[Federal Register: October 21, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 204)]
[Notices]
[Page 62586-62587]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21oc08-127]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Approval of Noise Compatibility Program for Meadows Field
Airport, Bakersfield, 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 County of
Kern, Department of Airports under the provisions of Title I of the
Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act, as amended, (Public Law 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. 9652 (1980). On
January 16, 2008, the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps
submitted by County of Kern, Department of Airports 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 Meadows Field Airport is September 18,
2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victor Globa, Federal Aviation
Administration, Los Angeles Airports District Office, P.O. Box 92007,
Los Angeles, CA 90009-2007, Telephone: 310/725-3637. 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 Meadows
Field Airport, effective September 18, 2008. Under section 104(a) of
the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979, as amended
(hereinafter 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 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:
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 Hawthorne, California.
The County of Kern, Department of Airports submitted to the FAA on
August 28, 2007, the Noise Exposure Maps, descriptions, and other
documentation produced during the noise compatibility planning study
conducted from October 19, 2005 through August 28, 2007. The Meadows
Field Airport Noise Exposure Maps were determined by FAA to be in
compliance with applicable requirements on January 16, 2008. Notice of
this determination was published in the Federal Register on February
20, 2008 (73 FR 940 1-9402).
The Meadows Field Airport study contains a proposed noise
compatibility program comprised of actions designed for phased
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions (from
October 10, 2005 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. 47504 (formerly Section 104(b) of the Act).
The FAA began its review of the program on June 23, 2008 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
[[Page 62587]]
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 planning 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 Manager
of the Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, effective September
18, 2008.
Outright approval was granted for all ten (10) specific program
measures. The approved measures included such items as: Continue
Voluntary Policies That Limit Turbojet Training Operations; Continued
Informal Preferential Use of Runways 30 LJR; Continue To Use
Intersection Takeoffs for Single and Twin-Engine Aircraft at the
Taxiway F Intersection on Runway 30R; Revise Airport Land Use
Compatibility Plan (ALUCP) Zones To Reflect the Ultimate Runway
Configuration if the Third Parallel Runway Is Included in the Master
Plan and Pursued by the County; Maintain Compatibility Planned Areas
Within the Airport Influence Area; Maintaining Compatible Zoning Within
Airport Influence Area (AlA); Amend Section 4.8 of the Airport Land Use
Compatibility Plan (ALUCP) To Include Compatibility Criteria That
Explicitly Identify Compatible Land Uses; Amend Section 4.8 of the
Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP) To Incorporate Prescriptive
Noise Standards To Address Airport Noise Concerns in New Construction
and Major Alterations to Existing Structures; Continue Noise Complaint
Tracking Program; Update Noise Exposure Maps and Noise Compatibility
Program; Monitor Implementation of Updated F.A.R. Part 150 Noise
Compatibility Program.
These determinations are set forth in detail in the Record of
Approval signed by the Manager of the Airports Division, Western-
Pacific Region, on September 18, 2008. 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 County of Kern Department of
Airports, Meadows Field. The Record of Approval also will be available
on-line at: http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/airports/
environmentai/airport_noise/part_150/states/ .
Issued in Hawthorne, California on September 29, 2008.
Mark A. McClardy,
Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. E8-24814 Filed 10-20-08; 8:45 am]
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