Opinion ID: 1192958
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Project History

Text: As with many complex construction projects, plans for the West Bay airport have evolved over a number of years. The Sponsor completed an Airport Master Plan Update in 1996, which identified a future need for longer runways and larger runway safety areas to service the Bay County area. The Sponsor initially proposed to extend the existing Panama City Airport's primary runway into Goose Bayou, but it abandoned that proposal when the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Florida DEP) [3] expressed concern that such a runway extension would (1) adversely affect Class II Surface Water suitable for shellfish propagation or harvesting, (2) fill sovereign submerged lands in violation of Florida law, and (3) destroy protected seagrasses. See Letter from Virginia B. Wetherell, Fla. DEP, to Cherie Trainor, Fla. Dep't of Cmty. Affairs (July 15, 1998); see also Letter from David B. Struhs, Fla. DEP, to Virginia Lane, FAA, at 1 (Oct. 24, 2003) (The issues and objections expressed in the [1998 letter] have not changed or abated.). Having encountered such opposition, the Sponsor explored other options, including the West Bay Site offered by St. Joe. When the Feasibility Study for Panama City-Bay County International Airport commissioned by the Sponsor recommended relocation, the Sponsor, pursuant to the AAIA, sought approval from the FAA to build a new airport at the West Bay Site.