12 May 2011
GAMA, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, has responded to a threat of legal action against California avgas suppliers and retailers by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH). In a comment on its website, the CEH stated that, ‘it has initiated legal action against ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, AvFuel Corporation and 38 airport-based suppliers of lead-containing aviation fuel, for pollution of drinking water sources and/or air around twenty-five airports throughout California. Under California law, pollution of drinking water sources above state standards would require the companies to cease sales of their leaded gas.’
Responding to this statement, GAMA, a member of the General Aviation Avgas Coalition, stated, ‘ Because the National Airspace System belongs to the people of the United States and benefits the entire country, Congress has reserved to the Federal government, through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the right and responsibility to regulate all aviation activities in the U.S. The threatened CEH lawsuit in California raises the specter of a patchwork of state regulations governing fuels pilots may or may not use in their piston-powered aircraft.
‘Equally important, at the heart of the federal aviation gasoline fuel standard is safety of flight – ensuring that the engine of an aircraft in flight does not suffer a catastrophic failure.
‘The FAA, the federal agency with oversight for general aviation, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal agency with oversight for environmental concerns including aircraft emissions, are working with the general aviation industry – including aircraft and engine manufacturers, fuel producers and developers, and representatives of fuel suppliers and consumers – through the FAA’s Unleaded Avgas Transition Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to address the transition to an unleaded fuel. The ARC is working through a host of factors, with safety paramount, for transitioning to an unleaded fuel. These include certification, production, and distribution, as well as environmental and economic concerns.’
It is imperative that the issues surrounding the safe and effective transition to an unleaded fuel be addressed at the Federal level, and that the FAA and EPA be the agencies that address those concerns.
<a href=”http://www.gama.aero”>Click here for more</a>
