AIRPORT NOISE ABATEMENT PLANNING

This study examines the relationship between airports and surrounding land use and federally supported programs of airport noise abatement studies. Prior to the Noise Abatement Policy of 1976, less attention and financial commitment had been devoted by the federal government to the development by airport proprietors of broader and more comprehensive noise abatement plans. Now, however, the intent of the policy is to significantly reduce the adverse impacts of aviation noise on those impacted and achieve a substantial degree of noise compatibility between airports and their environs. An initial FAA advisory circular, although never officially issued, described a compatibility planning and implementation process for airports. Two problems made the application of this process difficult. Inadequate procedures for citizen participation, and the uncertainty as to what constituted an appropriate objective for the airport environs planning process. The Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ), a program used by the Navy and Air Force, is designed to prevent incompatible development in high choice exposure areas, protect civilian communities from the hazards of aircraft operations, and protect the operational capability of the air installation. This concept was used in a new circular entitled Off-Airport Land Use Planning: Airport-Environs Compatibility Preparation of the compatibility plan will be accomplished through a cooperative effort between the airport sponsor and the local planning agency with input from both airport users and residents of the airport's environs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also set forth its own methodology for conducting aircraft noise impact analysis. This procedure, called the Airport Noise Evaluation Process (AWEP), is described and compared with the FAA's Airport Environs Compatibility Planning.