[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14283-14284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2666]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


FAA Approval of Noise Compatibility Program 14 CFR Part 150, 
Santa Barbara Airport, Santa Barbara, 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 Santa Barbara 
Airport under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. (the Aviation Safety and 
Noise Abatement Act, 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 June 28, 2004, the FAA determined that the noise exposure 
maps submitted by Santa Barbara Airport under Part 150 were in 
compliance with applicable requirements. On January 27, 2006, the FAA 
approved the Santa Barbara Airport noise compatibility program. Some of 
the recommendations of the program were approved.

DATES:  Effective Date: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the 
Santa Barbara Airport noise compatibility program for Santa Barbara 
Airport is January 27, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Mendelsohn, Environmental 
Protection Specialist, AWP-621.6, Southern California Standards 
Section, Federal Aviation Administration, Western-Pacific Region, 15000 
Aviation Boulevard, Hawthorne, California 90261, Telephone: 310/725-
3637. 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 Santa 
Barbara Airport, effective January 27, 2006. Under section 47504 of 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 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

[[Page 14284]]

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, 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 regional office in Hawthorne, California.
    The Santa Barbara Airport submitted to the FAA on April 8, 2004, 
the noise exposure maps, descriptions, and other documentation produced 
during the noise compatibility planning study conducted from March 2004 
through January 2005. The Santa Barbara Airport noise exposure maps 
were determined by FAA to be in compliance with applicable requirements 
on June 28, 2004. Notice of this determination was published in the 
Federal Register on July 2, 2004 (69 FR 40452).
    The Santa Barbara Airport study contains a proposed noise 
compatibility program comprised of actions designed for phased 
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions from 
January 2005 to (or beyond) the year 2008. It was requested that the 
FAA evaluate and approve this material as a noise compatibility program 
as described in section 47504 of the Act. The FAA began its review of 
the program on August 3, 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 twenty (20) 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 FAA effective January 27, 2006.
    Outright approval was granted for one Noise Abatement element, ten 
Land Use Management elements and all four Program Management elements. 
Three Noise Abatement elements were disapproved and one element 
required no federal action. One Land Use Management element was 
disapproved in part pending submission of additional information. The 
approved measures included such items as: Promote use of Aircraft 
Owners and Pilots Association Noise Awareness Steps by light single and 
twin-engine aircraft; Encourage Santa Barbara County to enact the noise 
overlay zoning recommendations contained within County's general plan; 
Encourage the City of Goleta to incorporate land use regulations or 
restrictions within the Airport Influence Area; Encourage the Santa 
Barbara County Association of Governments to revise the Airport Land 
Use Plan; City of Santa Barbara should adopt project review guidelines 
to specify noise compatibility criteria for development within the 
Airport Influence Area; Maintain the current compatible land use zoning 
within the 2008 65 Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) noise 
contour; City of Santa Barbara should enact overlay zoning to provide 
noise compatibility use standards within the Airport Influence Area; 
Encourage the City of Goleta and Santa Barbara County to require noise 
and avigation easements as a condition of subdivision approval for 
those areas contained within Zones One, Two and Three of the proposed 
zoning ordinance; City of Santa Barbara should amend its current 
building codes to incorporate prescriptive noise standards and 
encourage the City of Goleta and Santa Barbara County to incorporate 
similar building code amendments; Consideration should be given to 
establishing a voluntary acquisition program for dwellings located 
within the 65 to 75 CNEL; Consideration should be given to voluntary 
acquisition of the residential development rights for portions of two 
large parcels located east of the airport; Continue noise abatement 
information program; Update and expand noise and flight track 
monitoring system; Monitor implementation of the updated Part 150 Noise 
Compatibility Program and Update Noise Exposure Maps and Noise 
Compatibility Program, as necessary, at minimum every seven to ten 
years to respond to the changing conditions in the local area and the 
aviation industry.
    These determinations are set forth in detail in the Record of 
Approval signed by the Associate Administrator for Airports on January 
27, 2006. 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 Barbara Airport. The Record of Approval also will be available 
on-line at: http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/airports/environmental/airport_noise/.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California on March 8, 2006.
Mark A. McClardy,
Manager, Airports Division, Western--Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. 06-2666 Filed 3-20-06; 8:45 am]
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