FAA Goes after Chicago on Meigs

At last, justice is done, and the criminals have been fined. But one
wonders why it took the AOPA to get the FAA to enforce the law:


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AOPA ePilot Volume 8, Issue 38 September 22, 2006
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FAA SLAPS CHICAGO IN FINAL MEIGS DECISION
As a result of AOPA's complaint, Chicago will pay a $33,000 fine
for illegally tearing up Meigs Field without proper notification.
And the city will have to repay $1 million of airport funds that
Mayor Richard M. Daley illegally diverted from O'Hare and Midway
airports to give to the destruction contractors. And with the more
than $550,000 the city has already spent attempting to fight the
fine and repayment, hapless Chicago taxpayers are out close to
$1.6 million, and they've lost a world-class airport that
generated $57 million a year in economic activity for the city.
The FAA announced the final settlement with the city Monday. The
city admitted no wrongdoing. "This sends a clear signal to other
cities that the FAA is serious about upholding its regulations and
that AOPA is serious about holding everyone's feet to the fire
when it comes to protecting airports," said AOPA President Phil
Boyer. AOPA filed the original complaints that resulted in the
fine and fund repayment. "Many of us always thought that the civil
penalty of $1,100 per day was 'chump change' to a city with the
budget of Chicago," said Boyer. "But whether he admits it or not,
it shows that Daley violated FAA regulations and could have put
aircraft at risk." And for the future, it won't be chump change.
That's because after Meigs, AOPA successfully lobbied Congress
to increase the fine to $10,000 per day, to make it much more
painful for another city to attempt a midnight airport raid.
Notice of the proposed closure must also be published in the
"Federal Register." See AOPA Online
( http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsite...0919meigs.html ).







On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 00:13:45 GMT, Orval Fairbairn
wrote in
:

For what it is worth, I just received the following notice:



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


APA 35
October 1, 2004
Contact: Greg Martin or Tony Molinaro
Phone: 202-267-3883 or 847-294-7427

FAA Proposes Legal Action Against City of Chicago¹s Meigs Field Closure

WASHINGTON, DC * The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) today announced
that it is taking legal action over
the 2003 closure of Meigs Field which
could result in penalties against the
city of Chicago. The FAA is citing the
agency¹s regulatory responsibility to
preserve the national airspace system
and ensure the traveling public with
reasonable access to airports as the
basis for its action today.

The FAA is proposing a civil penalty
of $33,000, the legal maximum, against
the city and, separately, is
initiating an investigation into
possible violations by the city of its
federal grant assurances and its
airport sponsor obligations.

The $33,000 proposed civil penalty
stems from the city¹s failure to
provide the required 30-day notice to
the FAA of the deactivation of Meigs
Field. The notice requirement is
intended to allow the FAA to study
proposed actions that may affect the
national airspace system prior to the
actions being taken. According to FAA
regulations, a maximum penalty of
$1,100 per day can be assessed for a
violation of this type.

Additionally, the FAA has initiated an
investigation to determine whether the
city improperly diverted $1.5 million
in restricted airport revenues to pay
for demolishing the runway at Meigs
and for its conversion from an airport
into a city park. The city has 30
days to reply to the FAA on these
issues.

The FAA has held several discussions
with representatives of the city to
reach an informal resolution of the
issues, but it will now move forward
with these formal actions to obtain
additional facts. In addition to the
possibility of a civil penalty of
$33,000, the city of Chicago could be
required to return monies to the
O¹Hare Airport Development Fund.
Should the city refuse to return any
improperly diverted revenue to the
Fund, further sanctions are possible,
including a civil penalty of up to
three times the amount of the diverted
funds.

Gary Orpe
A79228
E690190
Certified Virus free by Ed Norton.
All are absolutely free.
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