The FAA AEDT
To assess airport and aircraft noise and pollution across the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) uses the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT), a computer model. More than 3,000 U.S. airport environmental assessments use this model.
Feed the AEDT well and it spits out helpful data. Feed the AEDT wrong or partial data, and the AEDT spits out nonsense. This model should be able to tell us how much lead pollution aircraft using Palomar over the last 40 years have dumped on Carlsbad elementary schools. Simply input the flight numbers for aircraft using leaded fuel, the fuel amount, and dispersal to the air and add.
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AEDT Questions
In September 2021, I asked the FAA Western Pacific Regional Office in El Segundo, California to name an FAA staffer who could answer some AEDT questions.
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The FAA ignored the request for weeks. Then requested written questions. I emailed questions to the FAA in October. At first the FAA promised a response. But after seeing the questions, the FAA detoured me to the long, complex, FAA AEDT manual.
I skimmed the manual and advised the FAA that I still had questions. I was ignored. Between November 2021 and March 2022, I reminded the FAA several times that the FAA had promised written answers. No response. Not even the courtesy of a pro forma reply.
The FAA Community Involvement Policy
In 2019, the FAA updated its Community Involvement Policy (AC No. 150/5050-4A).
The FAA said: "This AC is intended to advise airport sponsors, planners, and the public on the benefits of early public participation in airport planning, and the methods by which this participation may be achieved."
With the county, the FAA started planning the Palomar Airport expansion in 2015. County adopted its final plan in December 2021 (after the Superior Court tossed the 2018 County PMP). Specific county Palomar projects will start before 2024.
Part I Conclusion: The FAA Western Pacific Region has no desire to honor its promises or to comply with the FAA Public Involvement Policy. Is the FAA AEDT model flawed?
