HomeMy WebLinkAbout06 - FAA's Implementation of NextGen at John Wayne Airport - Revised ResolutionSeptember 26, 2017
Agenda Item No. 6
REVISED in REDLINE — 9/26/2017
RESOLUTION NO. 2017-
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, RELATING TO
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION'S
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
METROPLEX PROJECT AT JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT
WHEREAS, the City of Newport Beach ("City") and the Newport Beach City
Council ("City Council") have maintained as a primary objective the goal of protecting
community residents from the impacts of commercial operations at John Wayne Airport
("JWA" or the "Airport");
WHEREAS, to address the concerns of its residents regarding the Airport, the City
Council first convened the Aviation Committee ("Committee") in 1979, and, since then, it
has met continuously to, among other things, monitor the impacts of jehR VVayRe Airpert
(` WX)—JWA on the City and residential quality of life as well as to oversee the
implementation of Council Policy A-17 ("Airport Policy");
WHEREAS, the Airport is owned and operated by the County of Orange (County)
and the
federalVeeFRMeRt aR d ;+ is Tthe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA} )
controls where planes fly r aircraft flight paths and altitudes. While the City has
no legal authority to directly regulate operations at the Airport, in 1985 the City, after
litigation with the County and joined by citizen partners within the Airport Working Group
(AWG) and Stop Polluting Our Newport (SPON) entered into and helped create the
landmark JWA Settlement Agreement (Agreement);
WHEREAS, this Agreement is the only airport operating agreement like it in the
United States intended to align the Airport with neighborhood quality of life concerns,
including passenger caps per year, limits on the amount of the loudest flights, the
placement and continuance of a curfew, and more;
WHEREAS, when the Federal Government in 1990 took actions against the
Agreement, the City through aggressive lobbying efforts and with extensive community
support (including from AWG and SPON) successfully obtained a grandfathering
provision in the 1990 Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) which recognized the
Agreement and protected the existing limitations on access and noise set forth in the
Agreement;
WHEREAS, the Federal Government acting through the FAA sought in or about
1990 to modify noise abatement departure procedures at JWA, the City, with the
cooperation of the County, aggressively and actively participated in and assisted in the
testing of departure procedures conducted at JWA which resulted in the development of
FAA Advisory Circular 91-53A, Noise Abatement Departure Profiles (NADP);
Resolution No. 2017 -
Page 2 of 7
WHEREAS, the Agreement was extended and amended over time (in both 2002
and 2014), generally to continue the curfew hours and to allow modest changes in the
passenger cap and to the amount of "Class A" Average Daily Departures (ADDs), all in
compliance with the requirements of the A;rpEA Noise and GapaGity A t
" " ;ANCA;
WHEREAS, also in 2006 the City, consistent with its Airport Policy negotiated a
Cooperative Agreement (also referred to as the Spheres Agreement) to protect against
further physical expansion of the Airport;
WHEREAS, other actions taken by the City in response to concerns expressed by
the community and in furtherance of its Airport Policy include the 2006 ARTS Study
("JWA-OC Airport - Departure Noise Impact Analysis"), 2008's "Go Local" study that
evaluated JWA use and transit connections, 2009's air quality testing analysis done by
Dr. Karleen Sudol-Boyle, and the convening in the early 2010s of the Corridor Cities group
(including the cities of Costa Mesa, Irvine, Tustin, Orange, Laguna Woods, Laguna
Beach, and others) leading up to the 2014 Settlement Agreement extension and
amendment;
WHEREAS, the City has and continues on a daily basis to monitor all operations
at the Airport for its residents and respond to concerns expressed by residents about
noise; curfews; departure procedures and generally where planes fly;
WHEREAS, traditionally the major air carriers' Conventional Standard Instrument
Departure (SID) procedures out of JWA had allowed for a wider disbursement of
departures over larger parts of the community versus narrow, repeated departures over
a smaller focused area;
WHEREAS, in 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") began
adjustments to the departure procedures, including the implementation of "Area
Navigation" ("RNAV") SIDs, which involves a more precise and repeatable path driven
more by technology in the cockpit and satellite -based navigation than a Conventional SID;
WHEREAS, during 2009 and 2010, the City of Newport Beach (City), responding
to concerns of the community, worked closely with the County and then with the FAA to
correct errors in JWA's first RNAV SID (known as the DUUKE, then DUUKE 2, then
STREL) as the DUUKE 1 and DUUKE 2 both took aircraft planes further east) impacting
the Bluffs, Eastbluff, and Corona del Mar) than the traditional departures from JWA;
WHEREAS, after the DUUKE discussions, the City recognized it had a continuing
substantial interest in ensuring aircraft operations at JWA do not significantly affect its
residents and recognizing problems with RNAV and how it would affect our community.
As inIn -2012 the City hired GE/Naverus to conduct a feasibility study to determine if a
"Required Navigation -al -Performance" or RNP Departure — also referred to by City staff
as the Upper Bay's "Two Turn" departure — would work at JWA in an attempt to create a
departure path that would navigate successfully down the middle of the Upper Newport
Bay;
Resolution No. 2017 -
Page 3 of 7
WHEREAS, GE/Naverus concluded that an RNP for JWA was feasible. The City
communicated this data to the FAA in April 2013;
WHEREAS, the FAA responded to the City in June 2013 stating that the FAA "may
be able to advise further (on the City's RNP request) sometime in mid-to-late 2014,"
following an assessment of a similar RNP proposal for Hartsfield -Jackson Atlanta
International Airport;
WHEREAS, in late 2013, the City, County and the Aviation Committee became
aware of the FAA's intent to apply more RNAV SIDs across many if not all major airports
in the nation, calling this effort "NextGen";
WHEREAS, the Committee and Council were briefed on the possible impacts of
NextGen starting in October 2013;
WHEREAS, at the time, City Council members, Committee members, City staff,
residents, and others noted that NextGen's overall goal — to improve safety — was
laudable, but the consequences of repeated departures down specific pathways over
Newport Beach would be deleterious to the community overall and not in the spirit of past
actions which fanned flights across a wider region. Moreover, the City recognized that
minor changes that might seem insignificant to the FAA in the development of NextGen
would result in noticeable changes to residents of Newport Beach;
WHEREAS, in January 2014, the FAA sent out an "Early Notification Letter"
("Letter") setting forth a Draft Environmental Assessment ("Draft EA") for the Southern
California Metroplex Pproject, which kicked off NextGen in the Southern California region
including JWA and up to 21 airports;
WHEREAS, the City responded to the Letter in February 2014 expressing the
City's concern about the Draft EA and how adequately the Draft EA would address noise,
air quality, and cumulative impacts among other things;
WHEREAS, the FAA later created the Draft EA, and the City formally responded
to it on September 4, 2015 via a 58 -page letter. This letter included the HMMH Report,
which provided an even more detailed analysis of the Draft EA. The City's document was
one of the most comprehensive legal and technical analysis and critique of any NextGen
Draft EA submitted in the United States;
WHEREAS, the FAA's Draft EA proposed three new RNAV SIDs for JWA,
including the PIGGN (representing about half of all JWA departures), the HHERO (then
called the HAYLO, representing more than 40% of all departures) and the FINZZ
(representing less than 10%);
WHEREAS, the City's correspondence towards the Draft EA noted, among other
things, that the Draft EA was vague, lacked quantifiable information about increases in
noise, removed the TOING waypoint at Noise Monitoring Station #7 (NMS #7), did not
address the use of Noise Abatement Departure Procedures (NADPs) from JWA, failed to
properly recognize the JWA Settlement Agreement, that the FAA did not adequately
include the communitv in the deaarture discussions. and that it failed the failure of the
Resolution No. 2017 -
Page 4 of 7
FAA to recognize that seemingly insignificant modifications in the departure paths from
the Airport resulted in a noticeable increase in noise for residents nor did it "take a hard
look at the potentially significant air quality and greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions" of
NextGen at JWA (among other things);
WHEREAS, included in the City's Draft EA comments is the concept that the JWA
Settlement Agreement reflects community consensus on the nature and extent of facility
and operational improvements that may be implemented at JWA. For more than 30 years,
this Agreement has balanced airport operational capacity with the legitimate
environmental concerns of the surrounding communities;
WHEREAS, the FAA failed to issue a timely response to the City's letter, and the
Final EA did not address the City's concerns;
WHEREAS, shortly after the FAA released the Final EA, the City Council
authorized the filing of a legal action against the FAA based, in part, on the FAA's failure
to address the City's concerns in the Final EA;
WHEREAS, the City was laterjoined by the County, who intervened in the lawsuit,
and the City of Laguna Beach, which filed its own lawsuit related to the Final EA;
WHEREAS, the FAA began implementation of the three new RNAV SIDS at JWA
starting on March 2, 2017 (PIGGN), and later following on April 27, 2017 (HHERO and
FINZZ);
WHEREAS, at the time, the City observed that flights from all three RNAV SIDs
tended to be eastward of the former STREL departure, moving easterly of NMS #7;
WHEREAS, on May 25 2017, the FAA modified PIGGN slightly, resulting in a
movement of PIGGN to the west of the Upper Newport Bay;
WHEREAS, in spring and summer 2017, residents in Newport Beach communities
like Eastbluff, the Bluffs, One Ford Road, Westcliff, Dover Shores, Balboa Island, the
Balboa Peninsula, Irvine Terrace, Harbor Cove, Villa Point, and other areas began to
express significant concerns from aircraft noise and overflights to the City, the County,
and the FAA about the PIGGN, HHERO, and FINZZ;
WHEREAS, at the same time, City and County staff were observing the departure
paths and noting to the FAA that the target of NMS #7 was not being flown overhit, nor
were flights navigating down the middle of "the Narrows" of the Upper Bay near NMS #6;
WHEREAS, during summer 2017, the FAA printed and made publicly available the
"STAYY" RNP departure procedure, which takes two turns within the confines of the
Upper Newport Bay to avoid residential areas both to the east and west and is similar to
the initial concepts that the City presented to the FAA with GE/Naverus in April 2013 and
again in March 2016;
WHEREAS, during summer 2017, Newport Beach residents began a Petition on
"iPetition" to the FAA, City, and County entitled, "Too Loud & Too Low: Stop JWA Noise
Resolution No. 2017 -
Page 5 of 7
Now", which raised substantial issues about the adequacy of the Final EA prepared by
the FAA in order to implement the Metroplex Project. As of the date of this resolution, the
petition has over 1,100 signatures;
WHEREAS, the Petition's criticisms are shared by the City and specifically
addressed in the current pending federal litigation with the FAA.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Newport
Beach that the City believes and affirms that:
Section 1. The City shall, to the fullest extent of the law, continue to maintain as
a primary objective the goal of protecting its residents from the impacts of commercial
operations at John Wayne Airport.
Section 2. The City shall continue to work to ensure that aircraft operations at
JWA do not significantly affect residents and that any changes in aircraft operations at
JWA are consistent with protections provided for in the JWA Settlement Agreement as
amended.
Section 3. The City shall continue to take the necessary actions to protect
residents from the inadequacies of the Draft Environmental Assessment created for the
purpose of implementing the Metroplex Project, as demonstrated by the City's October
2016 legal action.
Section 4. The City shall continue to take the necessary action, as demonstrated
by the City's litigation, so that changes implemented by the Metroplex Project or any
subsequent project will not require changes in noise abatement departure procedures
that could jeopardize or preclude the ability of the air carriers and the general aviation
community from utilizing those procedures and complying with the noise limits, as
reflected in. amona other documents. the 1985 Settlement Aareement. as amendedT- e
Section 5. The City shall continue to pursue modifying and/or perfecting the
current FINZZ, HHERO and PIGGN departures or subsequently introduced departure
procedures to ensure to the greatest extent possible that southerly departures from JWA
fly down open water in the middle of the Upper Newport Bay and so that any proposed
and/or initiated change in departure procedures do not result in a noticeable increase in
noise for residential areas located along the Upper Newport Bay.
Section 6. The City shall continue to interface with the County and the FAA on
efforts similar to the currently proposed STAYY departure procedure, introduced by the
FAA in the summer of 2017 which as a result of environmental analysis and community
outreach, determined a public need for a modernized departure procedure.
Resolution No. 2017 -
Page 6 of 7
Section 7. The City shall embark on an update to the 2008 ARTS Study (JWA/OC
Airport — Departure Noise Impact Analysis) in cooperation with the Aviation Committee,
the County and resident groups to further understand noise changes following Metroplex.
Section 8. The City encourages all air carriers and pilots who can reach a higher
altitude and use the appropriate Noise Abatement Departure Procedures in a safe
manner should do so immediately.
Section 9. The City states its support for legislation bV US Representative Dana
Rohrabacher's aMeRdMeRtG W HR ` 997and others that would attempt to maximize
altitude as well as the FAA's prioritization of community concerns above air carrier
efficiency.
Section 10. The City will encourage and facilitate the transmittal of resident and
City concerns about Metroplex directly to the FAA, given how complex it can be for
residents alone to communicate with the FAA's Metroplex staff.
Section 11. The City appreciates the County of Orange's participation and effort
in addressing issues with noise and NextGen to ensure that JWA remains a good
neighbor to our community, and to protect our overall quality of life.
Section 12: The recitals provided in this resolution are true and correct and are
incorporated into the operative part of this resolution.
Section 13: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this
resolution is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not
affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this resolution. The City
Council hereby declares that it would have passed this resolution, and each section,
subsection, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or
more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
Section 14: The City Council finds the adoption of this resolution is not subject to
the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the
activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the
environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378)
of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it
has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
Section 15: This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the
City Council, and the City Clerk shall certify the vote adopting the resolution.
ADOPTED this 26th day of September 2017
Kevin Muldoon
Mayor
ATTEST:
Leilani I. Brown
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Aaron C. Harp
City Attorney
Resolution No. 2017 -
Page 7 of 7
RESOLUTION NO. 2017-63
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, RELATING TO
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION'S
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
METROPLEX PROJECT AT JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT
WHEREAS, the City of Newport Beach ("City") and the Newport Beach City
Council ("City Council") have maintained as a primary objective the goal of protecting
community residents from the impacts of commercial operations at John Wayne Airport
("JWA" or the "Airport");
WHEREAS, to address the concerns of its residents regarding the Airport, the City
Council first convened the Aviation Committee ("Committee") in 1979, and, since then, it
has met continuously to, among other things, monitor the impacts of JWA on the City and
residential quality of life as well as to oversee the implementation of Council Policy A-17
("Airport Policy");
WHEREAS, the Airport is owned and operated by the County of Orange
(County)The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) controls aircraft flight paths and
altitudes. While the City has no legal authority to directly regulate operations at the
Airport, in 1985 the City, after litigation with the County and joined by citizen partners
within the Airport Working Group (AWG) and Stop Polluting Our Newport (SPON) entered
into and helped create the landmark JWA Settlement Agreement (Agreement);
WHEREAS, this Agreement is the only airport operating agreement like it in the
United States intended to align the Airport with neighborhood quality of life concerns,
including passenger caps per year, limits on the amount of the loudest flights, the
placement and continuance of a curfew, and more;
WHEREAS, when the Federal Government in 1990 took actions against the
Agreement, the City through aggressive lobbying efforts and with extensive community
support (including from AWG and SPON) successfully obtained a grandfathering
provision in the 1990 Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) which recognized the
Agreement and protected the existing limitations on access and noise set forth in the
Agreement;
WHEREAS, the Federal Government acting through the FAA sought in or about
1990 to modify noise abatement departure procedures at JWA, the City, with the
cooperation of the County, aggressively and actively participated in and assisted in the
testing of departure procedures conducted at JWA which resulted in the development of
FAA Advisory Circular 91-53A, Noise Abatement Departure Profiles (NADP);
WHEREAS, the Agreement was extended and amended over time (in both 2002
and 2014), generally to continue the curfew hours and to allow modest changes in the
passenger cap and to the amount of "Class A" Average Daily Departures (ADDs), all in
compliance with the requirements of ANCA;
Resolution No. 2017-63
Page 2 of 6
WHEREAS, also in 2006 the City, consistent with its Airport Policy negotiated a
Cooperative Agreement (also referred to as the Spheres Agreement) to protect against
further physical expansion of the Airport;
WHEREAS, other actions taken by the City in response to concerns expressed by
the community and in furtherance of its Airport Policy include the 2006 ARTS Study
("JWA-OC Airport - Departure Noise Impact Analysis"), 2008's "Go Local" study that
evaluated JWA use and transit connections, 2009's air quality testing analysis done by
Dr. Karleen Sudol-Boyle, and the convening in the early 2010s of the Corridor Cities group
(including the cities of Costa Mesa, Irvine, Tustin, Orange, Laguna Woods, Laguna
Beach, and others) leading up to the 2014 Settlement Agreement extension and
amendment;
WHEREAS, the City has and continues on a daily basis to monitor all operations
at the Airport for its residents and respond to concerns expressed by residents about
noise; curfews; departure procedures and generally where planes fly;
WHEREAS, traditionally the major air carriers' Conventional Standard Instrument
Departure (SID) procedures out of JWA had allowed for a wider disbursement of
departures over larger parts of the community versus narrow, repeated departures over
a smaller focused area;
WHEREAS, in 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") began
adjustments to the departure procedures, including the implementation of "Area
Navigation" ("RNAV") SIDs, which involves a more precise and repeatable path driven
more by technology in the cockpit and satellite -based navigation than a Conventional SID;
WHEREAS, during 2009 and 2010, the City of Newport Beach (City), responding
to concerns of the community, worked closely with the County and then with the FAA to
correct errors in JWA's first RNAV SID (known as the DUUKE, then DUUKE 2, then
STREL) as the DUUKE 1 and DUUKE 2 both took aircraft further east) impacting the
Bluffs, Eastbluff, and Corona del Mar) than the traditional departures from JWA;
WHEREAS, after the DUUKE discussions, the City recognized it had a continuing
substantial interest in ensuring aircraft operations at JWA do not significantly affect its
residents and recognizing problems with RNAV and how it would affect our community.
In 2012 the City hired GE/Naverus to conduct a feasibility study to determine if a
"Required Navigation Performance" or RNP Departure — also referred to by City staff as
the Upper Bay's "Two Turn" departure — would work at JWA in an attempt to create a
departure path that would navigate successfully down the middle of the Upper Newport
Bay;
WHEREAS, GE/Naverus concluded that an RNP for JWA was feasible. The City
communicated this data to the FAA in April 2013;
WHEREAS, the FAA responded to the City in June 2013 stating that the FAA "may
be able to advise further (on the City's RNP request) sometime in mid-to-late 2014,"
following an assessment of a similar RNP proposal for Hartsfield -Jackson Atlanta
International Airport;
WHEREAS, in late 2013, the City, County and the Aviation Committee became
aware of the FAA's intent to apply more RNAV SIDs across many if not all major airports
in the nation, calling this effort "NextGen",
Resolution No. 2017-63
Page 3 of 6
WHEREAS, the Committee and Council were briefed on the possible impacts of
NextGen starting in October 2013;
WHEREAS, at the time, City Council members, Committee members, City staff,
residents, and others noted that NextGen's overall goal — to improve safety — was
laudable, but the consequences of repeated departures down specific pathways over
Newport Beach would be deleterious to the community overall and not in the spirit of past
actions which fanned flights across a wider region. Moreover, the City recognized that
minor changes that might seem insignificant to the FAA in the development of NextGen
would result in noticeable changes to residents of Newport Beach;
WHEREAS, in January 2014, the FAA sent out an "Early Notification Letter"
("Letter") setting forth a Draft Environmental Assessment ("Draft EX) for the Southern
California Metroplex Project, which kicked off NextGen in the Southern California region
including JWA and up to 21 airports;
WHEREAS, the City responded to the Letter in February 2014 expressing the
City's concern about the Draft EA and how adequately the Draft EA would address noise,
air quality, and cumulative impacts among other things;
WHEREAS, the FAA later created the Draft EA, and the City formally responded
to it on September 4, 2015 via a 58 -page letter. This letter included the HMMH Report,
which provided an even more detailed analysis of the Draft EA. The City's document was
one of the most comprehensive legal and technical analysis and critique of any NextGen
Draft EA submitted in the United States;
WHEREAS, the FAA's Draft EA proposed three new RNAV SIDs for JWA,
including the PIGGN (representing about half of all JWA departures), the HHERO (then
called the HAYLO, representing more than 40% of all departures) and the FINZZ
(representing less than 10%);
WHEREAS, the City's correspondence towards the Draft EA noted, among other
things, that the Draft EA was vague, lacked quantifiable information about increases in
noise, removed the TOING waypoint at Noise Monitoring Station #7 (NMS #7), did not
address the use of Noise Abatement Departure Procedures (NADPs) from JWA, failed to
properly recognize the JWA Settlement Agreement, that the FAA did not adequately
include the community in the departure discussions, and that it failed to recognize that
seemingly insignificant modifications in the departure paths from the Airport resulted in a
noticeable increase in noise for residents nor did it "take a hard look at the potentially
significant air quality and greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions" of NextGen at JWA
(among other things);
WHEREAS, included in the City's Draft EA comments is the concept that the JWA
Settlement Agreement reflects community consensus on the nature and extent of facility
and operational improvements that may be implemented at JWA. For more than 30 years,
this Agreement has balanced airport operational capacity with the legitimate
environmental concerns of the surrounding communities;
WHEREAS, the FAA failed to issue a timely response to the City's letter, and the
Final EA did not address the City's concerns;
Resolution No. 2017-63
Page 4 of 6
WHEREAS, shortly after the FAA released the Final EA, the City Council
authorized the filing of a legal action against the FAA based, in part, on the FAA's failure
to address the City's concerns in the Final EA;
WHEREAS, the City was later joined by the County, who intervened in the lawsuit,
and the City of Laguna Beach, which filed its own lawsuit related to the Final EA;
WHEREAS, the FAA began implementation of the three new RNAV SIDS at JWA
starting on March 2, 2017 (PIGGN), and later following on April 27, 2017 (HHERO and
FINZZ);
WHEREAS, at the time, the City observed that flights from all three RNAV SIDs
tended to be eastward of the former STREL departure, moving easterly of NMS #7;
WHEREAS, on May 25 2017, the FAA modified PIGGN slightly, resulting in a
movement of PIGGN to the west of the Upper Newport Bay;
WHEREAS, in spring and summer 2017, residents in Newport Beach communities
like Eastbluff, the Bluffs, One Ford Road, Westcliff, Dover Shores, Balboa Island, the
Balboa Peninsula, Irvine Terrace, Harbor Cove, Villa Point, and other areas began to
express significant concerns from aircraft noise and overflights to the City, the County,
and the FAA about the PIGGN, HHERO, and FINZZ;
WHEREAS, at the same time, City and County staff were observing the departure
paths and noting to the FAA that NMS #7 was not being flown over, nor were flights
navigating down the middle of "the Narrows" of the Upper Bay near NMS #6;
WHEREAS, during summer 2017, the FAA printed and made publicly available the
"STAYY" RNP departure procedure, which takes two turns within the confines of the
Upper Newport Bay to avoid residential areas both to the east and west and is similar to
the initial concepts that the City presented to the FAA with GE/Naverus in April 2013 and
again in March 2016;
WHEREAS, during summer 2017, Newport Beach residents began a Petition on
"iPetition" to the FAA, City, and County entitled, "Too Loud & Too Low: Stop JWA Noise
Now", which raised substantial issues about the adequacy of the Final EA prepared by
the FAA in order to implement the Metroplex Project. As of the date of this resolution, the
petition has over 1,100 signatures;
WHEREAS, the Petition's criticisms are shared by the City and specifically
addressed in the current pending federal litigation with the FAA.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Newport
Beach that the City believes and affirms that:
Section 1. The City shall, to the fullest extent of the law, continue to maintain as
a primary objective the goal of protecting its residents from the impacts of commercial
operations at John Wayne Airport.
Section 2. The City shall continue to work to ensure that aircraft operations at
JWA do not significantly affect residents and that any changes in aircraft operations at
JWA are consistent with protections provided for in the JWA Settlement Agreement as
amended.
Resolution No. 2017-63
Page 5 of 6
Section 3. The City shall continue to take the necessary actions to protect
residents from the inadequacies of the Draft Environmental Assessment created for the
purpose of implementing the Metroplex Project, as demonstrated by the City's October
2016 legal action.
Section 4. The City shall continue to take the necessary action, as demonstrated
by the City's litigation, so that changes implemented by the Metroplex Project or any
subsequent project will not require changes in noise abatement departure procedures
that could jeopardize or preclude the ability of the air carriers and the general aviation
community from utilizing those procedures and complying with the noise limits, as
reflected in, among other documents, the 1985 Settlement Agreement, as amended.
Section 5. The City shall continue to pursue modifying and/or perfecting the
current FINZZ, HHERO and PIGGN departures or subsequently introduced departure
procedures to ensure to the greatest extent possible that southerly departures from JWA
fly down open water in the middle of the Upper Newport Bay and so that any proposed
and/or initiated change in departure procedures do not result in a noticeable increase in
noise for residential areas located along the Upper Newport Bay.
Section 6. The City shall continue to interface with the County and the FAA on
efforts similar to the currently proposed STAYY departure procedure, introduced by the
FAA in the summer of 2017 which as a result of environmental analysis and community
outreach, determined a public need for a modernized departure procedure.
Section 7. The City shall embark on an update to the 2008 ARTS Study (JWA/OC
Airport — Departure Noise Impact Analysis) in cooperation with the Aviation Committee,
the County and resident groups to further understand noise changes following Metroplex.
Section 8. The City encourages all air carriers and pilots who can reach a higher
altitude and use the appropriate Noise Abatement Departure Procedures in a safe
manner should do so immediately.
Section 9. The City states its support for legislation by US Representative Dana
Rohrabacher's and others that would attempt to maximize altitude as well as the FAA's
prioritization of community concerns above air carrier efficiency.
Section 10. The City will encourage and facilitate the transmittal of resident and
City concerns about Metroplex directly to the FAA, given how complex it can be for
residents alone to communicate with the FAA's Metroplex staff.
Section 11. The City appreciates the County of Orange's participation and effort
in addressing issues with noise and NextGen to ensure that JWA remains a good
neighbor to our community, and to protect our overall quality of life.
Section 12: The recitals provided in this resolution are true and correct and are
incorporated into the operative part of this resolution.
Resolution No. 2017-63
Page 6 of 6
Section 13: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this
resolution is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not
affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this resolution. The City
Council hereby declares that it would have passed this resolution, and each section,
subsection, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or
more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
Section 14: The City Council finds the adoption of this resolution is not subject to
the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the
activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the
environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378)
of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it
has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
Section 15: This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the
City Council, and the City Clerk shall certify the vote adopting the resolution.
ADOPTED this 26th day of September 2017.
Kevin Muldoon
Mayor
ATTEST:
Leilani I. Brown
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
4r ---
Aaron C. Harp
City Attorney