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Welcome to the North Texas Optimization of Airspace and Procedures in the Metroplex (OAPM) Environmental Assessment Website

The FAA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the North Texas OAPM Project in accordance with FAA Order 1050.1E. The FAA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact and Record of Decision (FONSI-ROD) for the project on July 5, 2014.

The EA and FONSI-ROD as well as other related documents can be accessed using the links to the left.

The Project

The objective of the OAPM project in the North Texas Metroplex is to optimize aircraft arrival and departure procedures at 11 area airports, including the two largest commercial service airports, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL). For purposes of the OAPM program, a “metroplex” is a major metropolitan area with multiple airports where air traffic congestion, airport activity in close geographical proximity and other limiting factors combine to reduce efficient aircraft movement. The project proposal includes changing aircraft flight paths and altitudes over some areas of the North Texas Metroplex, but it would not require ground disturbance of any kind, such as construction, nor would it increase the overall number of aircraft operations within North Texas airspace.

To evaluate potential environmental impacts of the North Texas OAPM project, the FAA has established a 60 nautical mile radius project study area for the EA, centered on DFW Airport, which is the midpoint of the locally controlled airspace. The EA will include an evaluation of potential environmental impacts of proposed changes to current aircraft routing that would occur below 10,000 feet above ground level (AGL) in the study area.

North Texas study area

The study area includes all or parts of the following 29 counties, 26 of which are in Texas and three (3) of which are in Oklahoma: Bosque, Collin, Cooke, Denton, Dallas, Ellis, Erath, Fannin, Grayson, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Montague, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rains, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, Van Zandt, Wise, Bryan (OK), Love (OK), and Marshall (OK).