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Mayors hope for DEP support in FAA appeal
(by Maggie Fazeli Fard - November 14, 2007)
In an effort to kick up state support in its fight against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its controversial airspace redesign plan, members of the Pascack Valley Mayors Association (PVMA) will meet with a representative from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) this week.
Mayors Joe LaPaglia of
Woodcliff
Lake , Lou Lamatina of Emerson and Joseph Blundo of River Vale are scheduled to meet with DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson the morning of Thursday, Nov. 15 in
Atlantic City , LaPaglia said Tuesday. LaPaglia, the president of the PVMA, said that DEP support could play a vital role in the appeal, which is attacking the FAA’s Environmental Impact Study (EIS).
Since it was published in late-July, the EIS has been criticized as “insufficient and incomplete.” The Princeton-based law firm Potter & Dickson filed an objection to the EIS on behalf of the PVMA on Oct. 10.
LaPaglia also said that DEP support could lead to long sought after backing from
Trenton .
“It’s been a big disappointment that [Governor Jon] Corzine has not gotten behind us,” said LaPaglia. He said he has not personally spoken with Corzine but has been in contact with the governor’s liaison to elected officials.
The FAA’s plan, known as Integrated Airspace, would reroute hundreds of planes over
Pascack
Valley and surrounding areas in an effort to increase efficiency and reduce delays both locally and nationally. It is expected that the redesign, the first of its kind in close to three decades, will be implemented by 2011.
Pascack
Valley is among several groups in the Northeast, including the Bergen County Board of Freeholders, the City of Elizabeth,
Rockland
County in New York, Delaware County in Pennsylvania, and the State of
Connecticut , to file appeals. The deadline to file an appeal was Nov. 6, and LaPaglia estimates that hearings will likely commence no sooner than the new year.
LaPaglia said that he believes there are alternatives to the plan, including the Port Authority’s recent announcement of plans to expand service at
Stewart
Airport . He also criticized the FAA’s decision to follow through with a plan, which he believes amounts to solving a problem by creating new problems, despite widespread community opposition.
“The FAA says it [the redesign] has national implications,” LaPaglia said. “But at the end of the day, they’re trying to resolve this problem that was self-created by the industry.”
Maggie Fazeli Fard's e-mail address is fazelifard@northjersey.com
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