Environmental permits for a new runway project primarily ensure compliance with environmental laws.

• A. They guarantee on-time project completion
• B. They ensure compliance with environmental laws
• C. They determine airline routes
• D. They replace regulatory oversight

Answer: (B)

Environmental permits focus on controlling how a project affects the environment by requiring analysis, mitigation, and ongoing monitoring to stay within legal limits. They are issued to authorize activities only if the project meets environmental requirements set by law, often involving impact assessments, conditions to reduce harm, and ongoing reporting and compliance checks. This means the primary purpose is to ensure the project complies with environmental laws and protection standards, not to manage schedule, routing, or take the place of other regulatory oversight.

For a new runway, the permit process would address potential impacts like noise, air emissions, water runoff, and effects on wildlife or habitats, and it would require measures to mitigate those impacts and proof of ongoing compliance. The other options don’t fit because permits aren’t guarantees of on-time completion, they don’t determine airline routes, and they don’t replace regulatory oversight—they are part of the regulatory framework that enforces environmental laws.