The public can view and comment on the Arizona Special Use Regional Airspace Optimization Draft Environmental Impact Statement online at arizonaregionalairspaceeis.comwith comments accepted through October 9.

The Air Force has scheduled a series of public hearings on the draft environmental statement from late August through mid-September in Ajo, Bagdad, Morenci and Superior, as well as four communities in New Mexico, with virtual hearings scheduled for September 4 and 5. A hearing schedule is also available at arizonaregionalairspaceeis.com.

The draft statement is similar to an initial proposal presented in 2022 and discussed at a series of public scoping meetings.

The Air Force says it received more than 6,600 comments from the public, state and local governments, tribes, aviation groups and nonprofits, including many that cited safety, health and environmental concerns.

The service says the changes to the special airspaces known as Military Operations Areas, or MOAs, are needed to optimize training conducted by units at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Morris Air National Guard Base at Tucson International Airport and Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix .

The proposed changes would affect the adjacent Sells, Ruby and Fuzzy MOAs, which stretch southwest of Tucson from Interstate 19 to near Ajo; Tombstone MOA, which covers the southeast corner of Arizona and the southwest corner of New Mexico; the adjacent Baghdad and Gladden MOAs northwest of Phoenix; and the Outlaw, Jackal, Morenci, and Reserve MOAs, which together span a vast stretch of east-central Arizona into New Mexico.

In its preferred option, the Air Force has proposed adjusting the “published times of use” for all affected MOAs, in part to eliminate some of the temporary “Notices to Airmen” that the Air Force now routinely issues for night training.

Among other changes to the Air Force’s proposed options, the plan would:

• Allow supersonic airspeeds down to 5,000 feet above ground level in the Tombstone, Outlaw, Jackal, Morenci, and Reserve MOAs, from 30,000 feet above sea level now;
• Extend the northern boundary of the Tombstone MOA, which extends across the southeast corner of Arizona and the southwest corner of New Mexico to the Mexican border, adding approximately 750 square miles;
• Lower the floor of the Tombstone MOA to 100 feet above ground level and lower the floors of the Outlaw, Jackal, Bagdad, and Gladden MOA to 500 feet;
• Allow the use of chaff – metallized filaments launched from aircraft to confuse enemy radars – for the first time in the Tombstone MOA;
• Lower the minimum altitude to release flares, fired to defeat heat-seeking missiles, in the Tombstone, Outlaw, Jackal, Baghdad, and Gladden MOAs to 2,000 feet.

The plan has drawn opposition from residents in the affected areas who cite potential health and safety impacts from low-level flights, supersonic flight, the environmental effects of training including pollution from the release of chaff, and the risk of wildfires from flames, even though the Air Force says they burn out far before it reaches the ground.

In May The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Air Force under the Freedom of Information Act for failing to release public records about the proposed expansion of military flights, noting that the proposal would affect millions of acres of the Gila Wilderness and other public lands in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.

Peaceful Chiricahua skiesa nonprofit group with members in Arizona and New Mexico, is concerned about the impact on the Chiricahua Mountains and Chiricahua National Monument area in Cochise County – partially covered by the Tombstone MOA.

The group said the latest plan calls for a big increase in total flights, including an increase from 3,450 to 8,000 average annual excursions, or round-trip flights, in the Tombstone MOA alone.

Overall, the Air Force is proposing to increase its annual flight training trips by about 37%, from a current average of about 38,000 across all MOAs to a proposed 52,000 annually.

“This DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) will be a great disappointment to the many concerned citizens who previously submitted comments opposing the expansion of high-decibel, low-level training flights over residential, commercial and wilderness areas in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico,” said Karen Fasimpaur, a volunteer with Peaceful Chiricahua Skies.

Fasimpaur also faulted the Air Force for not scheduling one of the upcoming public hearings in Cochise County, despite the potential ramifications there.

Peaceful Chiricahua Skies and another group, Peaceful Gila Skies, also filed petitions in opposition to the Air Force plan, along with a small airfield northwest of Phoenix.

The Air Force statement found no significant environmental or socioeconomic impacts from its proposed action.

The Air Force rejected two alternative proposals that mostly mirrored the preferred plan, except that one would have kept the current Tombstone MOA without expansion and the other would have allowed supersonic flight down to only 10,000 feet.