Airports really negotiate with the local air quality authorities to determine the impact they are going to have on their status as an attainment area. Their options are limited if their SIP is already in place, but you can request amendments. It's at the state level where airports might be able to leverage emissions credit programs too, says Snow. Or they might pay for the retrofitting of gas station vapor recovery systems on pumps to gain emissions credits. Morris notes one of the most stymieing difficulties for airports in all this.
Airports really have limited control over the emissions at their facilities.
Looking at aviation as part of the SIP up front, the more you can identify the special air quality needs of aviation, the better off you are. The group has begun soliciting input from airports on suggested changes or clarifications needed in the Clean Air Act's General Conformity Rule with regard to aviation. We're just trying to keep everybody at the table. Karl Bremer is an aviation and travel writer based in Lakeland, Minnesota.