[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 53 (Monday, March 18, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11079-11081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6400]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 11080]]
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pease International Tradeport, Portsmouth, NH; FAA Approval of
Noise Compatibility Program
agency: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.
action: Noise.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its
findings in the noise compatibility program submitted by the Pease
Development 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 non-federal responsibilities in Senate Report No. 96-52
(1980). On August 14, 1995, the FAA determined that the noise exposure
maps submitted by the Pease Development Authority under Part 150 were
in compliance with applicable requirements. On February 9, 1996, the
Associate Administrator approved the Pease International Tradeport
noise compatibility program. Out of the 23 proposed program elements,
22 were approved and one was partially approved.
effective date: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the Pease
International Tradeport noise compatibility program is February 9,
1996.
for further information contact: John C. Silva, Federal Aviation
Administration, New England Region, Airports Division, 12 New England
Executive Park, Burlington, Massachusetts 01803, telephone: (617) 238-
7602.
Documents reflecting this FAA action may be obtained from the same
individual.
supplementary information: This notice announces that the FAA has given
its overall approval to the Pease International Tradeport noise
compatibility program, effective February 9, 1996.
Under Section 104(a) of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act
of 1979 (hereinafter 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 non-compatible
land uses and prevention of additional non-compatible 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 Regulation (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 as
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. Where Federal funding is sought, request for project grants must
be submitted to the FAA Regional Office in Burlington, Massachusetts.
The Pease Development Authority submitted to the FAA, on August 1,
1995, noise exposure maps, descriptions, and other documentation
produced during the noise compatibility planning study conducted from
May 1991 to June 1995. The Pease International Tradeport noise exposure
maps were determined by FAA to be in compliance with applicable
requirements on August 14, 1995. Notice of this determination was
published in the Federal Register on August 22, 1995.
The Pease study contains a proposed noise compatibility program
comprised of actions designed for implementation by airport management
and adjacent jurisdictions from the date of study completion to
approximately 2010. 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 August
14, 1995, and was required by a 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 a program within the 180-day period shall be deemed to be an
approval of such a program.
The submitted program contained 23 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 Assistant Administrator effective February 9, 1996.
Approval was granted for 22 specific program elements: preferential
runway use, flight track changes, descent profiles, support for
navigational aid improvements, run-up areas, a noise barriers, noise-
sensitive location of flight line structures, voluntary aircraft
nighttime use restriction, updating the study to examine mandatory
access restrictions in accordance with FAR Part 161, land acquisition,
sound insulation, a sales assurance program, recommendations for
construction standards and guidance, subdivision and site review
regulations, and master planning, and administrative elements which
include noise monitoring, pilot education, a citizen complaint
mechanism, a community participation program, and a public outreach
program.
One program element was partially approved and partially
disapproved:
[[Page 11081]]
continuing restrictions on aircraft run-ups.
FAA's determinations are set forth in detail in a Record of
Approval endorsed by the Associate Administrator on February 9, 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 office of the Pease Development
Authority, Pease International Tradeport, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Issued in Burlington, Massachusetts on March 5, 1996.
Bradley A. Davis,
Acting Manager, Airports Division, New England Region.
[FR Doc. 96-6400 Filed 3-15-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M
