Juan Ciscomani Asks FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau About The Ongoing Effort To Eliminate PFAS From Airports

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During Wednesday’s House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) questioned Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau about PFAS in airports.

Transcript

00:00I is the final member of our panel here this morning.

00:04The chair notices a young man in the audience with a similar tie to Mr. Siskimani.

00:10Mr. Siskimani, do you have a guest here?

00:12I do. My son, Kenny, he's here joining us.

00:16I already told the press that he's not available for questions just yet, but he will be at some point.

00:22You're recognized.

00:23Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:25And thank you, Administrator Rushlow, for being here with us today.

00:27I first want to ask about an issue that is top of mind for many airports around the country,

00:35including Tucson International Airport in southern Arizona, and that is regarding PFAS remediation.

00:41In my district, the presence of PFAS is a major public health threat.

00:45The FAA has previously mandated the use of PFAS containing foams for commercial airports,

00:50and while many airports like Tucson International Airport are now transitioning to foams that do not contain PFAS,

00:57as they're still burdened with the cost of remediation for previously used foams.

01:03How does your agency plan to assist commercial airports in these critical remediation efforts?

01:09Thank you for the question.

01:11Tucson has a special place.

01:12It was my first assignment as a second lieutenant in the Air Force,

01:15and so I'm familiar with the airport and the importance of it.

01:17With respect to PFAS and the mitigations there, I actually connected with my airport's office yesterday,

01:25and I understand we have ongoing dialogue with how we're going to manage through that.

01:29I know that there was an authorization to further mitigate the PFAS that we're talking about,

01:36not just at Tucson but in other locations.

01:38I know that an appropriation will be particularly critical to being able to move forward on some of those mitigations,

01:47but I also know that the work that we're doing specific to Tucson,

01:51but in addition to that, a few other airports,

01:54the plan to mitigate that is ongoing with respect to ensuring that the airports have the information they need

02:05to follow that up when the funding appears.

02:12Yeah, and I think that's critical.

02:13So I'll certainly advocate for you all to receive the funds that are needed to clean up PFAS in our community

02:20without creating the undue burden on the airports themselves that already have limited budgets, as you know.

02:26So I appreciate your attention on this critical issue.

02:29Next, I'd like to highlight a key facility in my district, Pinnell Air Park.

02:33If you've been in southern Arizona, you probably are familiar with Pinnell Air Park.

02:36This general aviation and military facility, originally known as the Marana Army Airfield,

02:42is notably where more than 10,000 pilots trained during World War II.

02:47Today, the air park supports a mix of military and commercial aviation activities

02:52with over 100,000 flight operations annually.

02:56Pinnell Air Park is among the busiest multi-use airports in the nation,

02:59operating without an air traffic control tower.

03:03Last year, Congress passed the FAA reauthorization bill with a provision prioritizing the construction

03:08of air traffic control towers that support safety at multi-use airports.

03:12Pinnell Air Park fits this description perfectly and was recently accepted as a candidate

03:18for the FAA contract tower program.

03:21Can I have your agency's commitment to fully consider Pinnell Air Park as a candidate

03:24for a new tower under this program?

03:27Yes, you can.

03:28Perfect.

03:29That's critical here for us.

03:32On the air traffic control tower at Pinnell Air Park is greatly needed,

03:36and I look forward to working with you to make that tower a reality.

03:41Here with the last minute or so that I have, I want to ask about something that you touched on

03:46in your testimony and some of my colleagues have mentioned as well,

03:49is the air traffic control tower staffing side of it as well.

03:53What specific steps has the FAA taken to ensure adequate staffing levels of critical facilities

03:58across the country on that matter?

04:00No, again, I can't emphasize enough the importance of making sure that under the Secretary's leadership

04:07that we do in fact realize the supercharge effort that we're, the goal that we're attempting.

04:12So right now we're focused on making sure that we get up to 2,500 through Oklahoma City as well as

04:20through our enhanced CTI training schools, so the collegiate partnerships that we have.

04:25In addition to that, we're incentivizing people to come to the FAA and to go to tougher to staff locations

04:31with financial incentives.

04:33I think one of the things that's really going to help us in this effort, though, it's critical,

04:38is we're giving 20% to experienced controllers to stay per year to stay on as certified controllers,

04:46whether that's in an operational role or in a training role, to make sure that we have that bridge

04:50as we get healthy again in our controller staff.

04:54We're 3,000 down, and we're working to make sure that within the next couple of years

04:57that we've got that back.

04:58Real quick here, what do you think the shortage, what's the reason for, I mean,

05:04it paced well at, you know, high training, now you have incentives to stay.

05:09Just real quick, what do you think highlights of the show?

05:12I think there were a variety of reasons.

05:13Part of it is, I'll just say, advertising.

05:16We're trying to make sure people understand.

05:18This is an exciting, very rewarding career field.

05:21I also think that the time to get people into the academy was too long.

05:25We were at a year and a half in some cases, and a 25-year-old's not going to wait around

05:28for a year and a half to get a job.

05:30They're going to go to something.

05:31So truncating the process and getting them into the school quicker, I think, is going

05:34to help us.

05:35Thank you, sir.

05:36We'd love to welcome you back to Old Stomping Grounds in Tucson and have you there soon.

05:40Thank you so much.

05:41Chairman, I yield back.

05:42Yeah, thank you, Mr. Siskamani.

05:44If it please, the subcommittee, we're going to do one more round of just a single question.

05:49So be thinking about your question.

05:51But before I go to my last question, I'm going to recognize the overall chairman of the committee,

05:57once again, Mr. Cole, who has been gracious enough to sit through.

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