General
1.1 The Airport And Its Environs
1.1.1 The compatibility of an airport with
its environs is an ideal that can be achieved by proper planning of the
airport, control of pollution‑generating sources, and land use planning
of the area surrounding the airport. The aim is to provide the best possible
conditions for the needs of the airport, the community in the surrounding area
and the ecology of the environment.
1.1.2 Airport planning must be recognized as an
integral part of an area‑wide comprehensive planning programme. The
location, size and configuration of the airport need to be coordinated with
patterns of residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural and other land
uses of the area, taking into account the effects of the airport on people,
flora, fauna, the atmosphere, water courses, air quality, soil pollution and
other facets of the environment.
1.1.3 Within the comprehensive planning
framework, airport development and operations should be coordinated with the
planning, policies and programmes for the area where the airport is located. In
this way, the social and economic impact, along with the environmental effects
of the airport, can be evaluated to ensure to the greatest extent possible that
the airport environs are compatible with the airport and, conversely, that the
physical development and use of the airport is compatible with the existing and
proposed patterns of land use. To the extent that technical considerations
permit a choice, decisions on runway alignment and other airport development
should take into account their potential effects on the environment in order to
prevent or minimize environmental conflicts. In effect, 1and‑use
control" is a term which describes only a portion of the total planning
process, and even highly innovative controls can have little impact unless they
are imposed within the context of sound policies and careful planning.
"Land‑use planning" or ‑planning for compatible land uses
which takes into account the needs of airport development" more adequately
describes the process of achieving an optimum relationship between an airport
and its environs.
1.2 The Need For Environmental Control
1.2.1 In recent years there has been
increased public concern regarding the protection of the environment from the
impact of transportation, and consequently, a growing emphasis on the need to
employ effective measures to minimize such impacts. Since pollution may be generated
within an airport as well as within the area surrounding it, environmental
controls should be applied at the airport and its environs.
1.2.2 The environment has been defined as
including:
(a) Air, land and water;
(b) All layers of the atmosphere;
(c) All organic and inorganic matter and living organisms ;and
(d) The interacting natural systems referred to in a) to c).
Since all of these
components interact, disruption to one may have a profound effect on the entire system. Therefore, to
lessen local and global impacts, it is important that the
entire civil aviation industry endeavors to control harmful emissions.
1.2.3 Pollution
occurring in and around the airport has the potential to affect not only the
immediate area, but also the surrounding areas. Because it can have an effect
on human health and the ecology of the‑ surrounding area, efforts should
therefore be made towards pollution prevention. Environmental controls thus
provide a means of either decreasing pollution at the source or reducing the
potential for negative environmental impacts. Controls such as air and water
quality guidelines, aircraft engine noise limits, waste management plans,
environmental emergency plans, and environmental management plans are
necessary.
1.2.4 Airports can operate with limited environmental impact by
incorporating environmental management plans and procedures with land‑use
planning, In the past, environmental management has concentrated on pollution
abatement or control by finding ways to dispose of waste after it has been
produced. More recently, organizations have been shifting toward pollution
prevention, which focuses on reducing or eliminating the need for pollution
control. Pollution prevention can be defined as "the use of materials,
processes or practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants and
wastes at the source." It includes practices that reduce the use of
hazardous and non-hazardous materials, energy, water or other resources.
Anticipatory action is used to preempt the need for control or remedy.
1.3 The Need For Land‑Use Planning
1.3.1 The need for some public control of
land in the vicinity of an airport was recognized in the early history of civil
aviation. In general, these early measures were usually concerned with height
control of possible hazards or obstacles to flight into or out of airports.
Also recognized was the need to control potentially conflicting activities,
such as:
(a) Activities
that could cause electrical interference with radio communications and
navigation aids;
(b) Lights that might
confuse pilots in the clear interpretation of aeronautical lights; and )c) The production
of smoke that reduces visibility.
Although litigation regarding aircraft noise
did occur in the early 1960s, it was only after the widespread introduction of
commercial turbo‑jet aircraft that the compatibility of land use with
noise exposure in the vicinity of airports became a major consideration. Today,
aircraft noise is probably the most significant form of pollution caused by
aircraft operation and is therefore a major factor influencing land‑use
planning in the vicinity of airport
1.3.2 The
requirement for land‑use planning in the vicinity of an airport is
twofold, namely:
(d) To provide for airport needs, e.g. obstacle limitation areas and
future airport development, and
(e) To ensure
minimal interference to the environment and the public, e.g. by locating
residential areas away from zones subject to excessive noise or other pollution
and by preserving parklands.