28930 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 90 / Tuesday, May 10, 2016 / Notices 

Title: Small Unmanned Aircraft 

Registration System (sUAS). 

Form Numbers: There are no FAA 

forms associated with this collection. 

Type of Review: Renewal of an 

information collection. 

Background: The Federal Register 

Notice with a 60-day comment period 

soliciting comments on the following 

collection of information was published 

on March 1, 2016 (81 FR 10702). There 

were no comments. The Secretary of the 

Department of Transportation (DOT) 

and the Administrator of the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) recently 

affirmed that all unmanned aircraft, 

including model aircraft, are aircraft. As 

such, in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

44101(a) and as further prescribed in 14 

CFR part 47, registration is required 

prior to operation. See 80 FR 63912, 

63913 (October 22, 2015). Aircraft 

registration is necessary to ensure 

personal accountability among all users 

of the national airspace system. See id. 

Aircraft registration also allows the FAA 

and law enforcement agencies to 

address non-compliance by providing 

the means by which to identify an 

aircraft’s owner and operator. 

Respondents: Approximately 1.9 

million registrants annually. 

Frequency: Information is collected 

on occasion. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Response: 4.25 minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

141,158 hours. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2016. 

Ronda Thompson, 

FAA Information Collection Clearance 

Officer, Performance, Policy & Records 

Management Branch, ASP–110. 

[FR Doc. 2016–10978 Filed 5–9–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Requests for Comments; 

Clearance of Renewed Approval of 

Information Collection: Application for 

Employment With the Federal Aviation 

Administration 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA 

invites public comments about our 

intention to request the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval for a new information 

collection. The information collected is 

used to collect, process and report 

Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) 

airborne and ground based observations 

by the public of drone behavior that 

they consider suspicious or illegal. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

submitted by July 11, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the FAA 

at the following address: Ronda 

Thompson, Room 441, Federal Aviation 

Administration, ASP–110, 950 L’Enfant 

Plaza SW., Washington, DC 20024. 

Public Comments Invited: You are 

asked to comment on any aspect of this 

information collection, including (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for FAA’s 

performance; (b) the accuracy of the 

estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to 

enhance the quality, utility and clarity 

of the information collection; and (d) 

ways that the burden could be 

minimized without reducing the quality 

of the collected information. The agency 

will summarize and/or include your 

comments in the request for OMB’s 

clearance of this information collection. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ronda Thompson at (202) 267–1416, or 

by email at: Ronda.Thompson@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Control Number: Not assigned. 

Title: Unmanned Aircraft System 

(UAS) Event Reporting System (UETS). 

Form Numbers: There are no FAA 

forms associated with this collection. 

Information is collected via 

www.faa.gov/mobile external site. 

Type of Review: New information 

collection. 

Background: Under the provisions of 

Public Law 112–95, the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) was 

given the authority and the 

responsibility for assessing the flight 

behavior of Unmanned Aircraft Systems 

and enable the reporting of UAS 

sightings that cause public concern for 

safety, national security, and/or privacy. 

The UETS web application will be used 

to collect, process and report UAS 

airborne and ground based observations 

(by the public) of drone behavior that 

they consider suspicious or illegal. 

Respondents: Approximately 6,000 

responses annually. 

Frequency: Information is collected 

on occasion. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Response: 2.75 minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 275 

hours. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2016. 

Ronda Thompson, 

FAA Information Collection Clearance 

Officer, Performance, Policy, and Records 

Management Branch, ASP–110. 

[FR Doc. 2016–10976 Filed 5–9–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Waivers of Ship Protection Probability 

of Impact Requirement 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of waivers. 

SUMMARY: This notice concerns two 

petitions for waiver submitted to the 

FAA by Space Exploration Technologies 

Corp. (SpaceX): A petition to waive the 

requirement that a waiver request be 

submitted at least 60 days before the 

effective date of the waiver unless good 

cause for later submission is shown in 

the petition; and a petition to waive the 

requirements that exclude persons in 

waterborne vessels from the collective 

risk criteria and limit the probability of 

impact on waterborne vessels to 1 × 

10¥5. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical questions concerning this 

waiver, contact Paul D. Wilde, Deputy 

Chief Engineer, Commercial Space 

Transportation, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 

telephone: (202) 267–5727; email: 

Paul.Wilde@faa.gov. For legal questions 

concerning this waiver, contact Laura 

Montgomery, Office of the Chief 

Counsel, Regulations Division, Federal 

Aviation Administration, 800 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 

267–3150; email: Laura.Montgomery@

faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On April 1, 2016, SpaceX submitted 

a petition to the Federal Aviation 

Administration’s (FAA’s) Office of 

Commercial Space Transportation (AST) 

requesting relief from a regulatory 

requirement for a launch license for 

flight of a Falcon 9 launch vehicle 

carrying SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. 

Specifically, SpaceX requested relief 

from 14 CFR 417.107(b), which excludes 

persons in waterborne vessels from the 

collective risk limit of 30 × 10¥6

expected casualties (EC) and limits the 

probability of impact with waterborne 


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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 90 / Tuesday, May 10, 2016 / Notices 28931 

1 In 2014, the FAA proposed to clarify the 

requirements of part 417 concerning hazard areas 

for ships and aircraft. Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, Changing the Collective Risk Limits for 

Launches and Reentries and Clarifying the Risk 

Limit Used to Establish Hazard Areas for Ships and 

Aircraft, 79 FR 42241 (July 21, 2014). The proposed 

clarification provided in the 2014 NPRM was that 

‘‘A launch operator must establish any water borne 

vessel hazard areas necessary to ensure the 

probability of impact (Pi) with debris capable of 

causing a casualty for water borne vessels does not 

exceed 0.00001 (1 × 10¥5).’’ Id. at 42253. 

2 In 2014, the FAA proposed a clarification of this 

requirement. ‘‘Under proposed section 

417.107(b)(3), a hazard area for water borne vessels 

would satisfy part 417 if the probability of impact 

with debris capable of causing a casualty on any 

given water borne vessel did not exceed 0.00001 (1 

× 10¥5).’’ Id. at 42244. The FAA explained that 

§ 417.107(b)(3) permits a launch operator to set a 

hazard-area level of safety that is equivalent to the 

one used by federal launch ranges with the least 

burdensome hazard area limit. While each federal 

launch range has its own safety criteria for hazard 

areas, the federal launch range with the least 

burdensome limit for hazard areas imposes a 

probability of impact (Pi) limit of 1 × 10¥5 for 

water-borne-vessel hazard areas. Id. at 42249–50. 

3 In 2014, the FAA proposed to update this 

requirement as explained in Changing the 

Collective Risk Limits for Launches and Reentries 

and Clarifying the Risk Limit Used to Establish 

Hazard Areas for Ships and Aircraft, Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, 79 FR 42241 (July 21, 2014). 

vessels to 1 × 10¥5. 1 The FAA is 

treating the request for a waiver to also 

apply to Appendix B to part 417, 

paragraph 417.5(a), which requires 

evacuation and monitoring of hazard 

areas. The launch operator does not 

initiate flight until the hazard area 

clears when the area cannot be 

evacuated. Because the scheduled 

launch was planned to occur in less 

than sixty days, SpaceX also requested 

a waiver to § 404.3(b)(5), which requires 

that a petition for waiver be submitted 

at least sixty days before the proposed 

effective date of the waiver, which in 

this case would be the date of the 

planned launch. 

The FAA licenses the launch of a 

launch vehicle and reentry of a reentry 

vehicle under authority granted to the 

Secretary of Transportation in the 

Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, 

as amended and re-codified by 51 U.S.C. 

Subtitle V, chapter 509 (Chapter 509), 

and delegated to the FAA Administrator 

and the Associate Administrator for 

Commercial Space Transportation, who 

exercises licensing authority under 

Chapter 509. 

SpaceX is a private commercial space 

flight company. The petition addresses 

an upcoming flight that SpaceX plans to 

undertake to deliver the cargo inside the 

Dragon capsule to the International 

Space Station (ISS) as its eighth 

Commercial Resupply Service mission 

(CRS–8). SpaceX plans for its Falcon 9 

launch vehicle to launch from Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) 

and fly back the first stage to a barge for 

landing. During a previous launch of the 

Falcon 9 from CCAFS to deliver the 

SES–9 payload to orbit, SpaceX was 

delayed by the presence of a tug boat 

towing a large barge inside the ship 

hazard area in compliance with the 

FAA’s requirement in § 417.107(b) to 

limit the probability of impact for 

waterborne vessels to 1 × 10¥5. 

Waiver Criteria: 

Chapter 509 allows the FAA to waive 

a license requirement if the waiver (1) 

will not jeopardize public health and 

safety, safety of property; (2) will not 

jeopardize national security and foreign 

policy interests of the United States; and 

(3) will be in the public interest. 51 

U.S.C. 50905(b)(3) (2011); 14 CFR 

404.5(b) (2011). 

Section 404.3(b)(5) Waiver Petition 

Section 404.3(b)(5) requires that a 

petition for waiver be submitted at least 

sixty days before the proposed effective 

date of the waiver. This section also 

provides that a petition may be 

submitted late if the petitioner shows 

good cause. 

Here, SpaceX submitted its waiver 

petition on April 1, 2016, for the F9 

CRS–8 mission, which was less than 

sixty days from its planned April 8, 

2016 launch date. However, SpaceX 

initially submitted a request on January 

19, 2016, for its Falcon 9 launches, 

which included the CRS and 

geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) 

missions. In response to the January 19 

waiver petition, the FAA informed 

SpaceX that it was unable to grant that 

request for relief because the FAA did 

not have adequate time to complete its 

evaluation of the petition, but would 

keep SpaceX abreast of its findings once 

the evaluation was completed. The FAA 

has been considering the issues raised 

since January and is now able to address 

them, and advised SpaceX of that. 

Accordingly, the FAA is able to find 

good cause because SpaceX’s January 19 

waiver petition covered the F9 CRS 

missions, including CRS–8. 

Section 417.107(b) Waiver Petition 

Section 417.107(b) allows a launch 

operator to initiate flight only if the risk 

associated with the total flight to all 

members of the public, excluding 

persons in waterborne vessels and 

aircraft, does not exceed an expected 

average number of 0.00003 casualties 

(EC ≤ 30 × 10¥6) from impacting inert 

and impacting explosive debris, (EC ≤ 30 

× 10¥6) for toxic release, (EC ≤ 30 × 

10¥6) and for far field blast 

overpressure. 

Additionally, a launch operator must 

implement water borne vessel hazard 

areas that provide an equivalent level of 

safety to that provided by water borne 

vessel hazard areas implemented for 

launch from a Federal launch range.2

Launch of the Falcon 9 Vehicle 

The FAA does not need to address 

SpaceX’s request to waive the exclusion 

of people in waterborne vessels from the 

risk limits of § 417.107(b). That 

exclusion is not a requirement that can 

be waived, but merely a statement that 

the collective risk requirement does not 

apply to persons in waterborne vessels. 

Accordingly, this waiver only addresses 

the requirement that a launch operator 

must ensure the probability of impact 

(Pi) with debris capable of causing a 

casualty for water borne vessels does 

not exceed 1 × 10¥5. The FAA grants 

SpaceX’s request for a waiver for the 

Falcon 9 CRS–8 launch because it is in 

the public interest and will not 

jeopardize public health and safety, 

safety of property, or national security 

or foreign policy interests of the United 

States. 

i. Public Health and Safety and Safety 

of Property 

The Falcon 9 CRS–8 launch is the 

ninth launch of an expendable launch 

vehicle with a Dragon capsule bound for 

the ISS. SpaceX has attempted three 

landings of its Falcon 9 first stage on a 

barge on the ocean off CCAFS. The 

stages reached their intended landing 

spot, but did not survive the landings. 

In no case was public health or safety 

or safety of third party property 

jeopardized. The USAF conducted an 

assessment of the collective risk to 

people on land due to debris from the 

CRS–8 launch and has determined that 

the risks are about half the FAA’s 

current 3 regulatory limit of 30 × 10¥6

EC. 

On September 25, 2006, the FAA 

issued part 417 to amend its commercial 

space transportation regulations 

governing the launch of expendable 

launch vehicles. The FAA requirements 

in part 417 have their genesis in USAF 

range safety requirements. 

In addition to the public risk criteria 

provided in § 417.107(b), flight hazard 

areas were a key element of the 

performance level requirements in 

subpart C of 417 to ensure the safety of 

people on waterborne vessels. 

Specifically, § 417.223(a) states that ‘‘a 

flight safety analysis must include a 

flight hazard area analysis that 

identifies any regions of land, sea, or air 

that must be surveyed, publicized, 

controlled, or evacuated in order to 

control the risk to the public from debris 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
28932 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 90 / Tuesday, May 10, 2016 / Notices 

4For example, the NASA Range Safety Policy 

requirements (NPR8715.5 dated July 8, 2005 in 

paragraph 3.2.6.2) stated that ‘‘an assessment of risk 

to the public and workforce due to debris shall 

account for . . . all potential debris, generated 

intentionally or not, that could cause a casualty, 

including debris that could affect someone on the 

ground or on a waterborne vessel, or cause an 

aircraft accident (Requirement).’’(emphasis added). 

5Risk metrics account for both the probability 

and consequence of foreseeable events. In contrast 

to the relatively sophisticated casualty consequence 

models that must be used to compute individual 

and collective risks according to § 417.107(d), the 

FAA’s current requirements restrict only the 

probability of impact on waterborne vessels with 

only simple threshold values to define what 

constitutes an ‘‘impact.’’ 

6The only known deaths related to launch 

operations at Cape Canaveral were five occupants 

of a helicopter that crashed at sea ‘‘shortly after 2 

a.m., Saturday, April 7, [1984] while flying surface 

surveillance for the scheduled launch of a Trident 

1 missile from the USS Georgia.’’ See Air Force 

News Print Today (Apr. 8, 2011). 

impact hazards. The risk management 

requirements of § 417.205(a) apply.’’ In 

addition to the performance level 

requirements of subpart C of part 417, 

the FAA included several appendices 

on flight safety analysis methods. 

Specifically, Appendix B to part 417, 

paragraph 417.5(a) states that ‘‘a launch 

operator must perform a launch site 

hazard area analysis that protects the 

public, aircraft, and ships from the 

hazardous activities in the vicinity of 

the launch site. The launch operator 

must evacuate and monitor each launch 

site hazard area to ensure compliance 

with §§ 417.107(b)(2) and (b)(3).’’ The 

methodology in Appendix B was 

designed to be consistent with USAF 

range safety requirements in 2006, and 

to ensure that the cumulative 

probability of impact to any ship would 

not exceed 1 × 10¥5 for any debris 

expected to exceed the kinetic energy or 

overpressure thresholds established by 

§ 417.107(c). 

At the time that part 417 was 

promulgated, safety experts at NASA 4

believed that it would be desirable to 

apply collective risk 5 management 

principles to ship safety by including 

persons in waterborne vessels in the EC

calculation. However, the 

computational tools and input data 

available at that time made it 

impractical, and posed significant risks 

to launch operators,6 to quantify the EC

contribution from people in waterborne 

vessels. Specifically, the means to 

survey ship traffic areas potentially 

threatened by launch debris were much 

more limited in the 2006 timeframe as 

explained below. Accordingly, the 

Federal launch ranges and the FAA 

adopted the cumulative probability of 

impact as a surrogate for collective risk 

and relied on a relatively simplistic 

approach involving ship hazard areas. 

Thus, the FAA’s current requirements 

allow launches to proceed with 

unquantified residual collective risks to 

people in waterborne vessels. 

Since 2006, when the part 417 

requirements were promulgated, the 

capability to compute launch risks to 

people on waterborne vessels has 

improved greatly. The U.S. Coast Guard 

now requires in 33 CFR 164.46 that 

waterborne vessels above a certain size 

operate a properly installed and 

approved Automatic Identification 

System (AIS), a ship and shore based 

broadcast system. The AIS, combined 

with other technological advances, now 

makes real-time ship information 

readily available, including the position, 

course, speed, ship size, identity, and 

cargo data. The real-time data on 

waterborne vessels provided by AIS and 

other advanced surveillance techniques, 

combined with advanced computer 

models, now enable valid estimates of 

the individual and collective risks to 

people on waterborne vessels to be 

made during a launch countdown. 

The FAA has assessed the input data 

and probabilistic casualty models that 

the U.S. Air Force at the 45th Space 

Wing (45th SW) will use to quantify 

individual and collective risks to people 

on waterborne vessels during the launch 

countdown for the CRS–8 mission. The 

FAA found that the 45th SW’s public 

risk analyses use accurate data and 

scientific methods that are 

mathematically valid, with reasonably 

conservative assumptions applied in 

areas where significant uncertainty 

exists. For example, the 45th SW uses 

conservative estimates of the number of 

occupants on waterborne vessels by 

assuming that the number of persons on 

board equals the vessel’s maximum 

capacity and that all occupants are ondeck, and thus exposed to debris 

impacts that might not otherwise pose a 

threat to people below deck. 

Additionally, the FAA performed 

independent analyses using alternative 

methods to estimate the casualty risks 

for multiple foreseeable scenarios 

involving debris impacts on various 

types of waterborne vessels in the 

vicinity of Cape Canaveral. The FAA 

found that large passenger vessels 

anywhere between the launch point and 

the first stage disposal zone can 

contribute significantly to the estimated 

EC from the CRS–8 launch. The FAA 

found that small boats (too small to have 

AIS required) located close to the 

launch point should not produce 

significant individual risks, given 

conditions expected in the vicinity of 

Cape Canaveral. Specifically, sufficient 

surveillance with other means (e.g., 

radar, and/or using Coast Guard ships or 

aerial assets) will be used to ensure 

individual risks comply with the FAA 

requirement in § 417.107(b)(2). In 

addition, Notices to Mariners will 

continue to be issued for the areas 

where the probability of impact on a 

ship would exceed 1 × 10¥5, which is 

current practice at the ER, and required 

by §§ B417.3 and B417.11. Since the 

FAA’s current requirements allow 

launches to proceed with unquantified 

residual collective risks to people in 

waterborne vessels, as long as the 

collective risk for people on land from 

each source of hazard (i.e., debris, 

toxics, or distant focusing overpressure) 

does not exceed 30 × 10¥6 EC, and 

because the launch will not exceed the 

30 × 10¥6 EC with the inclusion of 

persons on water borne vessels, the FAA 

finds that the Falcon 9 CRS–8 launch 

will not jeopardize public health and 

safety or safety of property, and waives 

14 CFR 417.107(b)(3) and Appendix B to 

part 417, paragraph 417.5(a)’s 

requirement not to initiate flight absent 

evacuation. 

National Security and Foreign Policy 

Implications 

The USAF conducted an assessment 

of the risk to property on CCAFS, 

including assets used for national 

security space missions, and did not 

identify national security concerns. The 

FAA has identified no national security 

or foreign policy implications associated 

with granting this waiver. 

ii. Public Interest 

The waiver is consistent with the 

public interest goals of Chapter 509 and 

the 2013 National Space Transportation 

Policy. Three of the public policy goals 

of Chapter 509 are: (1) To promote 

economic growth and entrepreneurial 

activity through use of the space 

environment; (2) to encourage the 

United States private sector to provide 

launch and reentry vehicles and 

associated services; and (3) to facilitate 

the strengthening and expansion of the 

United States space transportation 

infrastructure to support the full range 

of United States space-related activities. 

See 51 U.S.C. 50901(b)(1), (2), (4). 

Commercial Space Transportation 

Licensing Regulations, Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, 62 FR 13230 

(Mar. 19, 1997). A successful 

application of public risk management 

for the protection of people in 

waterborne vessels has the potential for 

reducing launch costs. As it is a major 

procurer of launch services, reduced 

launch costs will be of direct benefit to 

the U.S. Government. It will also help 

to make the U.S. launch industry more 

competitive internationally. The 2013 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 90 / Tuesday, May 10, 2016 / Notices 28933 

National Space Transportation Policy 

clearly identifies how strengthening 

U.S. competitiveness in the 

international launch market and 

improving the cost effectiveness of U.S. 

space transportation services are in the 

public interest: ‘‘Maintaining an assured 

capability to meet United States 

Government needs, while also taking 

the necessary steps to strengthen U.S. 

competitiveness in the international 

commercial launch market, is important 

to ensuring that U.S. space 

transportation capabilities will be 

reliable, robust, safe, and affordable in 

the future. Among other steps, 

improving the cost effectiveness of U.S. 

space transportation services could help 

achieve this goal by allowing the United 

States Government to invest a greater 

share of its resources in other needs 

such as facilities modernization, 

technology advancement, scientific 

discovery, and national security. 

Further, a healthier, more competitive 

U.S. space transportation industry 

would facilitate new markets, encourage 

new industries, create high technology 

jobs, lead to greater economic growth 

and security, and would further the 

Nation’s leadership role in space.’’ 

SpaceX’s proposal to apply collective 

risk management to people in 

waterborne vessels is in the public 

interest. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on April 8, 

2016. 

Kenneth Wong, 

Commercial Space Transportation, Licensing 

and Evaluation Division Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2016–09685 Filed 5–9–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Noise Exposure Map Notice; Receipt of 

Noise Compatibility Program and 

Request for Review Boise Air Terminal 

(Gowen Field) Boise, ID 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Noise Exposure Map notice. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) announces its 

determination that the noise exposure 

maps submitted by the City of Boise, ID 

for the Boise Air Terminal (Gowen 

Field), Boise, Idaho under the 

provisions of 40 U.S.C 47501 et seq. 

(Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement 

Act) and 14 CFR 150 are in compliance 

with applicable requirements. The FAA 

also announces that it is reviewing a 

proposed noise compatibility program 

that was submitted for Boise Air 

Terminal (Gowen Field) under Part 150 

in conjunction with the Noise Exposure 

Map, and that this program will be 

approved or disapproved on or before 

October 29, 2016. 

DATES: Effective Date: The effective date 

of the FAA’s determination on the noise 

exposure maps and of the start of its 

review of the associated noise 

compatibility program is May 2, 2016. 

The public comment period ends July 1, 

2016. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Scott Eaton at the Federal Aviation 

Administration, FAA Building, Ste. 2, 

2725 Skyway Drive, Helena, Montana 

59602–1213, Telephone 406–449–5291. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

Notice announces that the FAA finds 

that the Noise Exposure Maps submitted 

for Great Falls International Airport are 

in compliance with applicable 

requirements of Title 14 Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) Part 150, effective 

May 2, 2016. Furthermore, FAA is 

reviewing a proposed noise 

compatibility program for that Airport 

which will be approved or disapproved 

on or before October 29, 2016. This 

notice also announces the availability of 

this Program for public review and 

comment. 

Under 49 U.S.C., Section 47503, 

Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement 

Act (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, and the ways in which such 

operations will affect such maps. The 

Act requires such maps to be developed 

in consultation with interested 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 FAA to be in compliance with 

the requirements of 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 noncompatible uses and prevent the 

introduction of additional noncompatible uses. 

The City of Boise, ID submitted to the 

FAA on December 21, 2015 Noise 

Exposure Maps, descriptions and other 

documentation that were produced 

during the Boise Air Terminal (Gowen 

Field) Airport Part 150 Study conducted 

between September 16, 2014 and 

December 21, 2015. It was requested 

that the FAA review this material as the 

Noise Exposure Maps, as described in 

Section 47503 of the Act, and that the 

noise mitigation measures, to be 

implemented jointly by the airport and 

surrounding communities, be approved 

as a Noise Compatibility Program under 

Section 47504 of the Act. 

The FAA has completed its review of 

the Noise Exposure Maps and 

accompanying documentation 

submitted by the City of Boise, ID. The 

documentation that constitutes the 

‘‘noise exposure maps’’ as defined in 

CFR part 150 Section 150.7 includes: 

Boise Airport 14 CFR part 150 Study 

Update, Updated Noise Exposure Maps, 

Figure 2–1 Existing Condition 

Operations by Aircraft Category, Figure 

2–2 Future Condition Operations by 

Aircraft Category, Figure 3–1 Airport 

Layout, Figure 3–2 Modeled Flight 

Tracks for Runways 9, 10L and 10R, 

Figure 3–3 Modeled Flight Tracks for 

Runways 27, 28L and 28R, Figure 4–1 

Airport Influence Area, Figure 4–2 

Existing Land Use, Figure 4–3 Future 

Land Use, Figure 4–4 Zoning in the 

Vicinity of the Airport, Figure 5–1 2015 

Noise Exposure Map on Existing Land 

Use, Figure 5–2 2020 Noise Exposure 

Map on Existing Land Use, and Figure 

5–3 2020 Noise Exposure Map on 

Future Land Use. The FAA has 

determined that these noise exposure 

maps and accompanying documentation 

are in compliance with applicable 

requirements. This determination is 

effective on May 2, 2016. 

The 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 

CFR part 150. Such determination does 

not constitute approval of the airport 

operator’s data, information or plans, or 

a commitment to approve a Noise 

Compatibility Program or to fund 

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 exposure 

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 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES