CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
7/10/2023
1 SUBJECT:
Consideration of Forming a City Council Ad-Hoc Subcommittee Regarding Aircraft Noise Issues and FAA Civil Aviation Noise Policy Review
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
1) Consider establishing a City Council Ad-Hoc Subcommittee of two Councilmembers related to aircraft noise issues;
2) If established, specify the purpose of the Ad-Hoc Subcommittee, and appoint two Councilmembers.
3) Authorize the City Manager to submit a comment letter to the FAA on the Civil Aviation Noise Policy Review as recommended by the Ad Hoc Subcommittee prior to the comment period deadline of July 31, 2023.
STAFF CONTACT:
Kevin Woodhouse, City Manager
650-738-7409
[email protected]
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
At the regular meeting of the City Council held on June 26, 2023, during Council Communications, Councilmember Boles provided a brief report out from her role as a liaison to the SFO Community Roundtable (SFO-RT) regarding the SFO-RT’s discussion and actions in response to the FAA’s review of aircraft noise policy. Councilmember Boles requested the City Manager place an item on the agenda for the City Council to consider whether or not to form a City Council Ad Hoc Subcommittee Regarding Aircraft Noise to consist of two Councilmembers.
The purpose for the Ad-Hoc Subcommittee is to work with concerned residents to compose a comment letter to the FAA on the review of the Civil Aviation Noise Policy that addresses Pacifica’s specific concerns related to aircraft noise issues. The Ad-Hoc Subcommittee may also incorporate information from Brisbane, who is similarly impacted by aircraft noise issues specific to departures. The Ad-Hoc Subcommittee members will finalize the comment letter with the City Manager for the Mayor’s signature and submission to the FAA by the close of the public comment period on July 31, 2023.
Background information relevant to the Council’s consideration of this item is provided below.
SFO Community Roundtable
Pacifica was one of the first members of the San Francisco International Airport Community Airport Roundtable (SFO-RT) and has been an active participant since its inception in 1981. The SFO-RT’s purpose is “to develop, evaluate, and implement reasonable and feasible policies, procedures, and mitigation actions that will further reduce the impacts of aircraft noise in neighborhoods and communities in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties” (SFO-RT MOU).
Councilmember Boles is the current Council liaison to the SFO-RT, and Mayor pro Tem Vaterlaus services as the alternate representative. The City does not have staff resources to support the Councilmember’s role in the SFO-RT. Due to staff resource limitations, aircraft Pacifica City Council 2
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noise issues currently are handled directly by the City Manager, including preparation of reports and letters.
Public Comment Period on FAA Civil Aviation Noise Policy Review The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiated a review of the Civil Aviation Noise Policy (DOCKET #FAA-2023-0855) following feedback in the Neighborhood Environmental Survey, which was conducted with residents in the vicinity of 20 US airports from 2012 - 2014. The Neighborhood Environmental Study showed that a higher percentage for people were “highly annoyed” by aircraft noise across all levels of noise exposure studied. The Civil Aviation Noise Policy sets forth how the FAA analyzes, explains, and publicly presents changes in noise exposure from aviation activity.
The FAA has invited public comments from interested individuals, entities, and other parties to review four key considerations of its Civil Aviation Noise Policy. The FAA is reviewing:
1. Research on the effects of exposure to aviation noise, including the correlation of exposure to aviation noise with adverse health impacts, economic impacts, and annoyance;
2. Its standard noise metric that describes exposure to aircraft noise and potential revisions to the choice of standard metrics;
3. Its definition of the threshold of significant noise exposure;
4. The level of aircraft noise exposure below which land uses are considered “normally compatible” with airport operations, including consideration of criteria for application of noise mitigation measures to address adverse noise exposure.
The FAA requests commenters identify the number of each question to which a response is submitted (comments are not limited to these categories):
1. Vehicle Type (e.g., fixed wing, rotor wing, supersonic, drones)
2. Operations (e.g., takeoff, landing, circuits)
3. DNL
4. Averaging
5. Decision-making noise metrics
6. Communication
7. NEPA/Land Use Noise Thresholds
8. FAA Noise Thresholds Using Single-Event or Operational Metrics
9. FAA Noise Thresholds for Low-Frequency Events
10. Miscellaneous (other issues FAA should consider)
11. Literature Review
At the June 7, 2023 meeting of the SFO Roundtable, the members considered a draft document (Attachment A) to provide comments from the SFO Roundtable in response to the FAA’s request for public input on their Noise Policy. This chance to communicate directly to the FAA at their request about their Noise Policy has been characterized as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The SFO Roundtable encouraged individual cities and their City Councils to also file comments on the FAA Noise Policy to address their constituents’ concerns in addition to the concerns communicated by the SFO Roundtable. The comment period runs from May 1, 2023 - July 31, 2023.
Scope of Work of Ad Hoc Subcommittee
It is anticipated that this Ad Hoc Subcommittee would consist of less than a quorum of the Council, would be limited in scope and have a limited duration, and therefore it would not be Pacifica City Council 3
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considered a legislative body under the Brown Act. Should the Council decide to form this Ad Hoc Subcommittee, the Council should discuss and define the limited scope of work and duration of the subcommittee. Based on Councilmember Bole’s comments, the scope and purpose of this Ad Hoc Subcommittee will be to gather information from concerned members of the public and contact the City of Brisbane to identify common-ground aircraft noise issues above and beyond the scope of the SFO Roundtable response to FAA and to recommend a draft City of Pacifica comment letter to the FAA’s request for comments on the Review of the Civil Aviation Noise Policy. The Ad Hoc Subcommittee will provide a draft comment letter to the City Manager to finalize for submission to the FAA prior to the close of the comment period on July 31, 2023.
Ad Hoc Subcommittee Membership
In order to avoid Brown Act violations regarding Council communications, the City Attorney recommends that the City Council appoint Councilmember Boles, since she is the appointee to the SFO-RT, and Mayor Bigstyck since he will likely be signing the comment letter on the City’s behalf. This way if there is a direct line of communication between the SFO-RT and the Ad Hoc Subcommittee, any coordination would still consist of less than a quorum of the City Council, thus avoiding potential Brown Act violations.
ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:
Do not form an Ad Hoc Committee at this time, and continue to work through the SFO-RT and advocate City positions directly to the FAA and the airports.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
ORIGINATED BY:
City Manager's Office
ATTACHMENT LIST:
Attachment A: Draft SFO Roundtable Comment Letter To FAA (PDF)