AIRPORT NOISE ADVISORY PANEL (ANAP) 1st Quarter, March 16, :30 P.M. FINAL MINUTES. City of Reno Community Development

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1 AIRPORT NOISE ADVISORY PANEL (ANAP) 1st Quarter, March 16, :30 P.M. FINAL MINUTES MEMBERS PRESENT: Airport Board of Trustees Washoe County Citizen City of Reno Community Development City of Sparks Citizen Fixed Base Operators RTIA Airlines Representative Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency City of Sparks Community Development FAA/Air Traffic Manager RENO-TAHOE AIRPORT AUTHORITY STAFF: Vice President of Planning, Engineering & Env. Mgmt. Manager of Airport Noise Program Noise Analyst Program Technician MEMBERS ABSENT: Airport Board of Trustees General Aviation Pilots/Users FAA Airport Traffic Control Division Washoe County Department of Comprehensive Planning City of Reno Citizen Air Cargo Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada Washoe County Citizen FAA Flight Standards District Office Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority The Chamber, Reno Sparks Northern Nevada Bob Larkin, Chair Allayne Donnelly-Everett Nathan Gilbert George Graham Tiffany Morris Capt. Jon Proehl Sienna Reid Jim Rundle Karl Scribner Jamie McCluskie Trish Tucker Rick Miller Faith Allen Nat Carasali, Vice Chair Gary Baker David Ellsworth Chad Giesinger Glenn Graves William Lawson Frank Lepori Yvonne Murphy Lee Oscar Brian Rivers Lisa Ruggerio VACANT SEATS: City of Reno Citizen (2) City of Sparks (2) Washoe County (1) Nevada Air National Guard (1) CALL TO ORDER The Airport Noise Advisory Panel (ANAP) met in the River Room in the Main Terminal of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, Reno, Nevada. Chairman Bob Larkin called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

2 PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS No new panel members APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made by George Graham, seconded by Karl Scribner, and the Panel approved the minutes from the 4th Quarter meeting of December 15, 2014 with no changes. REVISION TO APPROVE SEPTEMBER 2015 MEETING DATE Motion was made by Karl Scribner, seconded by Nathan Gilbert, and the Panel approved changing the meeting date of September 14, 2015 to September 21, QUARTERLY REPORTS: Rick Miller, Noise Analyst, presented the quarterly reports to the Panel. SCHEDULED DAILY DEPARTURES The following flight schedule changes have occurred since September 2014: October (52) United Airlines discontinued one (1) seasonal non-stop flight to Denver, CO. United Airlines discontinued one (1) seasonal non-stop flight to San Francisco, CA. Alaska Airlines discontinued one (1) seasonal non-stop flight to Seattle, WA. November (48) Southwest Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop service to Chicago- Midway, IL. American Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX. Delta Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop flight to Salt Lake City, UT. United Airlines discontinued two (2) non-stop flights to San Francisco, CA. Alaska Airlines added one (1) non-stop flight to Seattle, WA. December (57) American Airlines added two (2) non-stop flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX. Volaris Airlines added twice weekly, one (1) non-stop service to Guadalajara, MX. United Airlines added seasonal/holiday, one (1) non-stop service to Houston- Intercontinental, TX. Delta Airlines added seasonal/holiday, one (1) non-stop service to Minneapolis, MN. US Airways added one (1) non-stop flight to Phoenix, AZ. United Airlines added three (3) non-stop flights to San Francisco, CA. As was mentioned at the last meeting, Staff is attempting to keep the Panel up-to-date with the current operations as well as summarizing the past quarter statistics. The current quarter is as follows: January (52) Southwest Airlines resumed one (1) Saturday only non-stop service Chicago-Midway, IL. Southwest Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop flight to Denver, CO. United Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop service to Houston, TX. Southwest discontinued one (1) non-stop flight to Los Angeles, CA. Delta Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop service to Minneapolis, MN. US Airways discontinued one (1) non-stop Page 2

3 flight to Phoenix, AZ. United Airlines discontinued one (1) seasonal non-stop flight to San Francisco, CA. February (54) American Airlines discontinued one (1) weekend only non-stop flight to Dallas, TX. United Airlines added one (1) weekend only non-stop service to Houston- Intercontinental, TX. US Airways added one (1) non-stop flight to Phoenix, AZ. United Airlines added one (1) non-stop flight to San Francisco, CA. March (55) Southwest Airlines resumed daily one (1) non-stop service to Chicago- Midway, IL. Southwest Airlines added one (1) non-stop flight to Denver, CO. Delta Airlines added one (1) non-stop flight to Salt Lake City, UT. It is not uncommon for airlines to add and discontinue flights depending on the season and passenger demand. Future Flight Service of Interest: April: On April 8, Southwest Airlines will add one (1) daily non-stop flight to Los Angeles, CA. May: On May 7, American Airlines will add one (1) daily non-stop flight to Dallas, TX. On May 23, Delta Airlines will resume weekly, Saturday only non-stop service to Minneapolis, MN. On May 28, Jet Blue will begin offering a daily one (1) non-stop service between Reno and New York City, NY (John F. Kennedy International Airport) June: On June 4, American Airlines will add one (1) daily non-stop flight to Los Angeles, CA. December: On December 19, Thomas Cook Airlines will begin offering twice weekly seasonal non-stop flights between Reno and London/Gatwick, UK. CARGO ACTIVITY, RUNWAY USE & NOISE COMPLAINTS No significant changes in the cargo flight operations. The overall schedule has not changed. There are occasional fluctuations in the type of aircraft that are used by the carriers. In regard to aircraft runway usage, wind direction determines which runways are used, as the aircraft take-off and land into the wind. It is typically during the fourth quarter of the year that the air flow conditions tend to reflect the historical average, with an 80/20 split. Staff presented the noise complaints from the 4th quarter of 2014 (October, November and December). The total number of noise complaints for 4th quarter 2014 had increase in comparison to the number of complaints in 4th quarter The total noise complaints for 4th quarter 2014 numbered 106, with 60 complaints in October, 28 in November, and 18 in December. In regards to location, the largest percentage of noise complaints came from the Huffaker area. The 89 Huffaker complaints represented 84.0 percent of the quarterly total. The Other area logged 7 complaints, which represented 6.6 percent of the quarterly total. The Sparks area had 6 complaints, which represented 5.7 percent of the quarterly total. The Stead area had 2 complaints, which represented 1.9 percent of the quarterly total. The Mt. Rose Highway and Northeast Reno areas both had 1 complaint, which each represented 0.9 percent of the quarterly total, respectively. There were no complaints from the Donner Springs, Double Diamond, Smithridge, South Hills, Virginia City Highlands, or the Virginia Foothills areas. Page 3

4 These 106 complaints came from a total of 12 locations (households) with a majority originating from one household. The number of households with noise complaints during the 4 th quarter timeframe has stayed fairly consistent over the past few years. There were no significant anomalies for the fourth quarter. Outside of complaints due to regular operations, including north flow arrivals, some of the comments were related to military and helicopter activities. Daily commercial airline operations for the 4th quarter averaged 92 (arrival and departure total). The daily cargo operations averaged 13 (arrival and departure total). Of the 106 total noise complaints, 93 percent referred to flights occurring during daytime hours and 7 percent referred to flights occurring during nighttime hours. The percentage of nighttime complaints was significantly lower than previous quarters. It normally mirrors the percentage of nighttime cargo operations. Commercial airline carriers had 85 percent of their operations occur during the daytime hours and air cargo carriers had 73 percent of their operations occur during the daytime hours. (Daytime operations are defined as between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., while nighttime operations are defined as between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.) The number of complaints versus the number of operations was greatest between the hours of noon and 2:00 p.m. This is not surprising as the American Airlines MD80, which departs during this time, is one of the noisier aircraft. A question was posed from the Panel regarding a recent media report that the Reno-Tahoe Airport recorded the busiest cargo month in the airport s history in December Staff noted that this specifically related to pounds of cargo handled by an increase of flights and larger aircraft being operated during the holiday season. Currently, as we see increases in cargo activity, it is being accommodated as needed by an upgauge in aircraft, not increases in the number of flights. A second Panel member reported that American Airlines will begin phasing out its MD80s in 2016 with plans to have them completely out of service by However, Allegiant Air will still continue to utilize the MD80s. SOUND INSULATION PROGRAM STATUS Trish Tucker, Manager of Airport Noise Program, presented an update on the sound insulation program to the Panel. Staff sent out the survey results from the Sound Insulation Program s last phase of construction (Phase 21.5) in the meeting information packets. Overall, the feedback from homeowners and tenants was excellent. Staff has addressed and completed any item that needed follow-up work done. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has agreed to allow the RTAA to donate the surplus materials that have been put in storage during the course of the program. Staff is currently working with a local charter school to make this happen. The Academy for Career Education (ACE), located on Airport Authority property, has a program which allows its students to build mini houses using various materials. ACE is interested in using the sound insulation program s leftover materials to help with this annual, student project. Staff will report back to the Panel if this is approved. The Grant 21 administrative close-out work should be completed by early spring. In addition, the RTAA s website has been updated to show that the Sound Insulation Program has sunset. Page 4

5 JURISDICTIONAL NOISE SENSITIVE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS At the request of the Panel, Staff presented information with regard to noise-sensitive development proposals that have been reviewed and responded to by the RTAA s Planning Department. The RTAA reviews development proposals from the City of Reno, the City of Sparks, and Washoe County. However, not all of the reviews are noise related. During 2014, Staff actually reviewed very few proposals with potential noise concerns. Staff reviews any proposal, whether it s for new construction or a change in usage to an existing structure, that lies within the 65 db DNL contour, the 80 db Lmax contour, or any proposal that comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for potential noise concerns. Staff specifically discussed the few development proposals, related to noise, that the Planning Department found a need to address in In the future, Staff will present this information in six-month intervals (March & September). AIRPORT AUTHORITY STAFF ITEMS As discussed at last quarter s meeting, Staff has created a Residential Noise Mitigation Best Practices guide that gives suggestions on how to noise mitigate a home. At the meeting, a draft of the guide was disseminated to Panel members, along with HUD and NV Energy flyers and publications addressing residential energy-efficiency recommendations. This packet of documents will be sent out to homeowners who contact the RTAA with questions or requests for information on noise mitigation. Once the Best Practices brochure is finalized, it will also be placed on the RTAA s website. Staff reported that the RTAA s website was recently updated to include information on Preferential Runway Use and Aircraft Overflights. A copy of that information was also handed out to the Panel members. This information will help to educate the community on runway usage as well as on the aircraft overflights in the area. A brief discussion ensued regarding aircraft over the community. Panel questioning sparked a dialogue about how the mountainous terrain surrounding the Reno/Sparks area has a bearing on aircraft flight patterns as they relate to arrivals and departures. This included a conversation on NextGen satellite landing procedures, which are not only being flown locally but throughout the country. As discussed at previous meetings, not all aircraft are capable of flying NextGen procedures. These satellite procedures allow pilots to arrive and depart airports more predictably and more efficiently. This predictability means more concentration of flight tracks farther out from the airport than in years past. However, these concentrations of flight tracks have not negatively impacted the existing noise contour at RTIA. GENERAL COMMITTEE COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & ITEMS FOR FUTURE COMMITTEE MEETINGS None PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. Page 5

6 ADJOURNMENT There being no further questions or business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 4:23 p.m. /fma Page 6