[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 15 (Monday, January 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4499-4500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1315]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Noise Exposure Map Notice for Modesto City-County Airport, 
Modesto, CA

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its 
determination that the noise exposure maps submitted by City of 
Modesto, California for Modesto City-County Airport under the 
provisions of 49 U.S.C. 47501 et seq. (Aviation Safety and Noise 
Abatement Act) and 14 CFR Part 150 are in compliance with applicable 
requirements.

DATES: Effective Date: The effective date of the FAA's determination on 
the noise exposure maps is January 9, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Camille Garibaldi, Federal Aviation 
Administration, San Francisco Airports District Office, 831 Mitten 
Road, Burlingame, California 94010-1303, Telephone: 650/876-2778 
extension 613.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces that the FAA finds 
that the noise exposure maps submitted for Modesto City-County Airport 
are in compliance with applicable requirements of Part 150, effective 
January 9, 2009. Under 49 U.S.C. section 47503 of the Aviation Safety 
and Noise Abatement Act (hereinafter referred to as ``the Act''), an 
airport operator may submit to the FAA noise exposure maps which meet 
applicable regulations and which depict non-compatible land uses as of 
the date of submission of such maps, a description of projected 
aircraft operations, and the ways in which such operations will affect 
such maps. The Act requires such maps to be developed in consultation 
with interested and affected parties in the local community, government 
agencies, and persons using the airport. An airport operator who has 
submitted noise exposure maps that are found by FAA to be in compliance 
with the requirements of Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 150, 
promulgated pursuant to the Act, may submit a noise compatibility 
program

[[Page 4500]]

for FAA approval which sets forth the measures the operator has taken 
or proposes to take to reduce existing non-compatible uses and prevent 
the introduction of additional non-compatible uses.
    The FAA has completed its review of the noise exposure maps and 
accompanying documentation submitted by City of Modesto, Modesto, 
California. The documentation that constitutes the ``Noise Exposure 
Maps'' as defined in section 150.7 of Part 150 includes: Exhibit 1 
``2008 Noise Exposure Map'', and Exhibit 2 ``2015 Noise Exposure Map''. 
The Noise Exposure Maps contain current and forecast information 
including the depiction of the airport and its boundaries, the runway 
configurations, land uses such as residential, open space, and noise-
sensitive institutions and those areas within the Community Noise 
Equivalent Level (CNEL) 60, 65, 70 and 75 noise contours. Estimates for 
the number of people within these contours for the year 2008 are shown 
in Table 3B. Estimates of the future residential population within the 
2015 noise contours are shown in Table 3E. Exhibit 2M displays the 
location of noise monitoring sites. Flight tracks for the existing and 
the five-year forecast Noise Exposure Maps are found in Exhibits 2C, 
2E, and 2G. The type and frequency of aircraft operations (including 
nighttime operations) are found in Tables 2A and 2B. The FAA has 
determined that these noise exposure maps and accompanying 
documentation are in compliance with applicable requirements. This 
determination is effective on January 9, 2009.
    FAA's determination on an airport operator's noise exposure maps is 
limited to a finding that the maps were developed in accordance with 
the procedures contained in Appendix A of FAR Part 150. Such 
determination does not constitute approval of the applicant's data, 
information or plans, or a commitment to approve a noise compatibility 
program or to fund the implementation of that program. If questions 
arise concerning the precise relationship of specific properties to 
noise exposure contours depicted on a noise exposure map submitted 
under section 47503 of the Act, it should be noted that the FAA is not 
involved in any way in determining the relative locations of specific 
properties with regard to the depicted noise contours, or in 
interpreting the noise exposure maps to resolve questions concerning, 
for example, which properties should be covered by the provisions of 
section 47506 of the Act. These functions are inseparable from the 
ultimate land use control and planning responsibilities of local 
government. These local responsibilities are not changed in any way 
under Part 150 or through FAA's review of noise exposure maps. 
Therefore, the responsibility for the detailed overlaying of noise 
exposure contours onto the map depicting properties on the surface 
rests exclusively with the airport operator that submitted those maps, 
or with those public agencies and planning agencies with which 
consultation is required under section 47503 of the Act. The FAA has 
relied on the certification by the airport operator, under section 
150.21 of FAR Part 150, that the statutorily required consultation has 
been accomplished.
    Copies of the full noise exposure map documentation and of the 
FAA's evaluation of the maps are available for examination at the 
following locations:

Federal Aviation Administration, Planning and Environmental Division, 
APP-400, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591.
Federal Aviation Administration, Western-Pacific Region, Airports 
Division, Room 3012, 15000 Aviation Boulevard, Hawthorne, California 
90261.
Federal Aviation Administration, San Francisco Airports District 
Office, 831 Mitten Road, Suite 210, Burlingame, California 94010-1303.
Jerome Thiele, Airport Manager, Modesto City-County Airport, City of 
Modesto, Public Works Department--Airport Division, 617 Airport Way, 
Modesto, CA 95354.

    Questions may be directed to the individual named above under the 
heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California on January 9, 2009.
Mia Paredes Ratcliff,
Acting Manager, Airports Division, AWP-600, Western-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. E9-1315 Filed 1-23-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M