NATA Environmental Committee
Meeting
Indianapolis, IN
September 18, 2008
Minutes
I. Welcome
Environmental Committee Chairman Traver Gruen-Kennedy called the committee to order at 8:07 a.m. (Eastern) and welcomed participants.
Meeting participants included:
· Traver Gruen-Kennedy, DayJet – Chairman
· Owen Busch, Avfuel Corp.
· George Gamble, 2G Environmental
· Kurt Humm, Priester Aviation
· Michael Mooney, Air BP Aviation Services
· David Newman, Ascent Aviation Group, Inc.
· David Oldow, XL Insurance – Environmental Division
· Andy Priester, Priester Aviation
· Joe West, Atlantic Aviation
Staff participants included:
· Eric Byer, NATA
· James K. Coyne, NATA
II. NATA Environmental Compliance Seminar For Aviation Facilities
George Gamble provided participants with a brief overview of the afternoon’s Environmental Compliance Seminar for Aviation Facilities that he is conducting. More than 20 participants signed up for the event that will focus primarily on EPA regulatory compliance issues affecting ground operations.
III. NATA Climate Initiative
Byer provided members with an update on the NATA Climate Initiative. Byer explained that he has been working for committee members Jeff Witwer and George Gamble in the creation of an energy usage survey that they hope will be completed by year’s end. Members will be asked to review this survey to provide feedback as well as to commit to participating in the program starting January 1, 2009. Members will be asked to complete the survey on a monthly or quarterly basis. The results captured in 2009 for these companies will serve as their “baseline” in 2010 when reviewing energy consumption. Should companies see an increase in their energy usage, they will be able to purchase carbon offsets (a program the association is still reviewing) or incorporate one of the committee’s best management practices.
IV. Public Relations Campaign
Gruen-Kennedy initiated a discussion on the association’s activities to provide members with tools to defuse the rhetoric offered by the environmental community. Members highlighted the need to be proactive when dealing with the media in defending general aviation. Participants requested that the association provide a number of items to assist NATA member companies on this front, including regularly updating the NATA Environmental Fact Sheet along with developing a generic PowerPoint presentation, a set of talking points that members could use when interviewed by the press, and a boilerplate op-ed that members could use to rebut news stories criticizing aviation’s impact on the environment.
· NATA Environmental Fact Sheet (Updated -- November, 2008)
· NATA Environmental PowerPoint Presentation
· NATA Environmental Talking Points
· NATA Environmental Opinion Editorial
V. Environmental Policy Discussion
The committee embarked on a thorough discussion of environmental issues confronting NATA member companies and how to resolve some of these issues. Members asked if a compliance checklist could be assembled so member companies could review to ensure that they are in compliance with many of the environmental regulations that are currently on the books.
George Gamble was kind enough to assemble this Environmental Checklist and can it be viewed by clicking here.
VI. Upcoming Meetings
Byer provided members with a short overview of the 2009 Committee Meeting Schedule. Members can view this complete schedule by clicking here. The committee will have two in-person meetings in 2009. The first will be in Washington, D.C. on May13-15, 2009, and the second will be held on September 14-15, 2009, in Long Beach, CA. Teleconference meetings will be scheduled around these meetings as appropriate.
XI. Conclusion
The meeting concluded at 10:37 a.m. (Eastern).