Noise Exposure Maps Notice for Piedmont Triad International Airport, Greensboro, North Carolina

AGENCY:

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The FAA announces its determination that the noise exposure maps submitted by the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority for the Piedmont Triad International Airport are in compliance with applicable requirements.

APPLICABLE DATE:

The effective date of the FAA's determination on the noise exposure maps is April 27, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Memphis Airports District Office, Tommy Dupree, Manager, Federal Aviation Administration, 2600 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite 2250, Memphis, Tennessee 38118, Telephone: (901) 322-8181.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice announces that the FAA finds that the noise exposure maps submitted for the Piedmont Triad International Airport under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 47501 et seq. (Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act) and 14 CFR part 150 are in compliance with applicable requirements of 14 CFR part 150, effective January 13, 2004.

Under 49 U.S.C. Section 47503 of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), an airport operator may submit to the FAA noise exposure maps which meet applicable regulations and which depict non-compatible land uses as of the date of submission of such maps, a description of projected aircraft operations during a forecast period that is at least five (5) years in the future, and the ways in which such operations will affect such maps. The Act requires such maps to be developed in consultation with interested and affected parties in the local community, government agencies, and persons using the airport. An airport operator who has submitted noise exposure maps that are found by the FAA to be in compliance with the requirements of 14 CFR part 150, promulgated pursuant to the Act, may submit a noise compatibility program for FAA approval which sets forth the measures the operator has taken or proposes to take to reduce existing non-compatible uses and prevent the introduction of additional non-compatible uses.

The FAA has completed its review of the noise exposure maps and accompanying documentation submitted by the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority. The documentation that constitutes the “Noise Exposure Maps” (NEM) as defined in Section 150.7 includes a 2020 Base Year NEM, Figure 7-1, and a 2025 Future Year NEM, Figure 7-2, located in Chapter 7 of the report. The figures contained within Chapter 7 are scaled to fit within the report context; however, the official, to scale, 2020 Base Year NEM and 2025 Future Year NEM are an attachment to the official report.

The Noise Exposure Maps contain current and forecast information including the depiction of the airport and its boundaries, the runway configurations, land uses such as single and two-family residential; multi-family residential; mixed residential and commercial; commercial and office; industrial and manufacturing; transportation, parking and utilities; public facilities and institutions; unclassified; open space, cemetaries, and outdoor recreation; vacant land; places of worship; schools; historic structures; hospitals; and day care/assisted living facilities and those areas within the Day Night Average Sound Level (DNL) 65, 70 and 75 noise contours. Estimates of the residential population within the 2020 Base Year and 2025 Future Year noise contours are shown in Table 7-1 of Chapter 7 of the report. Figure 5-1 in Chapter 5 displays the location of noise monitoring sites. Flight track maps are provided in Figures 6-6 through 6-8 of Chapter 6. The type and frequency of aircraft operations, including nighttime operations and engine runups, are found in Tables 6-7 through 6-15 in Chapter 6.

As discussed in Chapter 9 of the report, the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority provided the general public the opportunity to review and comment on the NEMs. This public comment period opened on November 17, 2020 and closed on December 17, 2020. A public workshop was held on June 27, 2019 on the Part 150 process. A public workshop and hearing for the NEMs was held on December 8, 2020. All comments received during the public comment period and throughout the development of the NEMs, as well as responses to these comments, are contained in Appendix G of the report.

The FAA has determined that these noise exposure maps and accompanying documentation are in compliance with applicable requirements. This determination is effective on April 27, 2022.

FAA's determination on an airport operator's noise exposure maps is limited to a finding that the maps were developed in accordance with the procedures contained in Appendix A of 14 CFR part 150. Such determination does not constitute approval of the applicant's data, information or plans, or a commitment to approve a noise compatibility program or to fund the implementation of that program. If questions arise concerning the precise relationship of specific properties to noise exposure contours depicted on a noise exposure map submitted under Section 47503 of the Act, it should be noted that the FAA is not involved in any way in determining the relative locations of specific properties with regard to the depicted noise contours, or in interpreting the noise exposure maps to resolve questions concerning, for example, which properties should be covered by the provisions of Section 47506 of the Act. These functions are inseparable from the ultimate land use control and planning responsibilities of local government. These local responsibilities are not changed in any way under Part 150 or through FAA's review of noise exposure maps. Therefore, the responsibility for the detailed overlaying of noise exposure contours onto the map depicting properties on the surface rests exclusively with the airport operator that submitted those maps, or with those public agencies and planning authorities with which consultation is required under Section 47503 of the Act. The FAA has relied on the certification by the airport operator, under Section 150.21, that the statutorily required consultation has been accomplished.

Copies of the full noise exposure map documentation and of the FAA's evaluation of the maps are available for examination at the following locations: Federal Aviation Administration, Memphis Airports District Office, 2600 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Memphis, Tennessee 38118, and Piedmont Triad International Airport, 1000A Ted Johnson Parkway, Greensboro, North Carolina 27409.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Tommy Dupree, Manager, Memphis Airports District Office, Federal Aviation Administration, 2600 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite 2250, Memphis, TN 38118, Telephone: (901) 322-8181.