Our most obvious role is to move residents and visitors alike in and out of the area. In fact, we host more than 35,000 takeoffs and landings each year. During the past few years, travel patterns and methods have changed in America, with many people choosing fractional ownership of planes and electing to fly charter.
We know this impacts the area we serve, and we're working hard to implement projects and procedures to minimize this. Here are the answers to some of your most frequently asked questions about noise abatement and the Truckee Tahoe Airport's operations.
If you have more questions, or would like to make a complaint or send us comments and suggestions, click here. Your input is important to our long-range plans, so please don't be shy about sharing your thoughts.
Between 2003 and 2008, the District paid $7.2 million for land acquisitions and spent $6.9 million in on-airport capital facility improvements, with an additional $1 million from grant funds for on-airport expenditures. If we consider that the Joerger/PC-3 land purchase was for on-airport improvements, the balance shifts to $6.2 million of District funds for off-airport land purchases and $7.8 million in District funds for on-airport land additions and facility improvements.
An air show is a major effort that requires strong community leadership, organization, energetic follow-through, and grass-roots support. The District Board is willing to open the airfield to support a show, provide staff assistance, and provide up to $100,000 for support. Airport staff can provide basic pre-planning information to interested individuals or groups who would like to explore the opportunity further.
In response to community input from our 2005 Truckee Tahoe Airport District survey, public comment in various meetings, and a recommendation from the Airport Community Advisory Team, the Board solicited volunteers and directly participated in an exploratory committee beginning in August 2006. This exploratory committee researched local air shows and interviewed their leaders for ideas about how best to organize and run an event at TRK. The District legal counsel donated time to prepare and submit corporate paperwork for an air show committee. This entity was led by a local pilot, and several other local pilots supported the effort, along with Board and staff representatives. In January 2007, the committee leader "determined there just is NOT enough time to "rally the troops" for a "quality" event THIS year." This committee is now disbanding.
This is true when circuit breakers trip due to overloading sometimes. In the T-hangar rows (A – J), multiple hangars share a 20 amp circuit breaker for the utility outlet circuit. The circuits are designed for aircraft storage only; they were not designed to provide power for more than minimal aeronautical equipment. The electrical surcharge was based on historical electrical consumption in the hangar rows that the District was paying in 2006; the amount charged is $15.00 per month for a T-hangar. In contrast, the current minimum monthly charge for individual hangar electrical service is $18.10, plus consumption. This includes $13.10 for the customer account charge and a $5.00 Solar Initiative surcharge. Provide us ideas about how you might address this issue. Be a good neighbor and disconnect your non-essential electrical devices in the hangar.
A single Board Director raised the suggestion to rebate money to the property taxpayers in January 2008. The Board has not considered this proposal.
Our goal is that all airport staff deal with all of our customers in a friendly, respectful manner. We recognize that we can always improve, and have scheduled customer service training not only for staff, but for the Board and Airport Community Advisory Team members, too. Let us know about issues, questions, or suggestions right away using the email or comment function on www.truckeetahoeairport.com, talking to staff directly, or with a call or comment card.
Although aircraft may land and take off 24/7, we want all pilots to be good neighbors and comply with our voluntary curfew between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. The Airport provides ramp services to aircraft between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., 7-days a week.
Approximately 35,000 operations occur each year. An operation is counted as either one takeoff or one landing.
Though we do not have an automated count of operations, airport staff reported—in the 2006 Operations Report—that 29% of operations were turbine or jet aircraft, 68% were piston aircraft, and 3% were helicopter. Additionally, about a third of all operations are performed by gliders and their tow planes between May and October.
Recent operations and business analysis indicates that about 60% of all activity and business occurs between late June and late September; our busiest week is in late September when the Reno Air Races are held. Though smaller, another peak due to the ski season is noticeable between Christmas and the end of March.
We request that our customers not fly between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
In the distant past, the Truckee Tahoe Airport has had as many as 70,000 operations in one year.
It is FAA policy to constrain residential development within an area that has more than 65 decibels of average noise. Airports develop maps that show these average noise levels in 5 decibel increments. At the Truckee Tahoe Airport, the 65 decibel area is almost all on airport property, so residential development is not an issue with the FAA in respect to this definition of average noise levels.
Federal Aviation Administration: www.faa.gov
Not really. The Airport works to promote flying that reduces annoyance and gets people to place voluntary constraints on their actions. The reason for this is that the federal and state governments have limited what local airports can do, and we have to operate in a manner that does not discriminate against a particular kind or type of aircraft. It is important to understand that we can only regulate aircraft when their wheels are on the ground. Aircraft in flight and their specific routes are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). That's why suggested traffic patterns and noise abatement procedures are strictly voluntary. So, though we cannot limit operations, we have established voluntary Noise Abatement Procedures to help pilots avoid residential areas and respect Truckee's noise-sensitive environment.
On November 5, 1990 the U.S. Congress enacted noise-sensitive legislation known as the Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA). As a result, Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 161 was established to limit the ability of airports to restrict access to an airport based on noise. Congress enacted the legislation to balance the competing interests of the aviation industry and airport neighbors. In addition, Interstate Commerce Laws do not allow anyone to "in any way or degree obstruct, delay, or affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce". 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951(a).
We are proactive in addressing operational impact on our neighbors. The Airport Community Advisory Team (ACAT) looks specifically at annoyance-related issues and reports directly to the Board. In the recent past, acting on community interest, the Board rejected a request to conduct helicopter flight testing that would have resulted in a significant concentration of activity between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. each day for up to three months. The Board has also acted on our community's interest to preserve open space, participating in the efforts to purchase the Waddle Ranch property with the Truckee Donner Land Trust. In doing this, the Airport will prevent new homes from being built in an impacted area and has responded to community desires.
The short answer is that you may see different aircraft at altitudes below 1,000 feet, operating legally, with more of them closer to the Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates aircraft when they are in flight. Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Sec. 91.119 describes "minimum safe altitudes" for general operations (quoted below):
Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:
For more information, see FAA publication:
http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim/Chap4/aim0403.html#4-3-3
There are several weather factors that are different in the mountains. One of the most noticeable to people on the ground is called density altitude. Pilots need to plan for density altitude or it will become very noticeable to them, too! Just as it is a little harder to breathe when you are up in the mountains, it is a little harder for aircraft engines to work and for wings to create lift. The impact of density altitude on aircraft goes up with the temperature. What both pilots and people on the ground may notice in high density altitude conditions is that aircraft are slower in climbing and their engines are working harder. This means aircraft may be a bit lower and, therefore, a bit noisier in summertime.
Mountains can also do strange things to wind. Wind can change direction and speed very quickly. Truckee Tahoe Airport has four runways to give airplanes the opportunity to take off and land into the wind. Normally the wind favors using Runway 28, and people living around the pattern for this runway have more impact. When the winds change, however, people living in other areas around the airport may notice planes they don't normally see. There is nothing unusual about pilots using the wind to their benefit.
Lastly, we all know that mountain weather can change quickly - all four seasons in just one day! Pilots need to plan for this. To help them, Truckee Tahoe Airport has both trained weather observers who report the weather during service hours and an automated weather system. The automated system has a phone line you can call, (530) 587-4599, and a radio that pilots can tune to on VHF 118.0. The impact of bad weather to people on the ground is that aircraft, if they can even operate here, will likely be following instrument procedures and clearances from the FAA; they will not be following our local procedures. This means, again, that people who do not usually see aircraft may see/hear them more in bad weather.
VFR means "Visual Flight Rules." When airplanes can stay out of the clouds and the pilots can see a certain minimum distance, airplanes can fly using VFR. This contrasts with Instrument Flight Rules, or IFR, when planes operate in the clouds or visibility is restricted. Sometimes when we refer to these weather factors you will hear pilots refer to VMC and IMC. These abbreviations mean "Visual" or "Instrument Meteorological Conditions."
At the Truckee Tahoe Airport, there are different procedures for airplanes to use when arriving and departing under IFR or VFR. IFR procedures are published by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and when an airplane flies IFR it must file a flight plan and get a clearance from Air Traffic Control. This clearance specifies the routes an airplane must follow taking off, enroute, and landing. Many of the larger airplanes using Truckee Tahoe Airport fly IFR because the policies and altitudes they fly at require it. In contrast, VFR does not always require a flight plan nor communications with Air Traffic Control. The Truckee Tahoe Airport prints locally recommended VFR arrival and departure procedures.
We are proactive in assessing the operational impact of operations on our neighbors. The Airport Community Advisory Team (ACAT) looks specifically at annoyance-related issues and reports directly to the Board. In the recent past, acting on community interest, the Board rejected a request to conduct helicopter flight testing that would have resulted in a significant concentration of activity between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. each day for up to three months. The Board has also acted in our community's interest to preserve open space by participating with the Truckee Donner Land Trust in the effort to purchase 1,400 acres of the Waddle Ranch property with the Truckee Donner Land Trust. Preserving this open space will not only respond to the region's desire for the preservation of open space, it will also assure that no additional homes will be built under noisy flight paths. We are proud of this purchase because it meets both the desires of the community and the needs of the Airport. By doing this, the Airport will prevent construction of new homes in an impacted area and respond to community desires.
At a joint meeting with the Board and ACAT in March 2007, the following action items were identified to continue our efforts to influence operations:
Not all of these actions may prove reasonable, feasible, or affordable, but they illustrate our thinking about how to proactively address annoyances.
The District has been, and continues its commitment to, mitigating the impact of aircraft operations on the locatl community. An example of the commitment is in this quote from the consultant who performed our recent cost allocation analysis: "...noise abatement efforts currently undertaken by the District far exceed that normally found at 'comparable' airports" (AMCG Cost Allocation Study, p.30).
A review of our current budget will corroborate this statement of our commitment to annoyance-reduction in real dollars. While we can 'show you the money,' many on the ground will argue that you observe little change. This is our dilemma: we are committed, but change is slow and constrained by the need to do things legally while balancing the diverse interests of both pilots and those who do not fly. You can find examples of things we are doing in the answers to many of the other questions listed here, but we summarize our activities below.
Recent actions that actually reduced or prevented annoyance:
Less obvious, but important:
Active, multi-faceted pilot education:
What you can do:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/federal government controls both the noise emission standards for airplanes and noise impact standards for various types of development near airports. The development standards are based on the integrated noise model program that models types of aircraft, flight patterns, frequency of operations, and time of day in order to generate noise contour lines around airports.
It is FAA policy to constrain residential development within an area that has more than 65 decibels of average noise. Airports develop maps that show these average noise levels in 5 decibel increments. At the Truckee Tahoe Airport, the 65 decibel area is almost all on airport property, so residential development is not an issue for the FAA with respect to this definition of average noise levels.
Confusion about these noise standards often comes up because a specific aircraft overflight seems louder than 65 decibels. An individual incident is called single event noise. In contrast, the standard for noise analysis around airports is to model cumulative noise. This is also done for highways and other types of activities that generate noise. Communities use this cumulative measure, not the single event, to create zoning and development criteria.
The agency responsible for permitting development and building in your local jurisdiction ensures that noise compatibility standards are met before new development occurs. In most cases within the Truckee Tahoe Airport District, the permitting agency is a department of the Town of Truckee or Placer County.
However, the Town or County must meet the standards and policies outlined in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP), sometimes called the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP) (see www.sedd.org for the current plan for Truckee). This plan reflects standards established by the State of California that are a little harsher than federal standards. [For more information on the CLUP see the next question: How does the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP), or ALUCP, relate to the airport?]
The Comprehensive Land Use Plan was prepared by consultants for the Foothill Airport Land Use Commission (FALUC). The Land Use Commission adopted the plan after community input meetings. The FALUC is responsible for review of land use development projects within the airport influence area to ensure compatibility with the Airport. Both the Airport District and, sometimes, CalTrans Division of Aeronautics review projects for consistency.
"The basic function of the Truckee Tahoe Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan is to promote compatibility between the airport and surrounding land uses. As adopted by the Foothill Airport Land Use Commission, the plan serves as a tool for use by the commission in fulfilling its duty to review airport and adjacent land use development proposals. Additionally, the plan sets compatibility criteria applicable to local agencies in their preparation or amendment of land use plans and ordinances and to land owners in their design of new development." — SEDD.org: Truckee Tahoe Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan
The CLUP was designed and adopted under the authority of the Foothill Area Airport Land Use Commission (in the case of the Truckee Tahoe Airport, the Sierra Economic Development District Board acts as FALUC). The CLUP was last updated beginning in 2003 and was adopted in 2005.
Sierra Economic Development District (SEDD). Click on SEDD Publications
http://www.sedd.org
FAA Integrated Noise Model
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aep/models/inm_model
State of California Airport Use Compatibility Guidelines
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/planning/aeronaut/documents/ALUCbrochure2.pdf
That depends on where you have property related to the airport. If you look at the map, you will see Zones called A, B1, B2, C, D, and E. These designations relate to a composite of noise and safety-related impacts. The zone designations lead to policies about how a piece of land in a given zone may be used in the future, consistent with California law and regulations.
Zone A is basically on the Airport and is the area that has the highest noise impact from airplanes and most safety risk. As a result of this combination of impacts, the policy says that no one should live in this zone and there should only be essential operations to control the number of people in the zone.
In contrast, Zone E is furthest away from the Airport, so impacts and restrictions are less. That said, people in Zone E still notice aircraft because airplanes are maneuvering to land and take off when they are over this zone.
If you plan to develop property, or change its use, the best starting point for understanding your limitations is your local permitting office, the Town or County. They will review your intentions in light of the compatibility map and advise you on what kinds of uses and density is allowed.
For a summary of policies, click here >>
For detailed discussion of policies, see Chapter 2 of the Truckee Tahoe Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan at: http://www.sedd.org and select SEDD Publications, Foothill Area Land Use Commission.
California's Proposition 13 governs the way property taxes are levied and distributed among counties, municipalities, and special districts. Prop. 13 froze the property tax rate at 1% of assessed value and AB 8 established sharing allocations of the 1% tax between all the districts, municipalities, and counties.
Currently, the Truckee Tahoe Airport District (TTAD) receives approximately 2.9% of the 1% tax pool of properties within the District, in both Placer and Nevada Counties. The Airport does not receive tax revenues from properties located outside the District.
For example, suppose your property is assessed at $500,000 for property tax purposes. In this case, your tax bill would be approximately $5,000 per year (or 1% of assessed value). Of this tax bill, TTAD receives approximately 2.9%, or just over $12 a month. In 2006, TTAD received about $3,273,000 in property tax.
TTAD uses it Property Tax revenues to pay for government and election expenses, capital projects, land acquisitions, and to support our noise mitigation and abatement programs. In our fiscal year 2007 the breakdown looks like this:
Local pilots pay additional property taxes to Nevada or Placer County, or the Town of Truckee. These additional property taxes are paid for hangar space when a pilot holds a lease and for aircraft that are home based here at Truckee Tahoe Airport. Even if a pilot does not live in the District, he or she pays these taxes if applicable. These property taxes are distributed the same as the property taxes we pay for our house or condo in the District.
In 2000, an Economic Impact Analysis calculated that the airport had an indirect and direct economic impact on the local area of $10.4 million annually. In 2005, payroll comprised 44% of expenses for the Truckee Tahoe Airport District. The District paid employees $1,295,796 to provide a safe and efficient transportation center, as well as maintain and manage the facility.
The Airport provides many services to the community-at-large, not just local pilots. Emergency medical, fire, and search and rescue services are facilitated by the Truckee Tahoe Airport. During the catastrophic flood of 1997, the Truckee Tahoe Airport remained open while most local highways, including Interstate 80, Highway 89 north and south, and even the Reno Airport and Union Pacific railroad were closed due to the impact of the rains and snowmelt.
Weather reporting, forest fire spotting and fighting, and medical evacuations (e.g. CARE Flights) are all made easier because the airport is a resource that can be used. A CARE Flight crew is stationed at the Truckee Tahoe Airport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During the 2001 Martis Fire, US Forest Service and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection aircraft were stationed at the Truckee Tahoe Airport to fight the fire. Lives and property have been saved because the Airport facilitates quicker emergency response times.
Local business owners, who also happen to be pilots, can expand their businesses and travel more efficiently. The local economy is boosted by the many conventions held in the area and attended by people arriving via business aircraft. In addition, payroll dollars generated by the businesses located on the Airport provide a direct stimulus to the local economy. The Airport itself injects over $1.2 million dollars annually into the local economy through employee wages.
It is in the Airport's interest to keep open space within the Airport Impact Area. This minimizes the number of households impacted by our operations. At the same time, our community values open space because it is part of our collective character and provides the recreational opportunities that many of us came here for. The Airport is participating in the purchase of the Waddle Ranch property in Martis Valley with the Truckee Donner Land Trust. This initiative will preserve over 1,400 acres of open space for the community and for your recreational use.