FAA Calls For Comment On Environmental Assessment For Replacement Towers

The FAA is seeking comments from the public on the environmental assessment associated with replacing 31 aging air traffic control towers across the U.S. Intended to “replace towers functioning beyond their intended design life,” the new facilities will include features such as all-electric building systems, materials and products free from chemicals known to pose health risks, thermally efficient façades, high-recycled steel and metal products, renewable mass timber when usable and ground-source heating and cooling in some environments. The project’s Programmatic Environmental Assessment draft will be open for comment through July 31, 2023.

“In the report, the FAA considers the conditions and potential environmental impacts of replacing numerous FAA-owned control towers with modern facilities,” the agency said. “It also analyzes the potential environmental impacts that may result from the construction and operation of the proposed new towers and decommissioning and removal of the existing towers.”

The new towers were designed by New York-based Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU). The FAA plans to issue an environmental determination in late 2023 with the goal of breaking ground on the projects in 2024. The agency noted that it has reserved more than $500 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to cover site evaluation, preparation and early construction activities. Enacted in November 2021, the bill appropriated $25 billion over a five-year period for airport and air traffic control projects.

Comments on the Programmatic Environmental Assessment draft can be made by searching for docket FAA-2023-1368 on the Federal Regulations portal.