FAA complaint
Part 13 Investigation
On December 22, 2021, Mark McClardy, the FAA Director of Airports Division for the Western Pacific Region, sent the following Notice of Informal Investigation Under 14 CFR 13.1.
The letter included a series of eight attachments which are included below.
- December 13, 2021, Aviation Industry Group complaint letter
- October 18, 2021, E16 complaint letter (Marshall, Neal, and other E16 pilots)
- October 8, 2021, RHV complaint letter (Gyger, Watson, McDonald)
- February 19, 2021, Letter to the Board of Supervisors
- March 10, 2020, Runway Safety Action Team action plan
- February 28, 2020, Letter to the Board of Supervisors President Joe Simitian
- October 18, 2019, Letter to the Board of Supervisors President Joe Simitian
- August 27, 2019, RHV site visit letter
The County has responded to most of the concerns identified by the FAA in their Dec. 22, 2021 letter through additional correspondence that was not included in the attachments to the FAA Part 13 notification letter. For clarity, the additional FAA correspondence, County response, and other referenced documents are included below.
- October 1, 2021, County response to FAA letters of September 14, 2021
- September 14, 2021, FAA letter to County regarding 1/14/21 and 2/19/21 letters
- February 19, 2021, FAA letter to County regarding RHV conditions
- January 14, 2021, FAA letter to County regarding property release requests
- October 9, 2020, Letter to FAA regarding status of County's property release request
- November 8, 2019, Letter to FAA with County's response to FAA letter of 10/18/2019
- September 19, 2019, Letter to FAA for property release
On January 4, 2022, Mark McClardy with the FAA sent the following letter with a request for additional information.
On January 11, 2022, the County submitted the following response to the FAA in regard to their letters of December 22, 2021, and January 4, 2022.
On January 26, 2022, Victor Globa from the FAA requested the peer review comments from the Zahran Study. On January 27, 2022, they were provided.
On January 27, 2022, the County sent the attached supplement to its January 11, 2022 letter to Mark McClardy of the FAA.
On January 31, 2022, Natalia Ospina from the Natural Resources Defense Council submitted the attached letter to Mark McClardy of the FAA.
On February 3, 2022, Brian Armstrong of the FAA sent the following letter to complainants listed on the Part 13 investigation offering them the opportunity to provide a written rebuttal to the County's response letters of January 11 and January 27, 2022.
On February 22, 2022, Brian Armstrong of the FAA sent the following letter requesting additional information from the County.
On February 24, 2022, the County submitted a letter to the FAA requesting additional time to respond to the February 22, 2022 request.
On March 1, 2022, Brian Armstong of the FAA responding to the February 28th letter granting the County additional time.
On March 9, 2022 several key members of the FAA and DOT met with the County Executive team to discuss the Part 13 investigation and fueling at RHV and E16. Subsequent to that meeting, FAA Deputy Administrator Bradley Mims sent this letter to the County
On May 12, 2022 construction plans were submitted to the San Francisco Airport District Office for review. These plans are intended to address the airfield signage concerns previously identified by the FAA in a number of correspondences.
On June 16, 2022 the FAA responded to the construction plans with a series of recommendations and requests.
On September 21, 2022 the County responded to the FAA's recommendations on the proposed construction plans for the RHV signage project
On September 21, 2022 the County notified the FAA that the County will be taking over proprietary exclusive right to fuel avgas at RHV.
On November 16, 2022, the County submitted draft RIM Mitigation and taxiway identification plans to the ADO office for review and input prior to finalizing the construction plans.
On February 7, 2023, the FAA and the County jointly agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the Part 13 Investigation.
On February 16, 2023, the FAA submitted their comments on the RHV Lights and Signage project, in response to our November 17, 2022 letter to them.
On February 17, 2023, Mark McClardy sent the attached email as follow up to the February 16, 2023 letter.
On August 10, 2023, the First Amendment to Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Aviation Administration and the County of Santa Clara regarding Part 13 Investigation was signed.
Part 16 Complaint
On October 14, 2022 the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) filed a formal Part-16 complaint against the County for the County's decision to stop selling 100LL avgas.
On October 27, 2022 the County submitted a letter to the FAA requesting that the FAA dismiss the Part 16 complaint prior to docketing.
On November 2, 2022, AOPA submitted a letter to the Docket Clerk in response to the County's Oct. 27 letter.
On November 3, 2022 the Office of Chief Counsel with the FAA sent a Notice of Docketing to County of Santa Clara and AOPA.
On November 14, 2022, the County submitted a Motion for an Extension of Time to Response to the Complaint filed by AOPA.
On November 17, 2022, AOPA field an opposition to the Motion for extension of time.
On November 21, 2022, the FAA granted the County a 30-day extension to file its response to Complaint.
On December 29, 2022, the County submitted the following two documents in response to the Part 16 Complaint
- Motion to Dismiss and Motion for Summary Judgement
- Declaration of Harry Freitas in support of the Motion to Dismiss and Motion for Summary Judgement
On January 9, 2023, AOPA submitted "Complainant's Answer In Opposition To Respondent County of Santa Clara's Consoidated Motion to Dismiss and Motion for Summary Judgment"
On February 17, 2023, the County requested additional time to respond.
On February 21, 2023, AOPA submitted their opposition to the County's request.
On February 23, 2023, the FAA provided additional time for the County to respond.
In March 28, 2023, the County responded to the Part 16 complaint
On April 7, 2023, AOPA responded to the County's Answers and Statement of Facts with their reply.
On April 17, 2023, the County responded to AOPA's reply.
On September 6, 2023, the FAA provided additional time for a final determination until Nov. 6. 2023.