their proposed ALP at the Tinian airport was due to rights in a leaseback agreement between the CNMI and the federal government years ago.<\/p>\n
But this \u201cneeds to be clarified on their side,\u201d she said. CPA maintains that the rights to the airport belong to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn our end, the ALP still has to go through CPA,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Marine Forces Pacific director Craig Whelden\u2014when asked if the question of rights have been clarified\u2014said Tuesday that he did not know the answer to this \u201cfully right now without going back and getting some more analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what I will tell you is we will work with the Tinian leadership, the CPA, the airport itself, to make sure that we have no adverse impacts on Tinian,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Whelden indicated that military use of the Tinian airport could \u201cbring benefits to the airport that otherwise they would not get through construction of new pavement, and other infrastructure improvements that could be dual use.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, he said, fuel tanks could be used for commercial use. \u201cThat\u2019s why we say to everybody, \u2018Let the process run its course,\u2019 so we can make sure everybody understand what the potential here is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whelden said that they are \u201ccommitted to have no adverse impact on the air traffic between Saipan and Tinian, and so is the Air Force,\u201d which looks to have divert activities in the CNMI with only a \u201cfew airplanes\u201d like tankers.<\/p>\n
He said the additional impact on Saipan, Tinian, or both \u201cwould be almost none,\u201d but that \u201cthe potential benefits with construction for co-use is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about co-use of the airport, Lizama clarified that this would be \u201cspecial use\u201d in that the military could use the airports but CPA would remain as owners.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoint use,\u201d on the other hand, would mean the military owns the property, she said.<\/p>\n
The proposed ALP and plans for special use airspace are built into the draft environmental impact statement due by the end of April this year. This is part of the National Environmental Policy Act process currently ongoing.<\/p>\n
The DOD has proposed two phases for the ALP. The first is an \u201cexpeditionary ALP\u201d for a temporary facility from 2016 to 2021. The second is an \u201cend-state ALP\u201d from 2012 and beyond.<\/p>\n
Discussions between CPA and the military have been labeled as \u201cinformal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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