Jay Obernolte: “Aviation fuel is one of the few fuels remaining that still contains lead. It has been universally acknowledged that lead…”

“Aviation fuel is one of the few fuels remaining that still contains lead. It has been universally acknowledged that lead is not good for our environment. It is not good for our children. It is not good for human ingestion. It causes serious health problems. The industry has conducted a decades-long study and process to try to develop an alternative fuel that takes the lead out of aviation fuel. However, this has become a very, very troublesome and difficult task because the only suitable solutions would have to be suitable for all types of aviation engines and some aircraft feature engines that are higher horsepower and higher compression that depend on the presence of lead to be able to operate safely. Finally, we are approaching a consensus standard on an unleaded replacement for aviation gas; however, there is a problem that has arisen. Airports accept grant funds from the Airport Improvement Program, and in return, they give the FAA grant assurances that they will keep their airports open. In 2018, when FAA was reauthorized, it was agreed by this body that an airport should not be able to withdraw the sale of fuel completely and that that would be a violation of its FAA AIP grant assurances. I think that that is still true, and I hope we all still feel that way. However, most airports only have a single infrastructure for the delivery of avgas.…”