[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59129-59130]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29682]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Approval of Noise Compatibility Program, Chattanooga Metropolitan
(Lovell Field) Airport, Chattanooga, TN
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its
findings on the noise compatibility program submitted by the
Chattanooga Metropolitan (Lovell Field) Airport Authority under the
provisions of Title I of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of
1979 (Public Law 96-193) 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 March 27, 1996,
the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by the
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority under Part 150 were in
compliance with applicable requirements. On September 23, 1996, the
Administrator approved the Chattanooga Metropolitan (Lovell Field)
Airport nose compatibility program. All of the recommendations of the
program were approved in full or in part.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the
Chattanooga Metropolitan (Lovell Field) Airport noise compatibility
program is September 23, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jerry O. Bowers, Federal Aviation Administration. Memphis Airports
District Office, 2851 Directors Cove, Suite 3, Memphis, Tennessee
38131-0301; Telephone 901-544-3495. Documents reflecting this FAA
action may be reviewed at this same location.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: This notice announces that the FAA has given
its overall approval to the noise compatibility program for Chattanooga
Metropolitan (Lovell Field) Airport, effective September 23, 1996.
Under section 104(a) of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act
of 1979 (hereinafter referred to as ``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
noncompatible 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:
[[Page 59130]]
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 noncompatible land uses around the airport
and preventing the introduction of additional noncompatible 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. Where federal funding is sought, requests for project grants must
be submitted to the FAA Airports District Office in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Chattanooga Metropolitan (Lovell Field) Airport Authority
submitted to the FAA on February 13, 1996, the noise exposure maps,
descriptions, and other documentation produced during the FAR Part 150
supplemental noise compatibility planning study conducted from November
1992 through October 1995. The Chattanooga Metropolitan (Lovell Field)
Airport noise exposure maps were determined by FAA to be in compliance
with applicable requirements on March 27, 1996. Notice of this
determination was published in the Federal Register on April 8, 1996.
The Chattanooga Metropolitan (Lovell Field) Airport FAR Part 150
Study contains a proposed noise compatibility program comprised of
actions designed for phased implementation by airport management and
adjacent jurisdictions from the date of study completion beyond the
year 1997. It was requested that the FAA evaluate and approve this
material as a noise compatibility program as described in section
104(b) of the Act. The FAA began its review of the program on March 27,
1996, and was required by provision of the Act to approve or disapprove
the program within 180 days (other than the use of new flight
procedures for noise control). Failure to approve or disapprove such
program within the 180-day period shall be deemed an approval of such a
program.
The submitted program contained 15 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 Administrator effective September 23, 1996.
Approval for Part 150 was granted, in total or in part, for all of
the proposed measures. Land Use measures include soundproofing, land
acquisition voluntary within the DNL 65, voluntary acquisition
immediately outside the DNL 65 if partial acquisition of a community/
subdivision would disrupt community cohesion or produce other
detrimental environmental results and construction of a sound barrier
in which a significant number of homeowners opt to remain in the area
of land acquisition in the Pine Grove Estates-Portview Hills
subdivision.
These determinations are set forth in detail in a Record of
Approval endorsed by the Administrator on September 23, 1996. 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
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority.
Issued in Memphis, Tennessee, November 13, 1996.
LaVerne F. Reid,
Manager, Memphis Airports District Office.
[FR Doc. 96-29682 Filed 11-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M
