The New Jersey General Aviation Study Commission - Executive Summary Created in 1993 by the New Jersey Legislature, the New Jersey General Aviation Study Commission (hereinafter "Commission") was charged with studying issues concerning the role of aviation and general aviation within New Jersey's transportation system. General aviation encompasses a wide range of air transportation and offers a variety of services to the public. The term "general aviation" includes all categories of aircraft, including airplanes, seaplanes, helicopters, blimps and balloons. It does not include commercial airlines or military aircraft. Generally, this study does not include Newark International or Atlantic City International airports. The Commission is comprised of five members appointed by the Governor, four members appointed by the President of the Senate and four members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. By statute, the Commissioner of Commerce, the Commissioner of Transportation and the Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, are ex officio members of the Commission. Testimony was taken and information was solicited from State and national experts in the field of aviation, economics, noise and psychoacoustics, from the League of Municipalities, from all communities that host and neighbor general aviation facilities, and from all owners and operators of those facilities. The Problem New Jersey's 48 general aviation airports are in peril. New Jersey has irrevocably lost half of its aviation infrastructure, 53 airports, since the end of the Second World War. While New Jersey's sister states are expanding their general aviation infrastructure and attracting new businesses, today, there are only six airports in New Jersey that reasonably can be expected to support modern business aircraft. Each airport closing has significant economic, tourism and open-space preservation implications for the State. Currently, nearly 70,500 people are employed directly and indirectly because of the State's general aviation industry. Many of New Jersey's general aviation airports help preserve and protect the open space, woodlands and wetlands that they encom pass. By contrast, there are now housing and commercial developments where airports once stood. New Jersey has the highest number of people per airport in the nation. It has the second-largest percentage of privately owned public use airports in the United States. Its airports are of outdated design and are deteriorating after decades of State neglect. Despite recent increases, New Jersey continues to rank poorly compared to other states in expenditures for airport improvements. Private owners of public use airports-many of whom are second generation-are fighting a losing battle, dealing with often-conflicting regulatory oversight of State agencies and hostile municipalities. Too often, their profits are low or disappear due to high property taxes. They are continually tempted to close the airport, sell their greatly appreciated land to developers and earn greater income effortlessly by investing the proceeds in the public money markets. The Benefits of New Jersey's General Aviation Airports With a total economic impact of $1.7 billion to the State, individual general aviation airports have a substantial economic impact on their communities and contribute essential business-related services. Usually the community is unaware of its airport's economic contribution. New Jersey's airports are a significant factor in corporate relocation decisions for both small and large businesses. Companies such as AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Warner Lambert, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, AlliedSignal, BASF, Schering-Plough, Union Camp, American Home Products and many others rely on general aviation airports in the State. New Jersey's general aviation infrastructure also provides many health, welfare and social benefits. Members of the medical community, schools, fire and emergency services, law enforcement, tour operators (and other related travel services) and traffic surveillance also benefit from and utilize the State's general aviation airports. Findings and Recommendations After extensive deliberation considering the testimony of expert and lay witnesses and hundreds of exhibits, the Commission has developed 19 recommendations that involve private voluntary activities or State legislative or regulatory initiatives. These recommendations are broken down into four categories: preservation of public use aviation facilities; maintenance and improvement of safety of operations and facilities; enhancement of State oversight and integration within New Jersey's transportation system; and long-term planning. These recommendations are designed to enable New Jersey's air transportation infrastructure to survive, become competitive with airports of other states, and provide essential services far into the next century. I. Preservation of Public Use Aviation Facilities Finding New Jersey is unique in the United States for having the highest percentage of, and the greatest reliance upon, privately owned public use general aviation facilities. However, rising costs of operation, high tax burdens, low levels of net income and increasing alternative use valuation contribute to the inexorable attrition in facilities, and to the detriment of the State's economic health and transportation efficiency. Despite this tax burden, most municipalities testifying indicated that tax revenue rece ived from its airport is an insignificant part of total revenue. In addition, the continued existence of a publicly owned municipal airport can depend on the whims of a local politician, who, while in office, can close the airport without regard to the consequences on the State's general aviation infrastructure. Recommendations 1. Establish a State program enabling private airport owners to sell and transfer their development rights either to other private parties or to the State. The State must stand ready to purchase these development rights when offered. 2. Amend the New Jersey Tax Act to alleviate the real estate tax burden on airports. Exempt all lands, buildings, paved areas and other improvements dedicated to public use. The specific recommended legislative proposals are as follows: * Exempt from municipal property taxes all public use portions of privately owned airports, including runways, taxiways, ramp and parking areas for aircraft and automobiles, terminals and land required as a safety buffer for future development. * Subject other lands and improvements used or reserved for general aviation purposes to a State property tax at a uniform statewide rate and exempt them from municipal taxation. * Lands and improvements not used or reserved for general aviation purposes should remain subject to local property taxes. 3. Expand the State's capital improvement funding for airports. Assure stable annual funding through inclusion as a budgetary line item. 4. Provide resources for the Division of Aeronautics to assure New Jersey receives its fair share of Federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funding for general aviation airports in a timely manner. 5. As a condition of receiving State aid for an airport improvement, provide that the airport proprietor deed to the State a right of first refusal to purchase the airport in the event it or any subsequent airport owner seeks to change its use to a non-airport use. 6. A municipality or county that accepts State aid for any transportation purpose should not be permitted to close its airport except upon approval of the Commissioner of Transportation. 7. Develop a plan, to be integrated into the existing tourism grant program, which would provide incentives to those general aviation facilities that elect to develop an economic base in tourism related businesses (e.g., sightseeing, sky diving, balloon festivals, air shows, etc.). II. Maintain and Improve Safety of Operations and Facilities Finding The confusing and occasionally hostile municipal regulatory environment that operators of privately owned public use airports face is a major impediment to the improvement of such airport facilities and makes it increasingly difficult to assure safe airport operations. Popular opposition to airport improvements often results from unreasonable fears and sometimes by intentional dissemination of misinformation. Sometimes municipal boards reviewing applications for airport improvements do not make a positive effort to discover the truth respecting the impact of the proposed improvement. Airport owners complain they are not given a fair hearing. Neighboring municipalities complain that their concerns are not given equal consideration by the host municipality and that a State agency like NJDOT should review these applications ab initio. There are numerous instances of expensive litigation arising from the ambiguous phrase "supervision over aeronautics" used to describe the powers of the Commissioner of Transportation. The private airport owner has not established effective lines of communication with the community. Recommendations 1. Amend Municipal Land Use Law to create an airport zone, which includes, at a minimum, all land within airport boundaries and at a maximum, all land to the projected 65 Ldn noise contour. Conforming uses within the airport zone include the airport and all uses compatible with it, such as all aviation-related businesses, car rentals, restaurants, overnight accommodations, commercial offices and airfreight stations and terminals. 2. Amend Aviation Act to provide NJDOT the exclusive authority to hear applications for improvements within the airport zone. 3. Establish local airport committee programs to promote positive relationships and encourage communication between general aviation facilities and their host and neighboring communities. 4. Promote utilization of the general aviation facility in location decisions for State and county highway maintenance department facilities, local fire and police stations and similar emergency assistance services within the community. 5. Expand the zone of notification to potential purchasers of real estate, set forth in The New Jersey Airport Safety and Zoning Act of 1983, to a radius of five statute miles from the geographical center of the airport. III. Enhancement of State Oversight and Integration within New Jersey's Transportation System Finding Operators of privately owned public use airports face a maze of regulatory requirements from multiple State agencies as well as from municipal governments. The most serious form of regulatory conflict arises between NJDOT and NJDEP regulations applicable to trees, wetlands and wildlife. Contrasted to its highways and railroads, New Jersey's general aviation transportation system has not been included in State planning. Recommendations 1. Amend all laws regulating land, land use, and environmental protection, to provide that the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) shall administer all State regulations respecting any land on an airport or within an Airport Zone. 2. Authorize NJDOT to perform certain maintenance functions on privately owned public use airports that are ordinarily performed on roads but require dedicated equipment not readily available to the airport operator. Those items should include off airport obstruction removal, runway and taxiway crack sealing, painting of runways and taxiways to provide uniform markings specified by the FAA and if the equipment is available, snow removal. 3. Revise the State Development and Redevelopment Plan to include the State's general aviation system in those parts relating to intermodal transportation hubs and open spaces. 4. Incorporate the general aviation system into any economic development plan and materials when promoting New Jersey for corporate and institutional relocations. 5. Provide incentives for businesses, compatible and appropriate to the airport zone, to become airport tenants and to locate in the area surrounding the airport. IV. Long-Term Planning Finding The suitability and viability of a general aviation airport depends upon three factors: aviation and public safety, environmental compatibility and economic viability. All three of these are a function of the quantity of land available to the airport. The starting point in determining how much land is necessary for a general aviation airport is the lengths of runways, which are determined by the type of aircraft to be served. The Commission has determined that 800 acres of land will be required for a safe, environmentally compatible and economically viable general aviation airport designed to serve business aircraft. A total of 1,400 acres will be required for an intermodal transportation station with a terminal and facilities accommodating major highways, mass transit systems and air transportation. Recommendations 1. The State must develop a long-term plan, as part of the State Airport System Plan, wherein an airport serves each county (where feasible) with a main runway of sufficient length to accommodate every aircraft in the business fleet in all weather conditions and a crosswind runway approximately 70 percent of the length of the main runway. Both runways will have weight-bearing capacity limited to exclude airline-type heavy aircraft. The State should incorporate in this plan facilities for an intermodal transportation system suitable for the year 2050. Each intermodal transportation station should accommodate an airport, a rapid mass transit interchange and a car pooling facility. 2. The State must identify land, in 1,400 acre parcels, in each county (where feasible) to "bank" for future intermodal station development. This land banking should be compatible with open space preservation and airport zoning.