AIRPORT NOISE ADVISORY PANEL (ANAP) 4 th Quarter, December 15, 2014 3:30 P.M. FINAL MINUTES MEMBERS PRESENT: Airport Board of Trustees General Aviation Pilots/Users Washoe County Citizen Washoe County Department of Comprehensive Planning City of Sparks Citizen Air Cargo Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada FAA Flight Standards District Office Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority The Chamber, Reno Sparks Northern Nevada City of Sparks Community Development FAA/Air Traffic Manager RENO-TAHOE AIRPORT AUTHORITY STAFF: Manager of Planning and Geographic Information Systems Manager of Airport Noise Program Noise Analyst Program Technician MEMBERS ABSENT: Airport Board of Trustees Fixed Base Operators FAA Airport Traffic Control Division City of Reno Community Development City of Reno Citizen Nevada Air National Guard Washoe County Citizen Washoe County Citizen RTIA Airlines Representative Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency Bob Larkin, Chair Gary Baker Allayne Donnelly-Everett Chad Giesinger George Graham William Lawson Frank Lepori Lee Oscar Brian Rivers Lisa Ruggerio Jim Rundle Karl Scribner Daniel Bartholomew Trish Tucker Rick Miller Faith Allen Nat Carasali, Vice Chair Trent Brownlee David Ellsworth Nathan Gilbert Glenn Graves Lt. Col. Anthony Machabee Michael Moreno Yvonne Murphy Capt. Jon Proehl Sienna Reid VACANT SEATS: City of Reno Citizen (2) City of Sparks (2)
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 3:32 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS Allayne Donnelly-Everett, Washoe County Citizen representative, and William Lawson, Hub Station Manager for Amerijet as the new Air Cargo representative, were introduced to the Panel. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made by Lissa Ruggerio, seconded by Karl Scribner, and the Panel approved the minutes from the 3 rd Quarter meeting of September 15, 2014 with no changes. DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF 2015 MEETING SCHEDULE The Panel discussed the proposed 2015 Meeting Schedule: Monday, March 16, 2015 Monday, June 15, 2015 Monday, September 14, 2015 Monday, December 14, 2015 A discussion ensued regarding the necessity to hold four meetings in 2015, especially since the sound insulation program is sun setting. The discussion included what duties and responsibilities were given to the Panel as part of the by-laws and if other duties could be added. It was suggested that only the March and September meetings remain on the schedule and the June and December meetings be called as needed. It was also suggested that Staff continue to send out quarterly information packets to the panel members, regardless of whether or not a meeting is held in that quarter. A motion was made by Lisa Ruggerio, seconded by Allayne Donnelly-Everett and passed by the Panel to approve the March and September meeting dates with the other dates to be scheduled as needed. Staff will continue to send out quarterly information packets to Panel members. QUARTERLY REPORTS: Rick Miller, Noise Analyst, presented the quarterly reports to the Panel. SCHEDULED DAILY DEPARTURES The following flight schedule changes have occurred since June 2014: July (62 departures) U.S. Airways added one (1) non-stop flight to Phoenix, AZ. Page 2
August (61 departments) Southwest Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop flight to Las Vegas, NV. September (55 departures) American Airlines discontinued one (1) nonstop flight to Chicago, IL. American Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX. United Airlines discontinued non-stop service (1) to Houston, TX. American Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop flight to Los Angeles, CA. U.S. Airways discontinued two (2) non-stop flights to Phoenix, AZ. Even though there were a significant number of flights discontinued during September, American Airlines will increase seating capacity in their Reno-Los Angeles market, upgauging from a CRJ-200 to a CRJ-900. The three daily flights will now have 76 seats versus the previous 50 seats. The current quarter is as follows: October (52 departures) 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 departures) Southwest Airlines discontinued non-stop service (1) to Chicago-Midway, IL. American Airlines discontinued one (1) non-stop flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX. Delta Air Lines 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 departures) American Airlines added two (2) non-stop flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX. Volaris added twice-weekly, non-stop service to Guadalajara, MX. United Airlines added seasonal/holiday, non-stop service (1) to Houston- Intercontinental, TX. Delta Air Lines added seasonal/holiday, non-stop service (1) to Minneapolis, MN. U.S. Airways added one (1) non-stop flight to Phoenix, AZ. United Airlines added three (3) non-stop flights to San Francisco, CA A number of the December flights that are being added are seasonal/holiday flights. Future Flight Service of Interest: January: Southwest Airlines will restore weekly, Saturday only non-stop service to Chicago-Midway, IL. February: United Airlines will restore twice-weekly, non-stop service to Houston- Intercontinental, TX. March: Southwest Airlines will increase weekly, non-stop service to daily (1) non-stop service to Chicago-Midway, IL. Delta Air Lines will add 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. CARGO ACTIVITY, RUNWAY USE & NOISE COMPLAINTS There are seasonal upgauges of aircraft by the cargo carriers. Amerijet began service on July 8, 2014 using B767 wide body freighters. They transitioned to B727 s on August 14 and suspended flight operations on September 11. Amerijet will continue to have a presence at the Reno-Tahoe Page 3
International Airport for the trucking portion of its business and will work on building the air freight component of their business in hopes of taking to the air in the future. In regard to aircraft runway usage, wind direction determines which runways are used, as the aircraft take-off and land into the wind. This directly relates to the number of noise complaints that the airport receives from the community members concerned about the change in aircraft location. During the third quarter, the RTIA had a decrease in north flow conditions (27.3%) as compared to second quarter (36.9%) of 2014. However, the 70/30 split was still greater than the historical 80/20 split. Staff presented the noise complaints from the 3rd quarter of 2014 (July, August and September). The total number of noise complaints for 3rd quarter 2014 was down in comparison to the number of complaints in 3rd quarter 2013. The total noise complaints for 3rd quarter 2014 numbered 204, with 44 complaints in July, 67 in August, and 93 in September. In regards to location, the largest percentage of noise complaints came from the Huffaker area. The 186 Huffaker complaints represented 91.2 percent of the quarterly total. The Other area logged in with 5 complaints, which represented 2.5 percent of the quarterly total. The Donner Springs and Sparks areas each had 4 complaints, which each represented 2.0 percent of the quarterly total. The South Hills area had 3 complaints, which represented 1.5 percent of the quarterly total. The Mt. Rose Highway and Virginia City Highlands areas had 1 complaint each, which each represented 0.5 percent of the quarterly total, respectively. There were no complaints from the Double Diamond, Northeast Reno, Smithridge, Stead, or the Virginia Foothills areas. These 204 complaints came from a total of 15 locations (households). Normally there are between 10 and 20 households that turn in noise complaints. There were three main contributing factors to the number of noise complaints received during the 3 rd quarter. These were north flow arrivals, military aircraft operations and helicopter activity mainly from the Nevada Army National Guard based at the Reno-Stead Airport and the search and rescue teams from Fallon. Burning Man air traffic also caused more noise complaints than normal. This was due to the delay in opening the playa runway because of rainy weather conditions. The Championship Air Races event likewise caused a few noise complaints to be generated. Daily commercial airline operations for the 3rd quarter averaged 107 in and out of the airport. The daily cargo operations averaged 12. Of the 204 total noise complaints, 85 percent referred to flights occurring during daytime hours and 15 percent referred to flights occurring during nighttime hours. There has not been much change in the day/night split. Commercial airline carriers had 86 percent of their operations occur during the day and air cargo carriers had 68 percent of their operations occur during the day. (Daytime operations occur between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., while nighttime operations occur between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.) One of the main reasons behind the increase in the number of afternoon noise complaints is because of the north flow air traffic that occurs more frequently during that time. A Panel discussion ensued with respect to noise complaints versus the size of aircraft used by the air cargo carriers. There is a slight up-tick around 5:00 p.m. during the holiday season when FedEx increases the size of its aircraft. After a suggestion from the Panel that staff create an Page 4
annual trend graph for cargo departures, it was decided that this was not necessary as there is minimal change that takes place in the number of cargo departures to warrant such a graph. In response to a question from the Panel, staff explained that military traffic was not a significant element in the submitted noise complaints. Most military aircraft was of the C-130 type. However, the Tack and E Approach military aircraft do cause some noise complaints as they fly in an east-west direction which puts traffic over community areas that normally do not see air traffic. Staff does not anticipate the airlines reverting back to larger aircraft even with the price of fuel going down. In the past four (4) years, the peak quarter of noise complaints came in the third quarter of 2012 from approximately 40 households in the Mountaingate community. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), along with our local Air Traffic Tower personnel, was very active in meeting those individuals about their concerns. The FAA held a public meeting to discuss the flight tracks for the RTIA and how those tracks were determined based on safety and aircraft performance ability. SOUND INSULATION PROGRAM STATUS Trish Tucker, Manager of Airport Noise Program, presented an update on the sound insulation program to the Panel. G & G Specialty Contractors finished up Phase 21.5 in October, one month earlier than scheduled. Staff is currently working on the final change order for Phase 21.5 at this time. Staff will come before the Panel in March 2015 with the post-construction survey and acoustical test results. Close-out of the Phase 21 grant will be completed by early spring 2015. By the end of March 2015, the sound insulation program will be completed. However, Staff anticipates calls for warranty claims and from people interested in the sunset program. At the program s completion, 5,128 (95%) of the eligible homes were noise mitigated. AIRPORT AUTHORITY STAFF ITEMS At the request of Chair Larkin, staff reached out to other airports to find out, from those who have completed noise mitigation programs, what percentage of eligible homes were mitigated and if they have re-tasked their community noise panel with new activities post-program. Of the approximately 60 emails that were sent out requesting information, staff received only 8 responses. The percentage of eligible homes completed in other airport sound insulation programs ranged from 56% to 97%. In regards to additional or alternate foci for community noise groups postprogram, the responses were mixed and very specific to the community in which they reside. In some survey responses, airports made mention of working closely with the jurisdiction(s) surrounding their airport to support acoustical treatment for new development. In light of this information, staff gave a brief description of Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority s (RTAA) process when alerted to new construction or land use changes in areas surrounding the airport. Page 5
Although the RTAA does not have any direct land use, zoning or permitting control, Airport planning staff regularly reviews proposed noise-sensitive developments located in proximity to the airport and underneath the flight paths. Most proposed noise-sensitive developments fall within the City of Reno and the City of Sparks, although some also fall within unincorporated Washoe County. Based on the location of the proposed noise-sensitive development and whether it is a use change of an existing building or a new development, Airport planning staff may make recommendations. In the case of existing buildings, recommendations may include construction analysis and if necessary, incorporation of retrofit measures for noise attenuation. In the case of new buildings, staff may recommend incorporation of noise attenuation construction methods, inclusion of air conditioning systems and/or formal noise disclosures relevant to aircraft overflights. The primary purpose for these condition requests is to ensure that development on land in proximity to the airport and underneath the flight paths is compatible with the continued operations of the airport. Harris, Miller, Miller & Hanson (RTAA s sound insulation noise consultants) suggested that staff put together a one page best practices memorandum that could be given out to homeowners who contact the airport with questions about their noise concerns. It should include suggestions on what the homeowner could do to their home to make it less vulnerable to aircraft noise. In addition, RTAA could partner with HUD and NV Energy to include a list of other possible options that may be open to them. Staff is considering a Part 150 Study update in 2017. The Part 150 will not only look at existing conditions but at future growth within the community. It is anticipated that the ANAP member expertise will be vital to the success of this study. GENERAL COMMITTEE COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & ITEMS FOR FUTURE COMMITTEE MEETINGS None PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. ADJOURNMENT There being no further questions or business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 4:57 p.m. /fma Page 6