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CC SR 20230207 02 - LAX Roundtable Updat CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 02/07/2023 AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business AGENDA TITLE: Consideration and possible action to receive a status report on the City’s participation in the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Community Noise Roundtable and the new FAA proposed departure procedures. RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION: (1) Receive and file a status report on the City’s participation in the LAX Community Noise Roundtable; (2) Authorize the Mayor to sign a letter to FAA Western-Pacific Acting Regional Administrator Erik Amend opposing the FAA’s proposal to implement two new departure procedures and mirroring the Los Angeles World Airports’ (LAWA) recommended responses; (3) Direct Staff to transmit a copy of the above-referenced letter to the mayors and city managers of El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Lomita, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates and Rolling Hills; and, (4) Request the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) Board of Directors place an agenda item on its next available meeting to oppose the FAA’s proposal to implement two new departure procedures and to mirror LAWA’s three recommendations. FISCAL IMPACT: None Amount Budgeted: N/A Additional Appropriation: N/A Account Number(s): N/A ORIGINATED BY: Robert Nemeth, Associate Planner REVIEWED BY: Octavio Silva, Interim Director of Community Development APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: A. Draft letter to FAA Western-Pacific Acting Regional Administrator Erik Amend (page A-1) B. Passenger Jet PV Peninsula Overflight and Altitude Data (page B-1) C. LAWA’s comments to the FAA’s proposal (page C-1) D. OSHNN Departure Flight Path (page D-1) 1 RANCHO PALOS VERDES E. Proposed STHBY ONE Departure (page E-1) F. Proposed KYLOW One Departure (page F-1) G. Over-Oceans Operations Map (page G-1) H. Early Turns Map (page H-1) I. PEVEE Aerial Map (page H-1) BACKGROUND: Creation of the LAX Community Noise Roundtable The LAX Community Noise Roundtable (Roundtable) is a voluntary advisory body whose mission is to provide an interactive forum to address aircraft noise issues associated with aircraft operations to, from, and at LAX. Its membership is composed of concerned municipal government officials, members of recognized community groups, the FAA, major airline companies, and LAWA staff. Roundtable meetings are regularly scheduled public meetings every other month that provide the public and affected communities with a forum to identify noise concerns and make recommendations to LAWA or the FAA to implement. City Staff has been an attending member since the Roundtable’s inception in the early 2000s. The central tenet of the Roundtable is to seek, with the cooperation of the FAA, ways to reduce certain types of aircraft noise (passenger jet aircraft) in a community without shifting the noise to another community. It should be noted that the FAA has complete jurisdiction concerning airspace activity, while LAWA, essentially the City of Los Angeles, manages and operates ground-based activities and facilities at LAX. Noise concerns produced by low-flying aircraft, such as Cessna-type models, follow the FAA’s General Aviation Rules and are not within the Roundtable’s purview. DISCUSSION: 1. LAX Community Noise Roundtable and Passenger Jet Activity The aircraft noise that is produced by passenger jets over or near Rancho Palos Verdes is generated by flights that depart LAX for easterly and southerly destinations. P assenger jets departing LAX are supposed to follow flight routes, established by the FAA, 3 to 5 miles offshore of the Rancho Palos Verdes coastline (Attachment D). However, FAA air traffic controllers will sometimes vector passenger jets from their established flight paths to alternate waypoints for a variety of authorized reasons; the typical reasons cited are the safe spacing between aircraft or operational efficiency. Passenger jet overflights, when they do occur, seem to occur during the morning hours when airlines are pressured to meet the demand for Midwest or East Coast destinations. It is City Staff’s understanding that the FAA’s air traffic controllers try to accommodate th is rush of air traffic by controlling the vertical and horizontal spacing of aircraft along the congested offshore eastbound route. In order to keep to their safe-spacing requirements and/or operational efficiency, some aircraft are authorized by FAA controllers to vector from the published route, which means they will “shortcut” the route and cross over Rancho Palos 2 Verdes airspace. Most flights adhere to the offshore routes, but when they do overfly the Peninsula airspace, the overflight will typically occur in the vicinity of the intersection at Palos Verdes Drive East and Palos Verdes Drive South and in a northeast direction. Note, the altitude of most vectored passenger jets overflying the Peninsula is above 13,000 feet. In order to monitor flight activity over or near the Peninsula, LAWA staff regularly supplies flight data to City Staff in order to observe the ebb and flow of flights throughout the year and take note of any anomalies. The latest flight data is shown in Attachment B. Relative to other communities in the region, aircraft overflights are not an hourly occurrence within the Peninsula airspace, but further reductions are expected and sought. As such, over the past few years, City Staff has transmitted numerous letters to the FAA requesting that their air traffic controllers take specific measures that would ensure pilots closely follow the published jet routes offshore and not overfly the Peninsula. As reflected in Attachment B, over the past five years there has been a steady decline in passenger jet Peninsula overflights due to the efforts of the Roundtable, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council and community engagement. 2. FAA’s New Route Proposal and City’s Response In late 2022, without consultation to the Roundtable members or impacted cities, the FAA informed LAWA staff that two new flight procedures were going to be published as soon as February 28, 2023 (Attachments E and F). These new flight routes are meant only for passenger jets departing LAX between midnight–6:30 a.m. during its Over-Ocean Operations (Attachment G). The FAA’s proposal would create new waypoints (latitude/longitude points where aircraft fly to) not far from the South Bay shoreline and the Palos Verdes Peninsula shoreline, thereby potentially adversely impacting the nighttime tranquility of Rancho Palos Verdes residents. Upon hearing from LAWA about the FAA’s proposal and LAWA’s response to the proposal, City Staff contacted LAWA staff who confirmed that the two procedures were indeed contemplated by the FAA . In response to the FAA’s proposal, LAWA staff provided a written response to the FAA expressing concerns that the two new flight paths would bring aircraft closer to th e shoreline, which would lead to coastal South Bay cities including the Peninsula cities to experience more aircraft noise (Attachment C). Furthermore, LAWA noted that the proposed flight paths have the potential to affect turbo propeller (freight) aircraf t activity, which currently fly offshore, to fly closer to or over the Palos Verdes Peninsula. LAWA also admonished the FAA for not providing outreach or notice to the Roundtable members about the proposed new flight paths. To address LAWA’s concern that the new flight paths will adversely affect coastal South Bay communities, including the Palos Verdes Peninsula, LAWA recommends the following changes to the FAA’s new flight route proposal: 1. That the FAA revise the two new proposed departure procedures named STHBY and KYLOW to ensure that passenger jets are prohibited from initiating turns prior to the shoreline (Attachment H). 3 2. That the FAA use the existing waypoint PEVEE, which is farther away from the Peninsula than the new waypoint STHBY, which is approximately half a mile closer to the Peninsula (Attachment I). 3. That the FAA place a specific notation, “For use only when nighttime noise abatement procedures are in effect,” for new departure procedures. After receiving LAWA’s response, the FAA has delayed the implementation of the new departure routes, which would have been effective on February 28, 2023. Other Roundtable members were also caught off guard about the FAA proposal, bu t at the Roundtable meeting on January 18, 2023, the Roundtable Chairman and LAWA staff briefly raised the topic citing that the FAA is collaborating with the LAWA staff to resolve LAWA’s written concerns. At this time, FAA and/or LAWA staff will be updating the Roundtable at a future meeting concerning these two proposed flight paths. Nonetheless, City Staff cannot be sure that the FAA will address the concerns that LAWA has raised, which are also shared by the City. Therefore, based on the discussion above, Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the Mayor to sign a letter (Attachment A) to FAA Western-Pacific Acting Regional Administrator Erik Amend expressing the City’s vehement opposition to the proposed two new departure routes and to mirror LAWA’s three Recommendations, as noted above. 3. Transmit a Copy of the City’s Letter to South Bay Cities To bring larger awareness to this regional issue, it is recommended that the City Council direct Staff to transmit a copy of the above-referenced letter to the mayors and city managers of El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Lomita, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, and Rolling Hills. These coastal cities would equally be impacted by the FAA’s proposed new departure routes and may also want to submit similar correspondence to the FAA. 4. Request SBCCOG Board of Directors Place an Agenda Item In addition to reaching out to some South Bay Cities, it is recommended that the City Council request the SBCCOG Board of Directors place an agenda item on its next available meeting to oppose the FAA’s proposal to implement two new departure procedures and to mirror LAWA’s three recommendations. CONCLUSION: In addition to receiving and filing a status report on the City’s participation in the LAX Community Noise Roundtable, Staff recommends authorizing the Mayor to send a letter to the FAA opposing the proposed two new departure routes and sharing the City’s letter with other South Bay Cities and the SBCCOG. 4 February 7, 2023 Via Email Erik Amend Acting Regional Administrator Federal Aviation Administration 777 S. Aviation Blvd., Suite 150 El Segundo, CA 90245 SUBJECT: Letter Opposing the FAA’s Two New Departure Procedures – STHBY and KYLOW Dear Mr. Amend: On February 7, 2023, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council held a regular meeting that included a City staff report on the City’s participation in the LAX Community Noise Roundtable and the FAA’s latest proposal to implement two new departure procedures titled STHBY and KYLOW from LAX. These departure procedures, due to their proximity to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, pose a threat to the nighttime tranquility this community currently enjoys and is thereby vehemently opposed by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. This City Council, and the community it represents, are also dismayed by the lack of notification from the FAA about the proposal. These concerns have already been expressed to you by the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) staff in their letter to the FAA dated December 12, 2022 (see attachment). We echo their comments and as such, the City Council requests the following items be considered: 1. That the FAA revise the two new proposed departure procedures named STHBY and KYLOW to ensure that passenger jets are prohibited from initiating turns prior to the shoreline. 2. That the FAA use the existing waypoint PEVEE, which is farther away from the Peninsula than the new waypoint STHBY, which is approximately half a mile closer to the Peninsula. 3. That the FAA place a specific notation, “For use only when nighttime noise abatement procedures are in effect,” for new departure procedures. It is disheartening that your proposal lacks community outreach and that there has been a complete disregard for the many years it took to develop the existing noise abatement procedures with Roundtable communities. Should the FAA decide to implement its new A-1 CITY OF BARBARA FERRARO, MAYOR JO HN CRU ll<S HAN I<, MAYOR PRO T EM ER IC ALEGR IA, COUNC ILMEMBER DAVID L. BRADLEY , COUNC ILMEMBER PAU L SEO, COUNC IL MEMBER i,;~ "'<> "' ~ RANCHO PALOS VERDES Acting Regional Administrator Amend February 7, 2023 Page 2 route proposals, this action will significantly erode the public trust that took many years to foster. Therefore, we implore you to give serious consideration to the above requests as we believe these measures would safeguard the Peninsula from unwanted aircraft noise and could provide the FAA with the improved, safer airspace it is seeking. Sincerely, Barbara Ferraro Mayor, City of Rancho Palos Verdes cc: Rancho Palos Verdes City Council and City Manager Faviola Garcia, FAA Western-Pacific Acting Deputy Regional Administrator Jacki Bacharach, Executive Director, South Bay Cities Council of Governments Enclosure: LAWA letter to FAA dated December 12, 2022 A-2 Palos Verdes Peninsula –Jet Overflights 6 The graphs below show the total number of jets turning south upon departure from LAX and the number of those departures that fly over the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Sample Jet Departure Flight Track Over PV Peninsula 149228 161377 153090 80788 114863 131009 4% 2%3% 3%3%3% 5590 3846 4489 2480 3166 3531 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 180,000 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 PV Jet OverflightsSouthbound Jet DeparturesAnnual Comparison Southbound Jets PV Overflights 10327 10830 10306 1103210817 11370 10689 11103 11250 9933 11141 11271 11267 4%4%4%3%2%2%2% 3%3%2%3%3%3% 379 435 363 316 226 194 203 327 292 230 316 322 307 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 Dec- 21 Jan- 22 Feb- 22 Mar- 22 Apr- 22 May- 22 Jun- 22 Jul- 22 Aug- 22 Sep- 22 Oct- 22 Nov- 22 Dec- 22 PV Jet OverflightsSouthbound Jet DeparturesMonthly Comparison Southbound Jets PV Overflights B-1 t-------10 _mi------< T I lAWA LOS ANG E LES WORLD AIRPORTS © 2015 Tom Tom, Rel. Sep 2015 B < 10000 I 11000 _ 12000 10000 -11000 12000 -13000 > 13000 -- -- ____ .......... _____ ..-1■---... .---------.............. -•■~-t~ ... ■ ■ B-2 Jetr Altitudes o, er P\ Penit1sula October 2022 il:o December 2022 ■Jct O.-c hts ..,,..,-.------------ 700 ----- 621 --- SOC! ------ 400 .300 ..... -------------------------- 200 -----.--. --...___ --100 9 6 ---. 0 dOOO l!:l 1000ll-10 1 1000-11 12000.12 9 hl.lJH IJl.1 11 ~ Ft.fl MSl H:3000 1 LAX Van Nuys City of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti Mayor Board of Airport Commissioners Beatrice C. Hsu President Valeria C. Velasco Vice President Gabriel L. Eshaghian Nicholas P. Roxborough Belinda M. Vega Karim Webb Justin Erbacci Chief Executive Officer December 12, 2022 Mr. Erik Amend Acting Regional Administrator Federal Aviation Administration Western-Pacific Region 777 S. Aviation Blvd., Suite 150 El Segundo, CA 90245 RE: LAWA’s Comments on Two New Departure Procedures – STHBY and KYLOW Dear Mr. Amend: Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) recently received a notification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicating that the agency is proposing to amend one flight procedure and create two new flight procedures at LAX. The stated purpose for these proposed procedures is to provide greater air traffic separation between departures and arrivals during Over-Ocean noise abatement configuration from 12 AM to 6:30 AM, and to improve the safety and efficiency of the airspace during that same period. These proposed procedures are currently scheduled to be published on February 28, 2023. Upon review of the proposed flight procedures, LAWA is very concerned that these departure operations will not be consistent with the LAX No Turn Before Shoreline policy, will result in more departures flying closer to coastline communities in the South Bay and Palos Verdes Peninsula, and will be used at times other than when Over-Ocean noise abatement configurations are in effect. If FAA cannot specifically resolve the items of concern, then LAWA will not support the implementation of these proposed procedures as currently designed. LAWA is also very concerned that this information was not shared with potentially affected communities earlier in the process, and that airport staff were not invited to participate in any working groups that were convened to discuss the proposed procedures. It seems the process for FAA requested flight procedure changes is not transparent and does not include any public outreach. It should not fall solely to the airport to notify community groups, such as the LAX/Community Noise Roundtable, to inform them of the FAA’s intent to publish revised or new proposed procedures within just a few months, as LAWA had to do. The two new procedures (STHBY ONE and KYLOW ONE) will seemingly result in aircraft beginning their turns before the shoreline, which is not consistent with current noise abatement policy in place for more than the past 30 years. This C-1 LA.WA LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS Mr. Amend Federal Aviation Administration December 12, 2022 2 potential increase in early turns will lower the compliance rate and cause nearby residents to notice more aircraft overflights and noise. Therefore, LAWA requests that FAA revise the proposed procedures to ensure aircraft do not initiate their turn prior to the shoreline when using the new departure procedures to maintain consistency with said policy. Another noise concern is associated with the STHBY departure procedure, where new waypoints will result in jet aircraft flying closer to the coastline around the South Bay and Palos Verdes Peninsula. In addition, it would potentially affect southbound turboprop aircraft, currently flying offshore, to also fly closer to or over the Peninsula to maintain the required separation between jets and turboprops. This will result in residents noticing more flight activity and associated noise. For the past twenty years, LAWA, in collaboration with the FAA and the Roundtable, has made notable efforts to reduce and minimize aircraft flying over this area and does not want to see this progress eroded. FAA should relocate the new waypoints and/or use existing waypoints for that route segment so that departures fly farther away from the Peninsula. LAWA understands that the purpose of the two new flight procedures is to address issues during nighttime Over-Ocean air traffic configuration. However, the KYLOW One Departure chart includes a vague notation restricting the use during noise abatement procedures, while the STHBY ONE procedure does not have any notation regarding this restriction. To be consistent with the intention of using these procedures only during nighttime Over-Ocean Operations to improve safety and efficiency, LAWA requests both flight procedures include the specific notation “For use only when nighttime noise abatement procedures are in effect.” LAWA is aware that FAA issued Categorical Exclusions for these proposed procedures, which does not require public notification and input. However, LAWA believes FAA should still reach out to potentially affected communities, such as the City of El Segundo, to inform the public about the potential aircraft flight and noise implications associated with implementing these procedures and afford the public the chance to provide the FAA with feedback. Thank you for the opportunity to share our concerns, which were also submitted via the IFP Information Gateway and included more technical comments that were shared with the Western Flight Procedures Team. LAWA requests FAA make efforts to address these potential issues with the proposed flight procedures, provide careful and thorough consideration of these requests, and incorporate changes into the flight procedures prior to implementation. We appreciate the recent discussion with FAA representatives regarding these issues and look forward to engaging more fully regarding the STHBY ONE and KYLOW ONE proposed departure procedures and to FAA’s continued support over the years of LAWA’s noise abatement efforts. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Kathryn Pantoja, Airport Environmental Manager, via email at kpantoja@lawa.org or by phone at (424) 646-6501. C-2 Mr. Amend Federal Aviation Administration December 12, 2022 3 Sincerely, Samantha Bricker Chief Sustainability and Revenue Management Officer SB:KP:OS CC: Mark McClardy C-3 SW-3, 19 JUL 2018 to 16 AUG 2018SW-3, 19 JUL 2018 to 16 AUG 2018D-1-o ~ c.n II Zz ~z Om (/) -I G) ZI z -I -::o ►m g~ '-J ;::o -I C ;::o m D-ATIS DEP 135.65 CLNC DEL 120.35 327.0 CPDLC GNDCON (N) 121.65 327.0 (S) 121.75 327.0 (W) 121.4 327.0 LOS ANGELES TOWER (N) 133.9 239.3 (S) 120. 95 379.1 SOCAL DEP CON 124.3 363.2 (045°-224°) 125.2 263.025 (225°-044°) TAKEOFF MINIMUMS Rwys 6L/R, 7L/R: NA-ATC. TOP ALTITUDE: 17000 Rwys 24L/R, 25L/R: Standard with minimum climb of 500' per NM to 640. LAS VEGAS LAS 0 H1_0 c;§Po/ //Y "'~c:i"j~(;)"\ BEAlE s::)(;) J../ ~ ~ / "'ry~"j~"'" /MLAZN .._(:)~?,~I,;\ ARRtf1/ \:: c;:,<::>(;)o ff \b-:<'" s::) /fl "'~c:i"j~~ MISEN / r WYZEE FABRA 640 'ry<::>C! ~ r" ~ t:::,. ~ ENNEY 3000 -\ 2510 === "'c:i":J NNAVY £~~~/ ()'?Jc;:,<::><::> 5000 ¥g3°~~ ==== GUNNR _)..(' '-'-'Jc:::,'V '-~(!(:)\ N NAANC A.,_ 0 --/y / ;;1::1 1-253°--,..,-----256 DLREY'-640 s::)<::> RI ~ (7) (2) 3000 640 0 [so "rye! ~,t \ (:ic::,r:J ';t/ YELAH .:$ DOCKR~ \.2[L.==== §&§ /Cl~Cliq\ 3000 I'.\ /Y;-==== Xnr-, WEILR {F 'l,~ ¼-\ 'i51° 2,9° ARCUS -c:;'.. 5oo~'l, '\ HIIPR 640 PLAYY Cl r:ic::ic::i ~t!J X,riri\?-3000 -i:_,c::ic::ic::i0,,..-, \f:31{),3\ I ~"\ rf!,' ;f(_ SEBBY \ ci?J9 i\ NOTE: DME/DME/IRU or GPS required. n,,\/Y ADORE ~ (19 NOTE: RNAV 1. 1-' 9 5000 _ct' 0/ NOTE: RADAR required. o-c.n~ II zZ z~ m() G) ~ IZ -I z o-:: ca ~ )> -~ C ;::o m ;;1::1 z ~ 11/ \"->\ ,~{' '-' NOTE: This departure ta be used anly if unable to use HAYNK _ _.SHAEF c:::,,:::::(;) the LOOP/ORCKA DEPARTURES. 5 _ _ c;:,Cl~~* NOTE: Rwys 24L/R departure expect RADAR vector to 5 u, 1/ ~ o, ,'-'J~!_v 2?6~~ PEVEE prior to NAANC. ~ ~ ~ 1/.u>"li'o .9t!J ~ --NOTE: Turn ot HIIPR and DOCKR are required for ~ z ~ ~ C?/ , \ / CAHIL ATC separation. 2G)► i!!mG) 5j @ ~ .5. ,§' o 15000 NOTE: MISEN TRANSITION restricted to aircraft landing ell u, - m 2'f' Joo ,cs ~ '-' --LAS complex. m -~ 9 PEVEE f;.7°~~1~o~ _).{_Cl~ NOTE: HAILO/LAS/NNAVY TRANSITIONS ATC only. 9 ~ 8 ~ HOLT~ (8) -YosHNN ~ 8 >~ ~> ><1 z (NARRATIVE ON FOLLOWING PAGE) NOTE: chart not to scale. ~ ><1 ......,►---------------------------------------------~►......, E-1-u, 5!1--1 :I: :::r: ~~ en O :i!z ~m ~o G'im ~ ~ C ;;;c, m RNAV 1 -DME/DME/IRU or GPS. RADAR required. TAKEOFF MINIMUMS Rwys 6L/R, 7L/R: NA-ATC. D-ATIS DEP 135.65 CLNC DEL 120.35 327.0 CPDLC GNDCON (N) 121.65 327.0 (S) 121.75 327.0 (W) 121.4 327.0 LOS ANGELES TOWER (N) 133.9 239.3 (S) 120.95 379.1 SOCAL DEP CON 124.3 363.2 (045°-224°) 125.2 263.025 (225°-044°) Rwys 24L/R, 25L/R: Standard with minimum climb of 500' per NM to 628. NOTE:Jet aircraft only. (NARRATIVE ON FOLLOWING PAGE) F-1 (KYLOWl .KYLOW) FIG KYLOW ONE DEPARTURE (RNAV) AL-237 (FAA) LOS ANGELES INTL (LAX) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA TOP ALTITUDE: FICKY and GROGU TRANSITIONS: 14000 SCTRR, STOKD, MCKEY, DINTY and RIZEN TRANSITIONS: FL230 NOTE:Turbojet aircraft only. NOTE: For use only when noise abatement procedujres are in effect. NOTE:GROGU TRANSITION ATC assigned only. Do not file. NOTE: Expect GROGU TRANSITION when W292E is in use. KYLOW ONE DEPARTURE (RNAV) (KYLOWl .KYLOW)FIG NOTE: Chart not to scale. (NARRATIVE ON FOLLOWING PAGE) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES INTL (LAX) SW-3 20 SEPT 2022 COMPILER: CG REVIEWER: DBLCHKR: EFF: FIG G-1 Key to Flight Tracks: Jet Arrivals J t D p rtur H-1 I Sllldlld Wnle tr Def ls a l f.llJTII I-1