General Aviation Improvement Program

September 20, 2018:
Notice of Availability of a Draft Program Environmental Impact Report and Announcement of Public Meeting

The Draft Environmental Impact Report is available at the following link: https://www.ocair.com/deir627

Overview

John Wayne Airport (JWA) is home base for nearly 500 private general aviation aircraft, including single- and multi-engine aircraft, corporate jets, helicopters and vintage biplanes. There are 379 County tie-down and hangar spaces for general aviation; fixed base operators (FBOs) provide additional tie-down and hangar spaces, as well as other aviation services. Overall, general aviation represents nearly 70% of the Airport's total number of operations. Click here for existing GA facilities.

Though general aviation accounts for the majority of JWA's total aircraft operations, over the past approximately 25 years, there has been an overall decline (- 19.2%) in general aviation aircraft based at JWA. Recently, JWA began a process of evaluating and planning for the future needs of the general aviation community at the Airport through a comprehensive General Aviation Improvement Program (GAIP). A number of factors led to the proposed comprehensive update of general aviation facilities including, but not limited to (1) the introduction of new aircraft into, and other changes within, the general aviation fleet; (2) the advanced age of some of JWA's general aviation structures and resultant need for improvements; (3) the need to ensure compliance with Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") requirements related to proximity of buildings to taxiways and runways; and (4) the fact that a number of general aviation-related long-term leases have expired or are nearing expiration.

The General Aviation Improvement Program has established planning goals and objectives:

1. Continue to provide safe and secure operations;
2. Utilize limited land area efficiently and economically;
3. Preserve compatibility between general and commercial aviation operations;
4. Embrace flexibility to allow for technological advances and market trends;
5. Maximize economic, self-sustaining, revenue producing facilities; and
6. Assess the ability of existing infrastructure to support general aviation facilities

Briefing for SoCal Pilots Association presentation August 8, 2017

Planning Process

The overall GAIP will be implemented in phases and is an extensive capital undertaking that will be completed over several years.

The phased program includes the following milestones:

Environmental Review

The first step in the environmental review process is the issuance of a Notice of Preparation (NOP)/Initial Study. The NOP provides notification that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is being prepared. It includes a description of the project, as well as probable environmental effects to be analyzed in the EIR. The NOP review and comment period extended from March 30, 2017 to May 1, 2017. The NOP can be viewed on the JWA website at: www.ocair.com/NOP.

JWA hosted a scoping meeting in conjunction with the NOP comment period. This meeting was open to the public and took place on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, in the Airport Commission Room in JWA's Eddie Martin Administration Building located at 3160 Airway Avenue, Costa Mesa. This scoping meeting provided the opportunity for responsible agencies and the public to learn about the Project and then provide input on the scope of issues that the Project's EIR should analyze. Airport staff and the EIR consultants discussed the CEQA process and received public comments.

John Wayne Airport General Aviation Improvement Program Public Scoping Meeting presentation April 12, 2017.

Scoping Meeting Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report Handout April 12, 2017.

Orange County Airport Commission Presentation on Notice of Preparation (NOP) for General Aviation Improvement Program April 19, 2017.

A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is being prepared. The comments received during the NOP comment period will be incorporated into the DEIR.

The Draft EIR will be distributed for a 45-day public review which is expected to occur in the 4th Quarter of 2018. There will be additional opportunities to provide input during the DEIR public review process. All comments received during the DEIR public review period will be forwarded to the decision-makers and comments on substantive environmental issues will be responded to in writing. The responses to comments become part of the Final EIR. Notices will be sent and updates to our website will be made informing interested parties and stakeholders that the DEIR is available for public review. It is anticipated that another public meeting will be held during the Draft EIR review and comment period.

UPDATE September 20, 2018: The Draft Environmental Impact Report is now available at the following link: https://www.ocair.com/deir627

If you have questions or comments about the GAIP, please email GAIP@ocair.com or call Lea Choum at (949) 252-5123 or Kari Rigoni at (949) 252-5284.

To learn more about the history of general aviation at JWA, visit ocair.com/generalaviation.