[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 131 (Friday, July 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39614-39615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16751]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Approval of Noise Compatibility Program 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 
findings on the noise compatibility program submitted by the City of 
Modesto 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 9, 2009, 
the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by the City 
of Modesto 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 Modesto City-County Airport is June 2, 
2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Camille Garibaldi, Environmental 
Protection Specialist, FAA Western-Pacific Region, San Francisco 
Airports District Office, 831 Mitten Road, Suite 210, Burlingame, 
California, telephone number (650) 876-2778 extension 613. 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 Modesto 
City-County Airport, effective June 2, 2010. 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

[[Page 39615]]

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 Western-Pacific Region, San Francisco Airports 
District Office in Burlingame, California.
    The City of Modesto submitted to the FAA on October 2, 2008, the 
Noise Exposure Maps for evaluation. The FAA determined that the Noise 
Exposure Maps were in compliance with applicable requirements on 
January 9, 2009. Notice of this determination was published in the 
Federal Register on January 26, 2009.
    The Modesto City-County Airport study contains a proposed noise 
compatibility program comprised of actions designed for phased 
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions. 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 December 
9, 2009 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 Noise Compatibility Program recommended two noise abatement 
elements, four land use management elements and one program management 
element. 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 Manager 
of the Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, effective June 2, 
2010.
    Approval was granted for one Noise Abatement Element, four Land Use 
Management Elements and one Program Management Element. The approved 
measures included: Designate a commercial service hold area near 
midfield; Adopt the Modesto City-County Airport Part 150 Noise 
Compatibility Program by reference in the cities of Modesto and Ceres, 
and Stanislaus County General Plans; Consistently designate the area 
northwest of the airport within the City of Modesto and Stanislaus 
County General Plan; The City of Modesto should consider adopting an 
airport compatibility checklist for discretionary review of projects 
within its vicinity; Adopt a Noise Overlay Zone; and Update Noise 
Exposure Maps and Noise Compatibility Program.
    The Noise Abatement Element--Pursue a change to the Department of 
Defense's Instrument Flight Rule Supplement was disapproved for 
purposes of Part 150. The FAA disapproved the element due to lack of 
supporting analysis in the Noise Compatibility Plan. However, the 
disapproval does not prohibit the City of Modesto from working with the 
Department of Defense to revise the recommended operational hours in 
the Instrument Flight Rule Supplement on a voluntary basis.
    The FAA determinations are set forth in detail in the Record of 
Approval signed by the Manager of the Airports Division, Western-
Pacific Region, on June 2, 2010. 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 Modesto City-County Airport. The Record 
of Approval also will be available on-line at: http://www.faa.gov/airports/environmental/airport_noise/part_150/states/.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California, on June 18, 2010.
Brian Q. Armstrong,
Acting Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. 2010-16751 Filed 7-8-10; 8:45 am]
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