E&E Subcommittee Recommendations & FAA Responses

To:	REDAC E&E Subcommittee

By: 	Dr. Jim Hileman	Chief Scientific & Technical 	Advisor for Environment and Energy

		Office of Environment and Energy

Date:	August 6, 2015

Federal Aviation

Administration

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Outline

Recommendation from August 2014

Recommendation from March 2015

Action Item Status

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The FAA should work to restore necessary F&E funding for the development and implementation of operational procedures that promises near- and mid-term environmental benefits.  In addition the agency should make a concerted effort to leverage funding with renewed outreach to other agencies that may be able to assist in this effort.

RECOMMENDATION

The FAA appreciates the support of the E&E Subcommittee in its effort to develop and implement environmentally beneficial operational procedures. The introduction of ATM improvements and new operational concepts offer an opportunity to reduce both fuel burn and noise. Unfortunately, the Agency has had to make difficult choices to accommodate the constraints of the F&E budget. This has not only affected the operations research efforts of AEE, but the overall efforts of the Agency to conduct research on new operational concepts.  Reduced funding levels provide further motivation to leverage the research efforts from other agencies and from other governments. As such, the FAA will continue to reach out to other Agencies, such as NASA and the Air Force, and other governments to ensure that research efforts are aligned and being leveraged.   

RESPONSE

Response to 2014-08 REDAC Recommendation - 1

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The subcommittee recommends that the FAA create a main webpage at faa.gov/environment with links to significant environmental activities like CLEEN, alternative fuels, noise / emissions roadmaps, operations research, and analytical tool development.

The FAA appreciated the feedback from the E&E Subcommittee on our outreach efforts.  The Agency has created two new websites: www.faa.gov/go/environment and www.faa.gov/go/cleen to provide shortcuts to the R&D website of AEE and the CLEEN program respectively. We are currently working through our website to update the information that is contained therein. 

Response to 2014-08 REDAC Recommendation - 2

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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The subcommittee recommends that the FAA not announce publicly the names of the airports where the noise surveys will be conducted.  The Airport Managers should be informed ahead of time so they are prepared to respond to questions from their communities where the surveys are conducted.

The FAA agrees with the Subcommittee and the names of the airports will not be released. The Agency is doing what it can to prevent bias being introduced into the survey results. In line with the recommendation, the Agency is developing communication materials that will be available to all Airport Managers.

Response to 2014-08 REDAC Recommendation - 3

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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The subcommittee urges the FAA, NASA and other agencies to update the National Aeronautics Research Plan.

The FAA, NASA and other agencies that were involved in the creation of the National Aeronautics Research Plan have been working together on the development of the National Alternative Jet Fuel Strategy. This document, like the National Aeronautics Research Plan, is being developed under the auspices of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Once the National Alternative Jet Fuel Strategy document is completed, the time could be right for the National Aeronautics Research Plan to be revisited. 

Response to 2014-08 REDAC Recommendation - 4

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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FAA-AEE is encouraged to continue with data-driven decisions in responding to these complaints.  The subcommittee recommends the FAA both complete the development of the noise research roadmap and implement elements that would generate the data needed to support these decisions. This includes evaluations to see if changes are warranted to the definition of noise significance. 

RECOMMENDATION

The FAA is grateful for the Subcommittee’s continued support of our Noise Research Roadmap as it will provide data for future noise policy considerations. We are using funds, within our resources constraints, and leveraging resources from across the Agency and other U.S. Government Agencies to ensure it is successful. The national community noise survey, being done in collaboration with our Airports Office, is a central component of this effort, and we look forward to starting the data collection now that we have OMB approval. In addition, we continue to advance our understanding on the impacts of noise on sleep, health and children’s learning as these data will complement the knowledge gained from the national community noise survey.

RESPONSE

Response to 2015-03 REDAC Recommendation - 1

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The subcommittee recommends that the FAA support studies to determine if there are appropriate supplemental noise metrics that are a better predictor of community reaction in neighborhoods that have not previously experienced noise and are now experiencing noise from PBN.  FAA-AEE and FAA-ATO should work together, share lessons learned from PBN implementations and determine what near-term research actions (including ways to examine community outreach and airport engagement) may increase the success of future PBN implementations.

The FAA agrees that we should examine supplemental metrics and we are currently researching the implementation of PBN around three airports with varied community reactions. AEE and ATO will continue to work together, share lessons learned, and collaborate on near-term research to increase the success of future PBN implementations. ARP, AEE and ANG are collaborating to develop research projects using FY16 funds that could also increase the success of future PBN implementations. AEE, ATO, and others within the Agency are working together on multiple efforts to address community concerns and share lessons learned.

Response to 2015-03 REDAC Recommendation - 2

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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The subcommittee recommends continued cooperation between FAA-AEE and FAA-ATO including integration of environmental assessment tools to enable early and rapid assessments of new operational procedures.  The subcommittee also requests that FAA-ATO continue participation in future Environment and Energy Subcommittee meetings.

AEE, ANG and ATO are working together to develop an AEDT2b plug-in for the Terminal Area Route Generation and Traffic Simulation (TARGETS) tool which is used for the design, analysis, and operational assessment of procedures and airspace. This new plug-in would replace the existing AEDT2a plug-in that is currently in place in TARGETS for procedure design. As requested, ATO will continue to participate in the Environment and Energy Subcommittee meetings.

Response to 2015-03 REDAC Recommendation - 3

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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The subcommittee emphasizes that several of these tasks (like operational procedures research and development and AEDT2b) have significant near term benefit and recommends restoring the necessary funds to make these tasks successful.  The sub-committee recommends that FAA continue support of the CLEEN program leveraged by industry cost sharing.  We support above target funding request for the CLEEN program and alternative jet fuel testing and analysis.  The need to better assess the impact of aviation emissions on climate should also be considered in the research planning process.

The FAA agrees that the improvements in operational procedures and the development of aviation environmental tools such as AEDT2b provide significant near-term benefits, but unfortunately the Agency has had to make difficult choices to accommodate the constraints of the F&E budget. This has not only affected the operations research efforts of AEE, but the overall efforts of the Agency to conduct research on new operational concepts. 

The Agency appreciates the Subcommittee’s support of the CLEEN program. The FAA is very pleased that industry has exceeded the 100% cost share requirement for the CLEEN program. We continue to prepare for a second round of CLEEN and anticipate that awards will be announced in 2015. The CLEEN program continues to be one of our top priorities as is our work to advance alternative jet fuels, which happens through CLEEN, the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), and the Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT), the FAA Center of Excellence for Alternative Jet Fuel and Environment. As recommended by the Subcommittee, we are pursuing the FY17 above target request for the CLEEN program through the budgetary process. 

AEE is considering means to improve the quantification of the impact of aviation emissions on climate as a part of its Emissions Research Roadmap. AEE is looking to build on the outputs from the Aviation Climate Change Research Initiative (ACCRI) and ongoing efforts to further develop and improve the APMT-Impacts Climate tool. As the effort to acquire non-volatile particulate matter emissions winds down, additional resources will be available to better assess the impact of aviation emissions on climate.

Response to 2015-03 REDAC Recommendation - 4

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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The sub-committee encourages FAA to continue to define ASCENT Center of Excellence tasks based on needs and gaps in the FAA environmental research roadmaps.

The FAA appreciates the Subcommittee’s recognition that the transition from PARTNER to ASCENT has been smooth. The FAA intends to continue to leverage the capabilities of ASCENT to advance our understanding of the impacts of aviation on the environment and to support our efforts to develop sustainable alternative jet fuels for the aviation industry.

Response to 2015-03 REDAC Recommendation - 5

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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In order to maintain leadership in the CAEP process, the subcommittee recommends that FAA continue to prioritize the development / enhancement of tools and data needed to guide the development of policy / standards.  We also endorse the inclusion of a Global Market Based Measure (GMBM) as one option in a basket of options for improved environmental performance and encourage the FAA to support analysis to inform the design of the GMBM.

The FAA agrees that continued development of our modeling capabilities and the generation of data to support the decision-making process are required for the U.S. to maintain its leadership in ICAO CAEP. Robust funding is also required to ensure that we effectively engage in the ICAO CAEP process. The progress on the CO2 emissions and Particulate Matter standards are the direct result of many years of investment. The FAA continues to devote substantial resources to inform the design of the Global Market Based Measure (GMBM) as it has the potential to act as a “gap-filler” to complement CO2 emissions reductions achieved from the development of new technology, operational improvements, and the development and deployment of sustainable alternative fuels. 

Response to 2015-03 REDAC Recommendation - 6

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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FAA should invite EPA to the next REDAC subcommittee meeting in August 2015 and participate in the discussion on the CO2 standard progress and plans.  

The FAA has invited EPA to participate in the August 2015 E&E Subcommittee meeting. 

Response to 2015-03 REDAC Recommendation - 7

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RECOMMENDATION

RESPONSE

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Improve search criteria for AEE websites. DONE

Pursue environment.faa.gov and faa.gov/environment as potential aliases for FAA environment research. DONE

Provide Subcommittee with more specifics on the Emissions Roadmap at Summer 2016 meeting. DONE

Include timeline for when projects will be completed within the Emissions Roadmap. DONE

Invite EPA to come to the meeting to talk about what they are doing regarding the endangement finding on CO2 and how it relates to the forthcoming CO2 standard. DONE 

Present budget provided by other entities (full budget not just RE&D and F&E) that are supporting the noise work of AEE. The question arose due to the fact that AEE are leveraging noise efforts elsewhere. DONE

Leverage the roadmapping efforts at NASA and FAA to update the White House National R&D Plan. ONGOING

Create ASCENT fact sheet for sharing with community. ONGOING

Present historical data on noise exposure – go back at least 10-15 years. ONGOING

Actions Completed/Underway – from Previous Meetings

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