The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the proposed runway extension and terminal expansion at Tweed-New Haven Airport.

Signed off as an official federal document on Dec. 11, the finding means the joint Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority and airport management company AVPORTS project may be implemented. The proposed $165 million expansion program includes a new terminal and runway extension.

In March 2023, the City of New Haven, through its Airport Authority, prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA). At that time, grassroots groups and others from East Haven and Branford opposed to the expansion joined those in other area towns, which called for a full Environmental Impact Study (EIS) of the proposed expansion rather than the EA, which consultants prepared for the Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority.

Those opposed sought the full EIS due to concerns regarding increased air traffic impacting area community members and environments in the direct flight path. Between March and April of 2023, over 900 comment letters were received by the Airport Authority regarding the EA. Dozens of residents and area experts attended EA public hearings in East Haven to have their voices heard and share their concerns and findings.

As noted by the FAA in the Dec. 2023 report, “This Finding of No Significant Impact (“FONSI”) and Record of Decision (“ROD”) represents the FAA’s determination that there are no significant environmental impacts associated with the FAA’s Proposed Federal Action related to the HVN Runway Extension and Terminal Expansion Program. In the EA, the Airport Authority has evaluated the environmental effects of the entire Proposed Action; however, the FAA’s Proposed Federal Action is currently limited to airport layout plan (ALP) approval of only those portions of the Proposed Action that meet the criteria established in 49 U.S.C. §47107(a)(16)(B), commonly referred to as Section 163(d) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The FAA has concluded that certain portions (identified within this document) of the Proposed Action meet the criteria of Section 163(d), while other portions do not. Therefore, the FAA will take the Federal action of approving only those portions of the ALP that meet the Section 163(d) criteria.

By evaluating the entire Proposed Action, rather than only the Proposed Federal Action, the EA represents a conservative disclosure of environmental effects because it examines potential impacts of activities that are not part of the Federal action subject to NEPA review or special purpose law compliance. For this reason, the EA included the terminology of the Proposed Action when discussing the entirety of the development program that the airport sponsor proposes and that was evaluated in the EA. The Proposed Action includes those development components over which FAA does not have any Federal action of ALP approval.“

Local and state officials representing East Haven expressed their dismay at the FONSI report. House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora and State Senator Paul Cicarella and Representative Joe Zullo, two of East Haven’s assemblymen, denounced the report in a joint statement.

“Like many East Haven residents, we are shocked by the FAA’s findings. Also, like many residents, we question what led the agency to conclude that Tweed Airport’s expansion will have ‘no significant impact’ on the surrounding community,” they said. “We hear from residents every day, and they are concerned about the impact on our air quality from increased jetliner activity and related influx of passenger automobile traffic. Families are equally worried about our surrounding infrastructure and town resources like police and EMS to safely handle even more traffic on local roads.”

The assemblymen said that the airport's expansion was incongruent with state and federal goals in pushing for clean energy policies and initiatives, something not ignored in the over 900 pieces of testimony submitted to the FAA by concerned residents living around Tweed.

Zullo pointed this out in an independent statement he issued on Dec. 22.

“Those comments, many from residents living around the airport and who stand to be most affected by the plainly foreseeable noise, air quality, traffic, and environmental impacts, appear to have been flatly ignored...It is inconceivable that such a conclusion could be reached without a more significant treatment of the testimony received in response to the EA.”

Zullo said that the greenlight for AVPORTS to expand Tweed “will irrevocably alter our community for generations” and criticized the dismissal of detailed comments on the expansion by “qualified experts...questioning the methodology and substance of air quality studies included in the EA.”

One of those “qualified experts” includes Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, who urged FAA officials in the New England region “to assess the potential public health and environmental justice implications of the proposed expansion of operations at Tweed-New Haven Airport” in a letter dated Sept. 26.

Zullo found that the FONSI document “neatly disposes” of future environmental concerns, including that the airport sits in “a special flood hazard area which is projected to experience a 20-inch rise in sea level by 2050.“ The document’s findings of ”no significant impacts on natural and beneficial floodplain values are anticipated“ amount to a report that is ”conclusory, superficial, and defies common sense,“ he said.

Mayor Joseph Carfora also expressed his disappointment with the FAA’s evaluation in a statement on Dec. 27.

“It is certainly an understatement to say that I am disappointed. The Town of East Haven has committed a number of well-placed assets to provide the FAA with detailed information about our concerns from traffic [and] public safety to the environment. The substantial impact that the proposed action will have on our community is monumental. Our experts and my staff will fully evaluate the FAA’s findings before announcing our next steps,” said Carfora.

Candelora, Zullo, and Cicarella said jointly, “We will continue to work with Mayor Carfora, lawmakers, and all stakeholders to ensure that the people of East Haven’s best interests are served.”

The FAA’s report and the final Environmental Assessment can be located at https://www.tweedmasterplan.com/nepa-documents.

Pam Johnson contributed to this report.