Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Feds to review flight paths as Bay Area noise complaints take off

Jon Zweig looks at an airplane tracking program in his house in Palo Alto, California, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. 



Palo Alto resident Jon Zweig, 67, can identify just about every plane that flies overhead — and not because he’s an aviation buff.

Flyovers have gotten so loud and frequent above his two-story home on a leafy street west of Highway 101 that they all but force him to turn his attention skyward, where he’s come to learn the makes and models of many jets.

“What do we have here?” asked the retired doctor one afternoon this week, after being interrupted by what he discerned was the whistle of an Airbus A320. “It’s really loud. It makes a noise like blowing over a bottle. I find the sound physically painful — like fingernails on a blackboard.”

It hasn’t always been this way. But over the past year, the Federal Aviation Administration has launched a major modernization of the nation’s air traffic control systems, resulting in new flight paths in and out of Bay Area airports.

Some people may be noticing less noise in recent months. But thousands of others like Zweig between Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, blame the high-tech change for putting more rumbling planes above their homes — and they’re not happy.

In a small victory for these residents, the FAA this week agreed to review the rerouted flights. The agency, however, stopped short of promising changes, leaving residents uncertain of whether their once quiet neighborhoods will remain drowned in the buzz of jets, which could affect their health and home values.

“It’s a good first step,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democrat representing Palo Alto, who worked with Rep. Sam Farr, D-Monterey, and Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, to draw the federal government’s attention to the noise.

She said she’ll push for more specifics about what steps the FAA will take and when. “My constituents deserve to know exactly what the plan is,” Eshoo said.

The FAA’s traffic-control project, known as NextGen, is an effort to guide planes more precisely, saving time and fuel and boosting safety. The program subs out older, ground-based navigation systems in favor of satellite technology.

NextGen has rolled out in a few parts of the country, including airports in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento late last year. While the FAA’s preliminary review anticipated no “significant noise impact” for Northern California, complaints in the region have skyrocketed.

The latest tally for San Francisco International Airport, from August, counted 62,391 noise complaints — compared to just 824 during the same month last year. Prior months also showed spikes, with the bulk of protest coming from Los Gatos, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Palo Alto.

SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said there haven’t been major shifts in flight patterns, just “multiple, incremental” changes that may be putting planes either above new areas or slightly closer to the ground.

Airport officials, who are at the mercy of the federal government when it comes to flight plans, have followed up on complaints in Palo Alto and points south. They say that while there may be more noise, it hasn’t exceeded the acceptable standard: 65 decibels on a weighted average over 24 hours.

At Zweig’s home off the Oregon Expressway, however, a reporter using an iPhone app on Wednesday recorded many flights reaching 65 decibels, or close to it, as they flew over — which happens 10 to 12 times an hour, Zweig estimates. That volume is equivalent to a moderately lively conversation.

“It’s not quite as loud as a vacuum cleaner,” Zweig said. “But it definitely gets your attention. It makes it hard to concentrate on your work or read.”

Zweig has joined a group of irritated residents, called Sky Posse Palo Alto, which estimates the city has seen a 65 percent uptick in airplanes flying at 3,000 to 4,000 feet during the past two years.

For many on Sky Posse’s 1,100-member mailing list, the problems go beyond the distraction that Zweig experiences. The group’s website cites sleep disruption, stress, exposure to pollutants and declining property values as potential issues.

“We don’t think all the noise should be moved into the next guy’s yard,” said Zweig, who proposes putting more flights over San Francisco Bay to avoid neighborhoods. “And what can’t be sent over the bay should be spread out.”

FAA officials did not specify what changes are likely, but their agreement to “explore modifications” in Northern California said they will look into steering more planes over water and to higher elevations.

“We are committed to working with the communities and members of Congress to analyze a wide range of suggestions aimed at addressing local noise issues,” FAA spokesman Ian Gregor wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle.

Two pieces of legislation, each supported by Eshoo, Farr and Speier, aim to prevent other parts of the country from experiencing the problems seen in the Bay Area.

One of the bills would reestablish the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Noise Abatement to monitor planes. The other would require the FAA to work with communities on noise issues.

- Source:  http://www.sfgate.com

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