A Report to the
Clearwater City Commission
On the Progress of
the Pinellas County Noise Abatement Task Force
The St.
Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport is currently facing several
significant issues, including Noise Abatement, Runway Extension and
Airport Expansion. These issues are related, but
separate. Therefore, this report does
not deal with Runway Extension and Airport Expansion, as they are
outside the scope of the current mission of the Task Force. The intent of
this report is to briefly outline the steps taken by the Task Force, the
Airport (PIE) and the County to address public concerns regarding aircraft
noise in neighborhoods.
The Noise Abatement
Task Force was established by the Board of County Commissioners
via
Resolution 02-151 on
August 20, 2002, and
first met on 2/26/03. Its mission was to address noise
concerns generated by
aircraft landing and departing from St. Petersburg-Clearwater
International Airport. Additional
meeting dates were 5/28/03, 8/27/03, 10/16/03, and 11/19/03. There was no
meeting in December. Meetings are
scheduled in
2004 on 1/28, 2/25, 3/31, 4/28, 5/26,
6/30, 7/28, 8/25, 9/2/10/27,
and 12/1. All meetings are held at PIE, in Conference Room 234 at
3:00 P.M.
Neighborhood
residents and Task Force members have identified their concerns regarding
aircraft noise, four of which are:
1) Altitude of
aircraft over neighborhoods
2) Flight path over
neighborhoods
3) Noise levels
over neighborhoods
4) Lack of sanctions
for violating noise abatement procedures
The following
breakdown briefly describes steps underway to address those four main
areas of concern:
1) Altitude of
aircraft over neighborhoods
Highlights of
actions taken:
a. PIE has met with
the Chief of Air Traffic Control and Terminal Radar Approach
Control-TRACON
Manager) in Tampa, and all controllers in the area, to attempt to improve
Noise Abatement Procedures and to add
additional aircraft to those covered by Noise Abatement
Procedures. PIE reports Air Traffic
Control is open to improving procedures. (Currently, aircraft
under 60,000 pounds, and corporate and
military aircraft, are exempt from Noise Abatement
Procedures per FAA regulations). PIE is also looking at voluntary'
compliance from corporate and
military aircraft.
b. Military aircraft
are under direct control of the FAA and Air Traffic Control, who are
working with the military to mitigate
noise issues. PIE has worked with the military to reduce night
practices by spreading them out over
multiple airports. Additionally, Blackhawk helicopters have
recently' acquired
specific gear that allows them
to practice over water instead of over land.
c. Discussion is underway with the FAA on
raising the ceiling of flights taking off and landing at PIE so that
aircraft would be at a higher altitude over noise sensitive neighborhoods.
Because of the high level of traffic from St. Petersburg-Clearwater
Airport, Tampa International Airport, MacDill Air Force Base, and other
smaller airports, this complex issue requires a tremendous amount of
coordination regarding altitudes.
2)
Flight path over neighborhoods
Highlights of
actions taken:
a. The airport
is
in discussion with
the FAA regarding a GPS approach for Runway 17L. Currently,
Noise Abatement
Procedures are only applicable to flights during daylight hours and good
weather. A
GPS
approach would allow Noise Abatement
Procedures to be in effect in darkness
and bad weather, which would' help keep
flight traffic away from noise sensitive areas.
b. Task Force member
Tim Robinson, from Pinellas Park, submitted text and charts for suggested
flight paths
south of the airport. PIE has taken these suggestions under consideration.
This would
affect arrivals from the south, and would be a charted visual (like the
North Bay Visual) rather than a GPS
approach.
3)
Noise levels in neighborhoods
Highlights of
actions taken:
a. Background: Current
reporting of noise levels is in the format of a yearly weighted average
(i.e. a penalty or increase of 10db
is added to night noise level), which residents feel can be
statistically very misleading.
Residents don't see how data on yearly averages reflect what they hear on
a daily basis. In response to this criticism, County Environmental
Management staff were positioned
at designated sites taking noise readings in neighborhoods under flight
paths at times when aircraft were present, and collected real time
noise levels. However, that noise
monitoring was limited and temporary.
Action: The County is
considering hiring a consultant to complete a more sophisticated and
comprehensive noise study to determine where the noise is happening and
how loud it is, and
then evaluate the
information. A draft outlining the scope of the noise measurement project,
including a
map of the proposed monitoring sites, will be presented at the January,
2004 meeting as requested by Task Force member John Padavich.
b. See 2.a above.
c. Negotiations are
underway with between PIE and UPS and ATA (the only two carriers with
flights still
in the quiet window of l 1 PM to 6 AM) to effect schedule changes.
d. New air carrier
agreements will include language that flights must operate outside the
quiet window.
The airport is
working with the commanders of the Army Reserve and Coast Guard to modify
their
procedures to reduce noise in the quiet window.
4) Lack of sanctions for carriers violating
noise abatement procedures Highlights of actions taken:
a)
Language is being added to carrier operating agreements so he airport will
have some contractual remedy for violations.
b)
The airport is distributing information to chief pilots so that they fully
understand what they should be doing in regard to noise abatement.
c)
The airport will let customers (the public) know which carriers are not
being good corporate' neighbors (those violating Noise Abatement
Procedures).
Additionally, a flight tracking web site, one
of only 11 in the nation, is up and running. When it is running in
"Current" mode, it is almost real time, with only a 10-minute delay. In
this mode, you can choose an aircraft moving across the screen, and click
on a specific aircraft to get its type of aircraft and altitude at that
time. An hour later, or up to three months later, you can use Replay mode
to enter the date and time to get information about a specific aircraft,
including place or origination and destination. There is also a link to
report problems via the web. Military missions are currently excluded from
flight tracking because of security concerns, although there are
discussions to include some missions if the military approves. The URL for
the airport monitor website is
http://www4.passur.com/pie.html .
PIE is looking at best practices at airports
across the nation that are enforcing noise abatement procedures. An
example would be Logan Airport, which also has noise monitors in
neighborhoods. A report will be distributed to the Task Force at its
January, 2004 meeting
In conclusion, the Task Force believes the
County and the Airport are carefully: listening to the residents and
members of the Task Force, and are working in good faith to find solutions
to excessive aircraft se in neighborhoods. The Task Force realizes that
this is a complex problem and solutions won't come overnight (example: GPS
approach normally takes 18-24 months to develop;' PIE is hiring a
consultant to help expedite process by 3-6 months.)
While writing this report, I contacted Task
Force representatives from Safety Harbor (John Padavich), Pinellas Park
(Tim Robinson) and Del Oro Groves (J. B. Johnson and Lucile'Casey). They
report there has been little change in the excessive aircraft noise in
their neighborhood, and feel there is much work yet to be done.' However,
the prevailing opinion is that the Task Force, Airport, and County are
headed in the right direction and the Task Force attitude is positive that
change will come about in time.
Respectfully submitted,
Saundra Curry
City
of Clearwater Representative to the Noise Abatement Task Force January 15,
2004
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