Page 65 - Planning and Design of Airports

The Natur e of Civil Aviation and Airports 43

The EPA has directed many of its efforts to minimizing environ-
mental damage resulting from civil aviation activities, with focus on
aircraft noise levels, emissions, air quality, and water runoff.
Most of the EPA requirements pertaining to civil aviation are
incorporated into the FAA’s Federal Aviation Regulations and poli-
cies regarding mandatory environmental impact evaluation of any
proposed airport planning projects. More information on the EPA
may be found at its website at http://www.epa.gov.

National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board consists of five members
appointed by the President. The NTSB performs the following
functions:

1. Investigates certain aviation, highway, marine, pipeline, and
railroad accidents, and reports publicly on the facts, condi-
tions and circumstances, and the cause or probable cause of
such accidents.
2. Recommends to Congress and federal, state, and local agencies
measures to reduce the incidence of transportation accidents.
3. Initiates and conducts transportation safety studies and
investigations.
4. Establishes procedures for reporting accidents to the board.
5. Assesses accident investigation techniques and issues recom-
mendations for improving accident investigation proce-
dures.
6. Evaluates the adequacy of the procedures and safeguards
used for the transportation of hazardous materials.
7. Reviews, on appeal, the suspension, amendment, modifica-
tion, revocation, or denial of certain operating certificates,
documents, or licenses issued by the Federal Aviation Admin-
istration or the U.S. Coast Guard.

Information about the activities of the NTSB, including all records
of civil aviation accidents and incidents, many of which impact air-
port planning and design, may be found on the NTSB website at
http://www.ntsb.org.

State Agencies
As mentioned earlier, the states are involved in varying degrees in
the many aspects of aviation including airport financial assistance,
flight safety, enforcement, aviation education, airport licensing, acci-
dent investigation, zoning, and environmental control. Because of the
interstate nature of air transportation, the federal government has