Flagler County Airport needed to complete two environmental assessments to receive airport improvement program (AIP) funding for several projects identified on their 2005 Airport Layout Plan (ALP). The first Environmental Assessment (EA) was for a new air traffic control tower (ATCT) and the second for all remaining five-year capital improvement projects identified on the ALP.

The ATCT EA began in October 2007 and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) was received from the FAA in June 2008.  The EA was fast-tracked under DY Consultants’ leadership and completed within a six-month timeframe, followed by the FONSI from the FAA two months later. This enabled the county to begin construction for the tower immediately and it was up and running as an FAA contract facility in August of 2009.

The 5-year CIP EA contained projects including Runway 11-29 relocation/extension, a new south access road into the airport, hangar development, a new fuel farm, additional automobile parking, a new terminal/administration building and other miscellaneous projects. There were several wetland impacts as a result of the relocation of Runway 11-29; however, the airport, in cooperation with the county, developed an off-site wetland mitigation plan to offset the impacts. A FONSI for all projects contained in the EA was received from the FAA in the fall of 2009. Both EAs included a full cultural resource assessment of the entire airport property, a wildlife and natural environment assessment of the area of potential affect, a wetlands assessment and delineation, noise analyses, air quality analyses as well as other minor assessments.