[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 202 (Thursday, October 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54247-54248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-26662]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


FAA Approval of the Noise Compatibility Program for Chico 
Municipal Airport (CIC), Chico, 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 City of Chico, 
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 
April 23, 1993 the FAA determined that the Noise Exposure Maps 
submitted by City of Chico under Part 150 were in compliance with 
applicable requirements. On September 18, 1996, the Associate 
Administrator for Airports approved the Noise Compatibility Program.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the Noise 
Compatibility Program is September 18, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John L. Pfeifer, Manager, Airports 
District Office, SFO-600, 831 Mitten Road, Burlingame, California 
94010, Telephone: (415) 876-2778. 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 Chico 
Municipal Airport, effective September 18, 1996. 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;

[[Page 54248]]

    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, Section 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 City of Chico, California submitted to the FAA on December 16, 
1992 the Noise Exposure Maps, descriptions, and other documentation 
produced during the Noise Compatibility Planning study conducted from 
August 1991 through March 1995. The Noise Exposure Maps were determined 
by the FAA to be in compliance with applicable requirements on April 
23, 1993. Notice of this determination was published in the Federal 
Register on May 3, 1993. The study contains a proposed Notice 
Compatibility Program comprised of actions designed for phased 
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions form 
the date of study completion and beyond the year 1996. 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 March 22, 1996 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 15 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 Associate Administrator for Airports effective 
September 18, 1996. Outright approval was granted for 13 of the 
specific program elements: Retention of existing altitude requirements; 
Existing posted directional signs; Existing planning and zoning 
consideration of noise; Existing requirement of avigation easements; 
Periodic noise exposure map updates; Overflight protection zone; 
Easement dedication; Notice of airport noise; Requirement for 
acoustical studies within the areas of CNEL 55dB and above; 
Preferential approach and departure flight tracks; Establish 
interagency coordination procedures/maintain public information; Post 
informational signs at takeoff end of runways; Noise abatement 
advisories; Flight training/compliance; Increased pilot awareness. One 
(1) element was disapproved for the purposes of Part 150 upon the 
finding that it is more properly categorized under Part 77. The other 
measure, a suggested modification to the VOR approach to Runway 31R was 
disapproved pending submission of adequate information to make the 
informed analysis concerning the effectiveness of this measure.
    These determinations are set forth in detail in a Record of 
Approval endorsed by the Associate Administrator for Airports on 
September 18, 1996. 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 Chico Municipal Airport, Chico, California.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California on October 4, 1996.
Herman C. Bliss,
Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 96-26662 Filed 10-16-96; 8:45 am]
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