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Airport Initiatives
Airport Noise Mitigation
Variance
All California airports that impact their surrounding communities with a cumulative
noise level of 65 decibels (dB) Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) or greater
must receive a variance to certain provisions of the California Noise Standards provided by the State of California,
Division of Aeronautics (CALTRANS Aero). The California Noise Standards use the
65-decibel CNEL contour to define a noise impact area around
an airport. It is the ultimate objective of the California Noise Standards that
there will be no incompatible land uses (i.e., residential, schools, churches, hospitals)
located within the 65 decibel CNEL contour. Since the late 1970s, the owner and
operator of San Diego International Airport (SDIA) has received multiple variances
to the California Noise Standards that allow SDIA continue to operate.
Here is the Record of Decision by CALTRANS regarding the proposed
decision of an Administrative Law Judge following a mandated hearing in 2007.
What mitigation programs have resulted from the variance process?
The California Noise Standards are designed to bring the airport proprietor and
the local noise impacted community together to work cooperatively to diminish airport
noise impacts. Some of the SDIA noise compatibility programs resulting from this
process include the Airport Use Regulations, Time of Day
Restrictions (departure curfew), the Residential (Quieter Home) and School Sound Attenuation (Insulation)
Programs, adding members to the community's Airport Noise
Advisory Committee (ANAC), updating the Remote Noise Monitoring System,
and enhancing the Authority's programs for disseminating noise information and education
to the public.
What is the status of the current variance?
The current variance to Title 21 of the California Noise Standards was approved
by CALTRANS July 11, 2008, and remains in effect for three years.
Agreed upon stipulations to the current Variance can be found here.
For more information on the Variance process at SDIA, please call (619) 400-2781.
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