ShhAir Glossary

Here are some terms that you might find on our website:

HATS: Hanscom Area Towns Committee: a "Growth and Development Policy Committee" formed by the fours towns contiguous to Hanscom (Bedford, Concord, Lexington and Lincoln). 16 members. Each town's delegation consists of one Selectman, one Planning Board member, one Conservation Commission/Natural Resources representative and one member at large. Only the Selectmen are voting members. All votes must be unanimous.
HFAC: Hanscom Field Advisory Committee. Established by the legislature to serve in an advisory capacity to Massport on matters concerning Hanscom Field. Comprised of representatives from the towns of Acton, Bedford, Carlisle, Concord, Lexington and Lincoln as well as the aviation community and the Air Force.
ShhAir: Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area's Irreplaceable Resources. Non-profit citizens grassroots group with some 1800 members, mostly from the towns of Bedford, Concord, Lexington and Lincoln.
SOH: Save Our Heritage . Citizens group concerned with environmental and historic protection, based in Concord.
HART: Hanscom Area Resource Team. Airport-related businesses and airport users groups.
AOPA: Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. A national aviation lobbying group with 340,000 members. Currently challenging the Noise Rules (see below).
Master Plan: Hanscom Airport Master Plan and Environmental Impact Statement adopted by Massport in 1978 "as its official policy statement regarding the future development and management of Hanscom Field."
Noise Rules: In General Rules and Regulations for Hanscom, in force since 1980. Levy nightime landing fees on planes taking off or landing between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Ad Hoc Committee: A committee established by Peter Blute, former Executive Director of Massport, to develop an agreement on aviation uses of Hanscom. Members were all the stakeholders at Hanscom: ShhAir, HATS, HFAC, Minuteman National Historic Park, HART, and State Legislatures.
MOU: Memorandum of Understanding, which was developed by the Ad Hoc Committee (see below) but rejected by Massport.
EOEA: Executive Office Environmental Affairs. Massachusetts State environmental agency.
GEIR: Generic Environmental Impact Report. An environmental planning analysis which the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs periodically requires of state agencies.
MEPA: Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. State law relevant for environmental reviews. The agency that administers this law is the MEPA Office, sometimes referred to informally as "MEPA."
Noise Work Group: The 1997 GEIR Certificate directed Massport to establish a Noise Work group with the communities "to determine and agree upon 1.) an approrpiate baseline to use as a starting point for measuring Hanscom Field's noise impacts on the surrounding communities and on the value of information derived using that baseline, 2) the metric, or set of metrics, that best describe not only absolute noise values but also the perceived impact of noise events, 3) responsibility, schedule, and nature of mitigation for agreed upon levels of increases in noise impacts, and 4) the content and form the noise discussion that Massport will include in the 2000 GEIR Update." The Noise Work Group has just completed their work.
GA Airport: General Aviation airport "serving corporate aviation, flight schools, air charter operations, light cargo and private pilots flying for business or recreation." (Definition from Massport's Hanscom web page before Shuttle America started flying.)