[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 246 (Monday, December 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78419-78421]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30173]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Approval of Noise Compatibility Program for Marana Regional 
Airport, Marana, AZ

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 Town of 
Marana under the provisions of Title I of the Aviation Safety and Noise

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Abatement Act, as amended, (Public Law 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 December 7, 
2007, the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by the 
Town of Marana under Part 150 were in compliance with applicable 
requirements.

DATES: Effective Date: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the 
Noise Compatibility Program for Marana Regional Airport is November 26, 
2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victor Globa, Federal Aviation 
Administration, Los Angeles Airports District Office, P.O. Box 92007, 
Los Angeles, CA 90009-2007, 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 Marana 
Regional Airport, effective November 26, 2008. 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 
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 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 FAAs 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 Los Angeles, 
California.
    The Town of Marana, submitted to the FAA on October 11, 2006, the 
Noise Exposure Maps, descriptions, and other documentation produced 
during the noise compatibility planning study conducted from December 
13, 2005 through July 27, 2006. The Marana Regional Airport Noise 
Exposure Maps were determined by FAA to be in compliance with 
applicable requirements on December 7, 2007. Notice of this 
determination was published in the Federal Register on December 17, 
2007.
    The Marana Regional Airport study contains a proposed noise 
compatibility program comprised of actions designed for phased 
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions from 
(October 11, 2006 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. 47504 (formerly Section 104(b) of the Act). 
The FAA began its review of the program on June 6, 2008 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 eight (8) proposed actions for 
noise abatement, land use planning 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 Acting 
Manager of the Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, effective 
November 26, 2008.
    Outright approval was granted for one (1) Noise Abatement measure, 
four (4) of five (5) Land Use Management measures and two (2) Program 
Management measures. The approved measures included such items as: 
Develop a Pilot and Public Education Program; Revise the Town of 
Marana's General Plan to establish a land use compatibility threshold 
for noise sensitive land uses; The Town of Marana should consider 
adopting an airport compatibility checklist for discretionary review of 
projects within the Airport Influence Area (AIA). The Town of Marana 
should encourage Pima County to adopt a similar checklist for projects 
within the AIA that fall under the county's jurisdiction; Consider 
maintaining the rural residential and agricultural zoning 
classifications between the 55 DNL and AIA; The Town of Marana should 
adopt an overlay zone to regulate the development of noise sensitive 
land uses within the AIA; Update Noise Exposure Maps and Noise 
Compatibility Program; Monitor Implementation of the Part 150 Noise 
Compatibility Program.
    FAA disapproved the following Land Use Management Measure: The Town 
of Marana should consider revising the existing subdivision regulations 
to require a noise and avigation easement as a condition of subdivision 
approval for those areas within the AIA. These determinations are set 
forth in detail in the Record of Approval signed by the Manager of the 
Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, on November 26, 2008. The 
Record of Approval, as well as other evaluation materials and the 
documents comprising the submittal, are available for review at the

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FAA office listed above and at the administrative offices of the Town 
of Marana, Marana Regional Airport. The Record of Approval also will be 
available on-line at: http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/airports/environmental/airport_noise/part_150/states/.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California on November 28, 2008.
George Aiken,
Acting Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. E8-30173 Filed 12-19-08; 8:45 am]
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