FAA OE/AAA Process

Developers intending to construct structures in excess of 200 feet above ground level (AGL) or in excess of established notification standards (lower closer to airports) must submit a notice to the FAA at least 45 days prior to the start of construction.

Prior to the FAA’s establishment of the OE/AAA automation system, notice was provided to the FAA by submitting FAA Form 7460-1, Notice of Proposed Construction or Alteration. Use of this form has largely been replaced by an online submittal process through the FAA OE/AAA website. The FAA and industry continue to refer to these filings as “7460-1” filings.

7460-1 filings require very basic information about the project to be studied. Specifically, the FAA requires that the structure’s location, ground elevation, and height be submitted.

Since the accuracy of this information will automatically be questioned by the FAA, Capitol Airspace often recommends that developers obtain an FAA 1A survey prior to this submittal (contact us to learn more about this survey). This stamped and signed survey will ensure that the FAA does not apply margin-of-error penalties to the final, approved height of the structure.

Currently, 7460-1 filings must be submitted for each point on a project (with few exceptions). For wind and transmission line projects, individual points must be submitted for each wind turbine, MET tower, and transmission line tower. For building projects, usually the outside footprint of the building is filed. Once the FAA received and verifies these filings, an aeronautical study number (ASN) is issued for each filed point. This begins the aeronautical study process.

Capitol Airspace can file for you, track the status, work with the FAA, and keep you updated throughout the life of the project. Since we are already familiar with the projects that we file on our client’s behalf, we are ready to immediately address any potential problems that arise.

Your project will be assigned to a specialist within the FAA Obstruction Evaluation Group (OEG). There are usually ten different offices internal to the FAA and the Department of Defense (DoD) that respond to the OEG, including: Office of Airports, Obstacle Impact Team, Flight Standards, Technical Operations, Frequency Management, Air Force, Navy, Army, the Department of Defense (DoD) Siting Clearinghouse, Department of Homeland Security.

Technicians in each of these offices will review each point to ensure that the proposed project does not interfere with their areas of responsibility. If you’ve had Capitol Airspace complete an analytical airspace study, you’ll know what to expect.

Once each of these offices has assessed the project, they submit a response of either “objection” or “no-objection” via FAA’s internal OE/AAA system. During this portion of the review, the case is considered to be in “work status” by the FAA. Review by all respondents often takes between 45 and 90 days.

After all of the responses have been logged in the system, the case is moved from “work-in-progress status” to “evaluation status.” At this point, the OEG specialist will assess all responses and determine whether structure exceeds obstruction standards established under 14 CFR Part 77. Proposed structures that exceed these surfaces are deemed to be “obstructions” and warrant further scrutiny by the FAA to determine if they would constitute a hazard to air navigation.

Also, structures that are deemed to be an obstruction are generally issued a Notice of Preliminary Findings (NPF) (previously referred to as a Notice of Presumed Hazard (NPH)).