AIRPLANE NOISE IMPACT ON OUR COMMUNITIES

Airplane noise has become an ever-increasing concern in our communities. In the fall of 2014, the FAA began implementation of NextGen RNAV flight procedures in the Bay Area. NextGen Performance Based Navigation is part of a nation-wide FAA modernization program which includes new technologies using precise satellite navigation in place of the aging ground-based radio beacon navigation system.

This new technology is lauded because of its ability to design more efficient straight-line flight paths which reduce flight time, fuel and emissions.  But NextGen RNAV procedures are not necessarily a good thing for residents living below. Because of the precision of satellite navigation, airplanes fly a concentrated, repeatable narrow path over the earth; many residents are subjected to an incessant barrage of flights overhead.

In addition, long standing flight paths based on ground based navigation aids were often eliminated and replaced by new NextGen procedures which shifted noise to new areas. As the installation of NextGen routes expanded to new areas through 2015, more and more communities were impacted.

In response to the noise impact of these new NextGen procedures, Congresswoman Speier, along with two of her Bay Area colleagues Anna Eshoo and Sam Farr, met with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta in the spring of 2015 in Washington, DC to explain in no uncertain terms that more and more residents were being subjected to intolerable NextGen noise…and the FAA needed to fix it.

FAA’S RESPONSE TO CONGRESSIONAL INQURIES

As part of the FAA Administrator’s response to these Congressional complaints, FAA Western-Pacific Regional Administrator Glen Martin appeared at Congresswoman Speier’s August 2015 meeting of elected and community leaders. At this meeting, Mr. Martin heard how families could not sleep through the night, how conversations would be disrupted throughout the day and that the noise was unrelenting. These community leaders also shared suggestions to improve flight procedures to reduce the noise impact.

FAA INITIATIVE REPORT AND PROCESS

In response to Congresswoman Speier’s initial inquires and the forthright community comments to the FAA at her meeting as well as additional input, the FAA compiled the FAA Initiative to Address Noise Concerns of Santa Cruz/Santa Clara/San Mateo/San Francisco Counties: Compiled at the Request of Representatives Farr, Eshoo and Speier. This FAA Initiative, presented to these three Members of Congress in November 2015, listed a number of suggested changes to flight procedures. Since that time, the FAA has been evaluating those items using the FAA’s seven step process: 1. Detailed Analysis, 2. Fly-ability Assessment, 3. Operational Assessment, 4. Feasibility Determination, 5. Stakeholder Feedback, 6. Environmental Review, 7. Safety Assessment.

As part of the FAA process, the three Members of Congress established the Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals (SCSBA). The SCSBA and the long-standing SFO Airport/Community Roundtable provided forums for public input to the FAA Initiative reports.

The SCSBA has focused on South Bay arrivals, especially the SERFR Arrival, including its impact on Peninsula cities underneath the flight path to its termination at MENLO intersection. The Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals has considered other FAA Initiative items as well as additional noise issues.

The SFO Airport/Community Roundtable has focused on departures and arrivals which impact the City and County of San Francisco and San Mateo County and its cities.

Each of these forums has worked with FAA staff on technical issues, held public meetings, study sessions and technical meetings, received written communications and heard public input at meetings. After much consideration, discussion and debate, each of these two forums has voted on recommendations which have been presented to Representatives Speier, Eshoo and Farr. The recommendations made by both the SFO Airport/Community Roundtable and the SCSBA will undergo the same FAA research, analysis and feasibility determination as was performed for the initial recommendations in the May 16, 2016 FAA Feasibility Study.

The final report and recommendations from SFO/Airport Community Roundtable can be downloaded HERE.

The final report and recommendations from the Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals can be downloaded HERE.

Representatives Speier, Eshoo and Farr have transmitted these two reports to FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta with a letter requesting a progress update. The Members have urged the Administrator to take action as soon as possible to remedy disturbing noise impacts which affect the health and well-being of their constituents. Read the letter HERE.

Administrator Huerta provided a brief progress report to Representatives Speier, Eshoo and Panetta stating that the FAA "is carefully reviewing, analyzing, and considering the detailed report and recommendations." Read his letter from February 6, 2017 HERE.

The FAA continues to analyze the numerous recommendations submitted to the FAA in the November 17, 2016 reports by the SFO Airport/Community Roundtable and the Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals. Congresswoman Speier's office has been in regular contact with FAA staff regarding the FAA response to the SFO Roundtable and Select Committee recommendations. In mid-May, she had a conversation with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, as did her colleagues, Rep. Anna Eshoo and Rep. Jimmy Panetta. The Administrator informed each of the Members that the draft Response document was in his office and after appropriate review, within about a month, would be forwarded to the Department of Transportation for review. Click HERE to read the May 17, 2017 Joint Statement of Reps. Speier, Eshoo and Farr on this topic.

On July 25, 2017, the offices of Representatives Speier, Eshoo and Panetta released the FAA Initiative - Phase Two. This FAA report is in response to the Recommendations submitted by the SFO Airport/Community Roundtable and the Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals.

On November 16, 2017, the offices of Representatives Speier, Eshoo and Panetta released the FINAL FAA Initiative - Phase Two. This final FAA report is in response to the 203 separate Recommendations submitted by the SFO Airport/Community Roundtable and the Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals.

This final report is divided into four major categories based on the status of each recommendation:1. Addressed Concern: These recommendations are already being addressed - primarily by NCT TRACON. This does not necessarily mean that an individual item has been completely addressed and solved, but that it is known and is being addressed;
2. Feasible and could be implemented in the Short Term (less than 2 years);
3. Feasible and could be implemented in the Long Term (more than 2 years);
4. Not Endorsed by the FAA: These recommendations are not feasible by the FAA based on some aspect of their non-compliance with FAA standards.
Some remaining recommendations are categorized as: “Not endorsed by the Select Committee” and “Not under the FAA’s jurisdiction.”  (The SFO RT only submitted recommendations that they endorsed – unanimously.)

Feasible recommendations in this final FAA Report of particular interest to residents of Congresswoman Speier’s District include: improvements to nighttime overflights by routing most southbound SFO and OAK departures over the Bay and Ocean rather than over residential land; by routing most arrivals from the north over the Bay - rather down over the Peninsula; and by allowing certain SFO departures to receive unrestricted climb clearances. Other feasible items include a return close to the historical split of arrivals from the north which will result in increased arrivals from the north to fly over the Bay and fewer arrivals from the north over the Peninsula.

Promising recommendations deemed not feasible by the FAA include: the creation of dual offset approaches to SFO Runways 28, which would have provided for two flight paths closer to the mid-Bay than to Foster City, the implementation of an RNAV overlay of the traditional OFFSHORE Departure, and the creation of a Runway 10 RNAV departure overlay of the traditional DUMBARTON Departure.

I would urge the SFO Airport/Community Roundtable to closely review a number of these promising recommendations categorized as : “Not Endorsed by the FAA.”  As appropriate, it may be that modifications made to the recommendation may cause it to become “feasible” or there may be alternate means to achieve the recommended action.