[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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