HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESO 9543DocuSign Envelope ID: 26675330-188D-49BD-8ED2-8BF8F5509AF8
RESOLUTION NO. 9543
Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palo Alto
Urging the Federal Aviation Administration to
Address Increased Aircraft Noise in Palo Alto, CA
1. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is implementing a transition to
the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to standardize arrival and
departure routes through the use of GPS-based technologies in 21 identified
metroplexes, which are regions with multiple airports serving major metropolitan areas.
2. The Northern California Metroplex includes four commercial airports, San
Francisco International Airport (SFO), Oakland International Airport (OAK), Mineta San
Jose International Airport (SJC) and Sacramento International Airport (SMF).
3. As part of the transition to NextGen, the FAA recently changed the flight
paths followed by commercial aircraft flying into and out of SFO, OAK, and SJC, as well
as other airports in the Northern California Metroplex under a project the FAA calls the
Northern California Optimization of Airspace and Procedures in the Metroplex (NorCal
OAPM).
4. According to the FAA, the NorCal OAPM consists of new procedures and
technologies to establish more direct flight routes intended to significantly improve
safety, efficiency, and reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions.
5. On July 31, 2014, the FAA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact that
NorCal OAPM would not have any significant noise impact on communities and
surrounding areas based on inadequate sound metrics which do not reflect disturbance
on the ground.
6. The noise generated by flights in the Northern California Metroplex is
primarily impacting Santa Clara County residents of Los Gatos, Palo Alto and the
Summit/Skyline area, and to a lesser degree the residents of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills,
Mountain View, and Saratoga. The considerable increase in the number of flights
overhead each day and the lower flight altitudes result in a significant increase in the
amount of aircraft noise experienced on the ground.
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7. As evidenced by the increasing number of complaints received by the City
of Palo Alto City Council and staff, the new routes have created noise impacts that
appear to be far more adverse than those of the former routes for our residents.
8. The number of noise complaints submitted to the SFO Noise Abatement
Office from Palo Alto residents has increased significantly in the last year, as shown in
this table:
May 2014 May 2015 June 2014 June 2015
Complaints 45 1397 60 2733
Complainants 3 318 11 150
The number of complaints from Los Gatos and Summit/Skyline increased from
zero in January/February 2015 to 3553 complaints, from 89 callers, in June 2015.
NOW, THEREFORE the Council of the City of Palo Alto does resolve as follows:
SECTION 1:
A. The City Council requests the FAA immediately mitigate the increased aircraft
noise at ground level in Palo Alto caused by the NorCal OAPM project by identifying all
short-and long-term solutions and the expected timetable for their implementation.
B. The City Council of the City of Palo Alto requests the FAA, as part of the
above analysis of aircraft noise mitigation measures, raise immediately the altitude of all
flight paths over our city, reduce the number of night time flights into SFO, and, as part
of the longer-term solutions, redesign the flight paths within the Northern California
Metroplex so that the noise burden is borne equitably by all communities that benefit
from air travel, and reconfigure the final approach paths so that descent over the bay is
maximized.
C. The City requests that the FAA urge Congress to amend the FAA
Modernization and Reform Act to eliminate the availability of a categorical exclusion
and bar the presumption of no significant affect on the quality of the human
environment that currently apply to navigation performance and area navigation
procedures.
D. The City Council of the City of Palo Alto requests that the Congress of the
United States implement statutory changes to the FAA that require more robust
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community engagement before flight paths are changed, more accurate measures of
noise experienced on the ground, and independent research on the impacts of aviation
noise on health and learning.
E. The City Council of the City of Palo Alto requests that the FAA continue to
meet with community representatives and impacted residents from Palo Alto to discuss
further and address these matters.
SECTION 2: The Council finds that the adoption of this resolution does not meet
the definition of a project under Section 21065 of the California Environmental Quality
Act and, therefore, no environmental review is necessary.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED : August 24, 2015
AYES: BERMAN, BURT, DUBOIS, FILSETH, HOLMAN, KNISS, SCHARFF, SCHMID,
WOLBACH
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT:
ATIEST:
~~/
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
("{;DocuSigned by:
L~A~BB~::r..
City Attorney CITY MANAGER
3
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" .SECURlD
Certificate Of Completion
Envelope Number: 26675330188D49BD8ED28BF8F5509AF8 Status: Completed
Subject: Please DocuSign this document: Reso 9543 Urging FAA to address increased aircraft noise v2.pdf
Source Envelope:
Document Pages: 3
Certificate Pages: 2
AutoNav: Enabled
Envelopeld Stamping: Enabled
Record Tracking
Status: Original
8/27/2015 9:34:18 AM PT
Signer Events
Molly Stump
Molly.Stump@CityofPaloAito.org
City Attorney
City of Palo Alto
Security Level: Email, Account Authentication
(None)
Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure:
Not Offered
ID:
Ed Shikada
ed.shikada@cityofpaloalto.org
ACM
City of Palo Alto
Security Level: Email, Account Authentication
(None)
Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure:
Not Offered
ID:
In Person Signer Events
Editor Delivery Events
Agent Delivery Events
Intermediary Delivery Events
Sharon Hanks
sharon.hanks@cityofpaloalto.org
Secretary to City Attorney
City of Palo Alto
Security Level: Email, Account Authentication
(None)
Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure:
Not Offered
ID:
Signatures: 2
Initials: 0
Holder: Kim Lunt
kimberly.lunt@cityofpaloalto.org
Signature r-;, DocuSigned by:
L~A~ •. ~:.r
Using IP Address: 70.214.5.75
I.DocuSigned by:
Lf£~'
Using IP Address: 67.169.110.203
Signature
Status
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VIEWED
Using IP Address:
Envelope Originator:
Kim Lunt
250 Hamilton Ave
Palo Alto , CA 94301
kimberly.lunt@cityofpaloalto.org
IP Address: 199.33.32.254
Location: DocuSign
Timestamp
Sent: 8/27/2015 9:36:14 AM PT
Viewed: 8/27/2015 9:36:54 AM PT
Signed: 8/27/2015 9:40:19 AM PT
Sent: 8/27/2015 9:40:20 AM PT
Viewed: 8/31/2015 5:54 :49 AM PT
Signed: 8/31/2015 5:55:20 AM PT
Timestamp
Timestamp
Timestamp
Timestamp
Sent: 8/27/2015 9:36:15 AM PT
Completed: 8/31/2015 5:55:20 AM PT