Dear Fellow Alamedans,
One of CLASS’s goals is to persuade the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to change the way they measure airplane and aviation noise impacts on nearby communities. The FAA has issued a notice asking for feedback on their noise policies. This is a great opportunity for Alameda to speak up, and perhaps bring about long term change.
The FAA is accepting comments through July 31, 2023, and you are encouraged to share your thoughts. You may comment about whatever you wish, but CLASS is particularly interested in having the agency come away from the limited 65 decibel Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) metric they currently use to evaluate noise impacts near airports and convincing the FAA to use a Single Exposure Level (SEL) measurement to describe aircraft noise in addition to (or instead of) the Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) and CNEL that is currently employed. The DNL/CNEL measurement is an invalid metric for determining annoyance, because both measure average noise . Using a 24-hour average means that loud, highly disruptive, and piercing noises that are periodic or of short duration have little impact on what the FAA considers to be acceptable levels of noise. It’s like saying that Babe Ruth was not a great baseball hitter because most of his at-bats resulted in outs! It ignores the intense significance of the occasional big blast, which is often the most disruptive kind of aircraft noise.
The residents of Alameda need relief from the highly annoying noise of interval jet takeoffs over our environment – and an averaged number does not illustrate the magnitude of these noise disturbances. For more details on the FAA notice and how to submit comments on the FAA’s standard for noise evaluation, following this link: https://www.faa.gov/noisepolicyreview. In your comments, be sure to include a reference to Docket No.: FAA–2023–0855.
If you are interested in the full text of the FAA Notice and technical background on the FAA Noise Policy Review, follow this link: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-05-01/pdf/2023-09113.pdf
Thank you for providing your feedback to the FAA and for your support of our community!
I live on Bay Farm. The North Field is misused by jet aircraft every day. The Oakland Airport says THE FLIGHT WAS NOT IN COMPLIANCE. They apologize and it continues. The Airport says nothing they can do. IT’S THE FAA. Maybe the NORTH FIELD SHOULD BE CLOSED OR AT LEAST CLOSED TO JET AIRCRAFT. Use runway 11-29. It is agreed aircraft misuse the North Field. For years, IT HAS NOT BEEN CORRECTED. NO MORE NOISE AND AIR POLLUTION.
I want it corrected FINALLY.