Hillsboro Airport Parallel Runway 12L/30R Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment Volume 2 of 2 (Appendices G and I) Prepared for: Federal Aviation Administration Prepared by: For Further Information: Ms. Janell Barrilleaux Ms. Marla Harrison U.S. Department of Transportation Port of Portland Federal Aviation Administration P.O. Box 3529 1601 Lind Ave SW, Suite 315 Portland, OR 97208 Renton, WA 98057 (503) 415-6833 (425) 227-2611 February, 2014 PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK Cover: base map: Google Stock photos: Bigstock.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Hillsboro Airport Parallel Runway 12L/30R Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment Chapter Name Page Volume 1 of 2 1 Introduction and Background 1 2 Approach Used in Preparing the Supplemental Environmental Assessment 5 3 Forecasts 7 a. Original Environmental Assessment/2005 Hillsboro Master Plan Forecast 7 b. New Forecasts 7 4 Project Need and Timing 13 a. Project Need 13 b. Project Timing 15 5 Affected Environment 17 6 Environmental Consequences 25 a. Aircraft Noise and Land Use Compatibility 26 b. Air Quality 28 c. Secondary (Induced) Impacts 31 d. Climate 32 e. Cumulative Impacts 32 Appendix A Court Decision A-1 B Unconstrained Forecasts B-1 C Constrained Forecasts C-1 D Remand Forecasts D-1 E Air Quality Technical Memo E-1 F Port of Portland Hillsboro Airport Lead Study F-1 Volume 2 of 2 G Comments and Responses to Comments Received on Draft Supplemental EA G.1 G.1-1 G.2 G.2-1 G.3 G.3-1 G.4 G.4-1 G.5 G.5-1 G.6 G.6-1 G.7 G.7-1 G.8 G.8-1 G.9 G.9-1 G.10 G.10-1 H Port of Portland Certification H-1 I Notice of Hearing and Availability of the Draft Supplemental EA I-1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Hillsboro Airport Parallel Runway 12L/30R Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment List of Tables Table Number Name Page 3-1 Original (2010) Environmental Assessment/2005 Hillsboro Master Plan Forecast 7 3-2 Forecast Comparison 10 4-1 Forecast Activity and Annual Service Volume (ASV) 14 5-1 Population and Housing Demographics 22 6-1 Comparison of Noise Impacts of New Forecasts 27 6-2 Constrained and Unconstrained Forecasts Emissions Inventory (tons per year) 29 6-3 Constrained and Remand Forecasts Emissions Inventory (tons per year) 30 List of Figures Figure Number Name Page 1-1 Proposed Runway Project 3 3-1 Comparison of the New Forecasts to the 2005 Master Plan Forecasts 10 2010 Environmental Assessment Largest Noise Exposure Contour (with project 5-1 288,300 annual operations) 19 Comments and Responses to Comments Comment File G.1 This Supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared in response to an order by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals remanding the Hillsboro Airport runway approval decision to the FAA for further consideration [655 F.3d 1120 (2011)]. The Court’s mandate was narrowly drawn: FAA was instructed to “consider the environmental impact of increased demand resulting from the HIO expansion project, if any, pursuant to 40 CFR §1508.8(b).” The Court did not require FAA to examine any other issues. Although many comments received after release of the Draft Supplemental EA appear to fall outside the scope of the Ninth Circuit’s remand order, a response is provided. Appendix G contains each of the communications received during the public comment period. Please note that for those commenters that submitted extensive attachments, those attachments have been reviewed and retained by the FAA and Port of Portland. Those documents, which are not included herein, are noted in the responses and any party interested in obtaining copies of the attachments can contact the Port of Portland for an electronic copy. All documents and emails were forwarded to a central location to facilitate preparation of the responses. Because of the size of the electronic files, the letters were separated into nine (9) files (i.e., Comment File G.1 through Comment File G.9). Comment identifiers (i.e., PQ#) begin with several letters that create a unique abbreviation of the commenter’s name or organization, followed by a sequential number indicating the specific comment. These identifiers are found in the margin of the comment letter, and vertical red lines span the lines of the comment that correspond to the individual response. A comment identifier was placed in the right margin of the comment to indicate the corresponding response. Except in the case of the hearing transcript, responses follow the last page of the comment letter. In the case of the hearing transcript, the responses to all commenters follow the last page of the hearing transcript (found in Comment File G.1). These include the following commenters: Comment File G.1 4/17/2013 Andy Duyck (AD#) 4/19/2013 Bill Lennox (BL#) 4/18/2013 Pamela Treece - WEA letter (WEA#) 4/19/2013 #2 Blaine C Ackley (BAE# and BAL#) 4/15/2013 Bryan/Robin Pietz (BP#) Undated Chris & Valeska Arnesen (CVA#) 4/18/2013 Dale Feik (DF#) 4/7/2013 David Nardone (DN#) 4/15/2013 Fred Hostetler (FH#) 4/18/2013 Gary Warren (GW#) 3/25/2013 Greg Driscoll (GD#) April 17, 2013 Public Hearing Transcript Wayne Vanderzanden (WV#) Miki Barnes (MB#) Dan Bloom (DB#) Jack Lettieri (JLt#) Martin Granum (MaG#) Renee Strong (RS#) Megan Granum (MeG#) Bill Stone (BS#) Comment File G.1 Page G.1-1 Larry Altree (LA#) Larry Bird (LB#) Blaine Ackley (BA#) Jim Lubischer (JL#) Jim Lubischer (JL#) David Barnes (DB#) John Southgate (JS#) Miki Barnes (MB#) Ellen Sanders (ES#) Ruth Warren (RW#) Sharon Cornish (SC#) Brian Hannah (BH#) Vernon Mock (VM#) Miki Barnes (MB#) Ruth Warren (RW#) Vernon Mock (VM#) Brian Hannah (BH#) Comment File G.2 4/17/2013 Jim Lubischer Comment File G.3 4/19/2013 Henry Oberhelman 4/17/2013 Howard Radin 4/17/2013 Justin St. Clair 4/18/2013 John Southgate 4/19/2013 Kimberly Culbertson 4/18/2013 Linda Barnfather 4/19/2013 Linda Beall 4/17/2013 G Lynn Hamm May 12, 2013 (sic) Ruth Warren Comment File G.4 4/17/2013 Martin Donohoe 4/17/2013 Martin Granum 4/19/2013 Matthew Radin 4/17/2013 Mona Toms 4/12/2013 Nancy Monroe 4/19/2013 Patrick Conry 4/17/2013 Patrick Dunn 4/17/2013 Patrick Dunn, Constance Rosson 4/14/2013 Steve Gibson 4/12/2013 Walter Hellman Comment File G.5 Undated Blaine C Ackley Comment File G.6 4/19/2013 Sean Malone Comment File G.7 4/15/2013 WB White 4/19/2013 Miki & David Barnes 4/19/2013 Miki Barnes, Oregon Aviation Watch Comment File G.8 Undated Analysis of the “General Aviation Survey Report Summary” by M. Barnes & J. Lubischer Comment File G.9 4/27/2013 Art and Joan Dummer 4/17/2013 OAW Testimony in response to the Hillsboro Airport Parallel Runway Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment 4/17/2013 OAW Testimony (Barnes) Attach1 Williams Comment File G.1 Page G.1-2 Page G.1-3 Response to Andy Duyck 4-17-2013 Comment Form AD1 Comment noted. Comment File G.1 Page G.1-4 Mary Vigilante From: Dowlin, Renee <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 4:54 PM To: Mary Vigilante Subject: Fwd: Hillsboro Runway Expansion Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Bill Lennox <[email protected]> Date: April 19, 2013, 4:51:31 PM PDT To: <[email protected]> Subject: Hillsboro Runway Expansion Renee, I was unable to attend the April 17th public meeting in Hillsboro. I offer the following as my statement. I would like to voice my support of the new third runway at the Hillsboro airport. I have been a resident of Hillsboro for almost 20 years. When I purchased a home, we were very aware that there was an active general aviation airport to our north. We simply looked at the local map. We also drove the general area and were able to see the extent of operations in late 1994. My home is at 1877 SE Walnut St in Hillsboro. It is adjacent to the approach to the crosswind runway, zero two. We do experience some aircraft noise but to be frank the summer noise from the local park is much more of a problem. Being retired Air Force, I have lived on or near busy military airfields with 24 hour operations for 20 plus years. The noise generated by Hillsboro airport is relatively low. Operations are generally not conducted within the quiet hours of 11PM and 7AM. In the past there has been quiet hours noise generated by medical evacuation aircraft (LifeFlight) but I view that as necessary and of benefit to the community. The very vocal minority of Miki Barnes and her associates have been complaining about the airport for many of those years. They have taken every opportunity to protest anything involving the Hillsboro airport. Being vocal, they receive an unfair portion of the news cycle in the local media. I strongly disagree with them. I was at the public meeting in Hillsboro following the air show crash several years ago and made a public statement supporting the air show, the airport and aviation in general. I also stated that aircraft do crash but do so at a much lower rate that automobiles. I also stated that if aviation safety, licensing and maintenance rules were applied to autos, most people would not be driving. I believe Ms Barnes made a rambling statement at that meeting about the great dangers of general aviation daily, opposed the air shows and aviation etc because of the 'danger' involved.