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By Robert L. Candiotti
The Clark County Public Airport (which was renamed McCarran Field for Nevada U.S. Senator
Pat McCarran, who authored the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 and helped develop aviation nationwide) began operations
in 1948. At that time, there were less than 50,000 people living in all of Clark County, Nevada.
By 2000,
the population of Clark County had grown 3,000 per cent to 1.5 million residents.
Clark County Department
of Aviation - owner and operator of McCarran International Airport - has guided the airport through many decades of ceaseless
growth.
Not only has the population of Clark County grown dramatically, but inbound tourism of all types
has increased remarkably. Between 1990 and 2005, the number of visitors to the Las Vegas area increased 84 per cent from 21
million to 38.5 million. And nearly half of the inbound travelers arrived through McCarran International Airport.
At a recent Public Scoping Meeting for the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport Environmental Impact
Statement, it was said, in 2005, McCarran International Airport was the 5th busiest airport in North America in terms of total
passengers.
Between now and 2025, the number of passengers is expected to grow by approximately 70 per cent to nearly 72 million.
In a Federal Aviation Administration publication titled "Capacity Needs in the National
Airspace System 2007-2025," it is clearly indicated that - though McCarran continues to grow and improve - at a certain
point in the future (perhaps 2015) it will not be able to satisfactorily absorb the growth of air travelers in Southern Nevada.
McCarran will eventually not have capacity to meet passenger demand.
This coming condition has been known
for many years.
In the 1990s, the Clark County Department of Aviation began the work to get land for a large,
supplemental airport that can handle the largest and most modern international aircraft.
After
being passed by the U.S. Congress, on October 27, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the approval of federal land
to be transferred for a new airport in Ivanpah Valley, 30 miles south of Las Vegas, between Jean and Primm.
The new airport is currently scheduled to be done in 2018.
Now, the entire project is being
assessed in a full Environmental Impact Statement. The EIS contractor is Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., having responsibility
to provide technical expertise and administrative assistance to the FAA and BLM. As stated at the Public Scoping Meeting,
the Draft EIS is expected to be available for public review in late 2008, and the Final EIS is expected to be available in
the fall of 2009.
Clark County authorities say Ivanpah Airport will handle primarily international,
long-haul domestic and charter aircraft operations. In Clark County's Phase 1, Ivanpah Airport will grow to handle between
18 and 20 million passengers annually by 2025.
The completed transfer of land consists of 6,500 acres. In
addition, if the new airport at Ivanpah Valley is ultimately built, "BLM will transfer an additional 16,903 acres to
Clark County to serve as a noise compatability area for the new airport," according to the Public Scoping Meeting.
The Environmental Impact Statement process will undergo several more steps. The conclusion of
the EIS, known as the Record of Decision (ROD), is currently scheduled for the last quarter of 2010.
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