[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51109-51110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17061]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Approval of Noise Compatibility Program for Pago Pago 
International Airport, American Samoa

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 Department 
of Port Administration of the American Samoa Government under the 
provisions of Title I of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act, 
as amended, (Pub. L. 96-193) (hereinafter referred to as ``the Act'') 
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 January 28, 2005, the FAA determined that the 
noise exposure maps submitted by Department of Port Administration of 
the American Samoa Government under Part 150 were in compliance with 
applicable requirements.

DATES: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the Noise 
Compatibility Program for Pago Pago International Airport is July 21, 
2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gordon Wong, Project Manager, Honolulu 
Airports District Office, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, 
Federal Aviation Administration, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, 7-128, 
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850. Telephone: 808/541-3565. 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 Pago Pago 
International Airport, effective July 21, 2005. Under section 104(a) of 
the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979, as amended (herein 
after referred to as the ``Act'') [recodified as 49 U.S.C. 47504], 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 non-compatible land uses and prevention of additional non-
compatible 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 non-compatible land uses around the airport 
and preventing the introduction of additional non-compatible 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 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 under the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982, as amended. 
Where federal funding is sought, requests for project grants must be 
submitted to the FAA Airports District Office in Honolulu, Hawaii.
    The Department of Port Administration of the American Samoa 
Government submitted to the FAA on December 9, 2004, the Noise Exposure 
Maps, descriptions, and other documentation produced during the noise 
compatibility planning study conducted from June 2, 2003 through 
December 9, 2004. The Pago Pago International Airport Noise Exposure 
Maps were determined by FAA to be in compliance with applicable 
requirements on January 28, 2005. Notice of this determination was 
published in the Federal Register on February 8, 2005.
    The Pago Pago International Airport study contains a proposed noise 
compatibility program comprised of actions designed for phased 
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions from 
(December 9, 2004 to beyond the year 2010). It was requested that the 
FAA evaluate and approve this material as a Noise Compatibility Program 
as described in 49 U.S.C. Sec.  47504 (formerly Section 104(b) of the 
Act). The FAA began its review of the program on January 28, 2005 and 
was required by a provision of the Act to approve or disapprove the 
program within 180 days (other than the use of new or modified 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 ten (10) proposed actions for noise 
abatement, land use management and program management 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 was approved, by the Associate 
Administrator for Airports, effective July 21, 2005.

[[Page 51110]]

    Outright approval was granted for all ten (10) specific program 
measures. The approved measures included such items as: increase the 
use of Runway 8 for propeller arrivals; Amend the Draft Tualuata County 
Land Use Plan by adopting the Part 150 NCP as the airport noise 
compatibility element in the plan; Delineate an Airport Influence Area 
that would be incorporated in local comprehensive plans to show local 
planners the area around Pago Pago International Airport (PPG) that is 
subject to aircraft noise and periodic overflights; Initiate a formal 
request from the Director of Port Administration to the Department of 
Commerce requesting that the Assistant Director of Port Administration 
be formally notified for comment on all minor and major projects 
involving land use and zoning changes, and construction applications 
that the Territorial Planning Commission, Zoning Board, and Project 
Notification Review System (PNRS) Board receives for future development 
within the Airport Influence Area; During the Project Notification 
Review System (PNRS) review of land use permit applications, provide 
fair disclosure of potential noise exposure and aircraft overflights 
for those projects proposed within the Airport Influence Area; Offer a 
program of sound insulation to eligible single-family residences in the 
Future (2010) NEM/NCP 65+ DNL noise contour; Offer a program of 
voluntary acquisition to eligible single-family residences that do not 
meet the eligibility criteria for sound insulation within the Future 
(2010) NEM/NCP 65+ DNL noise contour on the north side of the Runway 5 
end; Establish a new airport staff position within the Department of 
Port Administration, a Community Relations and Program Manager, that 
would be responsible for implementing the NCP; Monitoring compliance 
with noise abatement air traffic measures, update the airport noise 
contours (NEMs), and implementation assistance with the land use 
planning measures; and NCP review and evaluation for potential 
revision/update.
    These determinations are set forth in detail in the Record of 
Approval signed by the Associate Administrator for Airports on July 21, 
2005. 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 
Department of Port Administration of the American Samoa Government. The 
Record of Approval also will be available online at: http://www.faa.gov/arp/environmental/14cfr150/index14.cfm.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California, on August 12, 2005.
Mark A. McClardy,
Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. 05-17061 Filed 8-26-05; 8:45 am]
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