Another Willow Grove Naval Air Station Update

There is general agreement that no one wants to see the runways at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station used to commercial or cargo flights. In 2011 the Navy and the Marines will be leaving. What will then be known as the Joint Interagency Installation is slated to become a homeland security base, available for military and emergency services use.

In May, 2008 Congress pass a bill to prevent the base being used for commercial and cargo reasons. According to the Associated Press (via Navy Times, h/t Democratic Underground)

Reps. Allyson Schwartz and Patrick Murphy introduced an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act to outlaw such use. The amendment, which passed the House on Thursday night, says the airfield can only be used to aid the mission of the installation.

As an additional safeguard the state legislature can pass a similar bill. Legislation introduced last year did not make it through the process. This year State Representative Rick Taylor (D-151) introduced a bill, co-sponsored by, among others, Tom Murt (D-152). HB 111 which provides even stricter guidelines on who may use the base, and ensuring that private businesses pay local taxes. Stewart Greenleaf has introduced a similar bill in the state senate.

Taylor’s office distributed his remarks on the legislation. Here is an excerpt:

Some are quick to point out there is already a federal law that is clear on the issue - no flights outside the mission. In a briefing legislators had a few weeks ago we learned the law is already working. The program manager of the Horsham JII was approached by a discount airline to use the space with $100M in potential revenue. It was immediately rejected because their proposal was outside the mission and the federal law clearly bans the use of commercial flights.

However, any legislation can be repealed. That is why we need to have the belt and suspenders approach to ensure that if the federal legislation is repealed it will not be at the state level.

Furthermore, our legislation speaks to appropriateness of who is an allowable tenant or associated user. Let me be clear: if you are not making the U.S. a safer place to live you've got no business setting up shop at the Horsham JII. And this legislation spells that out. I understand this base could be a real cash cow, even if we could make a ton of cash we should not let just anybody in. It's all about quality of life, quality of life and quality of life.

There is some disagreement over the specifics. As noted in “Officials join efforts to limit use of airspace,” by Rich Pietras, in the 3/21 Intelligencer:

If anything speaks of the potential fight ahead, it may be the news of one prospective tenant for the base, Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Although Teva, which is the largest generic drug company in the world and is located in Montgomery Township, has only engaged in preliminary discussions over moving onto the base, Greenleaf, as well as Horsham officials, do not believe it fits the base's mission or model.

Rendell disagrees.

Bradley Vasoli in the 3/25 Bulletin (“Greenleaf, Taylor bills to prevent civilian flights) notes another point of contention in the region:

They introduced a similar measure last session, but it did not pass. Some of the opposition came from Delaware County lawmakers who view Willow Grove as an airfield that could lift some air-traffic pressure off of Philadelphia International Airport, much of which currently flies over Delaware County.

The redirection of flights bound for Philadelphia International over Delaware County was intended to reduce delays, but it has increased aircraft noise for the county’s residents, and adding runways to the airport currently is on the drawing board. This would further increase the airport’s capacity beyond current air-traffic levels.

This has Delaware County legislators concerned.

The wording of legislation is always important but in this case it is especially so. The phrases “should be related to the mission of …” and “must meet the primary mission of ...” can make the difference between a company or organization being allowed to use the runways or not.

This is an interesting situation and definitely one worth watching.