For Immediate Release: March 8, 2001
Contact: John Carlisle 202/543-4110 x107 or [email protected]
Onerous Environmental Regulations Contributing to Air Traffic
Congestion
Nation's Airport Authorities Cannot Build Runways Fast Enough to Keep Up
With Demand Due to Federal and State Environmental Laws
Overly restrictive environmental regulations are significantly
contributing to airline delays and cancellations by inhibiting the timely
construction of much-needed runways, according to a new National Policy
Analysis paper by the National Center For Public Policy Research.
According to National Policy Analysis paper #331, "Mad About the Quality of Air Travel These Days? Blame Environmentalists," environmental regulations are a major reason why, since 1978, only two new major metropolitan airports have been constructed although the number of passengers flying annually rose from 250 million in 1978 to 600 million in 1999. Airline departures increased 25 percent during the 1990s but only six new runways were added at large hub airports during the same period.
Runways are as important to relieving air travel congestion as highways
are to reducing auto traffic. But it often takes 10 years or more to plan
and build a new runway, primarily because of cumbersome environmental permitting
requirements. Although it only takes two years to actually construct a major
runway, before commencing construction airport authorities must first meet
time-consuming environmental regulations mandated by often duplicative federal
and state laws governing air and water quality, endangered species, historical
preservation, noise abatement, solid waste impacts, coastal zone management
and other environmental concerns.
The efficiency and comfort that customers rightly expect from air travel
is seriously eroding as a result of so many jets competing for a limited
amount of runway space and gates. Between 1995 and 2000, airline cancellations
jumped 104 percent while departure and arrival delays increased 33 percent.
Customer complaints are on the rise. Last year, the number of complaints,
mainly about cancellations, delays and missed connections, increased 14
percent compared with 1999. If the environmental permitting process is not
streamlined soon to expedite new airport and runway construction, consumer
dissatisfaction with airline travel will only get worse. The number of airline
passengers is projected to increase 60 percent to 1 billion in 2010.
"Building airports and runways is not just a matter of passenger
convenience," says John Carlisle, director of the Environmental Policy
Task Force and the author of the paper. "It is a matter of passenger
safety. Clearly, if air space continues to get more crowded, that creates
the conditions for serious accidents to occur. Fortunately, the Bush Administration
recognizes this. New Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta favors streamlining
the environmental permitting process to expedite runway construction."
The Environmental Policy Task Force is a project of The National Center
For Public Policy Research, a non-partisan, non-profit education foundation.
For more information, contact John Carlisle at The National Center For Public
Policy Research at 202-543-4110 x107 or [email protected] or
download the paper at the National Center's website at http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA331.html.
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