[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 4 (Thursday, January 6, 1994)]
[Notices]
[Pages 793-794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-247]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: January 6, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Approval of Noise Compatibility Program; Stockton Metropolitan
Airport, Stockton, CA
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its
findings on the Noise Compatibility Program submitted by the county of
San Joaquin, Stockton, California, under the provisions of title I of
the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 (Public Law 96-193)
and 14 CFR part 150. These findings are made in recognition of the
description of Federal and nonfederal responsibilities in Senate Report
No. 96-52 (1980). On May 10, 1991, the FAA determined that the Noise
Exposure Maps submitted by under part 150 were in compliance with
applicable requirements. On November 22, 1993, the Acting Assistant
Administrator for Airports approved the Noise Compatibility Program for
Metropolitan Oakland International Airport. Twenty-eight (28) of the
proposed measures were approved, and two (2) measures were disapproved.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The effective date of FAA's approval of the Stockton
Metropolitan Airport Noise Compatibility Program is November 22, 1993.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. John L. Pfeifer, Manager, Airports District Office, SFO-600,
Federal Aviation Administration, San Francisco Airports District
Office, 831 Mitten Road, Burlingame, California 94010-1303, Telephone:
(415) 876-2805. Documents reflecting this FAA action may be reviewed at
this same location.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces that the FAA has given
its overall approval to the Noise Compatibility Program for Stockton
Metropolitan Airport, effective November 22, 1993.
Under section 104(a) of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act
of 1979 (hereinafter referred to as ``the Act''), an airport operator
who has previously submitted a Noise Exposure Map, may submit to the
FAA a Noise Compatibility Program which sets forth the measures taken
or proposed by the airport operator for the reduction of existing
noncompatible land uses and prevention of additional noncompatible land
uses within the area covered by the Noise Exposure Maps. The Act
requires such programs to be developed in consultation with interested
and affected parties including local communities, government agencies,
airport users, and FAA personnel.
Each airport Noise Compatibility Program developed in accordance
with Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) part 150 is a local program,
not a Federal program. The FAA does not substitute its judgment for
that of the airport proprietor with respect to which measures should be
recommended for action. The FAA's approval or disapproval of FAR part
150 program recommendations is measured according to the standards
expressed in Part 150 and the Act and is limited to the following
determinations:
a. The Noise Compatibility Program was developed in accordance with
the provisions and procedures of FAR part 150;
b. Program measures are reasonably consistent with achieving the
goals of reducing existing noncompatible land uses around the airport
and preventing the introduction of additional noncompatible land uses;
c. Program measures would not create an undue burden on interstate
or foreign commerce, unjustly discriminate against types or classes of
aeronautical uses, violate the terms of airport grant agreements, or
intrude into areas preempted by the Federal Government; and
d. Program measures relating to the use of flight procedures can be
implemented within the period covered by the program without derogating
safety, adversely affecting the efficient use and management of the
navigable airspace and air traffic control systems, or adversely
affecting other powers and responsibilities of the Administrator
prescribed by law.
Specific limitations with respect to the FAA's approval of an
airport Noise Compatibility Program are delineated in FAR part 150,
Sec. 150.5. Approval is not a determination concerning the
acceptability of land uses under Federal, state, or local law. Approval
does not by itself constitute an FAA implementing action. A request for
Federal action or approval to implement specific noise compatibility
measures may be required, and an FAA decision on the request may
require an environmental assessment of the proposed action. Approval
does not constitute a commitment by the FAA to financially assist in
the implementation of the program nor a determination that all measures
covered by the program are eligible for grant-in-aid funding from the
FAA. Where federal funding is sought, requests for project grants must
be submitted to the FAA Airports District Office in Burlingame,
California.
The county of San Joaquin submitted to the FAA on February 28,
1992, the Noise Exposure Maps, descriptions, and other documentation
produced during the Noise Compatibility Planning study conducted from
May 1988, through October 1990. The Stockton Metropolitan Airport Noise
Exposure Maps were determined by the FAA to be in compliance with
applicable requirements on May 10, 1991. Notice of this determination
was published in the Federal Register on May 28, 1991.
The Stockton Metropolitan Airport study contains a proposed Noise
Compatibility Program comprised of actions designed for phased
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions from
the date of study completion to, or beyond, the year 2000. It was
requested that the FAA evaluate and approve this material as a Noise
Compatibility Program as described in section 104(b) of the Act. The
FAA began its review of the program on May 26, 1993 and was required by
a provision of the Act to approve or disapprove the program within 180
days (other than the use of new flight procedures for noise control).
Failure to approve or disapprove such program within the 180-day period
shall be deemed to be an approval of such program.
The submitted program contained thirty (30) proposed actions for
noise mitigation on and off the airport. The FAA completed its review
and determined that the procedural and substantive requirements of the
Act and FAR part 150 have been satisfied. The overall program,
therefore, was approved by the Acting Assistant Administrator for
Airports effective November 22, 1993.
Outright approval was granted for twenty-eight (28) of the specific
program elements. Two (2) elements were disapproved. The approved
elements included existing preferential runway usage, existing flight
procedures, existing aircraft category procedures, existing pattern
procedures, practice circling maneuvers, education of airport users,
amend county development title, residential/nonresidential noise
sensitive land use exclusion area, sound attenuation in new
construction, acoustical studies, real estate disclosure, residential
soundproofing program, noise abatement departures, informational signs,
noise abatement advisories, noise abatement hotlines, interagency
coordination procedures, review committee, amend airport land use plan,
and Weston Ranch easement area.
These determinations are set forth in detail in a Record of
Approval endorsed by the Acting Assistant Administrator for Airports on
November 22, 1993. The Record of Approval, as well as other evaluation
materials and the documents comprising the submittal, are available for
review at the FAA office listed above and at the administrative offices
of the Santa Clara County.
Issued in Hawthorne, California, on December 15, 1993.
Herman C. Bliss,
Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 94-247 Filed 1-5-94; 8:45 am]
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