
[Federal Register: December 22, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 246)]
[Notices]
[Page 78419-78421]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22de08-148]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Approval of Noise Compatibility Program for Marana Regional
Airport, Marana, AZ

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its
findings on the noise compatibility program submitted by the Town of
Marana under the provisions of Title I of the Aviation Safety and Noise

[[Page 78420]]

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. 96-52 (1980). On December 7,
2007, the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by the
Town of Marana 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 Marana Regional Airport is November 26,
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 Marana
Regional Airport, effective November 26, 2008. 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
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 FAAs 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 Los Angeles,
California.
    The Town of Marana, submitted to the FAA on October 11, 2006, the
Noise Exposure Maps, descriptions, and other documentation produced
during the noise compatibility planning study conducted from December
13, 2005 through July 27, 2006. The Marana Regional Airport Noise
Exposure Maps were determined by FAA to be in compliance with
applicable requirements on December 7, 2007. Notice of this
determination was published in the Federal Register on December 17,
2007.
    The Marana Regional Airport study contains a proposed noise
compatibility program comprised of actions designed for phased
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions from
(October 11, 2006 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 6, 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
program within the 180-day period shall be deemed to be an approval of
such program.
    The submitted program contained eight (8) 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 Acting
Manager of the Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, effective
November 26, 2008.
    Outright approval was granted for one (1) Noise Abatement measure,
four (4) of five (5) Land Use Management measures and two (2) Program
Management measures. The approved measures included such items as:
Develop a Pilot and Public Education Program; Revise the Town of
Marana's General Plan to establish a land use compatibility threshold
for noise sensitive land uses; The Town of Marana should consider
adopting an airport compatibility checklist for discretionary review of
projects within the Airport Influence Area (AIA). The Town of Marana
should encourage Pima County to adopt a similar checklist for projects
within the AIA that fall under the county's jurisdiction; Consider
maintaining the rural residential and agricultural zoning
classifications between the 55 DNL and AIA; The Town of Marana should
adopt an overlay zone to regulate the development of noise sensitive
land uses within the AIA; Update Noise Exposure Maps and Noise
Compatibility Program; Monitor Implementation of the Part 150 Noise
Compatibility Program.
    FAA disapproved the following Land Use Management Measure: The Town
of Marana should consider revising the existing subdivision regulations
to require a noise and avigation easement as a condition of subdivision
approval for those areas within the AIA. These determinations are set
forth in detail in the Record of Approval signed by the Manager of the
Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, on November 26, 2008. The
Record of Approval, as well as other evaluation materials and the
documents comprising the submittal, are available for review at the

[[Page 78421]]

FAA office listed above and at the administrative offices of the Town
of Marana, Marana Regional Airport. The Record of Approval also will be
available on-line at: http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/airports/
environmental/airport_noise/part_150/states/.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California on November 28, 2008.
George Aiken,
Acting Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. E8-30173 Filed 12-19-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-13-M
