BILL NUMBER: SJR 12	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   27
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   APRIL 23, 1997
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 17, 1997
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   MARCH 20, 1997

INTRODUCED BY  Senator Thompson
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Strom-Martin)

                        FEBRUARY 20, 1997

   Senate Joint Resolution No. 12--Relative to closing the
flight-service station at the Arcata-Eureka Airport.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 12, M. Thompson.  Closure of the flight-service center at the
Arcata-Eureka Airport in McKinleyville, Humboldt County.
   This measure would memorialize Congress to oppose the closure of
the air flight-service center at the Arcata-Eureka Airport, in
Humboldt County, California, and to direct the Federal Aviation
Administration to act accordingly.




   WHEREAS, The Federal Aviation Administration is scheduled to close
the flight-service station at the Arcata-Eureka Airport in
McKinleyville, Humboldt County; and
   WHEREAS, All onsite personnel will be eliminated and the airport
will be operated as an automatic flight-service center, served by an
air traffic controller located in Oakland, California; and
   WHEREAS, The FAA plan eliminates all air traffic personnel between
McMinville, Oregon, and Oakland, California, and this same
geographic discrepancy on the east coast of the United States would
be similar to eliminating all air traffic controllers between
Portland, Maine and Richmond, Virginia; and
   WHEREAS, The Arcata-Eureka Airport flight-service center has
provided daily services for commercial, corporate, and general
aviation traffic for over four decades; and
   WHEREAS, It serves the region's smaller airports, which include
Brookings, Oregon, and Crescent City, Fortuna, Shelter Cove, Willow
Creek, and Hoopa, California, and averages 150 to 300 contacts and a
traffic flow of 40 to 100 airplanes daily; and
   WHEREAS, There are unique weather and geographic factors to be
considered such as that the airport was constructed overlooking the
Pacific Ocean by the Navy during World War II to test military
defogging equipment, as it is believed to be the foggiest stretch of
coastline in the western United States; and
   WHEREAS, On average, Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) must be filed
265 days per year due to fog and inclement weather, and station
personnel must utilize a wide array of tools to ensure air traffic
safety, including radio frequencies, the telephone, a direction
finder, and on-the-ground view of the runway; and
   WHEREAS, The closure of the station would put the safety of air
travelers on the north coast of California at risk, air traffic will
experience greater delays and flight cancellations, and local efforts
to improve the regional economy through tourism and commerce will be
adversely affected; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate and Assembly of the State of California,
jointly, That the California Legislature memorializes Congress to
oppose the closure of the air flight-service center at the
Arcata-Eureka Airport, in Humboldt County, California, and to direct
the Federal Aviation Administration to act accordingly; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States,
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United States,
and to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.