E9-1315. Noise Exposure Map Notice for Modesto City-County Airport, Modesto, CA

AGENCY:

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION:

Notice.

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: [phone] 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 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.