[Federal Register: August 29, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 166)]
[Notices]
[Page 51109-51110]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29au05-99]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Approval of Noise Compatibility Program for Pago Pago
International Airport, American Samoa
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 Department
of Port Administration of the American Samoa Government 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 28, 2005, the FAA determined that the
noise exposure maps submitted by Department of Port Administration of
the American Samoa Government under Part 150 were in compliance with
applicable requirements.
DATES: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the Noise
Compatibility Program for Pago Pago International Airport is July 21,
2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gordon Wong, Project Manager, Honolulu
Airports District Office, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region,
Federal Aviation Administration, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, 7-128,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850. Telephone: 808/541-3565. 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 Pago Pago
International Airport, effective July 21, 2005. 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
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 Airports District Office in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Department of Port Administration of the American Samoa
Government submitted to the FAA on December 9, 2004, the Noise Exposure
Maps, descriptions, and other documentation produced during the noise
compatibility planning study conducted from June 2, 2003 through
December 9, 2004. The Pago Pago International Airport Noise Exposure
Maps were determined by FAA to be in compliance with applicable
requirements on January 28, 2005. Notice of this determination was
published in the Federal Register on February 8, 2005.
The Pago Pago International Airport study contains a proposed noise
compatibility program comprised of actions designed for phased
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions from
(December 9, 2004 to beyond the year 2010). It was requested that the
FAA evaluate and approve this material as a Noise Compatibility Program
as described in 49 U.S.C. Sec. 47504 (formerly Section 104(b) of the
Act). The FAA began its review of the program on January 28, 2005 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 submitted program contained ten (10) proposed actions for noise
abatement, land use management and program management 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 was approved, by the Associate
Administrator for Airports, effective July 21, 2005.
[[Page 51110]]
Outright approval was granted for all ten (10) specific program
measures. The approved measures included such items as: increase the
use of Runway 8 for propeller arrivals; Amend the Draft Tualuata County
Land Use Plan by adopting the Part 150 NCP as the airport noise
compatibility element in the plan; Delineate an Airport Influence Area
that would be incorporated in local comprehensive plans to show local
planners the area around Pago Pago International Airport (PPG) that is
subject to aircraft noise and periodic overflights; Initiate a formal
request from the Director of Port Administration to the Department of
Commerce requesting that the Assistant Director of Port Administration
be formally notified for comment on all minor and major projects
involving land use and zoning changes, and construction applications
that the Territorial Planning Commission, Zoning Board, and Project
Notification Review System (PNRS) Board receives for future development
within the Airport Influence Area; During the Project Notification
Review System (PNRS) review of land use permit applications, provide
fair disclosure of potential noise exposure and aircraft overflights
for those projects proposed within the Airport Influence Area; Offer a
program of sound insulation to eligible single-family residences in the
Future (2010) NEM/NCP 65+ DNL noise contour; Offer a program of
voluntary acquisition to eligible single-family residences that do not
meet the eligibility criteria for sound insulation within the Future
(2010) NEM/NCP 65+ DNL noise contour on the north side of the Runway 5
end; Establish a new airport staff position within the Department of
Port Administration, a Community Relations and Program Manager, that
would be responsible for implementing the NCP; Monitoring compliance
with noise abatement air traffic measures, update the airport noise
contours (NEMs), and implementation assistance with the land use
planning measures; and NCP review and evaluation for potential
revision/update.
These determinations are set forth in detail in the Record of
Approval signed by the Associate Administrator for Airports on July 21,
2005. 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
Department of Port Administration of the American Samoa Government. The
Record of Approval also will be available online at: http://www.faa.gov/arp/environmental/14cfr150/index14.cfm
.
Issued in Hawthorne, California, on August 12, 2005.
Mark A. McClardy,
Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. 05-17061 Filed 8-26-05; 8:45 am]
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