M P090164R2 MITRE PRODUCT Guidance for Noise Screening of Air Traffic Actions Revision 2 Koffi A. Amefia December 2012 The contents of this material reflect the views of the author and/or the Director of the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the Department of Transportation (DOT). Neither the FAA nor the DOT makes any warranty or guarantee, or promise, expressed or implied, concerning the content or accuracy of the views expressed herein. This is the copyright work of The MITRE Corporation and was produced for the U.S. Government under Contract Number DTFAWA-10-C-00080 and is subject to Federal Aviation Administration Acquisition Management System Clause 3.5-13, Rights in Data-General, Alt. III and Alt. IV (Oct. 1996). 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All Rights Reserved. Abstract The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Organization (ATO) established a noise screening process to help determine the need for a detailed noise analysis of air traffic actions. The MITRE Corporation’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) prepared this document to assist the FAA and others involved in proposed air traffic actions. This document is not an absolute step-by-step guide; instead, it provides users with a solid and repeatable approach to noise screening within the regulatory framework of FAA Order 1050.1E, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures. The goal is to provide noise screening techniques to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations. iii Acknowledgements The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in collaboration with The MITRE Corporation’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), published the initial version of this document in July 2009. The authors of this revision acknowledge the prior efforts of Scott D. Carpenter, Stan K. Eshelman, and Jesse A. Baker of Landrum and Brown; Michael Graham formerly of Metron Aviation; Fred Bankert, Angela Signore and Kristy Landry of CAASD; and Ernestine Gatewood and Donna Warren of the FAA. Further, the authors acknowledge the significant contributions of Donna Warren and Terry English of the FAA, and Angela Signore, Anuja Mahashabde, Neal Westlund, Fred Bankert and Gerry Dorfman of CAASD to this revision. iv Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1-1 2 Background 2-1 3 Noise Screening Process 3-2 3.1 Regulatory Framework 3-2 3.2 Process Overview 3-4 4 Potential Users of the Noise Screening Process 4-1 5 Air Traffic Actions Suitable for Noise Screening 5-1 5.1 Examples of Air Traffic Actions 5-1 5.2 Define the Proposed Action 5-2 5.2.1 Primary Actions 5-2 5.2.2 Secondary Actions 5-3 5.2.3 Other Effects 5-4 6 Noise Screening Tools and Tests 6-1 6.1 Noise Screening Tools 6-1 6.1.1 Environmental Pre-Screening Filter 6-2 6.1.2 Operations Test (OPS) 6-2 6.1.3 Traffic Test (TRAF) 6-3 6.1.3.1 Data Requirements 6-4 6.1.3.2 Conducting the TRAF Test (TRAF) 6-4 6.1.3.3 Limitations of the Traffic Test (TRAF) 6-7 6.1.4 Lateral Movement Test (LAT) 6-7 6.1.4.1 Data Requirements 6-7 6.1.4.2 Conducting the Lateral Movement Test (LAT) 6-7 6.1.4.3 Limitations of the Lateral Movement Test (LAT) 6-9 6.1.5 Altitude/Operations Test (A/O) 6-9 6.1.5.1 Data Requirements 6-9 6.1.5.2 Conducting the Altitude/Operations Test (A/O) 6-10 6.1.5.3 Limitations of the Altitude/Operations Test (A/O) 6-12 6.1.6 RNAV Overlay Test (RNVO) 6-12 6.1.6.1 Data Requirements 6-13 v 6.1.6.2 Conducting the RNAV Overlay Test (RNVO) 6-14 6.1.6.3 Limitations of the RNAV Overlay Test (RNVO) 6-15 6.1.7 TARGETS Noise Plug-in 6-15 6.1.8 Noise Screening Tool (NST)/Aviation Environmental Screening Tool (AEST) 6-16 6.2 Air Traffic Actions and Corresponding Tests 6-16 7 List of References 7-1 Appendix A Data Collection A-1 A.1 Average Annual Day Data A-1 A.1.1 Flight Operations A-1 A.1.2 Flight Tracks A-2 A.1.3 Flight Profiles A-3 A.1.4 Runway Use Data A-3 A.2 Other Relevant Data A-4 A.2.1 Noise Sensitive Locations A-4 A.2.2 Terrain Data A-5 A.3 Radar Track Data A-5 A.3.1 Radar Track Data for Noise Screening A-5 A.3.1.1 Flight Operations A-7 A.3.1.2 Flight Tracks A-10 A.3.1.3 Flight Profiles A-12 A.3.3 Radar Track Data for Noise Modeling A-15 A.4 Other Resources A-16 Appendix B Examples of Noise Screening Tests B-1 B.1 Example of Operations Test (OPS) B-1 B.2 Example of the Traffic Test (TRAF) B-2 B.3 Example of the Lateral Movement Test (LAT) B-5 B.4 Example of the Altitude/Operations Test (A/O) B-6 B.5 Example of RNAV Overlay Test (RNVO) B-7 Appendix C Glossary C-1 vi List of Figures Figure 3-1. Noise Screening Process 3-4 Figure 6-1. TRAF Test Spreadsheet Tool 6-6 Figure 6-2. LAT Test At/Below 3,000 feet AGL 6-8 Figure 6-3. LAT Test Above 3,000 feet AGL 6-8 Figure 6-4. A/O Test At/Below 3,000 feet AGL 6-11 Figure 6-5. A/O Test Between 3,001 feet AGL and 7,000 feet AGL 6-11 Figure 6-6. A/O Test Between 7,001 feet AGL and 10,000 feet AGL 6-12 Figure 6-7. RNAV/RNP Overlay of a Conventional Route or Procedure 6-13 Figure 6-8. RNVO Test 6-15 Figure A-1. Illustration of Tracks in TARGETS A-7 Figure A-2. Illustration of Track Table View in TARGETS A-8 Figure A-3. Illustration of Track Table View Export in TARGETS A-9 Figure A-4. Illustration of Backbone and Subtracks A-10 Figure A-5. Illustration of Route Width Using TARGETS Backbone Builder Tool A-11 Figure A-6. Radar Track Data Shown in TARGETS A-12 Figure A-9. Random Selection of 90 Radar Track Data Dates A-15 Figure B-1. Annual Operations for ABQ B-1 Figure B-2. TRAF Test Spreadsheet Tool B-4 Figure B-3. LAT Test At/Below 3,000 feet AGL B-5 Figure B-4. A/O Test At/Below 3,000 feet AGL B-6 Figure B-5. RNVO Test B-7 vii List of Tables Table 3-1. Noise Screening Change Thresholds 3-3 Table 5-1. Data Requirements 5-3 Table 6-1. OPS Test for the Airport of Interest 6-3 Table 6-2. TRAF Test for Departure Routes or Procedures 6-5 Table 6-3. TRAF Test for Arrival Routes or Procedures 6-5 Table 6-4. Noise Screening Tests and Sequence 6-17 Table A-1. Sample FIPS Codes A-4 Table A-2. Noise Subject Area Resources A-16 Table A-3. Aircraft Types by TRAF Test Category A-17 Table B-1. OPS Test Results for ABQ B-2 Table B-2. TRAF Test for Arrival Routes B-3 viii 1 Introduction This document provides an overview of the noise screening process and general guidance on how to conduct a noise screening assessment for a pending air traffic action. The noise screening process can be used to determine the potential for noise impacts related to most air traffic actions. The guidance provided conforms to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order 1050.1E, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures [1] which outlines the agency’s policies and procedures for complying with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) [2] and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations [3]. Consistent with NEPA and the CEQ regulations, FAA adjusts the level of environmental analysis to the expected level of impact of a proposed action. For example, FAA Order 1050.1E contains a list of air traffic actions which normally do not result in significant impacts to the environment (Categorical Exclusion [CATEX]) and therefore, do not require the preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). One of the requirements for a CATEX determination is to ensure that there are no extraordinary circumstances as defined in FAA Order 1050.1E.