SAVE THE DATE: February 5th, 8:30 AM Priorities Retreat!

Sky Posse Palo Alto

Dear Friends,

Thank you to all who responded to the City’s and Supervisor Simitian’s 2022 priorities surveys and reached out to the Mayor and City Manager. Palo Alto City Council priorities are defined as “a topic that will receive significant attention during the year.”

On Saturday February 5th at 8:30 AM Palo Alto City Council will meet to decide on priorities for 2022. Public comment is usually set at the beginning of the Council retreat. The meeting is virtual. Please JOIN via Phone or Zoom details here, WE NEED YOU!

CALL TO ACTION!

Ask Council to make FAA Engagement a 2022 priority!

Due to the very narrow timeline that is given to respond to final FAA airspace actions affecting the City, it's critical and it has become urgent for Council to prioritize FAA engagement. There are currently several FAA actions--airspace procedures for SFO, SJC and OAK--that have started or will start the 60-day window for City response. The City’s “fast track” process enacted in 2019 is in place for the City to not miss opportunities to engage the FAA. This policy only works when Council and City staff enforce the fast track process which requires Council attention, staff time, and being on the Council agenda.

Among the candidate issues for 2022 priorities are Climate and Housing as expressed by those who participated in both City and Supervisor Simitian surveys. Aviation noise and pollution are in the top three concerns for the City survey. Health concerns are a priority in both surveys.

Over the years City leadership has maintained that Council’s political leverage is best applied to what they have control over, such as local policies rather than state, national or global issues. They have used this reasoning to push back on making aviation pollution a top priority for the City notwithstanding climate is a global issue. There is no question that aviation noise and air pollution are community priorities--if not the highest priority for hundreds of Palo Alto residents. We need the City to be proactive on addressing FAA actions, including to propose design alternatives to the FAA.

The City has everything to lead on this matter where inaction also has long term consequences, including Climate and Health impacts. Mayor Pat Burt, Councilmembers Eric Filseth, Tom DuBois and Greg Tanaka have been following this issue since 2014. Councilmember Lydia Kou helped lead on the Fast Track Process enactment. Councilmember Alison Cormack voted to approve the Fast Track process. Councilmember Stone has sat on the SCSC Roundtable. Palo Alto City Manager Ed Shikada has managed the City’s professional aviation study and other staff work over the years. All continually hear from citizens. It is now time for action from our elected representatives.

NEWS AND UPDATES

The people of East Hampton have taken control of their airport to address Traffic, Noise, Safety and Environmental Concerns:

On January 20th, a unanimous vote by the town of East Hampton closed the East Hampton airport to allow the town to reopen with new restrictions. Please see “EH Town Takes Action to Address Airport Traffic, Noise, Safety, Environmental Concerns.” This is a victory for the engaged public and officials who took up every available process to challenge the status quo of ignoring community concerns. East Hampton Airport first invested in pursuing a Part 161 which are onerous federal requirements (barriers) to impose noise rules. Eventually, when the airport’s “assurance grants” expired (federal funds that deny noise concerns), the community was able to explore a broader menu of options and voted to close the airport and re-open as a private use airport. It is ironic that airports considered “public use” are tied to FAA grants that take away flexibility to address noise or air quality pollutants. In a January 18th press release on the town’s plan Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc stated,

“The decision to close the East Hampton Airport and open the new private use airport as a publicly owned private facility comes at the end of a year-long public engagement process designed to gather and disseminate information to the public; share essential facts related to conditions at the airport; facilitate discussion and consensus building on future plans for the airport, and to solicit and compile public input and alternatives for board consideration and review.”

Sky Posse 2022 Focus Areas:

The City of Palo Alto's Fast Track process to engage the FAA
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)

This year’s focus areas are all interconnected. For example, the GAO report revealed that the FAA is already using metrics beyond DNL which we need the City of Palo Alto to address for the GBAS project. There is “mediation” underway to address the FAA’s new national noise curve that impacts allocation of resources. All our focus areas are ultimately tied to National Environmental Policy where citizens have rights for appropriate consideration instead of intransigence and delays.

INFO: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report:

The GAO report on how the FAA assesses potential noise was issued on September 28th with specific recommendations for the FAA that matter on various fronts, including what metrics the FAA will support to understand aviation noise. In Appendix III of the report, the FAA responded that they will provide a “detailed response to the recommendations within 180 days of the final report’s issuance,” so March 2022. GAO’s summary page contains the final report, and a chart describing the “OPEN” items.

INFO: The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS):

The FMCS process was first announced after the FAA received over 4000 responses to the FAA’s solicitation to Inform National Aircraft Noise Policy, and the disclosure of results from the FAA's noise annoyance survey of 13 airports around the country that revealed the FAA is using flawed assumptions to establish noise “significance” thresholds. FMCS was originally set to happen last summer and no further details were made available at the time. From the publication Airport Noise Report we know that in the Fall of 2021, the FAA “signed an Interagency Agreement with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) that will guide the review of FAA’s over 40-year-old aviation noise policy.”

SPREAD THE WORD

Ask neighbors to JOIN OUR CALLS TO ACTION and to get updates by sending "SUBSCRIBE" to info@skypossepaloalto.org

MOST IMPORTANT

Report intrusive jet noise!

The number of reporters matters (enlist neighbors who are bothered by intrusive jet noise to report!)

Use any of these methods:

The APP stop.jetnoise.net

EMAIL sfo.noise@flysfo.com

SFO PHONE 650.821.4736/Toll free 877.206.8290.

ONLINE:

SFO traffic: click here for the link

SJC traffic: click her for the link

Other airports: click here for more info

Complaint Option with IFTTT App - You can make your own noise complaint button with smart phone app see instructions here. The app sends the complaints to sfo.noise@flysfo.com (or the noise office email address of the airport of your choice) with the message body including name, address, time and noise type. You may also want to try programmable button with it.

Thank you!

Sky Posse Palo Alto