[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17379-17380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-8365]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Approval Noise Compatibility Program for McCarran International 
Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its 
findings on Revision No. 2 to the Approved Noise Compatibility Program 
submitted by Clark County, Nevada for McCarran International Airport 
under the provisions of Title I of the Aviation Safety and Noise 
Abatement Act of 1979 (Public Law 96-193) and 14 CFR Part 150. These 
findings are made in recognition of the description of Federal and non 
federal responsibilities in Senate Report No. 96-52 (1980). On February 
15, 1995, the Associate Administrator for Airports approved the Noise 
Compatibility Program for McCarran International Airport.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the Noise 
Compatibility Program is February 15, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Elisha Novak, Senior Airport Planner, 
Federal Aviation Administration, San Francisco Airports District 
Office, 831 Mitten Road, Burlingame, CA 94010-1303, Telephone: (415) 
876-2528.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces that the FAA has given 
its overall approval of the Noise Compatibility Program for McCarran 
International Airport, effective February 15, 1995.
    Under Section 104(a) of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act 
of 1979 (hereinafter referred to as ``the Act''), 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 non compatible 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 sponsor 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 Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act 
of 1979, 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 
navigable airspace and air traffic control 
[[Page 17380]] responsibilities of the Administrator prescribed by law.
    Specific limitations with respect to FAA's 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 implementation action. A request for Federal 
action or approval to implement specific Noise Compatibility Measures 
may be required. 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 Burlingame, 
California.
    Clark County, Nevada submitted to the FAA on March 9, 1994, the 
Noise Exposure Maps, descriptions, and other documentation produced 
during the Noise Compatibility Planning study conducted from January 
1992 through December 1992. The Noise Exposure Maps were determined by 
the FAA to be in compliance with applicable requirements on August 19, 
1994. Notice of this determination was published in the Federal 
Register on August 31, 1994.
    The study contained a proposed Noise Compatibility Program 
comprised of actions designed for phased implementation by airport 
management and adjacent jurisdictions from the date of study completion 
to, or beyond, the year 1999. It was requested that the FAA evaluate 
and approve this material as a Noise Compatibility Program as described 
in Section 104(b) of the Act. The FAA began its review of the program 
on August 19, 1994 and was required by a provision of the Act to 
approve or disapprove the program within 180 days (other than the use 
of flight procedures for noise control). The Noise Compatibility 
Program was approved by the FAA on February 15, 1995. Failure to 
approve or disapprove such a program within the 180-day period shall be 
deemed to be an approval of such program.
    The submitted revision to the approved program contained twenty two 
proposed actions for noise mitigation on and off the airport. The FAA 
completed its review and determination that the procedural and 
substantive requirements of the Act and FAR part 150 have been 
satisfied. The overall program was approved by the Assistant 
Administrator for Airports effective February 15, 1995.
    Outright approval was granted for twenty (20) of the specific 
program measures. Two (2) measures were disapproved pending receipt of 
additional information. The approved measures included existing flight 
track policies, existing runway use programs, public information 
programs, acquisition of property or aviation easements in noise 
exposure areas of 65-75 dB DNL, establish soundproofing programs, and 
continue redevelopment programs with County, State and other Federal 
agencies. The two measures disapproved pending receipt of additional 
information consisted of (1) use of North Las Vegas Air Terminal for 
general aviation and (2) analyze revising the Oasis Standard Instrument 
Departure (SID) procedure.
    This determination is set forth in detail in a Record of Approval 
endorsed by the Assistant Administrator for Airports on February 15, 
1995. The Record of Approval, as well as other evaluation materials and 
the documents comprising the submittal, are available for review at the 
FAA office listed above and at the administrative offices of Aviation 
Department, Clark County, Nevada.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California on March 23, 1995.
Herman C. Bliss,
Manager, Airports Division, AWP-600, Western-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 95-8365 Filed 4-4-95; 8:45 am]
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