Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 19
CHAPTER 94
Relative to military airspace.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 17, 1993.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 19, Rogers.
Military airspace.
This measure would express the declaration of the Legislature that it is desirable that the aeronautical uses of the restricted airspace that surrounds Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, be specifically protected.
Digest Key
WHEREAS, Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, have been preeminent in the development and testing of new and vital military aviation technology and weapons systems for the past five decades; and
WHEREAS, The airspace (including Restricted Airspace numbers 2502, 2505, 2506, 2508, 2509, 2515, and 2524) surrounding Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, above hundreds of thousands of sparsely populated acres of desert and mountainous terrain, is indispensable as a testing area for new and vital military technology and weapons systems, offering the unique and necessary variety of terrain ranging from flat dry lake beds to sheer mountains; and
WHEREAS, Leading-edge military aviation technology, research, and testing focus on low-level flight at night and in all weather conditions to enhance the survivability of aircrews; the diversity of the terrain contained within the airspace surrounding Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, is therefore indispensable and irreplaceable; and
WHEREAS, The loss of low-level flying capability, not only by Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, but by military units throughout southern California, will result in aircrews having no training in the environment in which they will be required to fly, and will further result in weapons systems that are untested in a realistic environment; and
WHEREAS, Low-level flying is conducted over remote, sparsely populated areas where these operations, especially at night, result in minimal disturbance to the public; and
WHEREAS, Major commercial aircraft manufacturers, all of whom have a significant impact on the local, state, and national economies, rely on the use of some of these same areas to test their new products; and
WHEREAS, There have been, and continue to be, debates about the continued use of this vital airspace owing to proposed restrictive legislation, expansion of cities and towns, and other factors; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California declares that it is desirable that the aeronautical uses of the restricted airspace that surrounds Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, be specifically protected in order to secure that major aviation development and testing area and in order to maintain the substantial economic benefits of military and commercial operations within that vital area; and be it further
Resolved, That nothing in this resolution should be interpreted as opposition to the California Desert Protection Act or other similar legislation currently being considered by Congress, which proposes to add desert and mountain lands to the National Park System with all the protections afforded those lands as provided by federal law; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the commanding officer of Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin.