Below is an email I received from the FAA about aviation noise. I thought I would share this with you for a couple of reasons.
The first reason is for your sit awareness about how the FAA and public view aviation noise. As you can see, it is a topic of interest around many airports. Right now RTS is not one of them, and that’s probably because our louder noise contours/footprints stay over airport property.
The second reason is that if you are at all interested in this topic, you may want to review some of the material and participate in the process. I know that our industry groups like AOPA monitor FAA processes, so they might be keeping you informed similarly. There are links embedded in the note below, but here is the shortcut to the summary on the FAA website.
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/policy_guidance/noise/survey/
While Stead does have some insulation on noise effects due to space, we are not totally immune. As both the region and airport grow and change, noise impacts and perceptions change along with them. Like I said, maintaining sit awareness about these kinds of things can only set us up better.
I’ll be taking a look at this material for my own understanding. I am not terribly concerned about it at this moment for Stead, but just looking to keep abreast of things. If you have any observations or would like to chat about it, drop a note or give me a call.
v/r
Mike Scott
Reno-Stead Airport (RTS)
Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority
775.328.6573
FAA Seeks Public Comment on Aviation Noise Effects and Mitigation Research Portfolio
WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced plans to seek public comment on the existing noise research portfolio, including the Neighborhood Environmental Survey, and additional areas recommended for investigation. The notice is available on FAA’s website.
The FAA is sharing information on its aircraft noise research programs that includes a portfolio of research initiatives related to the effects of aviation noise impacts on the public, efforts to mitigate such noise exposure, and research regarding public perception of aviation noise. The public comment period opened today and the notice is published in the Federal Register.
Included in this posting are the results of the Neighborhood Environmental Survey, a multi-year research effort to review and improve FAA’s understanding of community response to noise. The survey included responses from over 10,000 people living near 20 airports across the country, and the results show an increased level of reported annoyance due to aircraft noise in contrast to earlier surveys.
Successfully addressing noise requires continued and increased collaboration among all aviation stakeholders. In this regard, FAA has an important role to play in addressing noise issues, including continuing to improve the understanding of how airport noise impacts communities surrounding our nation’s airports. As part of FAA’s broader research on aircraft noise, this survey data and the research related to noise abatement will be used to inform FAA’s approach on the relationship between aircraft noise exposure and the well-being of people living near airports and communities served by airports throughout the country.
FAA continues decades-long efforts to work with airport authorities, aircraft manufacturers, airlines, state and local governments, and communities to address noise concerns. FAA also collaborates with airport authorities and community groups to implement noise abatement procedures safely when operationally feasible. Today’s civilian aircraft are quieter than at any time in the history of powered flight, and FAA continues to work with manufacturers and air carriers to reduce noise at the source.
FAA works with local governments to encourage responsible land planning that avoids building residential housing in areas that will be exposed to significant airplane noise. In fact, over the last four decades, the number of Americans exposed to significant aviation noise near airports has been reduced from 7 million to just over 400,000–more than a 94% reduction. During the same period, the number of annual passengers increased from around 200 million per year to over 900 million per year. This demonstrates a decrease in the number of people exposed to significant noise while showing an increase in the number of passengers travelling in the aviation system.